Californians Preparing to Fight Corporate Power Grab

by Allison Padgett  |  April 13, 2012

A new video highlights why California’s nurses, fire fighters and other public service workers are pulling together to fight a deceptive measure on the statewide ballot in November that limits union members’ political power while bolstering that of corporations.

The video was created by Alliance for a Better California, a coalition of workers across the state who are fighting to protect the right of working Californians to have a voice in the political process. Corporations and the super-rich are pushing this measure under the guise of “campaign reform” when in fact it is a one-sided attack on working families.

“Plain and simple this is about union busting. It’s about silencing the working person’s voice,” says Lisa Beaty, a Contra Costa County fire captain featured in the video.

The Corporate Power Grab Initiative, on the November ballot, prohibits unions from using dues through payroll deduction on ballot measures or candidates – but does nothing to reign in unlimited corporate spending in politics. Corporations already outspend unions on politics by 15:1.

“If we allow the corporations to make the scale even more unbalanced than it already is, then we are just setting ourselves up for failure,” says AFSCME Local 3299 member Reggie Wilson. Wilson is a biohazardous waste technician at University of California Davis Medical Center and a bargaining team member.

As part of the Alliance for a Better California, AFSCME members across the state will pound the pavement to stop big money interests from rolling back fair wages, safe working conditions and other hard-won rights for working families.