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Oppose Big Labor

Big Labor is at it again with their opposition to Proposition 226. They are spending millions of dollars of members' money in order to keep their members in the dark regarding their rights.

Unions have told many lies in their campaign against Prop. 226, but the one that is most deceiving is the Beck lie. Big Labor claims that Prop. 226 is unnecessary and points to the Supreme Court's 1988 Beck v. Communication Workers decision as evidence of this. Beck established the right of union members to object to their union's expenditures on politics and receive a reduction in their dues for that amount.

I would like to set the record straight. Big Labor spent years and vast sums of members' money in the court system in an attempt to deprive workers of the rights they gained under Beck in the first place. Despite intense union opposition, the Supreme Court upheld these rights. The court also charged labor unions with the responsibility of notifying their members of their Beck rights.

These have been hollow victories for working people. In the 10 years since Beck was handed down, unions have failed to notify members of their rights, as the court required. In fact, nearly 80 percent of unionized workers are unaware of their Beck rights.

Unions have failed at every turn to honor the Beck decision, and the federal government has refused to enforce it. Now Big Labor cries foul at the authors of Prop. 226 on the grounds that it is unnecessary and points to the Beck case as evidence? What hypocrites!

Prop. 226 will eliminate Big Labor's ability to keep members' rights a secret. It reaffirms current Supreme Court rulings and allows the state to see that those rights are secured.

Stephen Beard
Teamsters Local 287
Sunnyvale

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, May 27, 1998.
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