With the state's prison guards union threatening to launch a recall, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday he would not be intimidated by the union.
"I will not be intimidated by anybody that is demanding more money than the state can afford and that demands deals more than the state is wanting to give," Schwarzenegger said. "So the prison guard union is not going to intimidate me with their kind of action."
"This is a different governor sitting here," he added. "I will not get intimidated."
Schwarzenegger was swept into the California governorship four years and eleven months ago in a dramatic recall of then-Gov. Gray Davis.
Davis' close relationship with labor unions, including the CCPOA, was one Schwarzenegger's critiques of the then-governor.
"The money comes in, favors go out, the people lose," Schwarzenegger famously said.
Schwarzenegger political adviser Adam Mendelsohn harkened back to that theme, issuing a stinging statement, accusing the CCPOA of "selfish tactics worthy of a schoolyard bully."
"It should not be forgotten that prior to the Governor's election this very same union used their money and influence to buy a 37 percent raise at a time when the economy was faltering and the state was struggling to make ends meet," Mendelsohn said. "When he came into office, the Governor put an end to those days and because the Governor has stood firm, CCPOA has resorted these types of heavy-handed ploys to buy off and coerce our leaders into doing their bidding."
Lance Corcoran, a spokesman for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, said on Monday the union was beginning the process to recall Schwarzenegger.
"We are 100 percent committed and we've never been shy about investing in our commitments," Corcoran said.
After clearing several legal hurdles, the union would likely have to dedicate more than $1 million to gather the 1,041,530 signatures to qualify a recall for the ballot.
Corcoran insisted the recall "is not about money." The state's correctional officers have been working without a long-term contract for more than two years.
"We recognize that the state is in horrible financial straits," Corcoran added, saying the union would be wiling to put off raises in exchange for improved working conditions. "Our prisons are horribly overcrowded."
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