Our view: Public unions should have to ask members' permission to spend dues on political campaigns

By voting "yes" on Proposition 75, California voters have a chance to accomplish two worthy goals at once. If approved, the so-called "paycheck protection" measure would not only provide a necessary check on the unbridled power of public employee unions that dominate Sacramento, Prop. 75 would also be a substantial victory for free speech.

Prop. 75 would force the state's public employee unions to obtain written permission from their 1.3 million members each year before using their dues for political contributions. This simple bit of justice could have far-reaching repercussions.

The political power of California's public employee unions derives from their high membership, deep pockets and uniform voice —— all products of a "closed-shop" system that enables these unions to force new workers to join and gives the unions near-absolute power over membership dues.

It's no surprise, then, that unions are fighting tooth and nail to resist this shove at their power base. They are setting fund-raising records to oppose Prop. 75 and other measures backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. As of reports published Wednesday, the state's public employee unions —— representing teachers, cops, firefighters, nurses and others —— had raised $80 million for this election, kicking sand in the face of the governor's haul of $34 million.

While California's economy burst with the dot-com bubble and jobs disappeared in private industries, the state's public workers reaped astonishing pay hikes and pension promises, all thanks to their political pull among the Democrats who control both houses of the Legislature. Schwarzenegger, intent on translating his recall election into results, has found himself stymied at every turn in his "Year of Reform" campaign by relentless attacks from the unions and his own missteps. He is backing Prop. 75 as the state's best chance to wrest free of the unions' grip.

We must vote for Prop. 75 to restore some balance to a Sacramento now sagging under the weight of the state's too-powerful public unions. But Prop. 75 also sticks up for the rights of workers to control where their hard-earned money goes.

Unlike with private-sector unions, public employees most often work in "closed shops" —— professions that require new employees to join the union. While some unions have an "opt-out" provision that enables members to withhold their donations from political contributions with which they disagree, they throw roadblocks like deadlines and paperwork in front of dissenting members looking to get their money back. Others, like the 335,000-member California Teachers Association, strip voting rights from members who don't want to contribute to the unions' political allies.

Campaign contributions are speech; they reflect our political wishes as well as our words do. That makes this a free-speech battle that finds its frequent champions on the left on the wrong side of liberty.

A worker should have the right to say which causes, if any, his salary supports. It's as simple as that. Vote "yes" on Prop. 75.