CSUEU E-News: September 8, 2011
Biweekly news digest from the California State University Employees Union
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NEW PAYCHECK DECEPTION FAQ
SAN DIEGO CHAPTER GETS IN THE LABOR DAY SPIRIT
TRANSPARENCY BILL SIGNED INTO LAW
EXECUTIVE EXCESS 2011
NEWSOM FORMS UNIVERSITY FUNDING WORKING GROUP
A MESSAGE FROM CALPERS CEO ANNE STAUSBOLL
HOW TO BE A WAL-MART MANAGER: INSTILL FEAR
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New Paycheck Deception FAQ
Don’t Sign Anti-Union Petitions and Report Signature Gathering!
A new FAQ loaded with information about the “paycheck deception” ballot initiative has just gone live. It details a petition for a measure that would all but end union expenditures on political action.
Considered to be just the first of many potential ballot measures attacking public workers, their unions and retirement plans, it’s financed by anti-union oil and real estate interests, wealthy investors, and CEOs who are paying signature gatherers to stand outside shopping areas to collect signatures in order to place the issue on the fall 2012 election ballot.
CSUEU urges voters to not sign the petition and to call (877) 440-9585 to report where signature gathering is taking place.
Although it appears to limit both business and union political contributions, the initiative in fact focuses on unions by making it unusually difficult for unions to fund their own Political Action Committees (PACs). It bans the voluntary contributions that workers now make and creates a new set of rules that deliberately puts the brakes on such contributions, making it more difficult than ever for working people to compete with corporate power and money. It places no restrictions at all on corporate political action committees.
Supporters have to collect more than 500,000 valid signatures by October 24. The petition, known as the “paycheck deception” initiative because of its focus on automatic paycheck deductions, is similar to Prop. 75 and Prop. 226, which a coalition of community groups and unions successfully fought in 2005 and 1998 respectively. Learn more about the history of Props. 75 and 226.
Again, please don’t sign the petition and call (877) 440-9585 if you see signature gathering taking place! Check the CSUEU web site in the coming weeks for updates on any new anti-union initiatives as we review those measures and their possible impacts.
Download SEIU State Council’s flyer (PDF).
Read the full text of the initiative (PDF).
San Diego State Chapter Gets in the Labor Day Spirit
On September 1, San Diego State Chapter 318 joined a coalition of campus unions to celebrate Labor Day with a spirited rally in support of AB 1326, also known as the Golden State Higher Education Act, which provides new funding for higher education.
“We joined with APC, SETC, and CFA to sponsor the rally,” says chapter President Sue Henry. “Our goal was to reach out to the entire campus community and try to gather 200 signatures in support of this important bill. We gathered more than 150 signatures at the event and will achieve the remaining signatures by taking petitions back to our work sites.”
AB1326, sponsored by Assemblymember Warren Furutani (D-Carson) creates an oil severance tax whose funds would go to California’s higher public education systems, including the CSU, administered through a new entity created as part of the bill, the California Higher Education Endowment Corporation. California is the only oil-producing state without an oil severance tax.
Transparency Bill Signed into Law
A three-year legislative battle paid off for Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) yesterday as Governor Brown signed Yee’s bill to bring greater transparency and accountability to California’s public higher education institutions, including the CSU.
Senate Bill 8 will ensure that UC, CSU and the community college auxiliaries and foundations adhere to state public records laws. Under SB 8, all financial records, contracts, and correspondence will be subject to public disclosure upon request.
“Finally, we will have real transparency at our public universities,” said Yee. “While this law does not go into effect until January 1, I am urging the UC and CSU to immediately begin complying and providing sunshine to the actions of their foundations and auxiliary organizations.”
He added, “This has been a long fight, but I am proud of our coalition of open government advocates, students, faculty and workers who have stayed so persistent in helping protect the public trust.”
Read Sen. Yee’s press release about this legislative win.
Executive Excess 2011
On August 31, the Institute for Policy Studies published its 18th annual analysis of CEO salaries, and the results were more astounding than ever. Executive Excess 2011: The Massive CEO Rewards for Tax Dodging declares that corporate tax dodging has gone so out of control that 25 major U.S. corporations last year paid their chief executives more than they paid Uncle Sam in federal income taxes.
“U.S. corporations benefit from the public education of their workforces,” the report states. “In fact, 16 of the 25 CEOs included in this study received at least a portion of their post-secondary education in taxpayer-supported public universities. Yet these same corporations remain content to let others pay the bills.”
It goes on to say that, in 2009, major corporate CEOs took home 263 times the pay of America’s average workers and that, last year, this gap leaped to 325-to-1. Among the nation’s top firms, CEO pay last year averaged $10.8 million, up 27.8 percent over 2009. Average worker pay in 2010? That finished up at $33,121, up just 3.3 percent over the year before.
Lt. Gov. Newsom Starts Working Group on University Funding
On Friday, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom announced the formation of a working group for the Future of Higher Education to address funding adequacy to ensure access to an affordable and high quality education for all students.
The first working group from his Economic Growth and Competitiveness Agenda for California, which was released last month, it includes leaders of the three higher education segments -- California Community Colleges, California State University and University of California -- along with key policy makers and business leaders.
“The University of California, California State University and our community college systems were once the envy of the world for their affordability, accessibility and world class faculty,” said Newsom. “In order for California to regain its competitiveness in the global marketplace, it must first recommit and reinvest to its world-class public higher education system.”
The group’s first meeting takes place on September 15 in San Francisco. Read Lt. Gov. Newsom’s press release announcing the group.
You Can Count on CalPERS: A Message from CEO Anne Stausboll
This letter from CalPERS Chief Executive Officer Anne Stausboll assures CalPERS members and the public that the CalPERS mission is on course and that the system will continue to invest in California. Stausboll was the featured speaker at a CSUEU Board of Directors meeting in 2009.
Note that CalPERS is transitioning to a major new I.T. system through September 18. During this time, it reportedly isn’t possible to perform online account transactions, though you can continue to view your account. Online transaction capabilities are scheduled to resume on September 19. Read further details from CalPERS.
August 19, 2011
Dear CalPERS Members, Employers and Stakeholders,
The tumultuous events of the last decade that have impacted our State, our country and our world – 9/11, Enron, and the Great Recession – make it clear that CalPERS must continue to confront all challenges if we are to ensure your retirement and health security and maintain the public’s trust.
As we look to the future, we are dedicated to achieving three fundamental objectives.
First, our core mission is to advance the financial and health security of all 1.6 million CalPERS members, retirees and their families who depend on us. We are the single largest public pension system in the country, and our first and foremost obligation is to you. We are dutifully bound to maintain an unwavering, unrelenting focus on your protection.
Second, CalPERS must continue to achieve the highest standards of accountability, integrity, and openness to ensure public trust. In the increasingly complex world of finance and investment, trust is paramount. We must, and will, apply rigorous controls to preserve confidence in the System.
Third, CalPERS must persevere as a responsible investor. Our role as the nation’s leading public pension fund is well known and well deserved. We led the corporate governance movement nearly 30 years ago, bringing the shareowner voice to the financial markets. And we were the catalyst for numerous governance and management reforms, including the elimination of the so-called poison pills, Golden Parachutes, and entrenched boards.
Most of our members live in California. We have invested more than $23 billion in California. Watch for us to increase our investments in California infrastructure, renewable power generation, power transmission, energy pipelines, and real estate. We aim to help you and all CalPERS members and beneficiaries realize the “California dream” of an affordable lifestyle, a safe environment, healthy schools and communities, and a secure financial future.
Anne Stausboll
Chief Executive Officer
How to be a Successful Wal-Mart Manager: Instill Fear in Your Staff
In this entertaining and informative first-person account, Labor Notes business manager Adrian Campbell Montgomery describes her experience as an assistant manager at Wal-Mart, the store chain notorious for its over-the-top anti-union stance.
As she puts it, “The brave Wal-Mart workers who belong to OUR Wal-Mart say that fear is the main thing stopping their fellow retail workers from organizing. As an assistant store manager at Wal-Mart, I saw how managers were trained to put that fear into hourly workers’ heads.”
Montgomery was featured in Michael Moore’s 2007 documentary “SiCKO” as a cancer survivor trying to deal with the high cost of healthcare. Labor Notes describes itself as having been the voice of union activists who want to put the movement back in the labor movement since 1979.
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