State Sen. Lois Wolk wants to encourage not require that health care workers get annual flu vaccinations if they come into contact with patients in hospitals and nursing homes.

No right-thinking person could possibly oppose her legislation. But in our dysfunctional Capitol, public health has become a contested issue. Too often, lobbyists place the interests of the organizations they represent ahead of what's best for the rest of us.

Wolk's main opposition doesn't come from conservatives who want nothing to do with government. It comes from unions, specifically those that represent nurses and health care workers.

Bonnie Castillo, the California Nurses Association's chief lobbyist, made a point of telling me that the union "highly recommends that all nurses receive vaccinations."

But Castillo says Wolk's bill steps on workers' rights, or at least bargaining rights, by requiring that health care workers wear surgical masks if they refuse to get flu shots.

In her view, there are many reasons not to wear masks. They're uncomfortable to wear. They might scare patients who might why the nurse is wearing one. Being required to wear a mask is like a "Scarlet Letter," Castillo said.

"What's really problematic is if you're punitive and require nurses to wear a Scarlet Letter, which divulges private health information," Castillo said. To which Wolk replied that Nathaniel Hawthorne would be insulted that the title of his great 19th-century novel had been so badly mangled and misused.

"They should be embarrassed," the Davis Democrat said.

In a concession to labor, California public health authorities already offer health care workers a form in which they can check off reasons why they are refusing vaccination.

They can check a box that says they have a religious objection. OK.

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Dan Morain: Nurses union puts politics ahead of health