Under current law, when employees or labor associations win a judgement against a public entity, the agency has to pay interest on the debt until they pay it off. The interest rate is set at 7% or 10%, depending on the type of case. Now Assemblymember Susan Eggman has introduced AB 748 to let cities and counties pay minimal interest on these debts, jeopardizing employees' and unions' rights across the State.
Eggman's law would cap the interest a public agency has to pay at no greater than the rate on the "Pooled Money Investment Account." That rate has been less than 1% for the past three years. As a result, employees who are illegally terminated or denied their wages would receive much less interest on their awards than the interest they have to pay on their personal loans, mortgages, and credit card payments. Cities win, employees lose. Eggman previously served on the Stockton City Council were she voted to withhold employees' wages, even though they were guaranteed by labor contracts.
