Supporters of Service Employees International Union Local 925 filed for recognition in December with 54 percent support, but the UW objected (no surprise). The university administration pleaded with the WPRB to hold an election, arguing that the union doesn't have a "large" majority.

Now, five months later, in denying Local 925's request for card-check recognition, Matt incredibly has cited:

• UW's delay in notifying employees of the pending request,
• UW's delay in supplying an employee list, and 
• Some of the cards were signed "many months" ago.

It's another case of the right to organize a union denied.

CALL TO ACTION:

• E-mail Director Gene Matt and ask him to reverse his decision not to recognize the majority of the UW Techs. His e-mail is: ilenen@dop.wa.gov
• E-mail UW President Richard McCormick. Ask him to do the right thing and withdraw UW's objections to immediate union recognition for UW Techs. His e-mail is: rlm@u.washington.edu
• Join a Local 925 delegation as we march on McCormick's office Thursday. We're meeting at the South Campus Center at 3 p.m., just north of Portage Bay--go south on 15th Ave. NE, cross Pacific, turning left on Columbia Road just before the water. Look for the folks in purple!

For more information, contact Gretchen Donart of SEIU Local 925.

Thanks to the addition of worker assistance provisions by the Senate, the revamped leadership of the House New Democrat Coalition is moving closer to supporting legislation to renew presidential trade negotiating authority, according to Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, a leader of the coalition.

Among the New Democrats' trio of new leaders, Smith and Rep. Ron Kind of Wisconsin voted against the trade authority bill on the House floor last December, while Rep. Jim Davis of Florida voted for it.

Smith indicated Tuesday he would switch his vote if the Senate worker assistance provisions are included in the final package.

Kind said he is "watching the process very closely," adding, "I am much more encouraged by the willingness (in the Senate) to have trade adjustment assistance on the table, but whether that can survive (a House-Senate conference) remains to be seen."

Smith, Kind and Davis recently replaced Reps. Calvin Dooley of California, James Moran of Virginia and Tim Roemer of Indiana as NDC leaders in the House; Moran and Dooley were staunch supporters of the "Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act" (also known as "fast track").

"From the start I said I was inclined to be supportive of TPA but there has to be something for displaced workers," Smith told Congress Daily. "That wasn't in there in the House bill. What the Senate is doing now is very encouraging to me."

Smith said he believed Senate trade adjustment assistance and healthcare provisions would add up to a $15 billion increase in assistance for workers displaced by global trade.

"Fifteen billion dollars isn't chump change," Smith said. "This is a significant step forward on a couple of critical issues."

Smith added, "I'm likely to vote for it, but there are miles to go before we get there."

...

The New Democrat leaders met last week with House Minority Leader Gephardt and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney to discuss the evolving Senate trade package, according to participants.

A House Democratic leadership source said Gephardt has been briefing various groups of House members on Senate trade bill developments.

"They're taking a rational person's approach," the leadership source said of the New Democrats. "Most have said, 'We're going to look at this, the worker assistance stuff is promising.' But people are still waiting to see what happens."

Smith said he also recently explained his position to labor officials, adding, "They're not happy about it." Smith stressed that "nothing has changed" in his position since last year.

A brief aside courtesy of your webmaster: An Oct. 29, 2001, letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert signed by Smith and others demanded post-Sept. 11 worker relief and "a balanced and fair (economic stimulus) package (that) must also include infrastructure investment."

"Until both of these critically important issues are resolved in a fairer and more reasonable manner," the letter stated, "we will not support passage of any trade promotional authority, or 'fast track,' legislation."

Washington Reps. Brian Baird and Rick Larsen were also among the signatories.

Sources said the Teamsters and Machinists unions have been particularly adamant that Smith and Kind will pay a political price if they support the trade package in another House vote.

Smith said his vote on the trade package would have negative political repercussions "no matter which way I go," adding, "That's just life."

Some labor lobbyists believe Smith's and Kind's votes remain in play, even if the Senate worker provisions are included in the bill that comes before the House.

"We know there are a number of New Democrats who will take a second look now that the bill has Trade Adjustment Assistance," said one union official. "But we say the TAA piece is just one small part of the picture."

Contact Rep. Adam Smith via e-mail, or at (253) 593-6600 in Tacoma and (202) 225-8901 in D.C.

You wouldn't know it from reading the newspapers out here in the Most Trade Dependent State in the Nation™, but in the U.S. Senate a series of votes occurred yesterday (and over the past week) on proposed amendments to the bill to grant President Bush Fast Track trade negotiating authority, which would allow Congress to approve or reject -- but not amend -- international trade agreements.

Several amendments designed to promote or protect labor and environmental standards, and to mitigate the negative impacts of these trade pacts on American working families, have all failed to pass by narrow margins in the Senate, where the slim Democratic majority is enough to force the votes but not pass the amendments. So U.S. Senators now appear ready as soon as today or Thursday to pass Fast Track and sign away their power to influence international trade policy.

Meanwhile yesterday, they also signed away state and local government sovereignty, with an assist from our own Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.)

Under NAFTA -- and proposed future agreements like the FTAA which would expand NAFTA throughout the Western Hemisphere -- state and local regulations can be challenged and ultimately overturned by international corporations that believe the laws harmed their actual or potential corporate profits. These "Chapter 11" suits are decided in secret by unelected bureaucrats who determine whether laws ranging from zoning ordinances to environmental protections constitute an interference with international trade and corporate profits. 

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) proposed a Fast Track amendment to address Chapter 11 suits by ensuring that foreign investors do not have greater legal rights than domestic investors. Opponents argued that foreign countries would retaliate against U.S. investors if the amendment passed.

It was rejected 55 to 41 with Sen. Cantwell voting against the amendment. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) voted for it. See roll call.

Last Thursday, Cantwell was one of five Democrats who sided with Republicans in rejecting an amendment by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) that would have ensured that our trade partners follow basic workplace principles including no child labor, no slave labor, no discrimination on the job and freedom of association for workers. See roll call.

But Cantwell has also supported a number of pro-working family Fast Track amendments, including two voted upon yesterday:

— (Vice) President Dick Cheney broke a 49-49 tie to defeat a proposal that would have provided low-interest loans to workers laid off because of trade. Sponsored by Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) in response to heavy textile and apparel job losses in Virginia, the amendment's goal was to help them continue making mortgage payments for up to 12 months. Both Cantwell and Murray voted in favor of the amendment. See roll call.

— Senators fell four votes short of the 60 needed to cut off an amendment-killing filibuster against a proposal to extend health benefits for trade-affected employees to retired steelworkers. Murray and Cantwell both voted against the filibuster (for the amendment). See roll call.

Although Murray and Cantwell are both considered likely to vote in favor of Fast Track's final passage, feel free to contact them and let them know what you think on this important issue.  Call (or e-mail) Cantwell's office at 206-220-6400 or in D.C. at 202-224-3441. Call (or e-mail) Murray's office at 206-553-5545 or in D.C. at 202-224-3441.