TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2010
AFL-CIO's Shuler urges delegates to fight back
Secretary-Treasurer urges election activism, thanks WSLC's Bender, Link 

Before exhorting union leaders and members at the Washington State Labor Council to work hard to elect pro-worker candidates this fall, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler on Monday honored WSLC President Rick Bender and WSLC Secretary-Treasurer Al Link and thanked them for their service to working families. She appeared at the WSLC's 2010 Convention being held through Thursday at the Hotel Murano and Convention Center in Tacoma. 

"You have been tremendous leaders for the working people of Washington," Shuler said to both WSLC officers, who are not seeking reelection this year. "Over the past two decades, no state has built a smarter program or advanced a more member-driven agenda than the Washington State Labor Council." She ticked off several of the accomplishments of organized labor in Washington state, including passage of the nation's first-ever indexed minimum wage and collective bargaining bills that allowed 30,000 public employees to join unions.

Shuler, a Pacific Northwest native who now serves as the second highest ranking officer in the U.S. labor movement, spent most of Monday's keynote address urging union leaders to work extra hard to fight the anger and the voter apathy among members frustrated by the economy.

"I understand the anger," she said. "Losing a job is hard. We're talking about people losing homes, their savings, their retirements, their dreams. Fifteen million Americans who want to work can't find work and half of them have been jobless for more than six months. That is a crisis. But we don't just sit back and watch a crisis. We drop what we're doing and fix it."

She said this election poses a choice between moving forward to create the jobs we need, or moving backward and handing the reins of the federal government back to the Republican "Party of No" that got our economy into this mess. 

The WSLC's Bender and Link both delivered "points of personal privilege" to thank delegates for the honor of allowing them to lead the Labor Council for the past 17 and 16 years, respectively.

"I've been lucky to have had a job where everyday there was a chance to improve the lives of average working people," Bender said. "It has been an honor to have been a part of this great labor movement in Washington state ."

Likewise, Link told delegates "it was a great pleasure serving you," but after being active in the labor movement since 1961 when he began working in an aluminum smelter in Spokane, ""it's time to park the Cadillac I never had and figure out what I'm going to do with the Mustang in the garage."

Also Monday, Rich Fiesta of the Alliance for Retired Americans, delivered a strong case for the strength of the Social Security system, which is under attack (again) by those who want to cut its benefits and privatize it. He presented clear evidence that the program is healthy and could easily be strengthened to last even longer rather than cut under the deliberately false pretense that Social Security has something to do with the federal deficit. (Click here to request a copy of his PowerPoint presentation.)

The WSLC-endorsed congressional candidate from the 8th District, Suzan delBene, got a rousing welcome Monday from delegates who would like to see her defeat incumbent Republican Rep. Dave Reichert. Her campaign is building momentum and she was recently endorsed by the Seattle Times, which wrote, "On issues ranging from the wars to the economy, three-term Republican incumbent Reichert is unstudied and comes up short. After six years in office, this is unacceptable."

Janet Conner, AFL-CIO Senior Field Representative, rounded out the Monday morning plenary session by reiterating Liz Shuler's session-opening comments and urging delegates to get behind pro-working family candidates like delBene and to work hard to get the labor vote out.

Here is the remaining tentative agenda for the WSLC Convention this week:

TUESDAY, AUGUST 10

9:00 a.m. -- Convention RECONVENES
9:15 -- AFL-CIO Political Director Karen Ackerman
9:45 -- National Health Care Reform panel
-- AFL-CIO Safety & Health Director Peg Seminario
-- L&I Industrial Safety Asst. Director Michael Silverstein
11:30 -- Immigration Reform panel
-- Bob Baugh, AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council
LUNCH -- (UNITE HERE rally at downtown Tacoma Marriott)
1:30-3:00 p.m. -- Workshops (health care, immigration, I-1082 & I-1100)
3:15-4:45 p.m. -- Workshops (safety & health, industrial policy, organizing)
5:30 p.m. -- COPE Barbecue (hotel courtyard)
8:15 p.m. -- Diversity Committee Showcase Program

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11

9:00 a.m. -- Convention RECONVENES
9:10 -- Fiscal Issues panel 
-- Creating Fair Trade Agreements -- Kristen Biefus, Fair Trade Coalition
10:30 -- Mark McDermott, Regional Representative, U.S. Dept. of Labor
-- Ballot measures panel
11:15 -- U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee
-- Mother Jones awards
-- Memorial service
LUNCH (President's Club Luncheon -- U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee)
1:45-4:30 p.m. -- COPE endorsement action & resolutions
6:00 -- Reception
7:00 -- Banquet -- U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (plus Bruce Brennan and Elsie Schrader awards, and comedian Will Durst)

THURSDAY, AUGUST 12

9:00 a.m. -- Convention RECONVENES
Resolutions and other business until ADJOURNMENT 

^{Copyright © 2010 --  Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO}