CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS
Prop 75 Must Be 86'd!
by Cathy Repola
When
the recall election for Californ-ia's Governor was taking place in
2003, the Editors Guild took an active role in communicating with
our members to vote against the recall. We did so because, like all
unions in the state, we were concerned that if Arnold Schwarzenegger
was elected, unions would once again be under attack as they were
under Governor Pete Wilson. While Governor Gray Davis wasn't all unions
hoped he would be, he did help to make some improvements for working
people and did not attack us.
Unfortunately, our fears about Schwarze-negger have come to fruition full force.
During his term, Schwarzenegger has taken action against the nurses unions, the teachers unions and the firefighter and police unions, which threatens the livelihoods of those working people. In response, they have mobilized and waged successful public campaigns against the things he has attempted to do to hurt their members. As a result of the political capital, they were able to muster up a fight to try to protect their members. But a very serious attempt is taking place to silence them.
One of the initiatives that will be on the ballot during the California Special Election this November is Proposition 75. There was a ballot initiative very similar to it in 1998 called Proposition 226. Back then, the Editors Guild really hadn't participated in the political arena, but that changed with 226. Unions were under attack in California like never before, and we mobilized our members and participated in rallies, phone banking and precinct walking to defeat that proposition. And we were successful. But it has reared its ugly head again.
Proposition 75 will require all public sector unionsâ??â??the same ones Schwarzeneg-ger has been attackingâ??â??to obtain a written authorization from every single member, every year, to allow the union to utilize any portion of their dues for political purposes. While 75 is not aimed specifically at private sector unions like us, there have been some attorneys who indicate there are loopholes in the proposition language that could perhaps extend this to private unions as well. And even if this turns out not to be the case, having this applied to the public sector is a slippery slope for all unions.
It's an outrageous administrative nightmare, designed solely to remove these unions from the political process. California corporations contribute far more to political campaigns than unions ever have and yet no attempts are being made to subject them to this same scrutiny. In fact, it is corporations that are funding this initiative. The real impetus for this proposition is to silence the governor's most outspoken opponents of his attacks on working families in this state.
His own spokespeople told The Los Angeles Times that the Schwarzenegger administration intends to create a "phenomenon of anger against California unions." We have to mobilize ourselves again. We have a responsibility as a labor union to do everything we can to fight against these retaliatory and potentially devastating attacks on unions.
Unions have to be able to utilize their resources to protect the rights of working men and women. It would be irresponsible for any labor organization to sit back and remain silent. We have an absolute obligation to educate our members about political issues that will impact their livelihoods as well as attempt to cripple unions as institutions.
We ask all of our members to Vote No on Proposition 75! If you would like to volunteer to work with us to defeat this proposition, please e-mail us at volunteer@editorsguild.com, or call the office and ask the receptionist to add your name to our volunteer list.
Cathy Repola is the Assistant Executive Director of the Editors Guild.