by Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski

I recall vividly my first union job. At the age of 16, I joined the Amalgamated Meat Cutters Union as a supermarket clerk. I remember the good wages in my first paycheck and the sense of pride I felt when I received my first union card.

Back then, about a quarter of all private sector workers were union members. Collective bargaining allowed us a path to a better life. The standard of living rose, not just for those of us in a union, but even for those who weren’t.

But today, too few workers have the right to bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions. Years of assaults by corporations on the freedom to join unions have taken a terrible toll.

As the protests rage on over Gov. Scott Walker’s politically motivated attempt to strip Wisconsin’s public workers of collective bargaining, there’s too little discussion in the media about the decline in bargaining rights for private sector workers. Instead, opportunistic politicians like Walker have used the current economic crisis to help further their agenda to divide the middle class.

As private sector unionization declined from 25 percent to about 7 percent today, a gargantuan share of our nation’s wealth has left the middle class and gone to the very wealthy. Today, the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans receives 25 percent of our nation’s total share of income, up from 8.9 percent in the 1970s. CEOs, who once made 40 times what rank and file workers made, now rake in 350 times that of the average worker.

Meanwhile, wages for most of us have stagnated or declined over the last decade. Big corporations and Wall Street are profiting off an economic meltdown they largely created while middle-class families suffer. Corporations made record profits in 2010, while doing nothing to create jobs or boost workers. Wall Street bonuses and compensation are up too. Last year, Wall Street firms – including those bailed out by taxpayers — gave out more than $20 billion in executive bonuses.

The attack on unions has a direct correlation to the massive income inequality we face today. Big corporations have turned their back on their workers by reducing wages, cutting benefits and union busting. It used to be that CEOs had a stake in their workers’ economic security. Now it’s all about corporate profit, which the vast majority of workers never benefit from.

The real issue in Wisconsin, Ohio and other states where workers’ rights are under assault isn’t state budgets. Public servants like teachers, nurses, bus drivers and firefighters are in no way responsible for the economic crisis battering our families. These attacks are all about the extreme right-wing and their corporate backers furthering their goal of destroying ALL unions and the middle class we advocate for.

If more workers had the freedom to join unions and bargain collectively, there’d be more wealth in the hands of the middle class. And we’d have a healthier society as a result.

That’s why what’s happening in Wisconsin and other states matters to all workers. If the right-wing extremists succeed in these attacks, corporate CEOs and the politicians they control will forever alter the playing field in their favor, and our once-thriving middle class will become just a footnote in the history of America’s decline.

That’s why every worker must join this fight. This is our moment to stand united to defend our values, and beat back these vicious attacks on our unions, our families and our ideals. Click here for more information and ways you can get involved.

Dear Rep. Issa,

Politico reported Tuesday that last month you delivered letters to over 150 corporations, trade associations and conservative think tanks, requesting a list of their least favorite “existing and proposed regulations” that you, as House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chair, could help eliminate. The article further highlights your appeal for “suggestions on reforming identified regulations and the rulemaking process.”

Obviously there’s been some sort of mistake. As I’m sure you’re aware, Duke Energy, Toyota and Bayer—all recipients of your letter—are not residents of California’s gorgeous 49th district. Maybe you were thrown by the names of the American Petroleum Institute and the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA), hoping they were consumer-driven nonprofits focused on improving the safety of oil production and transport—assuming you’d like to protect the 49th district’s world-class beaches and environmental beauty.

Sadly, such is not the case. These corporations that received your letter, those unimaginably wealthy enough to warrant your personal concern, are not who elected you. They’re not even what elected you: people elected you (unfortunately), trusting you to elevate their needs over those of Fortune 500 company shareholders. Your constituents selected you as the best candidate to abandon partisan ideology when necessary and move towards a more measured, long-term approach to alleviating the current crisis. If nothing else, please let this letter serve as a reminder that distant institutional shareholders are not constituents, and corporations are not people.

Your letters openly indict regulations and rules as primary forces that stifle job growth, despite evidence that identifies weak consumer demand and a rapidly shrinking, more uncertain middle class as the chief obstacles to economic recovery. Perhaps you need to be reminded that the regulations you assail have led to safer food and drugs, cleaner air, better working conditions and more equitable pay.

As far as what created this mess, you’ll hopefully agree that derivatives market excesses on Wall Street built on a shaky housing bubble fueled by subprime mortgage loans stand as the guilty party. In fact, it was underregulation of the financial sector that’s to blame, rather than regulation of anything. As long as you’re writing letters to corporate America, maybe it would have made more sense to ask investment bank executives why their multi-million-dollar fees and bonuses meant more to them than the economic health and future of our country?

Your implied argument that economic recession demands weakened worker safety and environmental protection standards is reprehensible. From a moral standpoint, no elected member of Congress should make an argument for endangering their own constituents without irrefutable evidence of what makes such an evil so necessary. It would seem, however, that your definition of “irrefutable evidence” includes whatever falls from the mouths of business executives and corporate lobbyists paid to pad the bottom line. We disagree.

For example, the National Association of Manufacturers responded to your request for marching orders by naming OHSA consultations as “high-priority regulations that can cost manufacturing jobs.” Not to nitpick, but OSHA consultations are free services provided by OSHA—or a state OSHA program—that identify potential hazards before they happen. This is a win-win that creates both safer and less expensive work environments. As workers, we are curious as to exactly how jobs are created by eliminating a free service that saves employers money and reduces workplace injury.

Another example would be the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association’s position that Clean Air Act controls stand in the way of economic recovery. To this, a spokesman from the Environmental Defense Fund pointed out that these standards grant companies “the lead time and certainty to invest and bring products to the market and actually create jobs.” Again, as workers, we question your desire to attack a program that targets the depressed consumer demand and uncertainty at the heart of our current crisis.

In conclusion, your letter-writing escapade amounts to nothing more than a partisan sideshow. In reality, the workplace safety regulations you demonize don’t kill jobs; they keep jobs from killing people. The environmental standards in your crosshairs aren’t damaging recovery; they’re keeping California a great place to live. As actual residents, we hope you come to your senses and explore other, more effective, less ideologically-driven solutions. If you’re interested to hear about some, feel free to drop us a line. We know how much you love writing letters.

Mitch Seaman is a legislative advocate at the California Labor Federation, which represents 2.1 million workers in 1,200 unions across the state.

In recent days, Meg Whitman’s campaign has been trying to convince anyone who will listen that the polls are wrong because she has used her unlimited resources to buy a superior Get Out the Vote operation that’s going to shock the prognosticators. Just one problem with that… there’s already a massive, sophisticated GOTV operation under way to defeat her.

That operation is powered by the energy of tens of thousands of union volunteers who are embarking on restless days and sleepless nights through Election Day to get the word out to millions of voters. If Whitman's ace in the hole is to beat Jerry Brown with a ground operation, she might consider a Plan B.

Whitman’s spent $170 million and counting to convince voters that the Wall Street way is the right way. But the more voters we talk to, the more clear it becomes that they are rejecting her message that California needs more of the same failed Bush policies — tax cuts for the wealthy, deregulation — that collapsed our economy. Instead, working people are embracing a new direction for California that helps us rebuild from the bottom up by investing in jobs, education and the public services our families rely upon. That's what Jerry Brown will do as Governor.

California Labor’s GOTV program is years in the making, culminating this weekend with more than 30,000 volunteers fanning out across the state to reach as many as 4 million voters. In the final week alone, California Labor will make more than 3.3 million GOTV phone calls, visit 325,000 homes and distribute more than a half million flyers at worksites.

 In addition to the outreach from union member to union member – which is vastly superior to Whitman and Fiorina’s impersonal approach to voter contact – there’s a massive, targeted effort to reach working-class non-union voters in critical areas of the state. More than 2 million voters in the Central Valley, Inland Empire, Orange County and San Diego — traditional Republican strongholds — have been receiving information for weeks on the candidates’ positions on issues like jobs, education and public safety. To further stress the importance of voting, the California Labor Federation launched a GOTV television ad last week, using Whitman's regret over her atrocious voting record to urge voters to not have a “Meg Moment” and get to the polls on Tuesday.

A few other GOTV highlights:

Senate: Union members from all walks of life are getting in on the GOTV effort, including actor Warren Beatty. Beatty recorded a special message to about 500,000 union members about the importance of re-electing Sen. Barbara Boxer, who’s fighting for good jobs, a clean environment and Wall Street reform. The Beatty calls are in addition to the mail blitz that was launched to absentee and regular voters in the last month, which reached more than 1 million households.

Attorney General: Last week, the Labor Federation launched a new TV spot for Kamala Harris entitled “Toughness,” which highlights her strong record fighting crime and protecting consumers. 

Congressional races: We've increased voter contacts in three key districts: CD-3 (Ami Bera), CD-11 (Jerry McNerney) and CD-20 (Jim Costa). This program consists of targeted phone calls and door knocks, in addition to GOTV mailers supporting those candidates.

This is the largest GOTV program in California Labor’s history. Meg may have the money, but she will never be able to match the energy that we’re seeing in the field among union volunteers heading into the final four days. While victory is near, this election is not over yet. In addition to the personal fortunes being spent by Whitman and Fiorina, the Chamber of Commerce and even Karl Rove are pouring millions of dollars into Republican campaign coffers in the final days to try to steal this election. We mustn’t let them succeed.

If you haven’t gotten to a phone bank or precinct walk, now’s the time. And if you’re already out there pounding the pavement, please keep it up. It’s time we show the corporate campaign machine that no matter how much money they spend, it won’t be enough to counteract the power of a motivated grassroots movement.

We come from all walks of life. Some of us are students, some are workers, and some are jobless. Some of us are laden with student debt. Some of us work to support our children, some work to support our parents. Some of us have had to postpone starting a family, and some of us have had to move back in with our parents just to make ends meet. But we all have one thing in common — we are the young voters of California. And it’s time for us to flex our muscle at the polls, take control of California’s future and fight off the right wing’s attempt at a hostile corporate takeover of our state.

Our generation has been hit disproportionately hard by the recession. According to a recent report from the AFL-CIO, a third of all adults under age 35 cannot pay their bills, and 70 percent don’t have enough saved to cover even two months of living expenses. We just can’t afford to sit back and wait for things to get better, because if corporate candidates like Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina triumph on Tuesday, things will undoubtedly get worse.

These Wall Street candidates have spent hundreds of millions in order to buy this election, and if elected, they plan on doling out massive tax breaks to the wealthiest individuals and corporations in California, while at the same time slashing the vital services, education, health care, unemployment benefits, civil liberties and much-needed jobs for young people trying to enter the workforce.

So what’s at stake in this election?

Our jobs. Both Whitman and Fiorina have extensive track records of outsourcing tens of thousands of jobs as corporate CEOs, and Whitman’s plan for California centers around laying off 40,000 state workers, which could cause our unemployment rate to jump a full percentage point. Whitman also believes in the categorically untrue concept that giving tax breaks to the rich will somehow create jobs. It didn’t work when Bush did it, and economists agree that the concept is totally bogus.

Our education. Meg Whitman plans to cut another $15 billion from the state budget, and nearly half of the budget goes to K-12 and higher education, which would inevitably mean more draconian cuts to schools and universities that have already been decimated under Schwarzenegger.

Our health care. Carly Fiorina vowed to repeal the new health care law that has allowed so many of us to go back on our parents’ health insurance while we finish school and look for work in this tough job market.

We can’t allow these extreme right-wing candidates to trample all over our generation. We’ve got to take matters into our own hands, and the best way we can do that is to hit the polls en masse on Tuesday, just like we did in 2008. Let’s not forget, it was the young people – both voters and volunteers — who secured Obama’s triumphant victory. And we have the power to do it again, if we commit to vote and getting others out to vote as well. As the President said last week to more than 37,000 Californians at a rally at the University of Southern California:

You’ve got to talk to your friends.  You’ve got to talk to your neighbors.  You’ve got to make phone calls.  You’ve got to knock on doors.  You have to make sure that you are as fired up and as excited now as you were two years ago – because the work is not yet done.

If you’re like me, you’re sick of the tired rhetoric from the media that young people just don’t vote as often as older adults. It seems like that message has become a self-fulfilling prophecy – many young people mistakenly feel like their votes don’t count as much, and subsequently they’re less inclined to vote.

But with an election as close as this one, our votes are more valuable today than ever before. If we do the expected and stay home on Election Day, we’re essentially handing the reins over to the mega-wealthy corporate shills whose Big Business agenda will make their super-rich friends even richer, while the rest of us are left fighting for the crumbs. It’s on every single one of us to vote, and do everything we can to get out the vote to our friends, family, co-workers, classmates and neighbors.

Writer Mike Hardcastle said it best:

Don't vote and you effectively kiss away your ability to have any influence as to how the issues play out in your world, and dude, that's just lame.

Rather than come clean with the public about her mistreatment of her former housekeeper, Meg Whitman lied to cover it up. When attorney Gloria Allred caught her in a lie, Whitman still refused to apologize. Whitman even stooped so low as to wrongly accuse the housekeeper, Nicky Diaz Santillan, who she employed for nine years and said was a “member of her extended family,” of stealing her mail.

At a time when voters are desperate for their leaders to be accountable for their actions, Whitman has failed miserably to live up to the standards by which we should hold anyone running for elected office. She’s blamed Nicky, Jerry Brown, his allies and others, but has never once admitted any wrongdoing or taken any responsibility for her own actions.

Today in front of Whitman’s East LA office, a group of domestic workers joined SEIU United Service Workers West (USWW) President Mike Garcia, Assemblymember Hector de la Torre and State Senator Gil Cedillo to call on Whitman to open tomorrow night’s debate with an apology to Nicky and the people of California for the mistreatment and hurtful allegations she directed at Nicky, and the lies she told in an attempt to cover up the scandal.

The domestic workers, on behalf of millions of Californians who live in the shadows because of exploitation and mistreatment from the Meg Whitmans of the world, demanded that Whitman own up to her mistakes immediately.

Julia Moreno, who worked as a live-in maid for 25 years:

Everyone who works hard in California deserves to be treated with dignity, but Meg Whitman thinks she can use people when it’s convenient and then turn her back on us when we need help.

The domestic workers also unveiled a new petition demanding that Whitman apologize, and allowing Californians to stand in solidarity with Nicky and all exploited workers. The petition, which can be found at www.ApologizeMeg.org, will remain live until Whitman finally does the right thing and apologizes to Californians for her actions.

SEIU USWW President Garcia:

Whitman has blamed everyone else for her own mistakes, going so far as to accuse her housekeeper of being a felon who would steal the family’s mail, and Meg Whitman needs to apologize for this accusation. We’re demanding that in the last debate before Election Day Meg Whitman apologize to Nicky, the Latino community, and all voters in California.

Latino leaders Cedillo and De la Torre said that elected officials bear a special responsibility to the public, and Whitman’s actions – and the subsequent lies she told to cover them up – raise serious questions about her fitness for any public office, much less Governor.

The mistreatment and accusations Nicky suffered at the hands of billionaire Whitman are unfortunately all-too-common obstacles immigrant workers face. Lelis Juarez, who spoke at today’s press conference, is a housekeeper who is owed over $3,000 in back wages by her former employer.

We are here today on behalf of Nicky and all the people who live in the shadows so that their families can have a better life. The fact that Meg Whitman, a billionaire, was willing to cheat Nicky out of her hard-earned money shows she has no idea what it’s like for people like us who earn just enough to scrape by. If Meg Whitman can’t even treat those who work in her home with respect, dignity and compassion, how do you think she’s going to treat California workers if she becomes Governor?

It’s been nearly two weeks since Nicky came forward to bravely tell her story. It’s past time for Meg Whitman to issue a public apology for the hurt she’s caused Nicky and so many others. Join the call for Whitman to apologize at www.ApologizeMeg.org.

Governor Schwarzenegger leaves behind a legacy of devastating budget cuts and huge tax giveaways for corporations. In the last two years  alone, Schwarzenegger has slashed $32.5 billion from the state budget– and now our schools and roads are crumbling, public safety is at risk,  and vital state services have been decimated. And while state workers  have endured deep wage cuts, corporations have enjoyed massive new tax  breaks.

Now, Meg Whitman is on a mission to ratchet up the pain on  working people in California — above and beyond the misery that Governor Schwarzenegger has already imposed.

State Workers’ Jobs

In February, Schwarzenegger announced two-day-a-month furloughs for state workers, which  effectively reduced worker pay but did little to help our long-term  economic crisis. In fact, economists report that the furloughs will result in a loss of $503 million over the subsequent years. When asked at the time what she would do to balance the budget, Whitman said that she would double the furloughs to four days a week, even though the furloughs actually caused the state to lose money.

When Schwarzenegger increased  the furloughs to three days a month (resulting in a 12.8 percent pay cut and loss of an estimated $2.1 billion in wages and benefits for hundreds of thousands of state workers), Whitman went one step  further. She announced that she plans to fire 40,000 state workers because she believes the state is “over-staffed” (In fact, California ranks second to last in the number of state workers per capita, and the ratio of all government employees to population in California is 28 percent below the national average.) This mass layoff would cause unemployment in the state to spike a full percentage point.

Public Employee Pensions

Schwarzenegger  has made pension takeaways a major issue and has threatened to not sign a budget without reforms. But despite his rhetoric the Governor has been forced to negotiate directly with unions representing state workers to get agreement on any changes to current pension benefits and contributions.

Whitman supports Schwarzenegger’s proposals, which include raising the retirement age, increasing what workers pay into the pension and ending defined-benefit pensions for new hires and sticking them in risky 401(k)-style retirement plans. But she doesn’t stop there. She’s willing to circumvent collective bargaining, and the elected legislature, by putting a pension cuts initiative on the ballot, and using her personal fortune to fund the ballot measure.

Regulations and Worker Protections

Schwarzenegger has continually attempted to roll back vital workplace protections including daily overtime and meal breaks, and he recently vetoed a bill  that would give farm workers overtime rights. But Schwarzenegger did institute some regulations to protect outdoor workers’ health and  safety. In 2005, after four workers died from heat-related illness while  working outdoors, Schwarzenegger ordered emergency regulations  for workplace standards for heat-stress prevention and treatment, making California the first state in the nation to adopt such  regulations.

On the other hand, Whitman stated in an editorial board meeting, “On my first day in office, I want to put a moratorium on all new regulations.” That means that regulations to protect workers, consumers, the environment and governing almost all aspects of the state would be put on hold so that Whitman could make a political point. And she’s also expressed that she will continue to push for worker takeaways on meal  breaks and overtime pay.

High-Speed Rail

Schwarzenegger didn’t do much in terms of job creation during his time as Governor, and subsequently unemployment has shot up to Great Depression-era highs.  But Schwarzenegger has done one positive thing on jobs — he whole-heartedly supports  construction of California’s high-speed rail, which would create more than half a million new jobs, speed the movement of goods and people throughout the state, reduce pollution and lessen our dependence on foreign oil.

But unlike Schwarzenegger, Whitman has voiced her unequivocal opposition  to the high-speed rail system in California, which was approved by  California voters in 2008. She claims that California “can’t afford” the high-speed rail project, even though the costs for the project wouldn’t come out of the state’s budget, and any delays could jeopardize over $2.2 billion in federal stimulus money.

While high-speed rail would seem like a no-brainer for a candidate for Governor, a closer look at Whitman’s opposition to the project reveals a potential ulterior motive. Whitman lives in a multi-million dollar home in the  wealthy enclave of Atherton, which has led the charge  against the planned high-speed rail project. Along with other wealthy  cities, Atherton has even filed suit to halt the project, despite the  clear economic benefits and broad support, simply because they don’t  want train tracks in their ritzy town.

Capital Gains Tax

Schwarzenegger pushed some very unpopular changes to California’s tax code in the last year. His tax commission recommended a plan that would flatten the personal income tax  and give the wealthiest Californians a massive tax cut while shifting a  larger share of taxes onto the middle class. The commission’s recommendations were largely opposed by labor, business and most  legislators, though he has tried to resurrect the idea of extending the  sales tax to services and reducing personal income taxes.

None of Schwarzenegger’s proposals, however, have been as blatantly self-serving as those that Whitman is proposing. She wants to completely eliminate the tax on capital gains,  which is money that wealthy investors rake in on things like stock  dividends, bonuses or property sales (as opposed to the payroll income tax that the rest of us pay).

The Los Angeles Times called  Whitman’s capital gains tax proposal “a pure handout, and a costly one, to the wealthy, a group that includes the billionaire Whitman herself”, concluding the Whitman plan would do little, if anything, to create jobs,” (and) is “just offering a menu of handouts to favored industries and  the rich.

According to the Franchise Tax Board, 82% of the $56  billion in capital gains earned by California residents were reported by  the top 1% of income earners (those making about $500,000 or more) in  2008. George W. Bush pushed through a similar tax cut, which went into  effect in 2003, that didn’t create jobs or save the economy from  collapsing in 2008. Whitman’s proposal would mean that she and her wealthy friends would get a massive tax break that would cost the state $10.8 billion.

Whitman  repeats the false Republican claim that cutting taxes for the wealthy  will increase investment in new jobs, but according to a broad coalition of economists and academics, that just isn’t true. In an open letter to Californians, economist Michael Reich wrote:

Eliminating  the state capital gains tax would do very little to spur investment in  the state. Most California investors’ portfolios are diversified  nationally and internationally. Consequently, the vast majority of  private income retained by investors would be spent on stock purchases  of companies outside the state.

We’ve seen what Schwarzenegger’s polices have done to our state. Once the envy of the  nation for our schools, infrastructure, world-class universities and  booming economy, California now is at the bottom of many measures of  quality of life, as public funding for the most basic services are  slashed and more tax breaks are given to multi-national corporations.  Whitman would take the pain to a whole new level by eliminating taxes on the very rich, halting regulations to protect workers, slashing jobs and pensions.

The future of California is in our hands this November 2. Don’t forget to  vote, and be sure to remind everyone you know what’s at stake in this  election.

This Labor Day, California is at a crossroads. We can either continue the economic race to the bottom – exacerbated by corporate policies and Gov. Schwarzenegger’s slash-and-burn budgets – or we can chart a new course to rebuild California from the bottom up. The heart of California’s economy, our workers, are struggling with near record unemployment, stagnating wages and devastating budget cuts that are eroding the California Dream.

This November, Californians have a critical choice to make about which direction our state should take to deal with the enormous challenges we face. This election is simply a battle for the soul of California.

In the race for Governor, the choices couldn’t be starker.

Meg Whitman epitomizes the disastrous corporate policies that fueled the collapse of our economy. Her proposals to give the rich tax breaks at the expense of middle class programs and public safety would choke off any hope of economic recovery. Her promise to eliminate 40,000 state jobs would spike unemployment and force businesses to shutter. Her long record of outsourcing and eliminating jobs in the private sector to boost CEO profits shows how dangerously misplaced her priorities are.

Jerry Brown has spent his entire career fighting for working families. As Governor, he created 1.9 million jobs. He proposes to create a half million new clean energy jobs, positioning California to be the national leader in the new green economy. He supports investment in infrastructure and education, the two most critical areas in driving job growth. He respects the contributions workers make to the economy and would prioritize an expansion of the middle class.

California voters face a similar choice in the race for US Senate. Barbara Boxer is a champion for California’s workers. She’s led the fight to rein in Wall Street, prioritize good jobs and pass national health care reform. Failed CEO Carly Fiorina , on the other hand, thinks our economy should be more like China’s. She calls outsourcing of American jobs “right sourcing.”

Labor Day marks the beginning of the final push by California’s workers to elect Brown, Boxer and other leaders who will create jobs and restore hope of broadly shared economic prosperity. In the coming weeks, more than 25,000 union volunteers will lead the largest grassroots voter mobilization in California history. Workers will be out in force every week between now and the election to combat Whitman’s avalanche of campaign spending by doing what we do best – talking one-on-one with friends, neighbors, co-workers and members of our communities about the stakes in this election.

Every generation has a defining moment. This election is ours. And California’s workers stand ready to take a leading role in rebuilding our economy and restoring our once vibrant middle class.