2011 Convention
of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO

TVW, Washington state's public-affairs network, covered the plenary sessions of the Washington State Labor Council's 2011 Convention that was held Aug. 4-6 at the SeaTac DoubleTree Hotel. Video is now available online. You can watch the entire sessions for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, OR you can watch selected individual clips of specific speakers and panels, embedded below.

Debate and action on political endorsements and resolutions were not filmed. The 2011 Resolutions, as approved by convention delegates, are available here. Delegates voted to take the following endorsement actions: 

• ENDORSE Sharon Wylie for State Representative, 49th LD

• OPPOSE Initiative 1125 defunding highway and transportation projects

• SUPPORT Initiative 1163 training for long-term care workers

• OPPOSE Initiative 1183 on privatization of liquor sales and distribution

At the convention, the WSLC honored three lawmakers with its 2011 Legislators of the Year Awards: Sen. Steve Conway (D-Tacoma), and Reps. Mike Sells (D-Everett) and Bob Hasegawa (D-Seattle). It also presented special legislative awards to eight freshman Democratic state representatives who stood united in support of working families’ issues and earned 100% voting records from the council: Andy Billig of Spokane, Joe Fitzgibbon of Seattle, Connie Ladenburg of Tacoma, Kris Lytton of Bellingham, Luis Moscoso of Everett, Chris Reykdal of Olympia, Cindy Ryu of Shoreline, and Derek Stanford of Everett. Read more here.

The following unions and individuals were also honored with special WSLC awards: 

• Bruce Brennan Award (apprenticeship) -- Former WSLC Secretary-Treasurer Al Link
• Elsie Schrader Award (advancing women's causes) -- Nicole Grant, IBEW Local 46
• Joe Murphy "Power to the People" Award (political action) -- UNION: Sheetmetal Workers Local 66 -- INDIVIDUAL: Leanne Guier, UA Local 32
• Mother Jones Award (outstanding labor advocacy) -- UNION: Teamsters Local 760 -- INDIVIDUAL: Ed Wood, CWA 7818

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4

WSLC President Jeff Johnson -- opening address (26 min.)

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich -- keynote address (21 min.) 

PANEL: Building a Strong Community -- Sudha Nandagopal, One America; Hilary Stern, Casa Latina; Will Pittz, Washington Community Action Network; and the Rev. Paul Benz, Faith Action Network (23 min.)

"Building an Industrial Economy" -- Robert Pollin, Professor of Economics and Founding Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute (24 min.)

PANEL: Building an Industrial Economy -- Stan Sorscher, Washington Fair Trade Coalition; Randy Scott, WA State Plumbers and Pipefitters (Sustainable Works); Rebecca Saldana, Puget Sound Sage; Bob Guenther, Thurston-Lewis-Mason Counties CLC (Industrial Land Bank); and Dave Johnson, WA State Building & Construction Trades Council (23 min.)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5

Mary Beth Maxwell , Senior Adviser, U.S. Dept. of Labor -- keynote address (27 min.)

Mark Dudzik, National Coordinator, Labor Campaign for Single Payer (24 min.)

PANEL: Health Care -- Teresa Mosqueda, WA State Labor Council; Sofia Aragon, WA State Nurses Association; Chuck Richards, Health Care for All Washington; and Don Mitchell, MD, Physicians for National Health Care Solution (19 min.)

PANEL: Labor Education -- Sarah Laslett, Washington State Labor Education & Research Center; Conor Casey, Labor Archive of Washington State; and Jim Gregory, UW Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies (20 min.)

PANEL: Diversity & WSLC Constituency Groups -- Verlene Jones, A. Phillip Randolph Institute; Tracy Lai, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance; Michael Andrew, Pride at Work; Paulette Thompson, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists; Jacquie Jones-Walsh, Coalition of Labor Union Women; and Robby Stern, Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans (XX min.)

Spoken Word Youth Presentation, Henry Luke and Nomad (16 min.)

Denny Heck, candidate for Congress, 10th CD (9 min.)

David Campbell, managing partner of Schwerin Campbell Barnard Iglitzin & Lavitt LLP, on the Boeing-NLRB case (10 min.) 

Legislative Awards: The WSLC honored three lawmakers with its 2011 Legislators of the Year Awards: Sen. Steve Conway (D-Tacoma), and Reps. Mike Sells (D-Everett) and Bob Hasegawa (D-Seattle). It also presented special legislative awards to eight freshman Democratic state representatives who stood united in support of working families’ issues and earned 100% voting records from the council: Andy Billig of Spokane, Joe Fitzgibbon of Seattle, Connie Ladenburg of Tacoma, Kris Lytton of Bellingham, Luis Moscoso of Everett, Chris Reykdal of Olympia, Cindy Ryu of Shoreline, and Derek Stanford of Everett. (10 min.)

SATURDAY, AUGUST 6

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) (10 min.)

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-1st), 2012 candidate for Governor of Washington (13 min.)

U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-7th) (16 min.)

PANEL: 1st CD candidates for Congress -- State Rep. Roger Goodman (D-45th), State Rep. Marco Liias (D-21st), and former State Rep. Laura Ruderman (12 min.)

PANEL: 2011 Initiatives -- Sarah Cherin, UFCW Local 21 (NO on I-1183 liquor privatization); Peggy Myers, SEIU Healthcare 775NW (YES on I-1163 home-care training); and Lee Newgent, Seattle-King Co. Building & Construction Trades Council (NO on I-1125 defunding highway and infrastructure projects (10 min.)