OUT-OF-STATE UNION DESCENDS ON GLENDALE, ARIZ.
The formula: Pass damaging law, generate new members, collect dues, fund narrow political agenda, repeat
GLENDALE, ARIZ. – The organization leading the campaign for Glendale Proposition 499 is an out-of-state labor union more interested in advancing a narrow political agenda than it is in doing what’s right for Glendale citizens.
The initiative backers lack grassroots community support, so they’ve been forced to import help from outside Arizona.
Tweet from Sept. 10, 2024 Facebook post from Oct. 12, 2024 touts touts canvassers in Ariz. canvassers from UAW. hailing from New York and New Jersey.
Facebook post from Oct. 12, 2024 touts canvassers in Ariz. canvassers from UAW.
“We hope all these union organizers from places like New York and California are getting a chance to see why travellers love Glendale’s hotels and attractions, dining and retail offerings, and more,” Save Glendale Jobs Chair Kim Grace Sabow said. “While Glendale’s tourism sector is creating jobs and building careers, Unite Here is in Glendale conducting little more than a membership drive to advance its narrow political agenda further. Glendale voters, beware: Proposition 499 didn’t come from Glendale’s City Council, its business community, or its residents. This entire measure was cooked up from out of state, and it will severely harm the community if it becomes law.”
An out-of-state union, a narrow political agenda
- Associated Press, Nov. 6, 2022: Worker Power is the political arm of Unite Here Local 11.
- Capital & Main, Oct. 9, 2024: “Worker Power, the organization overseeing the canvass, has deep connections with UNITE HERE and has developed an increasingly sophisticated voter education and mobilization infrastructure in Arizona.”
- The Nation, Oct. 11, 2024 :”There are currently 250 UNITE HERE local 11 and Worker Power canvassers on the ground, most from California and Arizona, but some from as far afield as Florida, Iowa, and even another critical swing state, Pennsylvania.”
- Eyes on Local 11: “Primarily representing hotel workers in Southern California, Local 11’s goal is to expand its membership rolls and increase dues revenue—by any means necessary.”
- CRC’s Influence Watch: “The Worker Power PAC is a Democratic Party-aligned Super PAC founded in 2020 as the Working Arizona PAC that expanded to conduct activity in other competitive states in 2022 after changing its name. The PAC is closely aligned with organized labor and has received money from labor unions and other left-of-center advocacy groups including Unite HERE Local 11…”
- Unite Here Local 11’s main office is in Los Angeles.
The plan
Buried in Proposition 499’s language is a provision that would allow affected employers to be exempted from the law if they unionize their workplace.
Sec. 21-195. – Supersession by Collective Bargaining Agreement.
THE PROVISIONS OF SECTIONS 21-188 TO 21-190, OR ANY PART THEREOF, MAY BE WAIVED PURSUANT TO A BONA FIDE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT, BUT ONLY IF THE WAIVER IS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH IN CLEAR AND UNAMBIGUOUS WRITTEN TERMS. NEITHER PARTY TO A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RELATIONSHIP MAY WAIVE OR SUPERSEDE ANY PROVISION OF THIS ARTICLE BY MEANS OF UNILATERALLY IMPOSED TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT.
“The real motivation behind Proposition 499 becomes clear when you dig into the language,” Grace Sabow said. “The union backers of the measure have proposed something so onerous that they’re hoping hotel and event center employers will throw in the towel and unionize their workplace, which will bolster the union’s membership roster, siphon more dues from more workers’ paychecks, which can then be used to conduct similar campaigns in other cities. Glendale doesn’t need out-of-state union bosses creating bad policy here.”