This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by King, J. L. Articles by Catlett-King, L. C. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Cowboy Campaigning

Patriotism, "Freedom," and Right-to-Work in Oklahoma

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Laurel C. Catlett-King

The 2001 right-to-work referendum in Oklahoma provided unique challenges for the labor movement. This article examines the Oklahoma campaign in the context of right-to-work and other labor referendums and discusses the consequences of particular strategies used by the labor and business campaigns. The authors argue that despite a strong member mobilization campaign, the impact of September 11 and the influence of the print media may have been determining factors in the campaign.

Key Words: political campaigns • union security • right-to-work

References

• Associated Press State and Local Wire. 2001 a. Poll shows more Oklahomans support right to work. August 25.
• ———. 2001b. Contributions to the right-to-work campaign top $6 million. September 10.
• ———. 2001c. Poll: Right-to-work election a tossup. September 16.
• Berman, Larry, and Bruce Allen Murphy . 1996. Approaching democracy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
• Big Counties Helped Pass Right to Work. 2001. Tulsa World, September 27, A1.
• Boyer, Rev. Thomas. 2001. Labor over all. The Oklahoman, September 22, 8.
• Broder, David S. 1998. Voter confusion on a hot controversy. The Washington Post, May 31, A4.
• Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2006. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by state. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.t05.htm (accessed August 15, 2006).
• California Labor Federation. 2005. The real story behind Prop 75. http://www.callaborfed.org/prop75truth.html (accessed July 21, 2006).
• California Secretary of State. 2006. CalAccess—Campaign finance. http://cal-access.ss.ca.gov/campaign/committees/detail (accessed July 21, 2006).
• Campaign for Worker Rights. 2001. Right-to-work states lose business to Oklahoma. http://www.protectokfamilies.com (accessed July 21, 2006).
• The Campaign: They're Here. 2001. The Oklahoman , August 19, 8.
• Catlett-King, Laurel. 2002. Cowboy campaigning: Why right-to-work passed in Oklahoma. Senior honors thesis, Oklahoma State University.
• Chorneau, Tom. 2005. Unions take aim at governor after dodging ballot bullet . Associated Press State and Local Wire, November 9.
• Curry, Jimmy C. 2006. Interview, August 17.
• Decker, Cathleen. 1998. Support slips for Prop. 226, not Prop. 227. Los Angeles Times, May 23, 1.
• DeVreese, Claes H., and Holli A. Semetko . 2004. Political campaigning in referendums: Framing the referendum issue. New York: Routledge.
• Elias, Thomas D. 2005. No question November election looks a lot like 1998. San Gabriel Valley Tribune, August 27, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.fetch.mhsl.uab.edu (accessed July 19, 2006).
• Erlich, Mark. 1990. Labor at the ballot box: The Massachusetts prevailing wage campaign of 1988. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
• Ervin, Chuck. 2001a. News analysis: Demos tire of union load. Tulsa World, February 25, A1.
• ———. 2001b. Workers rally at Capitol. Tulsa World , March 14, A1.
• ———. 2001c. GOP betting on right to work. Tulsa World, March 18, A19.
• ———. 2001d. Keating heads right-to-work move; Governor takes campaign to cities as showdown election date nears. Tulsa World, July 1, http://www.tulsaworld.com/ArchiveSearch/search/ArchiveArticle.asp?ArticleID=010701 (accessed January 30, 2007).
• ———. 2001e. Voter turnout is next hurdle. Tulsa World, September 16, A25.
• ———. 2001f. No predictions on turnout. Tulsa World , September 21, A3.
• ———. 2001g. Turnout varies in special elections. Tulsa World, September 23, A3.
• Exaggerated Fear. 1964. The Oklahoman, May 3, 22.
• Falsehood Campaign.1964. The Oklahoman, May 3, 1.
• Finnegan, Michael. 2005a. Voters dislike 3 of governor's ballot measures. Los Angeles Times, November 2.
• ———. 2005b. Governor's battle with labor is first round in a long bout. Los Angeles Times, November 6, A1.
• Furillo, Andy. 2005a. Prop. 75 foes leave rivals in dust on cash. Sacramento Bee, November 1, A3.
• ———. 2005b. Prop. 75 trailing but still close. Sacramento Bee, November 9, 2.
• Gaboury, Fred. 2001. Oklahoma AFL-CIO gears for right-to-work fight. People's Weekly World. http://www.pww.org/past-weeks-2001 (accessed March 1, 2006).
• Gall, Gilbert J. 1998a. The politics of right-to-work: The labor federations as special interests, 1943—1979. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
• ———. 1998b. Thoughts on defeating right-to-work: Reflections on two referendum campaigns. In Organized labor and American politics, 1894—1994: The labor-liberal alliance, ed. Kevin Boyle. Albany: State University of New York Press.
• Gov. Bellmon Criticizes Right to Work Foes. 1964. The Oklahoman, May 3, 1.
• Herdt, Timm. 2005a. Election interest grows, poll says. Ventura County Star, October 28, 4.
• ———. 2005b. How will special election fallout affect `06? Ventura County Star, November 16, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.fetch.mhsl.uab.edu (accessed July 19, 2006).
• Hirsch, Barry T., David A. Macpherson, and Wayne G. Vroman . 2001. Estimates of union density by state. Monthly Labor Review 124 (7): 51.
• Hogler, Raymond L. 1998. Unions, politics and power: The ideology of paycheck protection proposals. Labor Law Journal 49 (8):1195—1204.
• In Truth, the Theme is Freedom. 2001. The Oklahoman , June 24, 8.
• Jenkins, Richard, and Matthew Mendelsohn. 2001. The news media and referendums. In Referendum democracy: Citizens, elites, and deliberation in referendum campaigns, ed. Matthew Mendelsohn and Andrew Parkin New York: Palgrave.
• Jenkins, Ron. 2001a. Many things have changed since last right-to-work vote . The Daily Ardmoreite, April 23, http://ardmoreite.com/stories/042301/new_changed.shtml (accessed January 30, 2007).
• ———. 2001b. Both sides sound patriotic themes. Associated Press State and Local Wire, September 18.
• Johnson, Ralph A., and Judith L. Catlett . 1983. Targeting the political image: The case of Amendment 4. Labor Studies Journal 8 (1): 34—47.
• Journalism.org. 2006. The state of the news media: An annual report on American journalism. http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/2006 (accessed July 31, 2006).
• Kinder, Donald R. 2003. Communication and politics in the age of information. In The Oxford handbook of political psychology, ed. Leonie Huddy, Robert Jervis , and David O. Sears. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Krehbiel, Randy. 2001a. Right-to-work arguments not paying off. Tulsa World, August 12, A1.
• ———. 2001b. Analysis: Both sides' rhetoric at full throttle in right-to-work battle. Tulsa World, August 26, http://www.tulsaworld.com/ArchiveSearch/search/ArchiveArticle.asp?ArticleID=010825 (accessed March 30, 2006).
• ———. 2001c. SQ 695 ad drive costly. Tulsa World, September 2, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.fetch.mhsl.uab.edu (accessed March 1, 2006).
• ———. 2001d. Yes or no? Tulsa World, September 17, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.fetch.mhsl.uab.edu (accessed March 1, 2006).
• ———. 2001e. SQ 695 sets records for political spending. Tulsa World, October 17, http://www.tulsaworld.com/ArchiveSearch/search/ArchiveArticle.asp?ArticleID=011017 (accessed January 30, 2007).
• Lane, Jim. 2001. Oklahomans lost "Right to Work/Scab" fight 9/25/01. at http://www.labordallas.org/hist/okla/htm (accessed March 1, 2006).
• Levey, Noam N. 2005. New labor chief shows mettle in election battle. Los Angeles Times, November 12, B3.
• Lindley, Tom. 2001. Right-to-work sides appeals to values Sept. 25. The Oklahoman, September 22, 16.
• Logan, John. 2005. Prop. 75 is anti-union. Santa Cruz Sentinel , September 4, http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/September/o04/edit/stories/03edit.htm (accessed July 12, 2006).
• Lutrin, Carl E., and Allen K. Settle . 1975. The public and ecology: The role of initiatives in California's environmental politics. The Western Political Quarterly 28 (2): 352—71.[CrossRef]
• Mahoney, Dan. 2000. Governor Keating says Democrats reason for defeat of right-to-work; vows to continue fight. Press release from governor's office, February 21.
• Mallon, John. 2001. Right to work is social justice. The Oklahoman , September 21, 9.
• McGuigan, Patrick B. 2001a. On politics, play and character. The Oklahoman, July 29, 8. ———. 2001b. More chambers boost SQ 695. The Oklahoman , August 12, 8.
• ———. 2001c. SQ 695: Here's what to expect. The Oklahoman , August 19, 8.
• ———. 2001d . On big labor's careful plans. The Oklahoman , August 21, 6.
• ———. 2001e. SQ 695: 21 days to freedom. The Oklahoman , September 5, 8.
• ———. 2001f. Union group blasts Boy Scouts. The Oklahoman , September 7, 8.
• ———. 2002. Top 10 reasons freedom won. The Oklahoman , July 13, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/716011/posts (accessed March 1, 2006).
• Mehring, John. 2001. Labor loses "Right-to-Work" fight in Oklahoma. Expensive media campaign backfires. Labor Notes 272 (November): 3.
• Oklahoma AFL-CIO. 2000. The truth about "Right to Work"—for less. Oklahoma City: Snyder's Printing.
• ———. 2001. History of the labor movement in Oklahoma. http://www.okaflcio.org (accessed October 29,2001 ).
• Parr, Ray. 1964. Right to work election urged. The Oklahoman , January 14, 1.
• Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. 2005. Public more critical of press, but goodwill persists. News release, June 26.
• Public and Private: Big Labor's Two-faced Election Plans. 2001 . The Oklahoman, August 21, 6.
• Raine, George. 2005. Costly TV ads doing little to sway voters. San Francisco Chronicle, October 29, B2.
• Right to Work for Oklahomans. 2001a. Why are they hiding? The Oklahoman, September 1, 14. ———. 2001 b. Don't miss your chance. The Oklahoman, September 8, 12.
• ———. 2001c. Freedom. The Oklahoman, September 18, 7.
• ———. 2001d. The facts are clear about right to work. The Oklahoman, September 21, 11.
• ———. 2001e. Who are you going to trust? The Oklahoman , September 24, 5.
• Right-to-Work Group Urging Poll Watching. 1964. The Oklahoman, May 3, 23.
• Risser, James V. 1998. Endangered species. American Journalism Review 20 (5): 19+.
• Rogers, Everett M. 2004. Theoretical diversity in political communication. In Handbook of political communication research, ed. Lynda Lee Kaid. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Selcraig, Bruce. 1999. The worst newspaper in America. Columbia Journalism Review, January/February. http://archives.cjr.org/year/99/1/worst.asp (accessed March 21, 2006).
• Shelley, Kirk. 2002. How Oklahoma was won: Lessons from one state's fight for right to work. Labor Watch, April, 1—7.
• SQ 695 TV Advertisement is Changed after Protest. 2001. Tulsa World, September 9, A3.
• Stand for Freedom. 2001. The Oklahoman, September 9, 7.
• Sweeney, John J. 1998. Statement on the AFL-CIO defeat of California Proposition 226. Common Dreams Newswire, June 3. http://www.commondreams.org/pressreleases/June98/0603981a.htm (accessed March 21, 2006).
• Wines, William A. 1988. An analysis of the 1986 "right-to-work" referendum in Idaho. Labor Law Journal 39:622—28.

CiteULike

Connotea

Del.icio.us

Digg

Reddit

Technorati

This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by King, J. L. Articles by Catlett-King, L. C. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?