Rick S. Bender
President

Rick was elected President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO in March 1993. Prior to that he served as WSLC Vice President (1988-1993); Executive Secretary of the King County Labor Council (1991-1993); and Executive Secretary of the Seattle Building and Construction Trades Council (1987-1991). A member of Laborers Local 242 and Elevator Constructors Local 19, he began his long accomplished career with organized labor as an apprentice with Cement Masons Local 528 in 1966.

Rick also was a State Legislator from 1973 to 1991, serving 10 years in the House and eight in the Senate. Among his accomplishments in Olympia were serving as Senate Majority Whip, House Assistant Majority Leader and chair of the Senate Transportation Committee.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Washington State Trade and Convention Center, the Governor’s Economic Forecast Council and the Washington State Economic Development Commission. He has also served on the Board of Directors for the Washington Dental Service, the King County Housing Authority and Freedom House. He has been a member of the Efficiency and Accountability Commission, the Employment Security Advisory Committee, the Advisory Committee to the Economic Climate Council, the Governor's School-to-Work Transition, and the Workers' Compensation Advisory Committee.

Rick is former president of CoLab (the Coalition of Labor and Business), and has participated on the Health Services Commission's Stakeholders Committee, the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, the Seattle Community College District Chancellor's Roundtable, the Long-Term Disability Task Force, United Way of King County and the American Red Cross.

A Vietnam War veteran, he majored in economics at the University of Puget Sound , and also attended the University of Washington and North Seattle Community College . Born in Fairbanks , Alaska , Rick was raised in Seattle 's Shoreline area. He and his wife, Carla live in Kenmore and have two grown children.

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