Following is an abbreviated version of the latest edition of Labor Neighbor News.
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PREVIOUS EDITIONS:
October 15 (spotlighting Rossi ducking Vancouver debate and IAM District 751)
October 6 (spotlighting NALC's early release program and AFT retiree Larry Wewell)
September 16 (spotlighting Gov. Gregoire's job site visits and WFSE Council 28)
August 18 (spotlighting Spokane CLC's Beth Thew and OPEIU Local 8)
August 1 (spotlighting UA 32's Larry Fritts and UAW Local 4121)

OCTOBER 29, 2008 -- Gov. Chris Gregoire stopped by on Saturday, Oct. 18 to personally thank about 100 union members in Tacoma for their participation in the Washington State Labor Council's Labor Neighbor Program.

"We can’t win without your help," Gregoire told the energized crowd. "It is your tireless efforts that will really make a difference in this election. I appreciate the time you take to talk to your fellow union members and ask them for their support. But let’s make sure of one thing -- that there are NO recounts!"

The governor seemed relaxed and confident as she headed into her final few weeks of campaigning. She reminded the group of how they have worked as a great team over the last four years, and said she was looking forward to an even brighter future in the next four.

"Together we have achieved some remarkable things," she said. "We have strengthened collective bargaining in our state and have increased protections for working men and women."

The Governor went on to say that under her watch, and contrary to what her opponent would have you believe, Washington state’s crime rate is lower than it has been in 14 years. She spoke about how the Washington State Patrol has been named the best in the country and how angered the patrol is that Republican Dino Rossi would portray the state in such a bad light in his commercial advertisements.

OCTOBER 29, 2008 -- "Dino Dollars" appeared up and down the state over the last week as stand-ins for the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) and the Republican Governors Association (RGA) tried to buy the election for Dino Rossi.

"We are here to let people know that the BIAW and the Republican Governor’s Association is trying to buy the election for Dino," said Dusty Hoerler of UA Local 32. "The BIAW, the most extreme, conservative special interest in the state, already owns Dino, he voted with them 99% of the time, now they want to buy him the Governor’s mansion."

Dusty was part of a contingent of activist Labor Neighbor volunteers who chased Dino from Olympia to Bellingham carrying bags with $$ signs, posters and even a wheelbarrow full of "Dino Dollars" to illustrate just how ridiculous the influx of last minute money is from Rossi’s special interest friends. Their efforts cumulated with a day long protest in front of the building where Rossi was testifying about his role in the BIAW "buildergate" scandal. Press reports aired on television throughout the day featuring pictures of the many picketers and "Dino Dollars."

The two groups, the BIAW and the RGA, dumped $7.5 million into their campaign to elect Dino. This brings the special interest contributions to more than $12 million in this election. The amount is more than Dino Rossi and Chris Gregoire spent in the entire 2004 election. The plan for the new money is to flood airwaves and mail boxes with attack ads against Governor Gregoire. The money came on the last day prior to the cut-off for donations of this sort. Had they waited one more day, the two groups would have only been allowed to contribute $5,000 to electing Dino.

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