Labor trounces Sizemore proposals ... again

By DON McINTOSH, Associate Editor

November 4 was a bad night for Bill Sizemore — the most persistent antagonist of the Oregon union movement. Voters rejected all five of his ballot initiatives, and voted yes on a legislative referral that overturned one of his previous initiatives.

Sizemore may have intended to overwhelm Oregon unions with scattershot proposals this year, but union campaigners say the measures ended up energizing and unifying the union movement, and even firmed up organized labor’s alliances with other groups.

Labor and its allies put more than $15 million into an umbrella group, Defend Oregon, that was created to defeat the Sizemore measures and two others sponsored by former Oregon Republican Party Chair Kevin Mannix. Defend Oregon also helped to pass several referrals from the state’s Democratic-majority Legislature.

Defend Oregon both pooled resources and divided up some of the work of opposing similar measures. Associated campaigns were formed under the Defend Oregon umbrella to fight specific measures. For example, the Oregon Education Association (OEA) formed Parents and Teachers Know Better — to fight Measures 58 and 60, the latter of which would have instituted an ill-defined merit system and scrapped cost-of-living increases and seniority rights for teachers. Building trades unions teamed with Realtors and insurances companies and formed Oregonians Against Unsafe Housing to fight Measure 63, which would have allowed home improvements of up to $35,000 to take place without permits or inspections. Public employee unions formed the Don’t Silence Our Voice Committee to fight Measure 64, which would have made it harder for public workers to give to their unions’ political campaigns. And the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Service Employees International Union, and OEA contributed to the Better Way to Fight Crime Committee, which opposed Mannix’ measures 61 and 62 and supported a legislative referral alternative.

Labor had help in opposing Measure 64. Though the measure was chiefly aimed at politically disarming public employee unions, other non-profit groups felt that the measure’s broad language was loose enough to hamstring their fundraising as well. Groups like the Sierra Club and Basic Rights Oregon had a stake in defeating the measure, because both also get donations from state employee workplace giving programs, and they take positions on legislation in Salem. The Oregon Humane Society sent messages out to members and supporters via e-mail and its newsletter.

“Everyone learned that when we do all stick together, we all win together,” said Defend Oregon spokesperson Scott Moore.

Defend Oregon worked closely with the Oregon AFL-CIO and with the Change to Win federation, both of which had their own high-intensity political mobilizations going. From August to Election Day, coalition allies met at least weekly in person or by conference call to coordinate.

Coalition partners, both unions and non-profit groups, worked hard to educate their own members. To be a union member in Oregon was to get friendly phone calls from fellow unionists — until county elections offices recorded their ballot was received.

And the campaign got assists from Democratic candidates. For example, volunteers who went door-to-door distributing literature for Jeff Merkley’s U.S. Senate campaign also distributed Defend Oregon material about ballot measures.

Defend Oregon also used its campaign resources to pay for television ads, direct mail to voters, polling to test how well the messages were getting out, and to hire the door-to-door canvass operation of Working America — the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate. In the end, both of the Mannix measures and all five of the Sizemore measures went down to defeat.

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