California workers deserve a trusted candidate for governor

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OPINION – Labor Day is more than a three-day weekend marking the end of summer and the start of a new school year. It is the one day each year when we honor the workers who build California, serve our communities, and care for our people — the ironworkers, plumbers, carpenters, teachers, nurses, firefighters, farmworkers, transit operators, caregivers, and countless others who keep our state running and make it possible for us to live and thrive in this remarkable place.

On this Labor Day 2025, we know too many of those California workers are barely holding on — struggling to afford living in the state they helped build and sacrificed to serve. Workers are worried about their futures, some even weighing whether to leave altogether. Many feel betrayed by our leaders — politicians with fancy titles who appear blind to reality and indifferent to workers’ struggles.

Let this Labor Day be a turning point — the moment we unite to support California workers by holding our leaders accountable and demanding a higher standard from elected officials. Let’s stop with the gimmicks, the whiteboards, and the hollow promises. California needs an adult in the room — a trusted leader who spends less time on rhetoric and more time on results. California needs someone who understands the real challenges facing rank-and-file workers and has the expertise to manage the world’s fourth-largest economy so it works for everyone.

There is one candidate in California’s crowded 2026 race for governor who meets that standard — a leader with unshakable integrity, financial savvy, and the moral courage to put workers first.
That person is former State Controller Betty Yee.

Unlike many politicians who abandon workers when it’s politically convenient, Betty has never shied away from standing with labor when it mattered most. Her values don’t waver just to cut a deal. She’s walked picket lines, opposed attacks on collective bargaining rights, and fought for policies that protect workers on the job. As California State Controller, she worked with teachers, nurses, and public safety unions to guarantee the funding necessary to maintain our schools, hospitals, and health services. She supported firefighters and fought to shield them from budget cuts. She stood up for public-sector workers against layoffs — and refused to cater to special interests seeking to dismantle labor standards to boost corporate profits.

Yee’s vision for California is a place where every voice is heard and where we make real progress on the crushing costs of housing, health care, and electricity. For Betty, workers aren’t a talking point — they’re the people she grew up with in San Francisco, where she lived with her parents and five siblings in a small studio apartment. She began working at just eight years old, doing bookkeeping for her family’s union laundry business. There she learned lessons that later shaped her career — including the fundamentals of accounting and the importance of accountability. In her family’s business, there could be no excuses or passing the buck; the numbers always had to add up.

Betty later used those skills as California’s budget director, so she knows the grueling task our next governor will face in balancing the books. She is the rare candidate who can credibly confront the state’s accounting games and provide the responsible leadership we’ve been waiting for.

I’ve heard it said that the state budget reflects our values. The next governor, like Gavin Newsom, will be judged by those actions. Many candidates run away from that kind of hard work. Betty runs toward it. She knows how to spot the budget tricks, and she knows it’s time for strict accountability, transparency, and oversight. That’s what taxpayers deserve — and what’s required to ensure we can pay for the things Californians need and deserve: essential services, health care, teachers, nurses, firefighters, infrastructure, roads, and housing.

It won’t be easy. Betty Yee doesn’t promise miracles — but she won’t make excuses either. Workers have had enough of broken promises and shallow slogans. They want action, and they need someone they trust to deliver results.

So this Labor Day, as we celebrate the contributions of working men and women, let’s honor them by supporting leaders who will truly fight for them. Betty Yee is the candidate who rises above the rest — the leader who will govern with courage, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to putting California’s workers first.

Tim Paulson is the former Executive Director of the San Francisco Labor Council, Secretary-Treasurer of the Building and Construction Trades Council, and longtime Labor Chair of the California Democratic Party.