Confused about Prop 1A vs Prop1B? We were too...so we did a lot of interviewing and gathered up some facts for our members to assist when they are filling out their ballots. IBEW Local 46 endorsed Prop 1A because it was crafted by Union sisters and brothers and because it would help more of our members with their childcare needs than 1B. More than 70% of Prop 1B’s funding comes from anti-labor forces: At the time of the vote of the M.L. King County Labor Council to endorse Proposition 1B, that campaign had not declared significant financial contributions. As election day now approaches, checks for $100,000 from ultra-wealthy conservatives are flooding in to Prop 1B. As of today, 72% of Prop 1B’s campaign coffers are filled by wealthy individuals and corporations who have a record of funding anti-labor Republicans, education reformers, opposing minimum wage hikes, and blocking tax reform. These are the people who funded campaigns against the Seatac Initiative and Initiative 1098, the high earners income tax. They funded the charter schools initiative (I-1240) and PACs to privatize public schools and bust teachers’ unions. Prop 1B’s claims about Prop 1A’s cuts to city services and jobs were wildly exaggerated scare tactics: Leading up to the Council’s vote, Prop 1B campaign members told city employee unions that jobs would be lost, services cut, if Prop 1A passed. This claim has since been called into question by numerous media outlets and experts as “speculation” (Q13 News), “obfuscation” (Publicola), and a “gaping discrepancy” (Crosscut). Even the Mayor’s political appointee to the Budget office admits his numbers are “open to interpretation” (Stranger).
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 16:10:08 +0000