councilor.org
| Source | D. Ohmans |
| Date | 99/05/01/02:09 |
| /* Written 6:56 AM Feb 16, 1998 by jshell@netcom.com in igc:labr.all */ /* ---------- "Labor To Fight CA Ballot Initiative" ---------- */ Labor to Fight Moves to Curb Political Power By Frank Swoboda Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, February 14, 1998; The AFL-CIO said yesterday it plans to spend millions of dollars and mount unprecedented grass-roots activities to defeat a California ballot initiative and similar efforts in at least 14 other states that unions claim could take them out of the political game. AFL-CIO political director Steve Rosenthal said labor will spend about $8 million in California and launch "the most massive grass-roots effort we've ever done in the state" to try to defeat a June 2 ballot initiative that would greatly limit the ability of unions to use membership dues for political purposes. The governorship of the nation's largest state is up for grabs this year, and union officials said the initiative -- now enjoying 70 percent support in some polls -- would effectively bar unions from its usual role in that election. "This is the most direct and concerted legal attack against labor as an institution that's ever happened," AFL-CIO attorney Larry Gold said. The California initiative is just one of 19 legislative proposals or ballot initiatives labor faces in 15 states so far this year, all designed to curb union political power. But Grover Norquist, a confidant of House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and coordinator of the nationwide campaign against labor, said yesterday that he hoped to have either ballot initiatives or legislative proposals in at least 40 states by the end of the year, thus tying up labor's election-year funds in Lilliputian knots. Supporters of the California initiative will probably spend $10 million in California and almost $20 million in the other states, Norquist asserted. "If they [unions] don't outspend us 10 to 1, they'll lose. I think they'll outspend us 4 to 1 and we'll win," said Norquist, director of Americans for Tax Reform and a key player in past debates over proposed balanced budget and term-limits amendments to the Constitution. Federal legislation that would put into place similar restrictions against labor nationally is pending in both the House and Senate, but is considered unlikely to pass, much less survive a presidential veto. Norquist said he and his supporters chose the state route to try to curb the unions' political activity "because Bill Clinton has the veto pen, but he can't veto the state initiatives." The focus of the California initiative and most of the other pending state actions is the millions of dollars in dues unions receive from their members. In California, the ballot initiative would bar unions and employers from using union dues or other fees connected with union membership for political contributions or expenditures unless they had annual written authorization from the union member. Under current law, a union member who doesn't want to have his dues used for political purposes must resign from the union and, in many states, continue to pay a fee equal to the dues minus the political portion. Union leaders contend that the initiatives are part of a concerted Republican attack to once and for all curb labor's political powers, a payback for labor's efforts in the 1996 congressional elections. The AFL-CIO spent $35 million on a media blitz directed against GOP candidates that year and all told, labor spent $119 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Underscoring the shift in labor's political fortunes since 1996 is the fact that legislative proposals to curb labor's political impact have been introduced in at least five states that have traditionally been labor strongholds: Maryland, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The unions are also worried about possible initiatives in states such as Ohio, Kansas, New Jersey, Utah, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming and Iowa where Republicans now control both houses of the legislature and the governorship. If passed, the California initiative will go into effect July 1 and labor would have to go to each union member in the state to get written approval to spend their dues money on politics. Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, who is barred from seeking reelection, is actively supporting the ballot initiative. Some polls indicate that the initiative loses support once it is explained to potential voters. Rosenthal said that a loss in California in the short run "will have a pretty devastating effect." Labor could still field volunteers, but would not be able to tap membership money -- its key source of funds for political purposes. Gold indicated that if labor lost at the ballot box, it would challenge the constitutionality of the law on grounds that it abridged labor's right of free speech. "Obviously, this strikes at the heart of First Amendment activity. We think it may be unconstitutional," Gold said. If the initiatives survived court challenges, the AFL-CIO and member unions could tap the nearly $60 million a year in fees they receive from an affinity credit card. Mark Bucher, the Orange County businessman who helped write the California initiative, scoffed yesterday at the idea that labor would spend only $8 million in that state to fight the ballot proposal. "Anyone who believes they're only spending $8 million is not in touch with reality. Eight million dollars is just the seed money for their campaign," Bucher said. Bucher would say only that "our last report" showed his group had raised $1.3 million. He said the group -- the California Campaign Initiative -- has the support of 12,000 contributors but would not say if the backers included any major business groups. Business groups generally would support such restrictions on labor, but are unwilling to pick an open fight because unions still have clout to block business-backed initiatives in some states. One union official said the business groups have warned labor not to fight the Bucher effort with anti-business initiatives that would force business to openly back the California initiative. In other states, where business groups have taken a position against labor, the unions plan to take counter-initiatives, such as ballot proposals to limit corporate political activity without shareholder approval or legislative proposals to cut tax breaks for political activity. |
Copyright (c) 1998, Joongpil Cho