THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30
Seattle P-I: Voters should reject I-841 "ballot nonsense"

The following editorial appears in today's edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

Voters should reject I-841
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

Washington voters could strain themselves trying to figure out the debate over the ergonomics initiative.

But let's go to the bottom line: Initiative 841 deserves a no vote. It represents more of the ballot nonsense that has paralyzed the state.

Initiative 841 runs roughshod over the working public's right to safety, the normal processes of government and the state's power. Instead of fine-tuning ergonomics rules adopted by the state Department of Labor and Industries, the initiative asks voters to bulldoze aside protections against repetitive injuries.

We have sympathy with business concerns over the state's ergonomics rules. Common sense, good will and modest adjustments limit most problems.

There may well be a case for eliminating or slowing the rules' implementation. But that should be based on study by Labor and Industries or by the Legislature.

The initiative is so sweeping because its writers couldn't restrain themselves from effectively throwing away the state's right to protect workers. The initiative says that Labor and Industries can't adopt new rules against ergonomic injuries except as required by the federal government. Legislators could still act -- but they don't typically write workplace rules.

Voters should resist I-841's quick fix. It will only buy us more trouble.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29
Gregoire, Sims back new home care contract, but will Locke?

Democratic gubernatorial candidates Attorney General Christine Gregoire and King County Executive Ron Sims have both issued statements in support of the new scaled-back tentative agreement announced Tuesday between some 26,000 home care workers and the state's Home Care Quality Authority.

The workers, represented by Service Employees International Union Local 775, are currently voting on the proposal by mail ballot. 

House Speaker Frank Chopp also issued a statement of support of the new agreement.  In his statement, Chopp noted that Governor Gary Locke had told him that if a new deal was reached he would include funding for it in his supplemental budget proposal for the 2004 legislative session. 

But in an Associated Press report published today, Locke's budget office indicated that the governor has not yet decided whether to recommend its funding.

Following are the statements by Ron Sims and Christine Gregoire:

SIMS: "Health care continues to be a major factor in all of our lives.  Currently, we have home health care workers in our home helping us care for my mother so I know first hand how valuable these providers are.

These workers are a gift to those in need.  I know.  They deserve a family wage and they deserve basic health care coverage and protection if they're hurt or injured on the job.

As King County Executive, no one understands better than I the current budget crisis, and how difficult it is to provide for all the important things government must do, especially faced with the ever increasing cost of health care.

The tentative agreement just reached on a new collective bargaining agreement, that must be ratified by the home health care workers, provides these patient, caring workers with more acceptable wages than previous offers.

After bargaining, the groups involved found creative ways to provide critical health insurance and workers compensation while limiting state liability without having to become state employees.

I call on the Governor and the Legislature to act quickly in the upcoming session to honor the collective bargaining process and fund this contract."

GREGOIRE:  "I applaud the Home Care Quality Authority and the Home Care workers upon reaching this new contract. This shows how well the collective bargaining process can work.

The men and women who care for our elderly and disabled clearly deserve this raise. This contract will provide these workers with wages and benefits that acknowledge their contribution to our state, as well as their contribution to the well being of their clients.

It is only just that we make this agreement a reality—even in tough times.

It is time to move forward and approve the contract so these workers can begin earning a living wage and receive the health care and workers’ compensation benefits they deserve."

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29
Attend preview screening of Everett Massacre film on Nov. 5

On November 5, 1916, some 250 members of the Industrial Workers of the World aboard the ferry Verona were met at the Everett City Dock by the sheriff and 200 armed deputies. When the shooting stopped, seven were dead and dozens wounded.

Relive this notorious event on its anniversary Wednesday, Nov. 5 at a preview screening of the documentary "Verona: The Story of the Everett Massacre" and a discussion with moviemaker Denise Ohio and local historians Margaret Riddle and David Dilgard from the Everett Public Library.  This fundraising event includes a 5 p.m. reception and 7 p.m. film screening at the historic Everett Theatre, 2911 Colby.

Tickets to this event are $20, with proceeds going to the Everett Women's Film Festival, Operation Shortfall and completion of this documentary by Holy Toledo Pictures. 

Contact Bill Borders at (425) 921-3454 or billb@uwsc.org for tickets.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27
Home care workers reach tentative deal on new contract
Speaker Chopp: Locke plans to include contract funding in supplemental budget

The following press release was distributed this morning by Service Employees International Union Local 775, the union formed by 26,000 state-funded home care workers in Washington state.  Also below is a statement from House Speaker Frank Chopp regarding the tentative agreement:

26,000 Home Care Workers For Elderly and Disabled Reach Tentative Agreement On Scaled-Back Union Contract
$26.9 Million Contract Addresses Earlier Concerns Raised By Legislators
 
SEATTLE – A bargaining team of home care workers and the state’s Home Care Quality Authority reached a tentative agreement on a significantly scaled back union contract to replace the one rejected by legislators last year. The new contract addresses the major concerns raised by legislators last year, and is just over 50% of the cost of the original contract, even after adding in the raise appropriated last year.
 
Home care workers, who care for the elderly and disabled in their own homes, now earn $8.43/hr with no benefits – including no health care and no L&I coverage. The new contract would provide L&I coverage to all home care workers, health coverage to those who work at least half-time, and a 50-cent increase in October, 2004 (to 8.93/hr). The new contract costs $26.9 million through the end of the biennium.
 
“This contract is less than we hoped for, and frankly, it’s less than we need to support our families,” said Spokane home care worker Dana Simmons. “But it will mean that thousands of caregivers will now have access themselves to basic medical care, and we will have some protection if we’re hurt on the job.”
 
The renegotiated contract addresses each of the major concerns raised by legislators and other critics last year:

• Critics argued that the contract was too expensive
  The revised contract reduces the contract by almost 50% in state costs through the biennium, even after including the raise appropriated last year.
  
• Critics argued that providing L&I and health coverage directly could lead to home care workers being designated as state employees
  The revised contract provides L&I and health coverage through the private sector, outside of public or state benefit systems. SEIU is also drafting legislation to amend Initiative 775 to clarify that home care workers are not and never will be state employees.
  
• Critics argued that providing health care and L&I created administrative difficulties and state liability concerns.
  The revised contract provides L&I and health coverage through third-party contractors, limiting state liability and any paperwork burden on state agencies or home care clients
  
• Critics argued that it was unfair to place home care workers on the BHP when thousands were being cut off benefits.
  The revised contract provides health coverage through a private Taft-Hartley trust fund, which will be the holder of the policy instead of the state.

Last year legislators expressed support for higher wages and benefits for home care workers, but rejected the contract citing the reasons listed above.
 
“Even those who criticized aspects of the contract last year all agreed that home care workers deserve higher pay, health care, and L&I coverage,” said SEIU 775 President David Rolf. “We’re taking them at their word, and now that we’ve addressed their concerns we hope legislators will move quickly to provide caregivers with the health care and workers’ compensation coverage they desperately need.”
 
The contract now has to be ratified by the 26,000 home care workers, and then will be sent to the Governor. The Governor must submit the contract to the legislature, which then must either reject or fully fund the renegotiated contract.

For more information, contact SEIU 775's Adam Glickman at (206) 838-3210.

---

Context for the following statement: The Washington Home Care Quality Authority and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have reached a new agreement on compensation for Washington's more-than 25,000 home-care workers.

Statement from Speaker Frank Chopp

"I am pleased that the Home Care Quality Authority and the union of home care workers have reached a new agreement. This will clearly help the provision of very necessary care to low-income people with disabilities and senior citizens, in their own homes rather than more expensive nursing facilities.

"I spoke with the Governor about this before his trip to China. He told me that if an agreement was reached, he would include funding for the new contract amount in his supplemental budget request to the legislature. This is also good news."

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27
Employees file complaint against Providence St. Peter Hospital

The following press release was distributed late Monday by Service Employees International Union District 1199NW:

PROVIDENCE ST. PETER HOSPITAL EMPLOYEES FILE CHARGES TO STOP MANAGEMENT INTERFERENCE IN THEIR EFFORT TO FORM UNION
Rep. Adam Smith, Community Leaders Express Concern to Hospital CEO

OLYMPIA – Hospital caregivers in technical job classifications at Providence St. Peter Hospital, including respiratory therapists and x-ray technicians, filed charges today that spell out how interference by Providence managers has made it impossible for employees to have a fair election to form a union.

A group of local community leaders, including state representatives Sam Hunt and Sandra Romero, and Bob Ziegler, the coordinator of the social justice committee at St. Michael Catholic Church, have signed a letter to hospital CEO Scott Bond expressing concern over Providence management’s behavior.

Congressman Adam Smith sent another letter urging hospital administrators to “create a process that will ensure a fair election” and outlined criteria for a fair election process.

An election had been scheduled for October 29 for employees to vote to form a union with Service Employees International Union District 1199NW.
Providence St. Peter technical employees moved to form a union to gain a more effective voice in decision-making about their jobs and patient care delivery.

But after 65 percent of employees signed onto a petition in favor of organizing a union, Providence managers launched a disruptive campaign to pressure employees to vote against forming a union.

“Providence’s misconduct has created an environment of fear and division. We can’t have a fair election when employees have been put under so much pressure to vote no,” explained Linda Wolfe, an x-ray technician at the hospital.

“Unfair Labor Practice” charges filed by Providence St. Peter employees and SEIU 1199NW with the National Labor Relations Board document instances where Providence managers violated federal law by misleading workers and attempting to silence discussion about forming a union:

• Managers have threatened that employees would lose pay and benefits if they formed a union.
  

• Providence supervisors falsely told the technical workers that if they formed a union they would not negotiate their own contract but would instead be given the terms of an existing union contract at the hospital. (Another group of employees at the hospital from different job classifications previously formed a union and is currently negotiating to renew their contract.)
  

• Providence managers have unlawfully attempted to stop employees from discussing the union. Federal law gives employees the right to talk about forming a union during break times and lunch periods. When Providence learned that pharmacy staff were talking about the union in their break area, managers suddenly reclassified the area as a “meeting room” and banned employees from talking about the union.

Employees are asking the National Labor Relations Board to sanction Providence St. Peter Hospital management for its misconduct and reschedule the election to ensure that employees can make their own decision without pressure from supervisors.

In an abuse of managerial power and authority, Providence supervisors have pulled employees away from their patient care tasks to attend anti-union campaign meetings. Management also mailed an anti-union video to every employee’s home.

Some employees have been singled out for one-on-one meetings with their immediate supervisors, where the manager who directly controls their schedule, pay raises, and work assignments individually pressures the employee to oppose forming a union.

Providence technical employees intend to form a union with SEIU District 1199NW, a union of more than 17,000 health care workers across Washington State.

For more information contact SEIU 1199's Carter Wright at (425) 917-1199.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 27
VOTER ALERT!  Say NO to negative dirty-trick I-841 campaign
(Please forward this message to everyone in your e-mail address book who is a Washington voter.)

The business lobbying groups financing Initiative 841 have launched a $1 million TV and radio advertising campaign. They are trying to scare Washington voters into repealing an important work safety rule and forbid the state from adopting another rule to prevent debilitating ergonomic-related injuries.

The I-841 campaign’s high-priced California political consultants have recommended playing upon people’s biggest fears: Loss of their jobs and loss of health care benefits.  So I-841 TV and radio ads claim jobs will be lost and children will lose health insurance.

Of course, none of this is true. So Working Families for Safer Jobs -- the coalition of medical professionals, health care advocates and labor unions opposing I-841 -- are distributing a Voter Alert flier debunking the lies in these last-minute I-841 advertisements.

Please download this Voter Alert flier (a 45 KB Adobe Acrobat file).  Print and distribute copies to your co-workers, neighbors and family members in Washington.

The No-on-841 campaign will be outspent by at least 3-to-1 by the business groups sponsoring I-841 and simply can't afford to buy advertisements responding to these last-minute dirty-trick advertisements. The campaign needs your help to tell the truth about the workplace ergonomic safety rule and the cynical I-841.  Here is the text of the Voter Alert flier:

Say NO to negative dirty-trick campaigns.
Vote NO on I-841.

The business lobbying groups financing Initiative 841 have launched a $1 million TV and radio advertising campaign. They are trying to scare Washington voters into repealing an important work safety rule that is preventing disabling injuries.

I-841’s high-priced California political consultants have recommended playing upon people’s biggest fears — loss of their jobs and loss of health care benefits.

No jobs will be lost!

Employers only have to fix worksite hazards to the degree economically feasible. No employer will be forced to lay off workers to pay for safety improvements.  I-841 sponsors know this, but they are trying to scare us with job-loss threats.

No work hours will be cut!

The state ergonomic safety rule DOES NOT limit work hours or restrict any type of work activity. Period. It’s in writing from the state. Yet, I-841 ads say employers will be forced to cut work shifts to 4 hours. That’s a lie and they know it.

No kids will lose health care!

The cynical I-841 ads suggesting children will lose health care are just absurd. Work safety rules have nothing to do with health insurance. The state would never, under any circumstance, force employers to cut health benefits for workers or their children. This is a disturbing example of how cynical I-841 truly is.

Keep Workers Healthy -- Vote NO on I-841.

Thank you for downloading, printing and distributing this flier.  If you want to know what else you can do to help the No-on-841 campaign, check out the campaign calendar online and volunteer to make phone calls, distribute fliers and participate in other activities to help spread the word.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 27
Janitors accuse Allied Building Service of labor law violations

The following news release was distributed Friday by Service Employees International Union Local 6:

Employees come forward with allegations of more lawbreaking by cleaning company Allied Building Services

 

SEATTLE - The legal situation got more tenuous for a Texas cleaning company Friday when local janitors will asked a judge to rule in their favor and ten more employees prepared to join a lawsuit alleging that Allied Building Services is continuing to violate overtime rules and other state employment laws. 

 

The janitors filed papers in King County Superior Court Friday morning and then announced the  new developments  at 2:30 p.m. during a downtown Seattle press conference in front of One Convention Place, 701 Pike Street.

 

"We do work for this company," said Eufremia Antunez, one of the janitors who's name will be added to the class-action suit next week.

 

"We come to work every night. They should pay us what they owe us," she said.

 

The pending overtime suit was filed in May and alleges that Allied, a subsidiary of Associated Building Services, violates overtime laws and fails to pay workers required overtime for hours worked, fails to give break and meal periods, and forces workers to work "off-the-clock" on a regular basis.

 

Allied janitors are attempting to organize with Service Employees International Union. This summer union janitors won a new contract that preserved employer-paid family medical and won wage increases.

 

Several of the new and original plaintiffs were available to answer questions as was the janitors' attorney, Terry Costello of Schwerin Campbell Bernard LLP.

 

Allied is the Puget Sound subsidiary of Houston, Texas-based Associated Building Services. ABS is currently facing legal action for a variety of other allegations: a federal lawsuit for allegedly failing to make an estimated $250,000 in required pension payments for Western Washington janitors, federal lawsuits charging racial discrimination and violation of federal employment practices laws in Texas, as well as resolving three complaints issued in Seattle and Portland by the National Labor Relations Board, before which several charges are still pending.

 

The janitors are seeking unspecified damages plus attorneys' fees.  

 

For more information, contact Daniel Lathrop at (206) 448-7348 x323.