It looks like labor is fighting back against what Robert calls the “Paycheck Deception Act”, Prop 75.

With a November ballot measure threatening to diminish labor’s political clout in California, unions are striking back with a proposed initiative to bar corporations from spending on election campaigns without shareholder approval.

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The unions’ countermeasure, which they call the “corporate political accountability act,” covers ballot measure advocacy and donations to parties and candidates for public office. It would apply to any publicly traded or privately held corporation that seeks to donate or spend money on campaign activity in California.

The corporation would have to produce annual reports for shareholders listing all political donations and spending from the previous year. Its political budget for the following year would require majority shareholder approval.

The budget, however, would be cut to reflect the percentage of the vote. A $1-million political budget, for example, would be sliced to $600,000 if holders of 60% of the shares voted to approve it.

This is good stuff, in my opinion, because it brings the issue of corporate influence on politics out into the open. It is also an effort to take the offensive, for once, instead of sitting back and waiting for Arnold and his corporate sponsors to figure out a new wayt to attack us.

It’s also, as the article points out, a potentially groundbreaking initiative that could lead the way for similar efforts elsewhere. It’s being driven by the Alliance for a Better California, which has led the fight against the special election, and is largely funded by labor and their allies.

Gale Kaufman, a political strategist for the alliance, said the proposal was a response to the November ballot measure that would require public-employee unions to get members’ written consent to spend dues on political donations.

“The alliance feels very strongly that fair is fair,” she said.

That’s a pretty good slogan.