California Labor Organization Votes To Oppose Parental Notification Ballot Initiative, Ends Neutrality On Issue

The California Labor Federation, the state's largest union group, last month "buck[ed] labor's long-standing neutrality" on abortion-related issues and voted to oppose Proposition 85 -- a statewide ballot measure that would require doctors to notify parents or guardians before performing an abortion on a minor -- the Los Angeles Times reports (Mathews, Los Angeles Times, 8/7). The measure would require unmarried girls younger than age 18 to inform a parent or legal guardian of their intention to have an abortion 48 hours before undergoing the procedure. The initiative is similar to Proposition 73, which failed in November 2005, but it eliminates language that defines abortion as resulting in the "death of an unborn child, conceived but not yet born." In addition, Proposition 85 does not include a provision in Proposition 73 that would have mandated reporting on how many judicial waivers a judge has approved (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 8/1). According to the Times, several federation leaders, including many women, last year conveyed objections to the organization's neutral stance on Proposition 73. Bill Camp, executive secretary of the Sacramento Central Labor Council, said, "That anger created a lot of ... debate" within the federation, which represents more than 2.1 million workers and 1,100 unions. The federation's executive council originally voted 13-11 to take no stance on Proposition 85. But some health care unions that support abortion rights worked to garner support to override the council's vote, and labor councils from San Francisco and San Mateo, Calif., last month introduced a resolution to oppose Proposition 85 at the federation's convention. During the debate, it was evident that the attendees wanted to overturn the council's decision, and federation leaders called for a voice vote, conference attendees said. They added that the voice vote was clearly in favor of overturning the executive council's decision and opposing Proposition 85.

Reaction
Some unions in the federation, including some janitors and building trade unions, said despite the vote they would remain neutral on Proposition 85. "We take positions only on things that directly affect working people," Bob Balgenorth, president of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, said, adding, "We don't intrude into their personal lives." Sherry Kessler, executive secretary-treasurer of the San Mateo County Labor Council, said, "We cannot allow attacks on human civil rights, regardless of whether the people are in unions or not, to go unchallenged."

National Labor Implications
Some experts who study California labor said the organization's position could be "potentially precedent-setting," as state unions previously have been "advocates for national change," the Times reports. The federation called on the AFL-CIO, a national labor organization, to "reconsider its position of neutrality on the issue." The latest AFL-CIO policy on the issue, which was adopted in 1990, says members in general "resent and resist intrusion into matters that are essentially private," but the union defers "to the good and sound judgment of union members" on abortion-related issues. AFL-CIO officials said they knew of no other labor organization that had taken a stance similar to the California union (Los Angeles Times, 8/7).

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