A bill to ban arbitration as a condition of employment has cleared another hurdle.

A bill to ban arbitration as a condition of employment has cleared another hurdle.

AB 51 passed the Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee by a 4-1 party line vote Wednesday. The bill revives an idea Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed last year in AB 3080 on the grounds that he believed it would be preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act -- something the opposition, led by the California Chamber of Commerce, has long argued.

The measure is sponsored by the California Labor Federation AFL-CIO and the Consumer Attorneys of California. It seeks to circumvent the Arbitration Act by preventing an arbitration contract from being signed in the first place. These groups say arbitration agreements are a key reason workplace misconduct has persisted.

"It's long past time to put an end to enabling serial sexual harassers," said Consumer Attorneys of California president Mike Arias, in an emailed press release. "Unless claims against them can be brought in a public setting, their misconduct remains hidden and others are put at risk."

The bill heads next to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which gained two new members last week. One of them should have a keen interest in the bill: Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles, who served eight years as secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.

-- Malcolm Maclachlan