LABOR MATTERS
Deny Schwarzenegger His Props
Governor Hopes to Terminate Voice of Unions
compiled by Jeff Burman
After
failing to convince lawmakers to back his proposals to overhaul state
government as part of a "Year of Reform," California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger called for a special election on November 8 to put
his plans to voters as ballot measures. They would limit state spending,
allow retired judges instead of lawmakers to draw legislative districts
and require public school teachers to work for five years to obtain
tenure.
Those measures and Schwarzen-egger's own political fortunes have been faring poorly: according to a California field poll released just before Schwarzenegger announced he would run for re-election, a stunning 56 percent of California voters said they were not inclined to vote for him; nor were they enthusiastic about his ballot measures. In contrast, a majority of voters were inclined to back Proposition 75, which was not yet endorsed by the governor. This measure would make it more difficult for public employee unions to tap members for political funds (see "Contractual Obligations," Editors Guild Magazine SEP-OCT 05).
Weeks
later, Schwarzenegger infuriated public employee unions by embracing
Prop 75, which would require public employee unions to get written
permission before using members' dues money for political purposes.
Months before, Schwarzenegger had enraged the same unions by proposing
a partial privatization of their pension funds, leading to months
of demonstrations and pro-union media time. Then, as if this wasn't
bad enough, Don Sipple, Schwarzenegger's media adviser, introduced
a strategy to turn voters against unions by creating a "phenomenon
of anger" toward them. For a time, the governor studiously avoided
endorsing the union dues measure. But when he announced in mid-September
his intention to run for re-election, he took the plunge and backed
the proposition.
Needless to say, the California Federation of Labor (see accompanying sidebar) urges you to vote down Proposition 75. It's a particularly inflammatory attempt by the governor and his corporate allies to silence the voice of union members, unfairly targeting teachers, nurses, firefighters, police and other union members who have spoken out against Schwarzenegger's cuts to pensions, education, health care and public safety. It's unfair because it refuses to call for similar curbs against political spending by business interests. The union-backed group opposing the measure, the Alliance for a Better California, has filed two complaints with the Fair Political Practices Commission, saying that the measure's backers are circumventing laws requiring them to disclose who their contributors are, writes Christian Berthelsen in The San Francisco Chronicle. The ballot measure committee pushing the proposal—the Coalition for Employee Rights—has received most of its funding from one source, a group called the Small Business Action Committee. Available records show that last year the Small Business Action Committee received nearly all its funding from major corporations and executives--including $50,000 from lender Ameriquest and former Gap Inc. chairman Donald Fisher, $45,000 from cigarette-maker Philip Morris, and $10,000 from PG&E Corp.
In
short, organized labor urges you to vote NO on propositions 74, 75,
76, 77 and 78. Organized labor asks you to vote YES on Proposition
79: the Cheaper Prescrip-tion Drugs for Californians Act, and YES
on Proposition 80: the Affordable Electricity and Preventing Blackouts
Act. Visit the California Labor Federation's Issues and Politics webpage
for more information: http://www.calaborfed.org/issues_
politics/political/special_election.html.
IATSE Challenges WGA West
In a direct challenge to the Writers Guild of America west (WGAw), the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees has announced that it will seek jurisdiction over screenwriters at upcoming negotiations, writes Dave McNary in Variety. IA president Tom Short said the union will make the proposal to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers when the IATSE starts contract talks with the studios and networks December 5. The development is the result of a long-simmering dispute between the two unions on a couple of fronts. Short said he's grown increasingly frustrated over what he sees as the WGAw's incursions into IA jurisdictions in animation writing and reality TV—areas in which the WGAw has focused its organizing efforts.
California Film Subsidies Bill Delayed
Hollywood's push for state subsidies to keep movie and television production from leaving California will have to wait until next year, after the effort drew stronger-thanexpected opposition from state lawmakers and the devastation in New Orleans wiped away an important rationale, writes David Halbfinger in The New York Times.
Legislative leaders in Sacramento tabled a bill backed by Governor Schwarzenegger, a Republican, to provide $100 million or more a year in refundable tax credits for filmmakers and television producers who shoot modestly budgeted films in California. The measure, offered by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, a Democrat, is expected to be taken up in next year's budget negotiations.
Schwarzenegger spokesman Vince Sollitto said the governor had been clear in his support for the movie bill—although he could not name an instance in which Schwarzenegger publicly called for its passage, writes Marc Lifsher in The Los Angeles Times.
The goal is to level the playing field by allowing California to compete for projects that have been lured to incentive-laden states such as Louisiana and New York, writes Dave McNary in Variety. Nuñez's bill (AB777) would provide 12 percent credits for wages and equipment with a cap of $3 million per production—if 75 percent of the project is shot in California. TV movies could get as much as 15 percent.
Change to Win Coalition Holds Founding Convention
The Change to Win Coalition (CTW) met for its founding convention in St. Louis on September 27. The seven unions making up the CTW--including the Teamsters, Service Employees Inter-national Union (SEIU) and the United Food and Commercial Workers—represent almost six million workers, officials said. The unions recently left the AFL-CIO, charging that the nation's largest labor federation was unable to halt declining membership. They argued that the AFL-CIO should shift emphasis from backing political candidates to organizing new members. The new federation pledges to focus more than 75 percent of its budget on organizing.
Over the course of its one-day founding convention, 460 delegates ratified a constitution and passed resolutions on organizing, diversity, and politics. Anna Burger was officially designated as chair of the new federation. Tom Woodruff was named CTW's new organizing director. "Fifty million workers are in jobs that can't be off-shored and can't be digitized," said Woodruff, according to Jonathan Tasini in the online Labor Blog. "Six million are in the CTW unions now, so 44 million are to be organized."
Adds Tasini, "One of the centerpieces of the debate that has been going on: coordinating bargaining and organizing by sectors. The resolution creates committees in airline catering, food manufacturing, food services, gaming, health care, hotels, laundry, non-food retails, package handling and delivery, printing, property services, retail food, transportation, warehousing/distribution and waste."
"We are going to collectively turn ourselves into an organizing machine by helping each other grow," vows Bruce Raynor, president of UNITE HERE, which represents needletrade and hotel workers, reports Aaron Bernstein in BusinessWeek.
Despite AFL-CIO Division, Unions Forge Truce
Two large unions from rival federations of the divided US labor movement agreed not to try to recruit each others' members, helping defuse the potential for a fight over workers between the two rivals.
The agreement between the 1.8-million member Service Employees Inter-national Union (SEIU) and the 1.3-million member American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) helps avoid an all-out war between the two labor federations, writes Peter Szekely for Reuters. AFSCME president Gerald McEntee said the "no-raid" pact covering organizing in California and Pennsylvania "sets a standard" for future cooperative relations between unions that remain within the AFL-CIO and the four major unions that have bolted (SEIU, the Teamsters, the United Food and Commercial Workers and UNITE HERE), writes Thomas Edsall in The Washington Post. The dissident unions have formed the Change to Win Coalition (CTW).
On another front, AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, in a letter to CTW chair Anna Burger, agreed not to seek enforcement of the AFL-CIO's Constitution regarding participation in local and state labor bodies for a period of one month, ending October 15. Clearly, where there is dialogue, there is hope for a productive working relationship.
Wal-Mart Faces International Human Rights Suit
A labor group that last year forced Unocal Corp. to settle human rights claims sued Wal-Mart in September, alleging that the world's biggest retailer allowed sweatshop conditions at supplier factories around the world, writes Molly Selvin in The Los Angeles Times. The case opens a new front in litigation against Wal-Mart, which is already fighting a mammoth suit alleging it has underpaid female employees. The International Labor Rights Fund filed the suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of hundreds of thousands of factory workers in China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Swazi-land--as well as California workers at Ralphs and Safeway grocery stores who it claims were harmed by the company, adds Selvin.
The suit contends that Wal-Mart failed to enforce its corporate code of conduct--which mandates basic wage and working conditions--on its suppliers around the world, as the company has pledged to do. It claims the California grocery workers were hurt because Wal-Mart forced grocery chains to cut pay and benefits to compete.
How Corporate Media `Frames' Labor News
The particular way in which the press has covered labor deserves closer attention. Christopher Martin, a communication studies professor at the University of Iowa, studied this issue in his book, Framed: Labor and the Corporate Media. Martin argues the media "frames" labor disputes using five key assumptions, writes reviewer Bradford Plummer in Mother Jones magazine.
The assumptions are as follows: First, the consumer is always right; the press will investigate how strikes affect consumers, while devoting scant attention to workplace conditions. Second, the public doesn't need to know about the process of production. Third, business leaders are the true heroes of the American economy. Fourth, the workplace is and should be a meritocracy. Fifth, collective action distorts the market. These assumptions, Martin argues, guide the vast majority of labor coverage.
Back in 1989, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), a media watchdog group, issued a similar report. Few major media outlets carried a dedicated labor reporter, the report found. By and large, the old labor beat has been replaced by the often-frivolous "workplace beat," while editors show scant interest in labor stories unless something important happens, such as a strike or infighting among unions, adds Plummer.
Keeping the IA in California State Labor Federation Has a Proactive Agenda
One of the highlights of the IATSE’s 65th international convention actually
took place before the convention officially began. The IA’s District meetings
traditionally are held the Saturday before the international convention. Since
the Editors Guild has most of its members in District 2, which covers California,
Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii, most of our delegates attended this particular meeting.
There we heard an informative, even rousing speech by Angie Wei, Legislative
Director of the California Labor Federation. Following is an edited transcript
of her speech, given July 16, 2005.
“I’m going to take a few minutes to talk about a couple of things. One is what the state labor federation in California does on a day-to-day basis. Next is what do we do for the IATSE.
Each year, number one, we promote a proactive legislative agenda. Another thing we do on a day-to-day basis in the state labor federation: We kill bad bills. We work on the state budget, which is about a 600-page document. Because we have this relationship with the IATSE, we go through page by page to see how the IA is affected. We look at the budget of the California Film Commission. We look at where the placement of the commission is. We care deeply about making sure that film jobs, entertainment jobs, stay and are created in California. And we use the state budget as a tool to make that happen.
We take positions on people’s confirmation throughout the state agencies
and departments. In the state labor federation, we have legislative, political
and communications arms. We work together seamlessly as a team. In the legislative
arm, we feed right into the politics. We use legislation to elect pro-worker
candidates.
I want to spend a few minutes on what we do specifically for the IATSE and then
talk a little bit more about this administration. Peter Cooper, our legislative
researcher, spends the vast majority of his time monitoring the legislative
activities in the IA District 2’s purview. He spends a lot of time talking
to legislators, their staffs, unionists in Arizona and Hawaii and Nevada, to
find out what’s happening in those states for IATSE members and for working
people together.
He’s built relationships. He can pick up the phone now and call these
legislators and their staffs. They’ll take his call and answer his questions.
We have now signed up for LexisNexis, a basic research tool that allows Peter
to search every state across the nation, all the different laws and newspaper
articles that are happening, and he’s on that every day.
Peter also plays a conduit role between the state labor federation and the work of all the different unions, directly to the IATSE. What you have is a staff member on our team whose top-of-brain, number-one thought is, ‘How does this affect the IATSE?’
The speaker of our state assembly, Fabian Nuñez, has a bill, AB777. When that bill was heard on the assembly floor––a little anecdote here––he took it up and said, ‘You know, we need to study the role of the entertainment industry in California’s economy. We need to study where these jobs are going. How do we keep good jobs in the entertainment industry in California?’
We’ve been softly, quietly, talking to [the governor’s staff] about this New Mexico Film Investment Program. The state of New Mexico offers no-cost loans to production companies so they will make films and television programs in the state of New Mexico. To be able to qualify for such a program––no-cost, no-interest loans––you’ve got to hire at least 60 percent New Mexicans to work on the jobs. I would like for us in California and the other states of the IA District 2 to look at this program and see if this is something that might work in our states.
The film commission has a 16-page brochure that Peter was able to track down. I was proud and a little bit blown away, I’ve got to tell you, when they listed the contact people for the New Mexico Film Investment Program. It’s a lead from the IATSE. Literally, in the brochure it says, ‘You want more information? You want to find out how to qualify? Call the local IATSE leader and work with him to make this happen for your company.’
We talked some about public subsidies and how to create tax incentives for film companies to stay in California. How do we give them taxpayer funds to incentivize them to stay? Public subsidies. We are of both minds in public subsidies, quite honestly. We want to support industries with taxpayer money so long as they do something for the taxpayer, so long as they give something back to the workers. Unfortunately, in these tough times in California, we have about a 100-billion-dollar state budget, but we have a structural budget deficit ongoing of anywhere between six and eight billion dollars. We can’t make up that gap right now. There’s not enough public taxpayer money right now to create new subsidy programs. Honestly.
So let’s do it a different way. Let’s take a different approach.
Maybe it’s something like an investment program, where we give production
companies no-cost, low-cost loans and in exchange we get the state taxpayers
a return on that investment.
In 2005, a lot of time is going to be spent on the special election and continuing
to bringing the governor’s popularity numbers down. While we’re
doing that, we’re also starting to plan for 2006.
We’re already planning a right-to-organize bill. As IATSE president Tom Short said this morning, the only way that we can maintain our unions and grow is to organize, organize, organize. We want to do a bill next year that says, ‘No more captive audience meetings where management can throw us into a room, threaten our jobs and show us bad videos about how people don’t need a union and get fired if they vote for it.’
I read an article a couple of months ago––Robert Greenberg in The New York Times––that talked about the growing wage gap in this country. This is how I got my mother and father to not vote for George W. Bush. The rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer. There’s a huge wage gap in the country where the middle class is going invisible. For us to catch up right now is like a tugboat chasing a yacht. If we’re going to catch up, we’re going to need every tugboat in the water so we can ride each other’s waves and get back to our middle-class dreams––and take back this country for working people.
Jeff Burman represents Sound Editors on the Guild's Board of Directors. He can be reached at jeffrey.burman@nbcuni.com.