Arizona – ‘Our Democracy Is Not for Sale!’
Arizona public service workers, retirees and community activists gathered in front of the statehouse in Phoenix to protest corruption and corporate money in politics. (Photo by Allison Padgett)
In their fight back against Gov. Jan Brewer and her corporate-backed allies in the state Legislature, AFSCME members and community supporters have scored some victories while bracing
for more battles ahead.
Pushed by groups such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Goldwater Institute, Arizona lawmakers have been ramming through a raft of bills designed to destroy public employee unions. One was a brazen attempt last year to take away workers’ right to voluntarily contribute to their unions’ political action funds.
AFSCME and other labor groups sued, and a judge later ruled the law unconstitutional. The court also ruled that a law passed last year increasing the contribution that state employees make to their pension funds, from 50 percent to 53 percent, is unconstitutional. As a result, more than 200,000 public service workers will receive a refund.
This year, despite being rebuffed by the courts, Governor Brewer plans to take away civil service protections for 30,000 state workers, a return back to the spoils system where politics have an undue influence in public service. At the state Legislature, the Republican-controlled Senate passed several bills out of committee that would eliminate collective bargaining entirely and all-but eradicate workers’ rights to organize. Another proposed measure ends payroll deductions for voluntary contributions to a union’s political action fund — something already declared unconstitutional by a judge last year.
“We reject all these attempts to destroy our rights and protections,” says Sheri Van Horsen, president of Local 3111. “Our democracy is not for sale.”
Workers are winning some battles. Last year, anti-worker candidates for mayor and council in Phoenix were defeated. In Peoria, city workers helped block an attempt to privatize sanitation services. “With this victory we are empowered to take on anyone who wants to put profits over people,” said Randy Cordero, a city utility worker for more than 23 years and president of Local 3282.
