Ethel McClatchey

Ethel McClatchey knew it was imperative that retirees get actively involved in the campaign against California Gov.
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"If the governor's initiatives had succeeded, it would have given other states the wherewithal to try and push for the same thing in their states," says McClatchey, the president of the emeritus chapter of the Los Angeles Faculty Guild, Local 1521.

McClatchey says she was most concerned about Proposition 75, which would have forced public service unions to obtain members' permission each year to use dues for political campaigns.

"What right does the state government have to tell us how to run our union?It was a tactic by the governor to destroy the public employee union movement in California," says McClatchey, who taught psychology for 17 years at Pierce College and retired as the faculty director of instructional television for the Los Angeles Community College District.

McClatchey used the Internet and e-mail to alert her members about the need to get involved in the union's election activities.And the retirees responded, she reports.Many showed up to phonebank or man registration tables on college campuses, and most importantly, to vote on Election Day.

"We were all very nervous.We had no idea what would happen but we understood that the propositions would affect all union members," says McClatchey.

Ethel McClatchey ? Chapter President

Chapter President: Ethel McClatchey