Advocate Online

They're Talking On Campus. . .

. . . About a key victory for the nation's labor movement as California voters defeated Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Proposition 75, a measure intended to silence public employees' voice in politics. The proposal placed massive reporting and administrative burdens on unions before union dues could be used for political expenditures—such as educating members about issues and lobbying for legislation.

Voters also rejected a proposal to reduce teachers' job security and one that would give the governor power to make mid-year budget cuts.

California union members, including California Teachers Association higher ed members, passed out more than 2 million workplace leaflets and made more than 2 million phone calls to mobilize union family voters.

. . . About a vote by members of eight of the nine SEIU Local 888 units at the Amherst, Lowell, and Boston campuses of the University of Massachusetts to change their affiliation to the Massachusetts Teachers Association. The new affiliation, when completed after negotiations with the university, would bring more than 2,000 new higher ed members to MTA.

President Andrew Stern of the Service Employees International Union and Massachusetts Teachers Association President Catherine A. Boudreau agreed to the change after Local 888 members expressed interest in combining with MTA's 12,000 higher ed members.

Eighty-nine percent of those voting in the November election conducted by the Boston Labor Guild chose to join MTA.