President's Message Proposition 32: A Deceptive Attack That Threatens All California Workers and All We Have Fought to Achieve: By Carlos Clayton, P.E. Unit 501, DPW

We all know the wealthy and wellconnected are accustomed to playing by their own set of rules. Their lawyers and lobbyists write special exemptions for them that the rest of us would never be able to get.

For instance, G.E. made $14.2 billion in profits yet paid no taxes to the federal government – in fact, they got a refund. Despite crashing our economy and getting a massive bailout from taxpayers, the big banks somehow evade meaningful financial industry regulations. Corporate CEOs are slashing the jobs, wages and retirement of rank-and-file workers, but still giving themselves record bonuses and golden parachutes.

It’s not that there aren’t rules that we should all live by to make this a fairer and equitable society, it’s just that corporate CEOs and billionaires know how to get around those rules by creating a maze of exemptions that allow them to gain even more power at our expense.

This unfortunate reality is on full display with Proposition 32, a November ballot measure its backers say is about getting “special interests” out of politics.

Problem is, Prop. 32, the so-called “Stop Special Interest Money Now Act” isn’t what it seems. It’s bankrolled by anti-union millionaires. It does absolutely nothing to stem the flow of money into politics from wealthy corporations. In fact, it exempts all of them (and many more corporate interests like real estate developers, insurance companies and Wall St. hedge funds) while silencing the voice of unions and workers, including us.

If they succeed in tricking voters into passing this measure, you better believe it won’t stop there. This Proposition is just the first step of an ultimate one-two punch that ends with us losing our rights and all of the things we value, like workplace health and safety, wage protections, affordable health care, retirement security, and even our right to have a union.

Just imagine what the recent pension reforms (PEPRA) adopted by Sacramento politicians might look like if we, as CAPE members, and all of the labor movement had no political voice. Imagine what our careers would look like if, due to losing our voice, the State Legislature or voters decided to strip us of our collective bargaining rights and we had no contract MOUs to negotiate and enforce with L.A. County. Would CAPE have been able to successfully restore the full 4% employer match in Horizons this year? Would the County have agreed to our demand for a substantial increase toward CHOICES in 2013 to help cover our rising healthcare costs? Would our current wages and benefits be safe?

In short, Prop. 32 is the most anti-worker measure we’ve ever seen. Please don’t be fooled. Those behind Prop. 32 aren’t do-gooders trying to reform government. They’re corporate executives and anti-union millionaires who will stop at nothing to drown out the voices of working people like us. If this deceptive measure passes, the result would be a devastating tilt in power to big banks, corporate CEOs and their lobbyists that would further undermine California’s middle class and jeopardize all we have fought to achieve for our careers.

It’s up to all of us to stop it from happening. For our part, we’re doing all we can. So far we’ve collected more than 500 NO on PROP 32 Commitment Cards from CAPE members, all of which will be utilized to help Get-Out-The-Vote on or before November 6th. We’ve also staffed phone banks every Tuesday night since early September, calling voters to identify more NO on PROP 32 votes prior to the Election. By the time we are finished, CAPE members will have made over 5,600 calls to voters resulting in at least 500 more NO on PROP 32 votes.

We must defeat Proposition 32 in the November Presidential Election!

Volunteer opportunities are still available as we approach Election Day. Please visit the CAPE-NO on PROP 32 website page at http://www.capeunion.org/cape-no-prop-32 or call our office at (213) 484-0400 to find out how you can help.