16 Oct Our Voice Will Not Be Silenced
Vote No on Prop 32
By Courtni Pugh
Courtni Pugh, Executive Director, SEIU99
I remember walking my first picket line when I was five years old. In the cold Indiana winter, I held my father’s hand as we marched alongside the other striking Teamster truck drivers.
From the conversations at home, I knew walking the line meant uncertainty for my family. Without my dad’s steady paycheck, how would we buy food? How would we afford our mortgage?
But somehow, standing together, all of us felt stronger, courageous, certain that things would be OK. I may have been too young to express it then, but in that moment, I felt the power of people speaking in one voice for what is just and right.
Today, as our communities face one of the worst attempts to mute us—Proposition 32, the “Special Exemptions Act”—I can’t help but think of that first picket line. The strength and courage of our collective voice—in the streets, at our work sites, at the ballot box—have always been at the heart of how working people fight for equality, justice and a better life.
But our say could be silenced this November if we don’t defeat Proposition 32.
This initiative is an orchestrated attack by billionaire businessmen on our communities. It will diminish working people’s input on politics by severely limiting union members’ ability to pool our money together for electoral races and issues that matter to us.
And here’s the thing: It’s wearing a very clever disguise.
Proposition 32 pretends to be evenhanded by claiming to limit how much corporations and unions can contribute to candidates. It says it will prohibit unions and corporations from using payroll-deducted funds for political purposes. Sounds fair, right? But California corporations don’t use payroll deductions for political giving.
Take a close look and you’ll see that corporations’ political committees are exempt from Proposition 32, as are most businesses and multimillionaires. They would still be allowed to use their corporate profits to influence elections—and working people would be shut out.
Proposition 32 is the 1% clearly pitted against the 99% of us who are not super rich. It is an attack on unions and every group that works to bring people together to flex their political and organizing muscle. It is an assault on communities like South Los Angeles that have a large number of union members and are united with labor on most issues.
They want to lock us out of the political process. We can’t let them do that because electoral decisions affect such crucial matters as the quality of the air we breathe, the caliber of schooling our children receive and the amount of money we earn.
It’s why cafeteria workers, custodians, bus drivers, teaching assistants, child care providers, Head Start staffers and other members of SEIU Local 99 join together with our communities and elected leaders to demand good jobs and educational justice for all. It’s why we are out in force talking to voters in our neighborhoods.
Moments of great progress repeatedly collide with instances of intense polarization engineered by the right wing. In these hard times, it is particularly important that our political voice continue to echo with determination, courage and a fighting spirit. Listen to it and vote no on Proposition 32.
For more information about Proposition 32 visit www.stopspecialexemptions.org.
Courtni Pugh is the executive director of SEIU Local 99.
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