L.A. County Employee Union members are not a part of the "activism" that is cited here. Schwarzenegger (& media) is using one segment of unions to give a bad name to all of them.
I'd agree as far as the fact that 99% of the union guys I know are solid, principled, faimly men who always give 100% on the job and put it on the table for their wives and kids; entirely UNLIKE the mob in this video. My brother's LACoFD and he sees it all from the inside and most of the guys are nothing like the mob in the video.
But, what I ALSO know is that the union guys I know that aren't Democrat voters take extreme exception to the ability that unions have to use member's dues money to promote candidates and ballot measures that they'd never vote for.
Even if THEIR union ISN'T doing it, the feeling is that, since they COULD, it'll only be a matter of time before they WILL.
These guys are saying, "Screw THAT!" If there's a candidate that needs support or opposition because his candidacy affects union jobs, these guys want to be able to put the money on the table themselves to help elect or defeat that candidate, not have the union boss do it for them. Likewise for ballot measures.
The bottom line is that union members deserve to have the freedom that everyone else has; to decide as individuals what candidates and causes they want to support monetarily, and Prop 75 makes that a reality.
Once this passes, if the union boss wants to use dues money for political purposes, he's got to get permission from members, first, and most members are going to say, "No thanks, I'll decide for myself." So, the bosses are lining up the goons to fight this, because they're about to get politically neutered. 'Bout damned time, too.
Reminds me of the old lawyer joke "you know 90% of the lawyers are giving the other 10% a bad reputation".
Fact is 90% of union activities are for funding democrats, stifling competion and innovation, and sometimes outright graft and corruption.