Jeffrey G. Johnson
President
Jeff Johnson was
elected President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, in
December 2010 and was sworn
into office on Jan. 5, 2011. Prior to that, since joining the WSLC
staff in 1986, Jeff had served as special assistant to the president, lead
lobbyist, research and organizing director, and as shop steward for his
staff unit, a part of OPEIU Local 8.
Jeff began his union life with Local 2190 of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO in 1979, teaching Labor Economics and Labor Studies to apprentices of IBEW Local 3 in New York City. Through the mid-1980s, Jeff taught union and community members at the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, ACTWU (which later became UNITE), the National Congress of Neighborhood Women, and the Harry Van Arsdale Center for Labor Studies, a division of Empire State College, State University of New York (SUNY). The Labor College, as the school is known, is the largest college for trade unionists in the United States.
Jeff's work at the Washington State Labor Council has focused on legislation that improves the lives of working people through increasing collective bargaining and organizing rights; economic justice and anti-poverty measures; strengthening our workers' compensation, unemployment insurance and employment standards; improving our health care system; and protecting the rights of farm workers and immigrant workers.
Jeff also represents the Washington labor movement by sitting on the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors, the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, the Washington State Apprenticeship Council, the board of Washington Community Action Network and as co-chair of the Washington Aerospace Partnership.
Jeff
earned his B.A. in Political Science from Georgetown University and his
M.A. and A.B.D. in Political Economy from the Graduate Faculty at the New
School for Social Research. His wife is Rebecca Smith, a UAW member and
an attorney with the National Employment Law Project. They live in Olympia
and Seattle and have four children: Danica, Luca, Anya, and Addie.
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