By Tom Dalzell, Business Manager
Everything that we have achieved over the last 60 years is in danger.
Take the misery that our retirees have seen in Nevada, take the furloughs and lay-offs and wage freezes that our public sector members have suffered over the last few years, take the changes that we have seen at PG&E, and take the bald corporate greed that we saw as we tried to organize CalPine workers at the Geysers. Add them up. And then multiple by 20. That is what is coming our way.
Hardcore, rightwing corporate interests have California workers in their sights.
Bolstered by a corporate-centric United States Supreme Court that believes that the founding fathers intended to have unlimited corporate money pouring into elections, they are now trying to silence completely California unions and workers. And they are lying all the way through it.
Twice in recent history California voters have rejected initiatives that would have prohibited unions from using dues collected by payroll deduction for political purposes. A straightforward, honest attack didn’t work, so now they are back with lies, claiming that the new initiative is campaign finance reform that also would apply to corporations, prohibiting them from using money collected by payroll deduction for political purposes. The thing is, of course, that corporations don’t do that. They just spend billions not collected by payroll deduction, and this would not change.
If unions can’t spend dues money on politics, politics will change quickly.
Corporate interests will run California in just a few years. Citizens United money will buy a lot, and with unions silenced there is no counter voice.
Say goodbye to the eight-hour day, to OSHA, to minimum wage — say goodbye to unions.
We will enter the political arena to an extent that we never have before. We have an experienced core of campaign veterans who worked on union political battles in Ohio, Florida, and Wisconsin to lead us as we work to mobilize hundreds of our members to get involved in stopping this initiative.
We will ask you to fight with us. I can’t think of a good reason for you not to help.