ICYMI: Union Leaders Team Up with Hollywood Activist Jane Fonda, Billionaires and Anti-Jobs Environmentalists to Kill Union Construction Jobs
October 27, 2026
Contact: Amelia Matier
510.207.9263
California construction unions have joined forces with Hollywood actress Jane Fonda, billionaire Wendy Schmidt, and environmental extremist organizations in spending more than $30 million to defeat Prop 45, which would create tens of thousands of good-paying construction jobs and lower costs for working families
Sacramento, CA — California’s construction union leaders are helping bankroll a campaign attacking the very construction projects their members are paid to build. In an extraordinary example of putting politics ahead of their members’ interests, union leaders have locked arms with Hollywood activist Jane Fonda, billionaire Wendy Schmidt and environmental organizations they’ve spent decades battling over major construction projects to oppose Proposition 45 — a measure designed to accelerate construction of housing and essential infrastructure projects, create tens of thousands of good-paying union jobs, and lower costs for California families.
Public campaign filings show California’s construction unions have contributed more than $11.5 million, alongside $10.25 million from Jane Fonda and Wendy Schmidt, and millions more from environmental organizations — all told, more than $30 million.
The alliance is particularly striking given the California State Building and Construction Trades’ long history of clashing with these same groups over union-built energy, warehouse, transportation and other major infrastructure projects. In recent television ads, the No on Prop 45 campaign wrongly calls these projects dangerous — the very projects championed by construction unions whose members pour the concrete, weld the steel, install the pipelines and wire the buildings.
“It is perplexing that building trades union leaders are spending millions of dollars of their members’ hard-earned money alongside Hollywood celebrities, environmental extremists, and billionaires to stop California from creating union jobs,” said Amelia Matier of the YES on 45 campaign.“They’re using their members’ dues to finance ads demonizing the very projects that keep them employed. Union members deserve to know why their leaders are spending their dues attacking their own jobs.”
A recent report published in the Sacramento Bee revealed that construction trades unions have lavishly paid just two environmental law firms nearly $90 million to file CEQA lawsuits in order to leverage union agreements on projects. These unions and law firms want to preserve their ability to abuse CEQA for non-environmental purposes by opposing Prop 45.
“It’s incredibly shortsighted for union leaders to spend millions bankrolling the very anti-development groups they’ve spent decades fighting,” Matier added. “Win or lose, they’re handing these groups ammunition to use against future construction projects. Union members should be asking why their leaders are financing attacks on the very projects that create their jobs.”
As a recent op-ed in Southern California News Group put a fine point on it: “It’s self-inflicted damage, paid for with members’ money.”
Prop 45 will modernize California’s outdated project approval process for essential projects by establishing clear, enforceable timelines from application submission through final permitting and any litigation that follows. The measure will help build housing, water infrastructure, clean energy, transportation, hospitals, schools and wildfire prevention — faster and more affordably. It maintains all of California’s environmental protections and requires qualifying projects to meet strong labor standards, including prevailing wage and skilled-and-trained workforce requirements — guaranteeing any streamlined projects are built with union labor.
By cutting costly permitting delays and getting essential projects into construction sooner, Prop 45 will create tens of thousands of quality jobs while lowering costs for working families.
Twenty-six newspapers across the state, including the Sacramento Bee and San Diego Union-Tribune, Mercury News and Orange County Register have endorsed Prop 45 – arguing that California’s affordability crisis is tied directly to how long and how much it costs to build essential projects. Years of unnecessary delays drive up the cost of housing, energy, water, transportation and other essentials, costs ultimately passed on to families, ratepayers and taxpayers.
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BACKGROUND: Prop 45, the Building an Affordable California Act, modernizes California’s project approval and permitting process for essential projects — including housing, water infrastructure, clean energy, transportation infrastructure, hospitals and health care facilities, schools, broadband, and wildfire prevention projects — by establishing clear timelines, improving accountability, and reducing unnecessary delays, while preserving strong environmental, labor, and tribal cultural resource protections. Prop 45 is supported by a broad and growing coalition of 190+ organizations, including affordable housing advocates, civil rights leaders, clean energy builders, water providers, agricultural groups, and business organizations statewide.
Learn More: YESonProp45.com