TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2009
Email investigation a "gross overreaction"

The following press release from the Washington State Labor Council was distributed this afternoon:

Washington State Labor Council President Rick Bender said today that it was a "gross overreaction" for legislative leaders to refer an internal email between labor leaders to the Washington State Patrol for a criminal investigation. The WSP today announced that it "quickly" determined no laws had been broken.

Last week, a strategy meeting between labor leaders about supporting the Worker Privacy Act was held.  Afterwards, an email report of that meeting was sent to all of the labor leaders that had been invited.  But that report was inadvertently copied to an email group that included four state legislators — all of whom were sponsors of the Worker Privacy Act.  The email was NOT sent to House Speaker Frank Chopp, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown or Governor Chris Gregoire, as today's news release by the Washington State Patrol suggests.

"It was an honest and regrettable mistake," said Rick Bender, President of the Washington State Labor Council.  "It was very obviously intended to be an internal labor email — one that began with the salutation 'Brothers and Sisters,' which is never how we would address a state legislator.  Referring the matter for possible criminal prosecution was a gross overreaction and never should have happened."

Apparently, this internal email report was forwarded by one of its recipients to House Speaker Frank Chopp and/or Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, who later shared it with Governor Chris Gregoire. None of them contacted the Labor Council for an explanation of the email before referring the matter to the Washington State Patrol.

"This whole thing never should have happened," Bender said.  "An honest mistake occurred in copying this email to some legislators who already supported our legislation, so to characterize this internal email as some kind of threat to legislative leaders -- or a possible crime -- is absurd."

The Washington State Labor Council will cooperate fully with any Public Disclosure Commission investigation into this matter and is confident that it, too, will find no wrongdoing.

TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2009
Letter Carriers' annual food drive set for May 9

The following press release was distributed last week by the National Association of Letter Carriers:

WASHINGTON -- The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) announced today that the nation’s largest food drive to combat hunger will be conducted this year on Saturday, May 9. On that day, letter carriers will collect non-perishable donations from homes as they deliver mail along their postal routes.

The 17th annual NALC National Food Drive to “Stamp Out Hunger” is the largest one-day food drive in the nation. Carriers collected a record 73.1 million pounds of food in last year’s drive. The drive is held annually on the second Saturday in May in over 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Donations will be collected by more than 1,400 local branches of the 300,000-member postal union and delivered to food banks, pantries and shelters that serve the communities where they are collected. Assisting in the effort are rural letter carriers and other postal employees, as well as members of other unions and thousands of civic volunteers. 

NALC President William H. Young emphasized that as successful as the food drive has been in the past, it simply must be even better this year.

“Millions and millions of families are suffering – struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table,” Young said. “More than ever food banks, pantries and shelters need our help this year. As families count on them for support, they’re counting on us and we must not back off on our commitment.”

Young also noted that donations are particularly critical at this time since most school lunch programs are suspended during the summer months and millions of children must find alternate sources of nutrition.

In New York City and Chicago, where transportation limitations preclude mailbox pickup, citizens are being asked to take donations to their local post offices between May 4 and 9.

Persons who have any questions about the drive at their location should ask their letter carrier or contact their local post office.

Over 125 million postcards, sponsored by the Campbell Soup Company and the U.S. Postal Service’s Priority Mail, will be mailed to postal customers to remind them of the drive.

Public Service Announcements featuring movie and television stars David Arquette and Courteney Cox, as well as the Harlem Globetrotters, are being made available throughout the country. Valpak Direct Marketing Systems is focusing 40 million of its envelopes on encouraging food donations and Valassis is having 85 million of its mail-delivered Red Plum wraps include promotions for the drive.

Other co-sponsors of the drive with the letter carriers’ union are Feeding America, formerly known as America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s food bank network; the United Way of America and its local United Ways; and the AFL-CIO. 

^{Copyright © 2009 --  Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO}