The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 46 invites and encourages all area trade unionists to attend a picket and protest from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, in front of the Port of Seattle Headquarters (2711 Alaskan Way, Pier 69 on the waterfront).  Following is an announcement from Jobs With Justice Organizing Committee explaining the reasons for the action:

Following is a posting from the Washington Federation of State Employees, AFSCME Council 28 regarding an offensive editorial cartoon today's edition of The Olympian newspaper:

If you are in the readership area of the Olympian, we encourage you to write a letter to the editor objecting to the offensive cartoon that is running on today's opinion page. It depicts state employees in this budget debate as bloated swine gorging at the feeding trough. 

Click here for The Olympian's Letter to the Editor form. You can also write: Letters to the Editor, The Olympian, P.O. Box 1219, Olympia, WA  98507. Many members and other state employees have apparently canceled their subscriptions by calling the Olympian's circulation department at 754-5411.

The Federation has also demanded a formal apology. Here is a portion of the letter I sent Opinion Page Editor Mike Oakland:

Mike:

I have been asked by many state employees -- some of whom are members and some who are not -- to relay to you the deep hurt they feel at the editorial cartoon that appears on the opinion page of today's Olympian.

Many of these callers have said they've cancelled their subscriptions.

The Federation will consider that as well as ending any plans to advertise in The Olympian....

Many state employees risk life and limb every day they go to work. They provide valuable public services. They like all of us are grappling with the lasting effects of Sept. 11 and what sacrifices they'll be asked to make in the budget now being debated by the Legislature.

State employees should be accountable to the public. But Mr. Shiers's cartoon borders on bigotry, not fair comment and criticism.  His cartoon comparing state employees to bloated swine at the feeding trough reminds me of the hate-mongering art that Hitler's Nazis produced to generate hatred of Jews.

This also hurts me personally.

I worked for the chain of newspapers that first started running Mr. Shiers's cartoons some 20 years ago. I find it hard to believe that today's cartoon came from his pen.

And Mike, I know and respect you on many levels and appreciate all the respect you've shown me, the Federation and the state employees who make up a huge chunk of The Olympian's readership. I cannot understand why The Olympian, with all the thorough and well-balanced legislative reporting by your reporters, would run a cartoon that simply does not reflect the facts that have run every day in your news columns.

I would hope that The Olympian would apologize to the state employees you know do not fit the stereotype depicted in Mr. Shiers's cartoon.

Sincerely,
Tim Welch
Director of Public Affairs
The Washington Federation of State Employees

Looking for new ways to communicate with your union's members? More effective methods of getting the word out to the public? Good strategies for reaching selected audiences with your local’s message?

The Western Labor Communications Association, an organization of editors, reporters, webmasters and media relations specialists for unions in the Western region of the United States, can set you on the path to more effective union communications. It sponsors an annual conference, during which you can encounter the best ideas and examples in the field today. More importantly, you’ll meet the people behind those ideas and examples, in discussions, workshops and informal conversation.

"Labor communications are critically important in servicing union members and growing the labor movement, but local union efforts in this area often rise and fall on the talents, dedication and grit of dedicated union members, usually volunteers or overworked staffers," said Rick Bender, President of the Washington State Labor Council.

"The WLCA was created by labor communicators to provide each other support, share ideas on best practices and offer inspiration on improving our communication with members and the general public. I urge all Washington union organizations to join the WLCA," Bender said.

In conjunction with its annual conference -- this year in San Francisco on May 3-4 -- the WLCA coordinates a contest in which you may enter your local’s print or electronic communications. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call WLCA Secretary-Treasurer Steve Stallone at 415-775-0533, or e-mail him at stevestallone@ilwu.org.

"It was at a WLCA conference five or six years ago that I saw my first demonstration of web-design software and learned how I could easily get our organization online," said D. Nolan Groves, WSLC Webmaster of the Second Best Labor Website in the Country™. "The WLCA gave me the tools and inspiration to get it accomplished. The WLCA is communica-rific!"

House floor action could happen any day now on SB 6368, the prescription drug bill, and there are disturbing signs that the dozens of drug company lobbyists -- including many from Washington D.C. and elsewhere around the country -- may be gaining ground in convincing some State Representatives to oppose the bill.

Governor Gary Locke supports this important bill, which already passed the Senate on a 27-20 vote, so if it passes the House this week, it WILL become law.  But the drug companies continue to pay for newspaper advertisements containing misleading or false information about the bill and to use organizations they fund as "fronts" for their cause. (More below on that.)

After a dramatic effort Monday that flooded the Governor's Office with phone calls and e-mails in support of the state ergonomics rule, advocates for working people are braced today for Governor Gary Locke's announcement on whether or not he intends to delay enforcement of the rule, even as a panel of experts representing business, labor and academia has unanimously concluded that the rule is ready for implementation.

The governor has already made his decision, but would not discuss it until a news conference this morning, according to spokesman Pearse Edwards.

The nine-member Blue Ribbon Panel on Ergonomics was assembled by the governor last year and composed primarily of business representatives – including from Boeing, General Motors and Perdue Farms – and academics, with just two representatives from labor. After several public hearings and intensive study of Department of Labor and Industries' ergonomics educational materials and pilot projects, the panel has concluded the pilot projects were a success and the rule is understandable, well-publicized and prepared for enforcement.

"When I first heard about the Blue Ribbon Panel's report, I felt all of us who have fought for years for (the rule) had been vindicated by the facts and the business community itself. The results couldn't have been more positive," said Randy Loomans, Education and Safety Director for the Washington State Labor Council. "Now here we are again, back to square one, trying to defend implementation of the rule. It's frustrating, but I still have hope the governor will do the right thing."

But Loomans expressed concern at the ominous absence of business lobbyists Monday as the governor met with his staff, legislative and labor leaders to discuss the future of the rule. "Given the Blue Ribbon Panel's favorable report, you'd think business would be the ones scrambling to get people to call the governor, not us," said Loomans.

The Blue Ribbon Panel was appointed by Governor Locke last year and has issued its final report in response to specific questions posed by the governor, concluding the following:

1. The demonstration projects that were set up by the Department of Labor and Industries to test the ergonomics rules met their objectives and proved the rule is understandable.
2. The educational materials developed by the Department to explain the rule are effective and widely available.
3. The rules are clearly written, and together with the supporting educational materials, are understandable.
4. The enforcement policies and procedures developed by the Department provide a foundation for fair and consistent enforcement.

"The business community asked for this panel and the governor agreed," said WSLC President Rick Bender, adding that Department of Labor and Industries has already gone to extraordinary lengths to accommodate business interests in the rule’s language, including an unprecedented 6-year phase-in of the rule and requiring ergonomic hazard mitigation only if "economically feasible."

"The frustrating thing is that if the 6-year phase-in is extended even more, the business community will continue to spend that time trying to kill the rule, not assisting business owners in preparing to comply," Bender said. "Given that fact, if you support the rule and the experts have concluded there is no reason for delay, why delay?"

Bender's assertion was confirmed by comments Monday from the business community.

"The chamber continues to believe the current ergonomics rules lacks clarity and is not a reasonable rule today or three years from now," said Karin Zaugg, communications director for the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.  It is not clear what she was referring to when she specifically mentioned "three years from now."

Stay tuned. We will report the governor's decision right here later today, as well as reaction from the Washington State Labor Council.

Today we have a classic good news/bad news situation, one that requires IMMEDIATE ACTION from all of us who care about safe workplaces and have fought for years on behalf of our state’s critically important ergonomics standard.

First, the good news.

After careful deliberation, the Blue Ribbon Panel on Ergonomics appointed by Governor Gary Locke is today issuing its unanimous decision in response to specific questions posed by the governor, concluding the following:

1. The demonstration projects that were set up by the Department of Labor and Industries to test the ergonomics rules met their objectives and proved the rule is understandable.
2. The educational materials developed by the Department to explain the rule are effective and widely available.
3. The rules are clearly written, and together with the supporting educational materials, are understandable.
4. The enforcement policies and procedures developed by the Department provide a foundation for fair and consistent enforcement.

The nine-member Blue Ribbon Panel was composed primarily of business representatives – including from Boeing, General Motors and Perdue Farms – and academics, with just two representatives from labor.

The state ergonomics rule was adopted by the Department of L&I in May 2000 and scheduled to be phased-in over six years.  It requires that employers, with the assistance of their employees, find and fix workplace hazards causing strains, sprains and repetitive motion injuries when those changes are "economically feasible." July 1 of this year is the first "deadline" for the rule, as the first group of employers are scheduled to have completed awareness education and hazard analysis. Those employers have another year to implement hazard reduction.

Now, the bad news.

There are significant forces within the Governor’s Office who are attempting to convince Governor Locke to weaken his stance in terms of implementation of the rule. In addition, Peg Seminario, the AFL-CIO’s national safety-and-health director in Washington D.C., reports that her sources there have confirmed several corporate lobbyists are being dispatched from D.C. to Olympia to orchestrate the repeal of our state’s ergonomics rule.

In other words, because the Blue Ribbon Panel offered nothing to support delaying or repealing the rule, a desperate and aggressive 11th hour attempt is now under way to stamp out Washington state’s ergonomics regulation because corporate interests fear it will spread to other states and throughout the country.

This is it. It’s do-or-die time.

We know we’ve asked you many times during the past several years to contact your legislators and the governor in support of the ergonomics rule, which is simply the most important workplace safety standard implemented in our state since the inception of WISHA in 1974. This very reasonable rule will finally compel employers to address preventable workplace hazards that cause 50,000 injuries a year in our state.

We are asking again today, and it has never been a more critical time for the rule.

CALL TO ACTION:  Please contact ALL of the following THIS MORNING, and tell them: Business asked for, received and served on the Blue Ribbon Panel on Ergonomics. Now the report's in, and there is NO REASON FOR DELAY OR REPEAL of the ergonomics rule. It's long past time that the state began protecting the 50,000 people who suffer these debilitating injuries every year in our state. When these injuries are prevented, it's a win-win situation for workers and employers.

• Governor Gary Locke by calling his office at 360-902-4111, and/or filling out the Governor's Electronic Mail Form online.
• Your State Representatives and State Senator by directly calling or e-mailing their offices. (See the House and Senate office phone numbers, or see House and Senate e-mail rosters.)  Alternatively, you can leave a message for all of them at once by calling the toll-free Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000.
• House Speaker Frank Chopp at 360-786-7920 or chopp_fr@leg.wa.gov.
• Senate Majority Leader Sid Snyder at 360-786-7636.

Please do this now and ask your staff, co-workers, family and friends to do the same.  

For more information about the ergonomics rule, read the WSLC position paper on the subject or visit the Department of L&I's website. Here is a sample letter written by Your Webmaster®:

Dear Governor Locke:

Now that the Blue Ribbon Panel on Ergonomics has confirmed that the ergonomics rule is clear, understandable and enforceable in a fair way, please resist all 11^th hour attempts to delay implementation – or repeal – this critical workplace safety regulation.

Many of our state’s largest employers, private and public, have already realized the benefit of voluntarily implementing ergonomics programs, in terms of injury reduction and savings on workers’ compensation premiums. These enlightened employers recognize their responsibility to protect their employees from debilitating and easily preventable workplace injuries, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes good business sense.

But the citizens of this state can’t afford to have their safety at work a matter of voluntary compliance. Despite more than a decade of government efforts to promote ergonomic safety, many employers have resisted and musculoskeletal injuries continue to be our state’s No. 1 job safety problem, accounting for more than one-third of all workers’ compensation claims.

You have been a strong leader in advocating for the promulgation and implementation of this rule. I believe you and the Department of Labor and Industries have already gone to extraordinary lengths to accommodate business interests in the rule’s language (i.e. the 6-year phase-in and hazard correction required only if "economically feasible") and in its implementation (the work of the Blue Ribbon Panel).

I understand you are under a lot of pressure from the business community to delay or repeal this rule. I believe much of that pressure has been generated because of deliberate attempts by certain business groups to misrepresent the rule and grossly exaggerate its requirements and costs. If those groups spent half as much time educating their member businesses how to comply as they have attacking the rule in Olympia, I believe business owners would not feel threatened by it.

It would be a gross miscarriage of justice if now, as workers are finally about to see the real benefit of musculoskeletal injury prevention, the ideological forces against all "government regulation" convinced either you or the State Legislature to abrogate the state’s responsibility to protect citizens from unsafe and unhealthy workplaces.

Please, NO DELAY and NO REPEAL of the state ergonomics rule!

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

The following must-read Letter to the Editor was one of several that ran in Sunday's Seattle Times in response to that conservative newspaper's editorial call for state employee pay cuts: (But that didn't stop the far-right editorial board from opining in the same edition: No pay link between teachers, state employees.)

Expect a state of mediocrity if employee pay cuts pass

Editor, The Times:

As a recent arrival in this area, I have been struck by the marked prejudice of your newspaper against government employees.

For example, you've printed letter after letter railing against the cost-of-living increase that was recently granted to our U.S. senators and congressmen. This, despite the fact that our Washington delegation was successful in procuring a $25-billion federal contract for Boeing, bringing numerous additional jobs to this state.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona has called this contract the biggest pork award in history. I am still waiting for your paper's response to that.

Now comes your latest contribution to government thrift ("A weirdly puny way to fight the state deficit," Times editorial, Feb. 24). Your editorial suggests pay cuts for state employees as a way of dealing with the budget deficit. One sentence in your editorial sums up your attitude: "For those who would raise taxes to avoid pay cuts, remember: To the citizen, a tax increase is a pay cut."

There you have it in a nutshell. In your mindset, there are two types of people: "citizens" and "state employees." You ignore that a tax increase would affect state employees as much as anybody else; and if there are pay cuts to their salaries as well as the inevitable tax increases, then state employees (who have just as many mortgages, tuition costs, and expenses as anybody else) would be affected twice as hard as other workers.

The bottom line is that being a government employee is not a congenital condition like bursitis. If working conditions for state employees deteriorate, then the best workers will seek employment elsewhere. This will leave a government workforce composed solely of people who cannot get any other jobs, and the mediocrity which your paper often presumes will become a reality.

The federal government recognized a long time ago that an efficient civil service requires comparability to the private sector in terms of pay and benefits. It's time you do the same.

— Abraham Leib, Bellevue