Union Workers Start Protest Against Prop 32

Over 1,000 union workers joined forces Thursday in Los Angeles to kick off a six-week campaign against Proposition 32. The workers will take the the phones and go door-to-door in hopes of stopping this new proposition that the Union says gives special exemptions to corporate special interests and Super PACs.

Union workers are starting a campaign to protest Prop 32

 "Well Prop 32 isn't just about union members," said Antonio Sanchez from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. "But it's about working class families.  If Prop 32 passes, it would prohibit, among many things, it would prohibit paycheck deduction from being used by unions and corporations."

Proposition 32 claims to focus on "stopping special interests," but the California Labor Federation says if passed, this legislation will do nothing to fix the imbalance of power in Sacramento and will instead continue to make the rich richer and weaken the middle class.

"It's so deceitful. It's so unamerican," said Cathy Sutherland, a delegate for the Los Angeles County Labor Federation. "And it will shut the voice of unions if we're not allowed to voluntarily give our hard earned dollars to our union to make differences in legislation and to look out for our interests.

Other news sources have echoed the feelings of the union workers. The LA Times said that Prop 32 is, "the fraud to end all frauds." Similarly, the San Jose Mercury News said that it would, "magnify the influence of wealthy interests, while shutting out many middle-class voters."

The Mercury News went on to describe the so-called sham of Prop 32. "It does ban corporations as well as unions from using paycheck deductions for political purposes, but corporations don't do that. Their political donations come straight from the treasury or executives. By contrast, paycheck deductions are the primary method California's 2.5 million union members use to fund political spending."

Proponents of this initiative call it "paycheck protection" because Prop 32 bars the collection of union dues from paychecks for political purposes, even if union members give permission. However, this idea has already been stopped twice by voters in 1998 and 2005.

The California Labor Federation is urging voters to look past the deceptive wording of Prop 32, which they say specifically limits the voices of union members, and vote no this November.