Will California vote to silence workers?

SACRAMENTO, CA -- A California initiative taking direct aim at working families is a preview of anti-worker propositions likely to come at the state and federal level. The measure would require unions to get members' written permission each year to use a small portion of dues money for political activities.

In clear retaliation for organized labor's ongoing organizing and political success, the Republican Governors Association recently threw its support behind "payroll protection" initiatives.

The California measure is similar to the Paycheck Protection Act, pending federal legislation proposed by Republicans in Congress.

So far, such statutes have been approved in only two states -- by voters in Washington and by legislative action in Michigan. The Evergreen Freedom Foundation in Seattle, which promoted Washington Initiative 134 in 1992, has dramatically reduced the political treasuries of public employee unions. The statute prohibits dues check-off by public employees for the purpose of political activity.

According to the Washington State Labor Council, in 1988 Washington businesses contributed $3.69 million to political action committees compared to $2.7 million by organized labor, a relatively close ratio.

But by 1996 that margin had widened to $8.1 million from business to $3.8 million from organized labor.

In Oregon, the right-wing Oregon Taxpayers United is gathering signatures for an initiative that would ban payroll deduction by public employee unions engaged in any political activity, including lobbying.

California's "Campaign Reform Initiative" is being sold to voters by right-wing Republicans and the Washington, D.C.-based Americans For Tax Reform. That group also has ties to Oregon Taxpayers United.

The anti-worker group filed 740,000 signatures with the election board in California. It takes 439,000 valid signatures to put the measure on the June ballot.

The California AFL-CIO is appealing a negative ruling on a lawsuit to invalidate 120,000 of the signatures that were collected by mail because the form included a solicitation from Americans For Tax Reform President Grover Norquist seeking "your largest possible contribution." The packet of "official State of California Election Documents" included a letter from California Governor Pete Wilson requesting that voters sign and return these "official" documents within 24 hours to help him "end a massive political shakedown." Norquist, according to the Washington Post, hopes to raise $10 million to lobby for passage of such measures in every state.

Bill Camp, assistant political director of the California Labor Federation, called the initiative "diabolical" because it would let employers know which employees contributed to union political action campaigns.

AFL-CIO affiliates are circulating petitions by the California Fire Fighters Association and the California Congress of Seniors. One would ban all corporate contributions to political candidates; the other would sunset all business tax loopholes and refund to taxpayers all the money collected from eliminating the loopholes.

© Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc.