|
Argument in Favor of Proposition 75
PROPOSITION 75 PROTECTS PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
FROM HAVING POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS TAKEN
AND USED WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION.
There’s a FUNDAMENTAL UNFAIRNESS IN CALIFORNIA:
- Hundreds of thousands of public employee union
members are forced to contribute their hard earned money
to political candidates or issues they may oppose.
- Powerful and politically connected union leaders—a
small handful of people—can make unilateral decisions
with these “forced contributions” to fund political
campaigns without their members’ consent. The workers have
no choice—money is automatically deducted from their
dues.
Firefighters, police officers, teachers, and other public
employees work hard for the people of California and we
owe them a huge debt for the work they do on our behalf.
That’s why it’s only fair that public employees give their permission
before their hard earned dollars are taken and given to politicians
and political campaigns.
Many public employee union members don’t support the
political agenda of the union bosses and it’s not right that
they are forced to contribute to political candidates and
campaigns they oppose:
- Campaign finance records document that several public
employee unions have spent more than $2 million
to qualify a ballot measure that would raise property
taxes by billions of dollars—rolling back Proposition 13
protections.
- Many members of these unions may oppose this, but
the union leaders just take the money and spend it even
though individual union members may disagree.
That’s not right and it’s not fair.
HERE’S WHAT ACTUAL UNION MEMBERS SAY:
“I’ve been a public school teacher for 20 years. I joined
the union when I started teaching because of the benefits
it provided and I’ve always been a proud member.
However, despite the many good things the union does,
it . . . contribute[s] a portion of my dues to political . . .
campaigns I often disagree with. That’s simply unfair. I
want to be a member of the teachers union, but I don’t
want to be forced to contribute my money to the union
leaders’ political agenda.”
Diane Lenning, Huntington Beach
“I’m a member of the largest state employee union. I
believe in the union and what it does. It supports me in
many ways, but I don’t need it spending a portion of my
dues for political purposes. If I want to make a political
contribution to a candidate it should be voluntary, not
mandatory.”
Jim Prunty, Glendora
PROPOSITION 75—IT’S COMMON SENSE.
Here’s what it’ll do:
- Give public employees the same choices we all have.
- Require public employee unions to obtain annual written
consent from members before their dues are taken for political
purposes.
- Allow government employees to decide when, how, and if their
hard earned wages are spent to support political candidates or
campaigns.
Proposition 75 will NOT prevent unions from collecting
political contributions, but those contributions will be
CLEARLY VOLUNTARY.
Vote YES on Proposition 75.
Give California workers the freedom and choice we all
deserve and help restore union members’ political rights.
Learn more, visit www.caforpaycheckprotection.com.
MILTON FRIEDMAN, Nobel Prize Winner
LEWIS UHLER, President
National Taxpayer Limitation Committee
ALLAN MANSOOR, Member of Association of Orange
County Deputy Sheriffs
Rebuttal to Argument in Favor of Proposition 75
PROPONENTS ARE ONLY PRETENDING TO PROTECT
WORKERS.
Prop. 75’s sponsor, Lewis Uhler, told the San Francisco
Chronicle on June 8th that he designed 75 to target public
employees because of their “greed” and “arrogance.” Uhler
and the big corporations funding 75 aren’t trying to protect
workers—they’re trying to silence them.
WORKERS ALREADY ARE PROTECTED
The U.S. Supreme Court says no public employee can
be forced to join a union and contribute dues to politics.
Union members already elect their own leaders and
participate in internal decisions. Of course, not every
member agrees with every decision of the group. That’s
democracy.
PROP. 75 IS NOT ABOUT FAIRNESS
“This year, our kids’ schools have been under attack
by initiatives paid for by big corporations. Some would
permanently cut annual school funding by $4 billion.
“Prop. 75 would limit teachers’ ability to fight such
harmful proposals in future elections through our
unions, but does nothing to limit the big developers
and banks behind this attempt to cut school funding.
“Prop. 75 is designed to make us spend time and
money on a government-imposed bureaucratic process
instead of fighting for our schools and our kids.”
Heidi Chipman, Teacher, Kraemer Middle School
Others will lose. Nurses fighting for hospital staffing
protection . . . Police and Firefighters fighting against
elimination of survivor benefits for those who die in the line
of duty. Their labor unions are restricted under Prop. 75, but their
opponents are not.
Please stop this unfair attack on teachers, nurses, police,
and firefighters. Vote NO on Prop. 75.
Visit www.prop75NO.com.
LIEUTENANT RON COTTINGHAM, President
Peace Officer’s Research Association of California
MARY BERGAN, President
California Federation of Teachers
DEBORAH BURGER, President
California Nurses Association
|
 |
Argument Against Proposition 75
Prop. 75 is unnecessary and unfair. Its hidden agenda is
to weaken public employees and strengthen the political
influence of big corporations.
Prop. 75 does not protect the rights of teachers, nurses,
police, and firefighters. Instead it’s designed to reduce their
ability to respond when politicians would harm education,
health care, and public safety.
In 1998, voters rejected a similar proposition and union
members voted NO overwhelmingly.
TARGETS TEACHERS, NURSES, FIREFIGHTERS, AND
POLICE
Why does 75 target people who take care of all of us?
Recently, teachers fought to restore funding the state
borrowed from our public schools, but never repaid. Nurses
battled against reductions in hospital staffing to protect
patients. Police and firefighters fought against elimination
of survivor’s benefits for families of those who die in the line
of duty.
Prop. 75 is an unfair attempt to diminish the voice of
teachers, nurses, firefighters, and police at a time when we
need to hear them most.
Prop. 75 only restricts public employees. It does not
restrict corporations—even though corporations spend
shareholders’ money on politics. The nonpartisan Center
for Responsive Politics says corporations already outspend
unions in politics nationally by 24 to 1. Prop. 75 will make
this imbalance even worse.
CURRENT LAW ALREADY PROTECTS WORKERS
No public employee in California can be forced to become
a member of a union. Non-members pay fees to the union
for collective bargaining services, but the U.S. Supreme
Court has consistently ruled that unions cannot use these
fees for political purposes. The union must send financial
statements to the worker to ensure that no unauthorized
fees are used for politics. Today, 25% of state employees
contribute no money to their union’s political activities.
Union members already have the right to democratically
vote their leaders into and out of office and to establish
their own internal rules concerning political contributions.
Prop. 75 takes away union members’ right to make their own
decisions and substitutes a government-imposed bureaucratic process.
VIOLATES EMPLOYEES’ PRIVACY
Prop. 75 requires members who want to participate
to sign a government-imposed personal disclosure form
that could be circulated in the workplace. This form, with
information about individual employees and their political
contributions, could be accessed by a state agency—an
invasion of individual privacy which could raise the
possibility of intimidation and retaliation against employees
on the job.
WHO’S BEHIND PROP. 75?
Its lead sponsor is Lewis Uhler, a former John Birch
Society activist, who campaigned for Bush’s Social Security
privatization plan.
It’s funded by the deceptively named Small Business
Action Committee, which is financed by large corporations.
Backers of 75 say they want to protect workers’ rights, but that’s not true. They’re against the minimum wage, against protecting employee health care, against the 8-hour day.
Backers of 75 aren’t for working people, they want to silence
working people who stand against them.
VOTE NO ON 75
Please help stop this unfair attempt to apply restrictions
to unions of public employees, such as teachers, nurses,
firefighters, police, and sheriffs that would apply to no one
else.
LOU PAULSON, President
California Professional Firefighters
BARBARA KERR, President
California Teachers Association
SANDRA MARQUES, RN, Local President,
United Nurses Associations of California
Rebuttal to Argument Against Proposition 75
Despite what union leaders would like you to believe,
public opinion surveys show that nearly 60% of union
households SUPPORT PROPOSITION 75.
Proposition 75 is NOT about the political influence of
unions or corporations—it’s simply about INDIVIDUAL
CHOICE.
A nonpartisan employee rights group measured the
results of a Paycheck Protection measure in Washington
State. Its findings showed that 85% of teachers chose NOT to
participate in their union’s political activities.
Consider the recent actions by the prison guard union
and teacher union—is this fair?
Despite opposition from more than 4,000 prison
guards, their union increased dues by $18 million over
two years to pay for political campaigns and to give to
politicians.
WITHOUT A VOTE OF THE MEMBERSHIP, the
teachers union recently increased dues by $50 million
over three years in order to fund political campaigns.
This is NOT a fair choice—it’s not what our teachers, police
officers, firefighters, and other public employees deserve.
YES ON 75 will simply ask public employee union
members for their approval before automatically using dues
for political purposes.
Proposition 75 will NOT prevent unions from collecting
political contributions, but those contributions will be
CLEARLY VOLUNTARY. It will hold public employee
union leaders more ACCOUNTABLE to their membership.
There are no hidden agendas. No power grabs. Just
protecting workers’ rights. Read the official Title and Summary
for yourself—it’s really that simple.
VOTE YES ON 75—let individuals, not union leaders,
decide whether their dues should be spent on politics.
JAMES GALLEY, Past Vice President
AFSCME/AFL-CIO, Local 127
ARCHIE CAUGHELL, Member
Service Employees International Union
PAMELA SMITH, Member
California Teachers Association
|
Arguments and Rebuttals
