National news:
▪  In the Wall St. Journal -- Companies tap pension plans to fund executive benefits -- Companies collectively have moved hundreds of millions of dollars of obligations for executive benefits into rank-and-file pension plans. This lets them capture tax breaks intended for pensions of regular workers and use them to pay for executives' supplemental benefits and compensation.
▪  In today's Denver Post -- Signatures turned in for labor initiatives -- The measures would mandate businesses with 20 or more employees to provide health-care coverage, allow injured employees to seek damages outside the workers' comp system and require businesses to give reasons for firing employees. They are countermeasures to a business-backed right-to-work (for less) initiative.

Election 2008:
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- McCain promised better than his smear-tactics campaign (guest column) -- Forget any hope this campaign might be better than the last two. John McCain has chosen to present himself for the presidency with the sneers, and in the ever-mocking voice, of Rush Limbaugh.
▪  In today's NY Times -- Republicans drop in voting rolls in many states -- For more than three years, there has been a reduction in the number of voters who register with the Republican Party and a rise among voters who affiliate with Democrats and, almost as often, with no party at all.
▪  At AFL-CIO Now -- AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting focuses on election drive -- The labor leaders will spend a large portion of the two-day meeting (which begins today in Chicago) finalizing the strategy and details for the last 90 days of Labor 2008, the union movement’s largest voter mobilization ever. 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2008
Gov. Gregoire gets a raucous welcome at WSLC Convention

Gov. Chris Gregoire received a hero's welcome at the opening session of the Washington State Labor Council's 2008 Convention in Vancouver on Monday, earning thunderous applause as she ticked down the list of accomplishments during her first term as governor. But rather than taking credit for these accomplishments as she enters a reelection campaign against Republican Dino Rossi, Gregoire thanked the leaders and rank-and-file members of organized labor for their role in advocating for good jobs, better access to health care, and strengthened safety nets for unemployed or injured workers. 

"There are those who say union workers are a special interest and all they care about is wages and benefits, but I have never looked at you as a special interest," Gregoire said. In addition to fighting for better wages and benefits, she said, unions have shared her values on improving our education system, advocating for high-quality affordable health care, improving our economy through job creation, and many other important goals.

"If those issues are special interest issues, then we are all special interests and we share the same values as the rest of the State of Washington," Gregoire said.

In the convention's opening address, Washington State Labor Council President Rick Bender emphasized the need to elect Barack Obama and re-elect Gov. Gregoire so that we can shift the nation's focus from the concerns of big corporations and the wealthy, to the concerns and needs of working people. (Download Bender's speech.)

Also speaking Monday were Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, who followed Gov. Gregoire on the agenda, quipped that she wished that California's labor movement could be fighting for four more years of a governor who cares about working family issues. (They can't.) Durazo detailed union organizing efforts in her area and urged delegates to work to elect Barack Obama as President. 

"As a Latina, I feel personally proud to elect the first black man, the first son of an immigrant and the first organizer to the White House," she said.

A panel at Monday's session, addressed efforts at the state and national levels to reform the health care system to improve access to affordable, quality care. The panel included Robby Stern of the Healthy Washington Coalition, Sarah Cherin of the Children's Alliance, Nick Unger of the AFL-CIO, and the WSLC's own Jeff Johnson.

Also addressing convention delegates on Monday were AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain and Paul Price of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

Here's the agenda for the rest of the convention, which runs through Thursday:

TUESDAY, AUGUST 5

9:00 a.m. -- Convention reconvenes
Welcome from State Rep. Jim Moeller, D-49th
9:15 -- Alison Eisinger on Affordable Housing
9:45 -- Deborah Bortner on the Foreclosure Crisis
10:00 -- Stephanie Celt on Fair Trade
10:15 -- Janice Adair on Cap and Trade
10:30 -- U.S. Sen. Patty Murray
11:00 -- B.C. Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair
11:30 -- State Treasurer Mike Murphy
LUNCH
1:30 p.m. -- Workshops (Worker Privacy Act, Economic Development and Transportation Committee, and Trade Policy)
3:15 -- Workshops (Immigration, Cap and Trade, State Health Care Reform)
5:30 -- COPE Barbecue

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6

9:00 a.m. -- Convention reconvenes
Welcome from State Rep. Deb Wallace, D-17th
9:20 -- Jim McIntire, candidate for State Treasurer
9:35 -- Peter Goldmark, candidate for Lands Commissioner
9:50 -- House Speaker Frank Chopp
10:10 -- David Alexander, National Labor College
10:20 -- State Senator Craig Pridemore, D-49th
10:45 -- U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell
Noon -- President's Club luncheon (speaker: U.S. Rep. Brian Baird) 
2:00 p.m. -- Statewide COPE (political endorsement action)
-- Consideration and adoption of resolutions
4:00 -- Adjourn for the day
6:00 -- Convention Reception
7:00 -- Convention Banquet (speaker: U.S. Rep. Brian Baird and comedian Peggy Platt)
9:00 -- Live music and dancing

THURSDAY, AUGUST 7

9:00 a.m. -- Convention reconvenes. if necessary
-- Consideration and adoption of resolutions (until adjournment)

Copyright © ^{2008 --  Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO}