BALLOT ISSUE TARGETS UNION DUES.

Byline: David M. Drucker Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - California labor unions could lose hundreds of millions of dollars a year from their political war chests if state voters approve an initiative headed for the ballot, according to officials who cite other states that have adopted similar rules.

The initiative would bar public-employee unions from spending their members' dues for political purposes unless the workers give written permission annually.

``In the future, if we had to go to the ballot to fight to protect our members' pensions or for cheaper prescription drugs, we wouldn't be able to fund those kinds of (campaigns),'' said Dave Low, spokesman for the California School Employees Association.

After rules took effect in the states of Washington and Utah requiring unions to receive permission from members before spending their dues on political activities, an overwhelming majority chose to keep their money instead - in some cases seriously curtailing what organized labor was able to raise in political-action funds.

Michael Reitz, a labor analyst with Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a conservative Olympia, Wash.-based think tank, said as a result of Measure 134, passed by Washington voters in 1992, only 4 percent of members of that state's largest teachers union - the Washington Education Association - gave permission to use their dues for political activities. By 2004, that number had crept up to 6 percent.

In Utah, where union membership is optional, contributions to the Utah Education Association union's political fund dropped from 68 percent to 6.8 percent following the 2003 implementation of the Voluntary Contributions Act, according to Vik Arnold, director of government relations and political action for the UEA.

``When given a choice, union members prefer to keep their own money,'' Reitz said.

In Colorado, 75 percent of state workers represented by the Colorado Association of Public Employees declined to contribute any money to their union after an executive order signed by the governor ended the state's practice of automatically deducting dues from employee paychecks.

Although Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not endorsed the California proposal, union leaders charge that the measure could give him a political advantage over organized labor.

``The governor wants to be able to raise $50 million or $100 million from corporate special interests, and he wants to make it so our side will have zero,'' Low said.

Supporters of the California measure - which could go before voters this November if Schwarzenegger calls a special election - call it ``Paycheck Protection.'' The measure needs 374,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot, and proponent Lewis K. Uhler last week submitted to county registrars 600,000 pre-screened petitions he described as having a very high validity rate.

In 1998, a similar California proposal, Proposition 226, was defeated 53 percent to 47 percent. Advocates believe the new initiative has a much better chance of succeeding because it does not apply to union workers employed by private industry.

California law currently allows union workers to ``opt out'' of political contributions but they are not required to grant permission, or ``opt in.''

Written by Uhler, an anti-tax activist, the initiative would require permission before unions collect money for lobbying and ads for and against issues and candidates.

``Can you imagine a company telling its employees that it was going to automatically withhold money for political purposes - and that management was going to decide how the money would be spent?'' Uhler said. ``All hell would break loose.''

Staff Writer Harrison Sheppard contributed to this report.

David M. Drucker, [phone]

david.drucker(at)dailybulletin.com