Republicans taking away Arizona women’s political clout

by David Safier

As I posted earlier, SB1365, the bill that would take automatic payroll deductions that might be used for political purposes from unionized workers (every member would have to give express written permission) was amended to take "public safety employees" out to the mix. If you're a union member who works in policing, fire fighting or corrections, you can still have political deductions taken from your paycheck without your permission.

This is as clear a political exemption as you're going to find. But there is another aspect to it. The exemption is weighted to allow male-dominated unions to keep funding political causes while wiping out the clout of female-dominated unions.

According to Dana Goldstein's Ladywonk, writing about Wisconsin, many of the unions left after the "public safety employees" are removed are majority female.

About 80 percent of American teachers, for example, are female; at the elementary school level, nearly 90 percent are women. Nursing is 95 percent female. Nationwide, the majority of public sector union members, represented by AFSCME and other groups, are women.

Meanwhile, over 70 percent of law enforcement workers in the United States are men. Our firefighting ranks are 96 percent male and over half of all professional firefighting departments have never hired a woman.

Message from Russell Pearce Republicans: If the "little woman" decides to venture out of the home, she should keep her "pretty little nose," and her money, out of things she doesn't understand, like politics. "Just let me do the thinking for the both of us, honey."