TUESDAY | Sept. 9, 2008

This summer’s record-breaking state budget impasse is enough to make your stomach sick or your blood boil. Just when you think the legislature’s partisan dysfunction can’t get any worse, it does and we all find ourselves wondering how we allowed the system to get this bad. But yesterday Sacramento reached a new apex of absurdity when the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA), the prison guards union, launched a recall campaign of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

This recall attempt demonstrates the kind of political self interest that is hurting California’s economy, fiscal climate and quality of life.  The union plans to spend $3 million in member dues to qualify a special recall election that could cost taxpayers up to $80 million at a time California is struggling to erase a $15 billion state budget deficit. While the CCPOA leadership claims the recall is not about getting their lucrative contract, the reality is that for one of the state’s most powerful public employee’s union it is all about the contract and billions of dollars – the vast majority of it is ours.

This recall campaign and the underhanded bargaining tactics that preceded it shine a light on how much of California’s purse strings are in the hands of public employees unions. It is a different dynamic than the typical labor relations between private sector employers and private sector employee unions. With public employee unions there is an integral third-party left out of the negotiating room and political fundraisers – the taxpayers who bear the ultimate financial responsibility for any agreement. 

The governor and CCPOA have been at bitter odds over terms of a long-term contract for the state’s prison guards. The union has refused to negotiate since they rejected Gov. Schwarzenegger’s $1 billion proposal that included an 18 percent pay raise and expanded health benefits. A few weeks ago, they tried to circumvent the collective bargaining process with a push to introduce an Assembly Bill that would legislatively give them their sweetheart contract before the Sacramento Bee exposed their back room strategy and political power play.

As one of the state’s most powerful special interests, the CCPOA steers much of its $20 million in annual dues collected from 34,000 members into campaigns and political action committees. Thus, it’s no coincidence that the union has contributed more than $700,000 to defeat Proposition 11 – the Chamber-sponsored legislative redistricting initiative that, if passed by voters, will be the first step towards returning power back to the voters.

California’s significant challenges – and opportunities – demand principled leadership from our elected officials and their constant vigilance from the voting public. We should all say "no" to this recall attempt and everything it stands for. After all, it’s our money at stake.

And that’s The Business Perspective. 

Gary L. Toebben
President & CEO
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

The Business Perspective is a weekly opinion piece by Gary Toebben, President & CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, produced with the input of Samuel Garrison, Vice President of Public Policy.

by Gary Toebben, President & CEO, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

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