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California CWAers Battle Attacks on Labor's Political Voice
Fresh off a state legislative push in support of the Employee Free Choice Act to give more workers a voice, CWA members in California are battling Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ploy to silence theirs.
As the CWA News went to press, thousands of union members were in the last stages of a massive get-out-the-vote drive to defeat Proposition 75 and other anti-worker ballot measures Nov. 8.
Like Proposition 226, the infamous California "paycheck deception act" that unions defeated in 1998, the new initiative would restrict the ability of labor to make political contributions while doing nothing to stop vote-buying by corporations.
This time, disguised as responsible government, the measure is aimed only at unions that represent public sector workers. It would prohibit use of dues money for political purposes with prior written consent each year from individual members, and also would make record-keeping deliberately burdensome.
UPTE-CWA Local 9119, representing 11,000 professional and technical employees at University of California campuses and hospital, and the 3,000-member California Coalition of Police and Sheriffs are major CWA units that would be affected.
"We've got to stop this thing," CWA District 9 President Tony Bixler said. "The restrictions it places on public employee unions are bad enough. But it won't stop there. If it passes, it will become a model for other states, and they won't stop until they have silenced the political voice of all union members everywhere."
Tom Ramirez, Local 9421 legislative director, noted that California union members in late summer persuaded the state legislature to pass a joint resolution in support of the Employee Free Choice Act to make cardcheck organizing and employer neutrality the law of the land. "Now we're hit with this," he said.
While firefighters, nurses and other high-profile public employees have been the obvious targets, as well as the public face of the AFL-CIO campaign to defeat the measure, Ramirez said thousands of other union members would be hurt. "People think Proposition 75 applies only to public sector unions," he said. "What they don't realize is that you only have to have one public sector member in your local, and the whole local would be restricted as far as the use of its money."
Among materials that CWA activists are distributing are letters explaining that, "If Prop 75 passes, the union would not be able to speak out against cuts in spending on our schools, transportation and public safety… Prop 75 will silence the voice of teachers, nurses, firefighters - and our union."
Bill Hemby, legislative advisor to COPS-CWA, said the measure could ultimately affect union members' pensions. "The governor has already tried to take them away, including survivor benefits for widows and orphans," he said. "If our voice is taken away, he'll be after all of our pensions."
As the CWA News went to press, thousands of union members were in the last stages of a massive get-out-the-vote drive to defeat Proposition 75 and other anti-worker ballot measures Nov. 8.
Like Proposition 226, the infamous California "paycheck deception act" that unions defeated in 1998, the new initiative would restrict the ability of labor to make political contributions while doing nothing to stop vote-buying by corporations.
This time, disguised as responsible government, the measure is aimed only at unions that represent public sector workers. It would prohibit use of dues money for political purposes with prior written consent each year from individual members, and also would make record-keeping deliberately burdensome.
UPTE-CWA Local 9119, representing 11,000 professional and technical employees at University of California campuses and hospital, and the 3,000-member California Coalition of Police and Sheriffs are major CWA units that would be affected.
"We've got to stop this thing," CWA District 9 President Tony Bixler said. "The restrictions it places on public employee unions are bad enough. But it won't stop there. If it passes, it will become a model for other states, and they won't stop until they have silenced the political voice of all union members everywhere."
Tom Ramirez, Local 9421 legislative director, noted that California union members in late summer persuaded the state legislature to pass a joint resolution in support of the Employee Free Choice Act to make cardcheck organizing and employer neutrality the law of the land. "Now we're hit with this," he said.
While firefighters, nurses and other high-profile public employees have been the obvious targets, as well as the public face of the AFL-CIO campaign to defeat the measure, Ramirez said thousands of other union members would be hurt. "People think Proposition 75 applies only to public sector unions," he said. "What they don't realize is that you only have to have one public sector member in your local, and the whole local would be restricted as far as the use of its money."
Among materials that CWA activists are distributing are letters explaining that, "If Prop 75 passes, the union would not be able to speak out against cuts in spending on our schools, transportation and public safety… Prop 75 will silence the voice of teachers, nurses, firefighters - and our union."
Bill Hemby, legislative advisor to COPS-CWA, said the measure could ultimately affect union members' pensions. "The governor has already tried to take them away, including survivor benefits for widows and orphans," he said. "If our voice is taken away, he'll be after all of our pensions."