Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may have made a major political blunder when he called the California Nurses Association (CNA) a "special interest" and sought to block the independent union's successful sponsorship of legislation to reduce the RN-patient ratio in the state's hospitals.
Schwarzenegger infuriated CNA members when he pointed at a group of protesting nurses in the audience at one of his fund-raisers and told the crowd they were "special interests" and he was always "kicking their butts." His remarks were also meant for the state's teachers, police and firefighters who have good reasons to oppose him.
The governor's plan to link teacher salaries to test scores has created an all out war with the teachers' unions. His proposal to privatize the state's pension system aroused the indignation of police and firefighters unions.
CNA has led the fight against the "Great Arnold" by using guerrilla tactics that caused his public approval rating to plummet from 65% to 43%-and it's still dropping. RNs have dogged each of some 40 of the governor's fund raising and media events, evoking his anger and frustration.
For example, at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco on April 5, some 5,000 RNs, teachers, firefighters and police circled the hotel and made it a media circus that dominated the news for three days and left 500 to 600 seats at the fund-raiser empty, while creating beautiful footage of the governor sneaking into the back of his own event. At various fund-raisers, a light plane has been a frequent uninvited guest, towing a banner through the skies that read "California is not for sale."
Schwarzenegger's fund-raising events for big drug companies and hospitals has netted him close to $100 million since he took office. His payback to his wealthy donors is to attempt to rescind a California law requiring a safe ratio of registered nurses to patients in the state's hospitals. His plan to reform the pension system for state employees included a provision that would remove death and disability benefits. Under pressure from the state's public unions, Arnold has withdrawn his pension plan.
Leading the CAN's fight against the governor is its long-time director, Rose Ann DeMoro, 56, who is not hesitant about taking the fight to the streets on any issue involving her union. Republicans have called her a "very hard core liberal," but they acknowledge that she can be effective.
DeMoro has never worked as a nurse, in her 19 years with the CNA. She became involved in the labor movement after leaving a UC Barbara graduate program on women's studies and then worked for the Teamsters in Hollywood. Under her 12-year leadership, CNA has tripled in size and now has 60,000 members, with a high percentage of political activists. The union has won 65 National Labor Relations Board elections and lost only about a half dozen, a win-lose ratio that is better than most, if not all, AFL-CIO unions.
CNA represents about 45% of hospital nurses in California, a high rate of density that gives it substantial leverage in organizing and collective bargaining. Three-fifths of the 297,000 licensed nurses in the state work in hospitals.
DeMoro says the union's triumphs flow from the strong resolve of the union's 30 part-time directors, all working nurses, as well as a "women's culture" that emphasizes collaboration, rather than competition, within the association hierarchy. The membership is more than 90% female.
The CNA has a cooperation agreement with the Service Employees International Union in California, but has shown no interest in merging with SEIU. Our weekly LaborTalk and The World of Labor columns can be viewed at our web site: www.laboreducator.org.
Harry Kelber's e-mail address is: hkelber@igc.org. -------
I would not call that a blunder. If Arnold can knock the teachers down a notch, that in itself will make his administration a success.