Union Buster

The Govenator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is gearing up for his big special election where his main intent appears to be to weaken unions as much as possible. No, not ever proposition is aimed at weakening unions, but proposition 74 and proposition 75 are (links are to Official Title and Summary).

If you live in California I urge you to read on. I'll take you through what the supporters of these propositions argue, and then I'll pull out my bull-shit detector and show you how they are really nothing more than ploys to weaken an already anemic labor movement.

Proposition 74, if passed would increase the probationary period for public school teachers from two to five years and make it easier to dismiss a tenured teacher who receives repeated unsatisfactory performance evaluations.

Supporters of the proposition argue that the extended probationary period will help weed out bad teachers while making it easier to fire the bad teachers.

That's a favorable summary of their argument. Notice there is no mention of "union busting" to be found. Remember this: the war against labor is seldom publicized.

Tenure represents an amazing advance for the labor union. Imagine enough union members in a particular trade, in this instance teaching, came together and demanded due process when being fired and got it! They got it!

It's not a pass to do whatever the hell you want. But it is freedom from bullying bosses who can often let petty grievances smolder and become much bigger issues which they can seek to fire you for.

But more importantly, by making it easier to dismiss teachers we make it that much more difficult for the union to bargain effectively. Their membership, less secure in their position, are much less likely to fight for improved compensation and better working conditions.

Proposition 75 is another sneaky proposition. Proposition 75 would require, if passed, public employee unions to obtain written annual approval from individual members to use their dues to make donations to support political candidates or issues.

This one is so damn sneaky it makes me sick.

Proponents argue that it will give union members control over whether their personal dues can be deposited in the union's political action fund, thus allowing those who do not personally support their union's political choices to abstain without giving up their right to participate as union members.

Here's the crazy thing. I love the idea in theory, and I like the larger issue it brings up: much needed democratic reform within the labor movement.

The idea that union members should have a say in where their dues are spent is a sound idea. But in order for that to happen you have to have an educated labor force. That's something we simply don't have in this country.

Ultimately Proposition 75 is a power grab by the Govenator to silence the collective voice of unions. As a practical matter unions simply cannot afford to send off mailings to every single member evrytime they engage in political activity. It would bankrupt even the biggest unions. Unions simply cannot afford to do it.

Secondly, getting 100% of members to even respond would be impossible. So even if you could afford it, millions would be lost in campaign contributions that could help elect pro-labor candidates.

In the end, both proposition 74 and 75 are aimed at weakening unions in this state. They are part of they very old war against labor that has been waged in this country for a great number of years. Proposition 74 aims at undermining the security of tenured and prospective teachers while doing nothing to raise the standard or attract better teachers. Proposition 75 simply aims to silence unions from our political discourse.

If you live in California, I urge you to vote no on Prop. 74 and 75.

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