Thursday, November 10, 2005
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/1 0/EDG9PFL4GV1.DTL>
IN RECENT years, the plight of organized labor has been defined by its deep divisions among various unions about how to respond to an erosion of membership and clout.
The national story of Tuesday's election was how California's public-employee unions demonstrated that labor, if sufficiently unified and motivated, remains a powerful force in American politics.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger set out on the path to this epic showdown when he became overly cozy with the California Chamber of Commerce, which almost reflexively lists any legislation addressing consumer or union concerns as a "job killer." The governor added to the us-against-them drumbeat with his coarse comments about kicking the derrieres of the nurses' union and by targeting teachers in his State of the State address in January.
His brash rhetoric, combined with his since-abandoned effort to downsize their lavish pension plans, gave public employees the sense of urgency they needed to overcome their rivalries for budget dollars and differences in strategy and culture. Suddenly, the unions were all working together, from teachers to prison guards, as a matter of survival.
Their success was not just a matter of money, though the $100 million in campaign spending, tapped largely through union dues -- a tactic that was the target of Proposition 75 -- certainly helped. It was also a measure of their adeptness at crafting their message, at using ads to define their image in heroic working-class faces before Schwarzenegger could try to portray himself in a good-guy role against "union bosses."
There was also something very old-fashioned about labor's victory. The union's 15,000-strong contingent of door-to-door campaigners helped invigorate an electorate that was ambivalent about this special election.
Organized labor has rarely been more organized or laborious than in this election. Schwarzenegger incited and united a formidable foil.
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