Posted on 11/09/2005 3:59:29 PM PST by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Buoyed by a come-from-behind victory over a ballot initiative that threatened labor's powerful role in state politics, union leaders said Wednesday their next move is to defeat Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's re-election bid.
"In the coming days and weeks, working families are going to begin our efforts to ensure that in California we elect a Legislature and a governor that will fight for the interest of working families," said Martin Ludlow, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.
Proposition 75, which would have required public employee unions to get permission from members annually before dues could be spent on politics, was rejected with 53 percent of voters opposing it and 47 percent in favor.
The measure's defeat, which came after it led in the polls for weeks, capped the failure of four ballot initiatives Schwarzenegger touted as government reform.
Union leaders, who spent more than $100 million against Schwarzenegger's platform said Proposition 75 was aimed directly at muffling labor's voice in statewide politics, which is largely in support of Democratic candidates and goals.
"This was an attempt by the governor to silence working people from ever taking him on again," Ludlow said at a news conference by several union leaders. "This wasn't about an agenda that Californians put forward, this was about an agenda that the governor put forward to silence us and not allow us to continue to fight on behalf of all Californians."
Schwarzenegger galvanized unions that don't have much history of cooperation to form an unusual alliance after he made a series of strategic mistakes, observers said.
The governor's first volley against unions came when he tried to override a law requiring higher nurse-to-patient ratios at hospitals last year. He then angered teachers by breaking a promise education leaders thought they had secured over $2 billion in school funding. A pension reform measure he supported drew opposition from police and fire groups and he then tried to make it harder for teachers to get tenure.
"This is a strange coalition of interests that normally would not have come together," said Larry Gerston, a political science professor at California State University, San Jose. "All of it happened because of a series of miscalculations by the governor."
In the wake of Tuesday's defeat, Schwarzenegger has said that he wants to meet with Democratic leaders in an effort to rekindle bipartisanism in the Capitol. But Democrats and labor groups are watching him closely, well aware that restricting union's ability to raise political money has been a longtime goal of the California Republican Party.
Labor leaders said that regardless of what amends are made in Sacramento, they will be ready to run vigorous campaigns next year - including opposition to Schwarzenegger's re-election.
The relationship between the unions and the governor has been harmed by the special election, said Lou Paulson, president of the California Professional Firefighters.
"We've lost trust. He reneged on promises to education. He belittled nurses," Paulson said. "That's what voters said - we don't trust him."
The alliance, while formidable, could easily fall apart given their formerly tenuous ties.
"They ought not to overstate their clout," Gerston said.
But their ability to raise funds - twice as much as Schwarzenegger and his supporters raised - remains unhindered after Tuesday's vote and the army of union members is vast.
"We're not tapped out," said Brian D'Arcy, spokesman for Local 18 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. "We will have plenty of money to do all that, but we'll also have the troops."
I live in Cal and have a 28 year peace officer retirement. For the first time in my retirement I'm worried.
Time to get another paycheck protection initiative on the 2006 ballot...
Unions must die.
Die, unions, die.
DIE, DIE, DIE!
"Time to get another paycheck protection initiative on the 2006 ballot..."
Exactly. The unions blew a huge wad to maintain ground. They can be broken if pressure is kept up. Its a tough nut to crack. But it CAN be cracked.
The unions not only spent everything they had and everything they could borrow on this election, but they've already issued a special "assessment" on their members for additional funds. Several teachers have filed lawsuits throughout the state challenging these "assessments" as well as challenging the present opt-out process. The union can huff and puff all it wants about its unlimited membership and unlimited funds, but only the universe is infinite. Union funds and, hopefully, union members' patience with this dogfight between the gov. and the union bosses, may not be infinite.
The unions are going to take the state of California down with them.
Schwarzenegger isn't going to do anything to jeopardize your retirement program.
From my perspective your only worry is that the political class in California will tax you into poverty.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
The unions are going to take the state of California down with them.
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Yes, along with the socialist/liberal legislature, and the socialist media.
Now I'm afraid with the inmates firmly in control of the asylum... It'll take an act of God to restore sanity and any semblance of fiscal responsibility to our formerly Golden State!!!
Yep. $100 million ain't chump change. Money spent on one thing can't be spent on another. Also, don't forget the recent split amongst the unions over $$ for 'rats versus $$ for recruitment....
They will expect us to bail them out though. Hopefully Bush won't be President when it happens. He'd do it.
If the Goose lays a few more Lead Eggs the bond companies will ask for Goose Stew...
I know what the dems and unions are up to.
They threw all the money they had at this and promised the dems defeat.
The dems will reward them when a democrat is put back in the governors mansion by upping the pay to all the state union workers. The unions will take a bigger cut of the paychecks, and then can increase their donations to democrat elections. In the end, all paid for by the California tax payer.
Rinse, lather, repeat.
We have the same ugly system going on up here in Seattle.
Oh! That's right!! Someone has now sold CA out to the Investment Bankers on Wall Street who have HIGH EXPECTATIONS!!! (and git ugly on low, junky ratings) (BOHICA)
That’s just one tool they have at their disposal.
Several teachers have filed lawsuits throughout the state challenging these "assessments" as well as challenging the present opt-out process. The union can huff and puff all it wants about its unlimited membership and unlimited funds, but only the universe is infinite.
Labor unions have been given wide latitude WRT state/fed labor law and the courts to do just about *anything* they want/need to in order to advance the “cause” of organized labor. Believe it or not.
I have no experience with public employee unions. Just what I’ve read about. Most of IBEW, IBT, Operating Engineers, etc are private employee unions. In a closed shop state you usually (always?) have to be a member of a particular local – in good standing – in order to fill a position.
That’s where the next shoe drops. You start filing lawsuits or getting adamant with them and they can fine you, suspend you, or expel you from the membership. If you’re not in “good standing” you’re SOL and they’re given (at least historically have been) wide latitude in managing their internal membership affairs too.
Yes, unions have been given power that far exceeds their value or importance. But that’s what you’re going to have to deal with and they have a captive audience WRT money for political activism. Gotta understand that going in or you're going to get rolled like Schwarzenegger is now. IMO, of course.
Schwarzenegger needs to come right back out and hit them again, harder this time.
My worry is the growing cal state debt and what may be necessary in the future to "balance" the budget.
The deal is already done.
One of three issues contained in Prop 76, unrelated to the primary issue and buried deep within the initiative's language, was constitutional protection for Prop 57/58 creditors which was a demand of the lenders before floating any more "low" interest loans to Schwarzenegger. Prop 76 failed and now California faces continued high interest rates and brokerage fees if Schwarzenegger goes to the well for any new loans including infrastructure improvement bonds.
Keep an eye open for the next set of initiatives, because buried somewhere in one of these initiatives will be another attempt to provide constitutional protection for Wall Street.
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