Tuesday, March 2 and Wednesday, March 3
5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Milgard Manufacturing - Vinyl Extrusion
1001 54th Ave. E. in Fife
(0.4 miles north of I-5, exit 137)

If the Milgard workers in Fife are successful, it would represent the largest manufacturing organizing victory for labor in the Puget Sound in quite some time. There are 500 or more additional Milgard workers in three other divisions in Tacoma, as well as additional factories in Oregon, California and elsewhere. 

For more information, contact the ILWU's Paul Bigman at (206) 448-1870 or toll-free 1-877-459-8937 (1-877-ILWU-YES).

FRIDAY,  FEBRUARY 27
Governor's office takes hard line early in state employee talks

The following update on the historic negotiations that began this week between the Locke administration and Washington's state employees for a first-ever master contract was distributed Thursday by the Washington Federation of State Employees, AFSCME Council 28.  Note the CALL TO ACTION at the end urging phone calls to the Governor's Office:

Your General Government Bargaining Team members are holding their heads high today after the governor’s negotiators spent two days and thousands of dollars in an unsuccessful attempt to take away the union team’s equal rights at the table. The team ended its first bargaining session with the governor’s office Tuesday and Wednesday without an agreement on ground rules.

By early Wednesday afternoon it was clear the governor’s team would not consider any paid release time for the Federation members on our bargaining team -- even when the union team offered to meet on weekends to cut down on the number of work-day bargaining sessions.

With that, negotiations will go forward at this time without ground rules. While ground rules are nice, they’re not required. But ground rules without paid release time for workday bargaining sessions are meaningless.

The Federation’s chief negotiator Diane Lutz told the governor’s chief bargainer Gary Moore that denying paid release time for the union side of the table was “fundamentally unfair” and imposed a “price of admission” to the 104 rank-and-file union members on the team -- a “price paid by only one side of the table.”

The governor’s team of about 26 agency representatives and Moore’s staff are getting paid for their time in bargaining.

So, negotiations on the union’s non-economic contract proposals will start March 12 in Lacey without ground rules. The union presented management with its contract proposal and 27 proposed bargaining dates -- about two-thirds of which are weekends or holidays.

While the governor’s team refused to provide any substantive movement on release time, the union team hasn’t given up.

So, all state agency workers who get this message are urged to contact Gov. Locke on your own time. Tell him to “Release the 104” and grant paid release time for the Federation Bargaining Team. Without paid release time, there is no level playing field. Call the governor at (360) 902-4111.

THURSDAY,  FEBRUARY 26
Support striking IGA grocery workers in Ocean Shores at rally

Employees of the IGA grocery store in Ocean Shores have been on strike for the past two weeks.  Their union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 367, sent the following letter Feb. 18 to the Pierce County Central Labor Council requesting labor participation in a rally at noon this Saturday, Feb. 28 at the public beach area just past the Shilo Inn in town:

I write to you on behalf of the striking workers at the Ocean Shore IGA grocery store.

On February 13, IGA employees struck their employer after nine months of protracted and unproductive bargaining.  The strike became necessary after the employer made it clear in bargaining that he would not honor the area-standard medical plan that exists throughout Grays Harbor County.

In a cowardly attempt to bully striking workers, the IGA owner has now threatened to permanently replace any worker who does not return to work by Thursday, February 19.  The employer's shameless attack on IGA workers is timed to coincide with a mediation session that is scheduled on the very next day.

We intend to hold a rally in Ocean Shores on Saturday, February 28.  Our rally will begin at 12:00 noon at the public beach area located just past the Shilo Inn.  The purpose of our rally is to support the IGA employees in their struggle to obtain area-standard medical insurance.  We also intend to demonstrate against the employer's threat to permanently replace his striking workers.

We would appreciate as much support as possible from the labor community at our rally.  Your assistance in circulating this letter or otherwise informing council members of our rally would be a morale booster for the striking IGA workers.

Thank you for any assistance you can provvide.

Sincerely,
James G. McGinnis
UFCW 367 Secretary/Treasurer

Here is an excellent Letter to the Editor that appeared in the (Aberdeen) Daily World last week:

IGA should take care of its hard-working employees

Shame on you, IGA grocery of Ocean Shores! Your employees voted to become members of Local 367, United Food & Commercial Workers, and you refuse to negotiate for the same contract that the rest of the union grocery stores on Grays Harbor agreed to.

I am so very fortunate and thank my store owner, Mark Swanson, as often as I can for the wonderful medical and other benefits he supplies for all his union employees. He is not running a big chain store like Top Foods or Safeway, yet he still manages to take care of his employees and give us an excellent wage and benefit package while competing with all the bigger stores on lower pricing!

I am a receiver at his Hoquiam Swansons Store and talked with many of the same vendors that service IGA at Ocean Shores. They say they deliver twice as many items to that one store than they do to all of the three Swansons combined! This must mean great profits for you as you are much higher in prices on your items than any of the Aberdeen or Hoquiam grocery stores.

I am sure you do quite well with the tourist crowd. I live on the main state highway that they travel on to Ocean Shores and see first hand the masses of tourists that pass by on a Sunday or holiday weekend, bumper to bumper most times.

Take care of your loyal and hard-working employees! You will so benefit from this!

All of you who will not cross the picket line, we here at all our Swansons stores would love to take care of you with much gratitude and great customer service!

Just a little reminder to all my fellow union employees everywhere who have the privilege of such good wages, medical and retirement benefits: take the time to thank your store owner or manager as often as you can. I know from personal experience from two high-risk births and being a cancer survivor that without their supplying us with such good medical that I would have had to file bankruptcy more than once due to medical bills.

So with that I again say, "Thank you, Mark Swanson and the Swanson family for my quality of life." I am very proud to work for you and be a member of United Food & Commercial Workers Union, which works so hard to come to agreements to keep us so fortunate.

IGA - if Swansons can do it, so can you!

IGA striking employees - keep up the good morale and don't give up! We stand behind you all the way!

Jennie Kilgore
Proud Member of Local 367
Hoquiam 

WEDNESDAY,  FEBRUARY 25
Call Senators: Urge them to protect "lawful" employee activity

ESHB 2779, the employee reference bill described in our most recent WSLC Legislative Update, is being heard in the Senate Commerce and Trade (but not Labor) Committee at 8 a.m. this morning and is expected to advance to a floor vote, possibly Friday. This bill, which passed the House 51-45, grants legal immunity when they give negative job "references" unless the information they give out to other employers is knowingly false or misleading.

The WSLC is not enamored with this legislation, but has not taken action to oppose it as long as it retains important language protecting employees' legal rights.  In other words, under ESHB 2779 as approved by the House, employers would not have legal immunity if they gave unfavorable references discussing legally protected employee activity, like utilization of family and medical leave or union activity.  The obvious concern is that, without this language, employers could blacklist people who take legally required leave or are active trade unionists, among other things.

But some employers have urged State Senators to remove the language protecting "lawful" activities.

A legal counsel for Group Health Cooperative has contacted legislators with the message, "I believe that addition of the word 'lawful' introduces some ambiguity in the bill that can easily be avoided by not including the word."

CALL TO ACTION: There is reason to believe that Senators may amend the bill to remove the language protecting "lawful" activities. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR STATE SENATORS right now via email or by leaving a message for them using the toll-free Legislative Hotline: 1-800-562-6000. 

Ask your Senator to vote against ESHB 2779 unless employers forfeit their legal immunity when they discuss legally protected employee activity in job references. "Lawful" employee activity must be protected to prevent worker blacklisting!

Thank you for making this important e-mail/phone call.

WEDNESDAY,  FEBRUARY 25
Washington deemed "ground zero" for outsourcing legislation

Although only one of the handful of anti-offshore outsourcing bills remains alive in Olympia, state lawmakers convened a special four-committee session late last Thursday night to gauge the impact and scope of the outsourcing issue.

Jeff Johnson, Education Director of the Washington State Labor Council, reported on the important hearing to the WSLC Legislative Conference the following day. He said the hearing featured some of the most dramatic and heartfelt testimony of the entire legislative session, in particular from Jennifer MacKay of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, IFPTE 2001, which represents engineers and technical workers at the Boeing Co.

"Outsourcing has impacted and is consuming engineering and high-tech jobs at levels that we never thought would be possible," MacKay testified. "We’re here to tell you that we finally get it. We know we're in trouble, and we need your help... Outsourcing has impacted and is consuming engineering and high-tech jobs at levels that we never thought would be possible. We’re here to tell you that we finally get it. We know we're in trouble, and we need your help."

MacKay was joined by many others who also offered emotionally charged testimony about the impact that the dramatic trend toward offshore outsourcing of technical workers' jobs has had on Washington's working families.  Also testifying were several economics and government policy experts.

"In some respects, Washington state is ground zero (for addressing the outsourcing issue)," said Dr. Catherine L. Mann, a senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics, who testified via teleconference from Washington D.C.

Read a full report on last Thursday's hearing by D. David Beckman posted by WashTech, the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers/CWA.

WEDNESDAY,  FEBRUARY 25
SEIU 1199NW: Island Hospital employees ratify 3-year contract

The following press release was distributed Tuesday by Service Employees International Union Local 1199NW:

ISLAND HOSPITAL EMPLOYEES WIN RAISES, NEW RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION INCENTIVES
Union Members Overwhelmingly Approve New Contract

ANACORTES -- Employees at Island Hospital have overwhelmingly approved a new contract that boosts wages and adds new incentives to recruit and retain staff at the facility.

“This new agreement makes jobs at the hospital better, which will improve recruitment and retention. Investing in a quality workforce is a smart choice that benefits our entire community,” explained Kathi Tjeerdsma, a health unit coordinator at the hospital.

About 135 staffers in patient services and facilities maintenance job classifications are covered under the new contract, including nursing aides, dietary staff, housekeeping employees, and others.

Some highlights of the contract include:

• 6.5 percent across-the-board wage increases over three years

• New longevity wage increases that encourage experienced employees
  to stay at Island

• A new weekend wage premium for working on Saturdays and Sundays

• Maintains employees' health insurance benefit

Island employees voted overwhelmingly to approve the three-year agreement. The employees are members of Service Employees International Union District 1199NW, Washington’s largest union of hospital caregivers.

For more information, visit www.seiu1199nw.org or contact Carter Wright, SEIU 1199NW Communications Director, at (425) 917-1199.

TUESDAY,  FEBRUARY 24
WFSE, SEIU weigh in on supplemental budget proposals

Although still analyzing the supplemental budget proposals released Monday by House Democrats and Senate Republicans, the Washington Federation of State Employees, AFSCME Council 28 and the Service Employees International Union Local 775 have sent early reviews of the proposals to their members. Here's what they say:

Service Employees International Union Local 775:

Good News & Action Worked: Because of more than 600 emails and faxes sent by home care workers and their supporters over the last five days, the Senate has backed off their attempts to undermine the rights of home care workers. (See yesterday's posting on the potential removal of "interest arbitration" language.)  Both the House and the Senate budgets now include full funding to implement the home care union contract and provide a raise to all home care workers.

Bad News & Action Needed: Now the State House is proposing cutting health care for home care workers employed at private agencies like Catholic Community Services and Addus. This could cause thousands to lose their current health care and be forced onto the Basic Health Plan. This move would also undermine the collective bargaining process and deny home care workers a voice to determine their own benefits.

Take action now!  Click here to tell your legislators to keep their hands off the health care benefits of agency home care workers.

Washington Federation of State Employees, AFSCME Council 28:

The House (budget proposal) would use surplus funds to cut, yes, cut your health insurance premium costs by an average of $14 a month. Under the House plan, your average monthly premium would go from $79 a month now to $65 a month in 2005.

But the Senate would raise your premium costs by an average of $28 a month, from $79 now to $107 a month in 2005. 

As you recall, the governor had proposed setting your monthly premiums at an average of $100 a month.

So the House supplemental budget plan is the best proposal... Call your legislators at 1-800-562-6000 to support a supplemental budget with funding for state employee health insurance at the level in the House budget.

TUESDAY,  FEBRUARY 24
Don't patronize Paramount's non-union 'Oklahoma' production

The following message was sent to the thousands of people on the AFL-CIO's Working Families e-Activist Network (if you aren't one of them, join the list!)

Dear Working Families e-Activist:

More and more Broadway touring shows -- such as OKLAHOMA!, which is coming to the Paramount Theatre in Seattle on March 2 -- are being produced without union stage actors and stage managers. This practice undercuts the wage, benefit and working condition standards in the theatre industry.

Most actors aren't the super-rich celebrities we see on TV.  They're regular working folk whose talent and hard work is fairly rewarded when they have a union contract. But some theatre producers avoid paying union-standard wages and health insurance to actors and stage managers. Instead, they hire people who don't have union representation in a blatant attempt to undermine workers' rights in order to boost profits for themselves and the presenters. To make matters worse, these shows are promoted as "Broadway" productions with comparable ticket prices -- but audiences aren't getting the show they paid for. Real Broadway shows feature actors and stage managers who are members of Actors' Equity Association, and receive fair pay and good health insurance.

REQUESTED ACTION

We need your help to make sure that all actors and stage managers get a fair share of the work they create.

Please don't patronize this show, and spread the word to your friends, family and co-workers. You also can register your protest by calling the Paramount Theatre at 206-467-5510. Tell the Paramount you want to see real Broadway shows with union actors and stage managers who are treated with dignity and respect for their hard work and talent.

Thanks for all you do!

MONDAY,  FEBRUARY 23
Senate voting today to undermine home care workers' rights!

The following press release was distributed today by Service Employees International Union Local 775:

Zarelli Seeks To Undermine Home Care Workers’ Bargaining Rights

Will Senate Ways & Means Committee Inject Partisan Anti-Union Agenda Into Common Sense Reforms Passed 95-0 By House?

 

OLYMPIA -- Senator Joseph Zarelli (R-18) is proposing amendments today to undermine home care workers’ bargaining rights and revoke an initiative passed overwhelmingly by voters in 2001. Zarelli is refusing to fund the home care workers union contract unless his radical changes are made – including eliminating arbitration rights for home care workers.

 

“We help care for the most vulnerable in our society, but we don’t get even health care or workers’ compensation coverage,” said Patricia Butler, a home care worker from Vancouver . “I can’t believe Senator Zarelli is trying to hold my health care and L&I hostage to further his partisan anti-union agenda.”

 

It is common for workers – like police and firefighters – who don’t have the right to strike to have binding arbitration as an alternative method of breaking an impasse at the bargaining table. A similar arrangement was approved by voters for home care workers – Initiative 775 banned strikes by caregivers but gave them the right to arbitration. And police and firefighters have had arbitration rights under the law for many years.

 

The State House unanimously passed a set of common sense reforms to Initiative 775 to improve the bargaining process and provide more legislative oversight. Now Senator Zarelli is seeking to amend those reforms by stripping home care workers of arbitration rights and giving DSHS the ability to use rule-making to undermine collective bargaining agreements with no oversight or accountability.

 

“When the session started, we were optimistic that this was a different kind of Republican leadership – a pragmatic group of leaders who wanted to expand their tent and deal respectfully with the collective bargaining process and our members,” said Rolf. “It appears now that we’re back to where we were a year ago – with an ideologically driven anti-union Republican Senate Ways & Means Chair seeking to undermine the rights of home care workers and keep them in poverty forever.”

 

For more information, contact SEIU 775's Adam Glickman.

TAKE ACTION!  Please click here to send a message to members of the Senate Ways and Means Committee urging them not to take away the bargaining rights of home care workers. Following is the message you can send with the click of a button (feel free to edit and personalize it): 

I urge you to reject today proposals by Sen. Joseph Zarelli to weaken the bargaining rights of home care workers.

Home care workers now earn $8.43/hr with no benefits (and earned only $7.18/hr before they began organizing a union). They provide care for the most vulnerable in our society, but are often forced to live in dire poverty.

Several weeks ago the State House unanimously passed House Bill 2933 -- backed by the home care workers union -- to make common sense changes to Initiative 775 to improve the bargaining process. But now Senator Zarelli is advancing an ideological anti-union agenda to use that bill to undermine the collective bargaining process for home care workers. He wants to eliminate home care workers' rights to "interest arbitration" if they can't reach an agreement at the bargaining table and give DSHS the ability to use rule-making to undermine collective bargaining agreements with no accountability or oversight. 

I strongly urge you to vote today against Senator Zarelli's amendments (S-4840.2) and reject any efforts to undermine the rights of home care workers. Instead pass ESHB 2933 without amendments -- the common sense reform passed 95-0 by the House.