NO on Proposition 75 & Absentee Ballots

Dear Colleagues,

Next week absentee ballots will be mailed out for the special election that will impact you directly.  Proposition 75, the initiative endorsed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and sponsored by his corporate contributors, would take working people out of the political process.

What would this mean for you? If Prop. 75 passes, unions won¹t be able to stop the next pension attack. Union members stopped Schwarzenegger when he tried to privatize public employee pensions and eliminate death benefits for family members of police officers and firefighters who die in the line of duty. Arnold and Big Business will put another pension killer initiative on the ballot in 2006‹but if Prop. 75 passes this year, we won¹t be able to fight back in 2006.

Far from protecting the rights of  workers such as us, Prop. 75 is designed to silence our voice. Public employees have fought against Gov. Schwarzenegger¹s attempts to cut funding for schools, health care and public safety. He and his corporate allies have put Prop. 75 on the ballot to stop us from speaking out in the future.

Prop. 75 isn¹t the only attack on unions and working people on the ballot. Prop. 74 would reduce job security and contract protections for teachers, making it harder to keep good teachers in our schools. Prop. 76 would give the governor unprecedented power to slash the state budget and to eliminate funding for such services as education and public safety.

Please vote against Arnold¹s anti-union special election. Vote to protect your voice. Vote ³NO² on Prop 75!

Please forward this message to as many family and friends as you can.

In solidarity,

Jim Mahler, President
AFT Guild, Local 1931