MANHATTAN BEACH -- The California Labor Federation on Tuesday blessed the shotgun wedding of Gov. Gray Davis and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, endorsing a "no on recall, yes on Bustamante" ballot strategy for the Oct. 7 recall election and tethering Republican hopeful Arnold Schwarzenegger to the "anti-labor policies" of former Gov. Pete Wilson.

The state's AFL-CIO governing board earlier this summer urged Democratic gubernatorial aspirants to rally around Davis and stay out of the race. But three weeks after Bustamante broke party ranks, the 500 union delegates at a recall convention bowed to political reality and followed the lead of other Democratic stakeholders by adopting the dual-candidate strategy.

"We see the great value of this no-yes tandem, if you will, to be sure that we get a maximum turnout of voters," said Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the 2.1 million-member federation.

Davis beamed beside Pulaski as delegates chanted, "No on recall," before a column of television cameras.
Bustamante is the only Democratic officeholder who will appear on the list of candidates to assume the job if Davis is ousted. Relations have long been strained between California's two highest constitutional officers. The lieutenant governor's entry into the race -- and Bustamante's allegations that the Davis administration has been urging donors not to contribute to his campaign -- has alarmed party leaders who have been working behind the scenes to broker a truce.

In response, the two Democrats have been playing down their differences in recent days as voters consider whether to recall Davis and, if so, who should replace him.

"He's a good, decent person," Davis said Tuesday. "He's the most qualified person on Question 2. But this election is not going to get to Question 2."

Bustamante welcomed the federation's support and called for jobs that pay "decent wages" and provide health insurance for workers and their families.

Pulaski said Bustamante spoke Monday to the federation's 46-member executive council, which recommended the two-candidate strategy that was adopted Tuesday by delegates, who voted unanimously to oppose the recall.

More than two-thirds supported the endorsement of Bustamante as the replacement candidate, Pulaski said.

"He will turn out people to vote -- Latino voters and voters in the (Central) Valley, which have been strongholds for the governor before," Pulaski said of Bustamante, who grew up in a farm community in Fresno County. "We know that Cruz will continue to be strongly and vigorously 'no' (on recall)."

Davis dodged questions about whether he was disappointed that the labor federation had adopted a two-candidate strategy.

"I understand why various organizations want to send guidance to their membership," he said. "But I'm heartened that Democrats in this state -- and virtually every organization that is affiliated with Democrats -- has said emphatically that their highest priority is to defeat the recall."

Federation officials said they will devote their resources and money to the "no on recall" campaign, including an extensive direct-mail program, 3 million phone calls to voters and 700,000 one-on-one conversations with union members -- culminating with a massive get-out-the-vote effort.

He estimated the federation and its member unions would spend more than $5 million on the campaign. Union sources say Davis had reportedly set his sights on raising $10 million from labor to fight the recall.

"All of our resources are committed to 'no on recall,' " Pulaski said when asked if the federation would urge its members to contribute directly to the Davis and Bustamante campaigns.

Davis has long enjoyed the support of labor, which collectively has been his largest contributor. As governor, he has signed more than 50 pro-labor bills. Pulaski called him the best governor for working people in the last century, but said defeating the recall is more important than any individual.

"This is a recall not about one man," Pulaski said, appealing for Democratic Party unity. "This is a recall of those archconservatives who want to change the politics and makeup of California."

Dave Gilliard, director of Rescue California, which spearheaded the recall campaign, denied Pulaski's characterization of recall proponents. He said 35 percent of the 1.7 million people who signed petitions were registered Democrats.

"This is about Gray Davis' failed policies," Gilliard said. "It's not about being anti-labor."

But labor leaders clearly hope to convince middle-class voters that Schwarzenegger's campaign threatens the gains union members have made under the Davis administration.

"We saw a picture today which shows us what this candidacy is becoming more and more about," Pulaski said, holding up an enlarged photo of Schwarzenegger embracing former Gov. Wilson that appeared Tuesday in the New York Times.

During a closed meeting with union delegates, Davis reminded members of the gains they have made since he succeeded Wilson. Pulaski charged Wilson excluded labor leaders from policy decisions while rolling back overtime laws and workplace safety standards -- and predicted that Schwarzenegger would follow suit.

"When we saw him at his economic summit (last week), his economic summit had only millionaires," Pulaski said. "It had only investors. It didn't have a single voice of labor."

A Schwarzenegger spokesman said the movie star is open to working with all groups, including labor.

Sean Walsh cited the Republican candidate's collaboration last year with the California Teachers Association that led to the passage of a ballot initiative designed to increase funding for after-school programs.

Walsh predicted that labor's effort to turn middle-class voters against Schwarzenegger would fail.

"That strategy is going to work as well as their last, which was keeping a Democratic candidate from entering the race," Walsh said.