Democrats and Republicans are hyperventilating over the election results in San Diego, Wisconsin and probably elsewhere. A few are also calling foul. Many are putting great weight on the results; some believe political winds are about to change.
More likely, the results of the June elections are much like the results of an opinion survey. They reflect the mood at the moment.
Democrats and union advocates say the effort to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was unsuccessful because the governor and his supporters put more than 10 times as much money in the campaign as did the unions and Democrats. It depends on what you count, but there is no doubt the conservative side outspent the other guys. Unhappy labor leaders and their friends say money bought the election in Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, the initiative in San Diego that prohibits city officials from requiring a project labor agreement on public projects paid for by the city passed with a 6 or 7 percent margin. Unions fighting that proposition spent about twice as much as did proponents. Clearly, it wasn’t the amount of money that obtained that win.
Similarly, during the 2008 campaign for president, then-Sen. Barack Obama and his backers put about two times as much money in his campaign for president as did Sen. John McCain and his supporters. Obama won, of course. Did money buy that result?
San Diego citizens also approved pension reform for most public employees. Was that a money-spent issue or perhaps another kind of reaction?
Interestingly, the losing campaigns for both the recall election in Wisconsin and the local San Diego area PLA bans followed the same path. Opponents, including unions, threatened, protested and took court action.
In Wisconsin, Walker won his first term as governor on a platform that included changing the rules for public employee unions. With the help of part of the Legislature, he made good on his promise to limit public employee collective bargaining. Of little note but great importance, the legislation also stopped what is known as dues checkoff for some public employees. After the legislation passed, most public employee union members had to pay their dues directly rather than have them deducted from their checks. Dues income to public employee leaders dropped dramatically.
Trying to pre-empt that, Democrats in the Wisconsin Legislature refused to participate in the legislative process. They left the state, stalling action not only on union issues, but also on everything else. When they did return, they were joined by massive protests. That didn’t work, and the Legislature approved the measure, so the unions took the matter to court. When that failed they tried the recall.
The approach is eerily similar to the behavior of the construction trades in California. So far, they have been equally unsuccessful.
I was part of the initial plan to put a PLA ban on the ballot in Chula Vista. First, the unions found a mistake in the collection of signatures. The second time around they pointed out a different mistake. We stayed the course, and the third time supporters pushed the initiative through. It made the ballot, and the construction trades pumped thousands of dollars into a “vote no” effort. That didn’t keep the measure from decisive approval.
The next step was to go to compliant state legislators and work up legislation that was intended to eliminate such bans. Some observers doubt the legislation will stand up under scrutiny.
Now that their positions have been slapped down by the voters, the unions have said they are going to court. They also stayed the course, but frankly, they may have to. Pension reform weakened their bargaining power, and PLAs are the last sure funding device for their bankrupt, overgenerous fringe benefit programs and their decreasing dues collections.
Still, with all of that and the losses in these cases, conservatives don’t have a cakewalk in November. More likely the results in Wisconsin and San Diego came because, as San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders says, private citizens are fed up with paying for public employee union wages and benefits that are so much better than their own. As for the PLA ban, a majority of voters must have seen through the false claims for PLAs made by the unions.
Hawkins is retired after 35 years as a construction industry association manager. He was a broadcast reporter and news anchor in Denver. As a Navy officer, he saw action in Vietnam in the River Assault Squadrons and is the recipient of a Silver Star and Purple Heart. He can be reached at george.hawkins@sddt.com.
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