A Message from Frank Arce, President of District 9California Recall Election, Gavin NewsomHello fellow members … Usually, the local does not send out any sort of requests for supporting candidates in the state or federal elections; for people who wish to participate in the political activity of the union, CWA has a fundraising arm, separate and apart from the dues that are collected. None of your dues is used to make donations to political candidate campaigns. However, our District 9 office has asked us to share the following with all members in all locals. I pass it on for your consideration… There is a Threat: Well-heeled millionaires who want to roll back worker protections in California are funneling big money into a campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom. Let’s be clear: If they are successful, unions will lose many of the hard-fought gains made on higher wages, pensions, funding for public education and other services, laws against discrimination and more. To protect union contracts and the ability to provide the services our community needs, the District 9 Headquarters is asking union members to join together in voting NO on the Recall! Who is behind this Recall? It is a national network of very rich anti-union funders who are taking aim at union pensions, wages, health care and voting rights. They have spent millions to put this Recall special election on the ballot. Funders like real estate developers, corporate CEOs and anti-union politicians. Why? Because they couldn’t win with a union-busting candidate in the last election. They want to control California by pulling a fast one on California’s working folks by trying to steal the governor’s office in a low-turnout special election. [1] How does the special election Recall work? There are two questions on the Recall ballot. First: Should Governor Newsom be recalled? We urge every union member to select “NO!” Second: Who do you vote for to replace Governor Newsom? NONE of them! All the candidates trying to replace the Governor have one thing in common: A long history of attacking unions. Moreover, the candidate with the most votes wins, even if it’s only 10% of votes cast! One of the leading replacement candidates, radio talk show host Larry Elder, even said it’s a “big myth that unions help workers” and said there should be NO minimum wage! California’s laws to protect workers are the strongest in the nation. Under our state’s present leadership, coalitions of unions have secured major gains for our members and all workers. But this Recall isn’t really about Gavin Newsom or any one individual. It’s about millionaire funders trying to strip away union wins on wages, health care and pensions just to make themselves even richer. We can’t afford to allow wealthy anti-union special interests to seize control of California. The Recall risks undermining the values we share as Californians. Join the union effort in saying NO to the anti-worker Recall! Learn more at NoAntiWorkerRecall.com. We can stop the power grab. Ballots will be mailed out around August 16. Watch your mailbox for your ballot and join other union members by returning your ballot right away (no postage necessary) to vote NO on the Recall! To do otherwise is to condemn union collective bargaining rights and right to representation at the workplace to the dustbin of history. It eliminates the safeguards between you and your public employer … your voice and vote on matters in the workplace will be no more, should Gavin Newsome be recalled. That said, there is an organizing group within CWA’s District 9 who are sending out a clarion call for members to help turn back this recall, and thereby turn back the subsequent anti-union legislation and state level policies that remove union representation in the public sector in California. Please get in touch with one of the three regional coordinators to find out how you can be of service to yourself and others in this endeavor: Southern California Regional Coordinator Central Valley Regional Coordinator The Regional Coordinators are urgently searching for volunteers in their areas who could help them recruit volunteers for phone banking and text banking CWA members on Mondays and Wednesdays, phone banking with the California Labor Fed on Tuesdays & Thursdays, and Literature dropping with CLC's on Saturdays. Please return their calls as soon as possible if they leave you a message. There is a very short window between now and Election Day to get this work done and it can't be done without the help of every union member in the state. Please click on this link https://actionnetwork.org/forms/stop-the-recall-phonebanks to volunteer to phone bank our CWA members on Mondays and Wednesday. Click here https://calaborfed.org/2020-clc-election-phonebank-and-gotv/ to volunteer for Saturday Lit Drops at a CLC near you. [1] IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE SAME MILLIONAIRES WHO ARE FUNDING THIS RECALL ELECTION ARE ALSO POISED TO SPONSOR A REFERENDUM TO ABOLISH PUBLIC SECTOR UNIONS IN CALIFORNIA … CFI LOCAL 39000 TNG-CWA IS A PUBLIC SECTOR UNION. WE ARE HEADED FOR AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS IF GOV. NEWSOME IS REMOVED FROM OFFICE IN THIS RECALL, THEREBY PAVING THE WAY FOR ANTI-UNION FORCES TO GET A FOOTHOLD ON THE GOVERNORSHIP AND IN DOING SO, GAIN LEVERAGE TO PASS THEIR ANTI-UNION AGENDA, PARTICULARLY THE ABOLITION OF PUBLIC SECTOR LABOR ORGANIZATIONS. |