News for
the week of June 1-5, 1998If you have news related to the labor movement in Washington state that you would like to share via WSLC Reports Today, we encourage you to submit it by e-mail, by fax (206-285-5805) or by phone (206-281-8901)
News for
the week of June 1-5, 1998Thursday, June 4 — State
Senate leader vows to push "Paycheck Deception" in 1999
Wednesday, June 3 — California's anti-union
"Paycheck Deception" proposition FAILS
Tuesday, June 2 — JUST 4 WEEKS LEFT! Labor needs to pick up
the pace on minimum wage initiative
Monday, June 1 — Plumbers and welders say "Union
YES" in Moses Lake organizing win
News from previous weeks:
May 25-29 — May 18-22 — May 11-15 — May 4-8 — April 27-May 2
![[Dividing Line Image]](../images/div.gif){kind=small}
Despite the unexpected demise of California's Proposition 226, an initiative to make it harder for union members to have collective political action, State Senate Majority Leader Dan McDonald (R-Bellevue) has vowed to reintroduce a similar measure in Washington.
"I think it's a basic philosophical question we ought to answer," said McDonald of whether special restrictions should be imposed on union political activity. "California can't do that for us."
McDonald was a key player in an aborted attempt to push through so-called "Paycheck Protection" legislation with just one week left in the 1998 session. (Click here for details.) Even though that bill survived only a few hours before bipartisan opposition scuttled it, McDonald remains determined to push the anti-union measure.
Washington State Labor Council Rick Bender is not surprised by McDonald's revelation, and said if such a measure is introduced again "union members will be mobilized to aggressively fight this 'Paycheck Deception'." He added that the WSLC will be publicizing among rank-and-file union members which of their state legislators supported 1998's short-lived attempt at Paycheck Deception.
"This issue resonates so strongly with our members it has become a rallying cry not only against Paycheck Deception, but for a pro-working family agenda," said Bender. "In California, the right-wing proponents of Proposition 226 just created about 25,000 new labor activists, and I think they will regret having chosen this battle come November."
California voters rejected a ballot initiative on Tuesday that would have imposed cumbersome new restrictions on unions' ability to participate in the political process. With 100% of the precincts reporting Wednesday, the tally for Proposition 226 was 46.5% YES (2,438,711) and 53.5% NO (2,805,297).
"A modern political miracle, the defeat of California Proposition 226 by at least a 7-point margin, sprang from voters' strong sense of fairness and union members' unprecedented mobilization against a right-wing effort to silence the voices of working men and women in our nation's political system," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney in a statement.
Because it was considered the vanguard of a national campaign to pass similar so-called "Paycheck Protection" measures in more than 30 states and in Congress, Proposition 226's defeat is a major setback for the Republican Party and the wealthy business interests seeking to curb the collective political influence of union members.
Despite the fact that labor is outspent by more than 12-to-1 by business interests, Prop. 226 and other "Paycheck Deception" proposals seek to require unions to get special written authorization from members annually to spend a portion of their dues on politics. Corporations and other professional organizations would not be required to get similar permission from their members or shareholders.
"The bottom line is that Californians saw though the deception and recognized that campaign finance legislation aiming to single out unions is not fair," said Rick Bender, President of the Washington State Labor Council, "especially since unions are very democratic organizations where every member has the opportunity to vote on how his or her dues are spent. This is a major victory for the labor movement across the country."
Opponents of Proposition 226 credited a strong grassroots campaign to educate union members on the real impact of the deceptive ballot measure for its defeat. Just a few months ago, polls showed the measure was supported by more than 70% of probable voters, and two out of every three union members.
"(According to exit polls) union members rejected the proposition with a resounding 71 to 29 percent vote," said Sweeney. "Even more, we gained new strength and momentum for a pro-working family agenda heading into the fall elections. More than 24,000 new union member political activists emerged in California in the course of the campaign."
California's outgoing Republican Gov. Pete Wilson and Mark Bucher, a businessman who filed Prop. 226, vowed to somehow continue the fight. Wilson had staked his future political clout on passage of the measure by being a vocal advocate and campaigner for passage of 226.
"This vote shows that nationally coordinated efforts by Newt Gingrich, Grover Norquist and Pete Wilson to take working families out of the political process is a clear loser," Sweeney said. "Working families and our unions are fed up with phony campaign reform schemes and ready for the real thing. Instead of challenging the participation of working women and men in the political system through our unions, we need real campaign reform that challenges too-powerful corporate special interests and helps restore the participation and confidence of ordinary Americans."
But the fight against 'Paycheck Deception' will continue.
"This is not the end of this anti-union campaign. Many other states, including Oregon (where the issue will likely appear on November's ballot), are facing this same battle," said WSLC President Bender. "But I can tell you this, if 'Paycheck Deception' comes to Washington state, we are ready for it, we will aggressively fight it, and we will defeat it just like in California."
The volunteer-only campaign to qualify Initiative 688, the effort to raise our state minimum wage, for November’s ballot has just four weeks left, and although we have made steady progress toward our goal, there is disturbing evidence that momentum is being lost. In the last two weeks, the number of volunteers who have signed up to collect signatures at designated sites has declined. If that trend continues, we will not make it!
The latest tally shows we need 100,000 more signatures to ensure Initiative 688’s validation. And organized labor has collected just 52,000 toward its goal/commitment of 100,000 signatures by the deadline.
Please look at your calendars and identify one or more two-hour shifts that you’d be willing to be assigned to the best signature-gathering sites in your area. Then call the coordinator in your county listed below.
"If we work hard this next month, we will all be able to take tremendous pride in the fact that we put an important, worthwhile initiative on our ballot the old-fashioned way — without paying for signatures," said Washington State Labor Council President Rick Bender. "Until then, we have to re-dedicate ourselves to getting the job done."
The I-688 will turn in petitions to the Secretary of State on July 1st.So if you have petitions that are only partially filled with signatures, please turn them in AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Or better still spend your lunch hour getting the signatures needed to completely fill them, and then send them in.
If you are mailing them in, they must be in the mail by Saturday, June 27. Send petitions to: P.O. Box 19207, Seattle, 98109.
Please contact your I-688 county coordinator to volunteer for a 2-hour shift collecting signatures at a storefront or event (or call to get additional petitions to collect signatures on your own):
Benton
— Irene Berger, 509-547-0901, 509-547-9737 x249
Chelan/Douglas — Bob Abbott, 509-662-9762; and Doug Shae, 509-662-4590, 509-664-5202
Clark — Bob Toney, 360-694-5894
Cowlitz — Becky Hoffman, 360-423-4693
Grant — Ron McLean, 509-488-2271
Grays Harbor — Brian Blake, 360-533-1148; and Jim Coates, 360-532-6315
Island — Michael Seraphinoff, 360-678-4168
King — Bridget Geraghty, 206-256-6391
Kittitas — Mike Williams, 509-925--4033
Lewis — Ron Jennings, 360-330-2920
Mason — Robyn Donaldson, 360-426-3460
Pierce — Scottie Graser, 253-759-1477
Skagit — Kim Nibarger, 360-293-2972, 360-293-6541
Snohomish — Shawm Murray, 206-256-6391
Spokane — Jennifer Eckstrom, 509-838-7870
Thurston — Jeff Johnson, 360-943-0608
Walla Walla — Phyllis Pulfer, 509-525-7038
Whatcom — Betsy Pernotto, 360-647-1752
Whitman — Herbert Hill, 509-332-1945
Yakima — Erik Nelsen, 509-839-4903
For more information about the I-688 campaign, click here.
The plumbers and pipe welders employed by Process Systems Inc. in Moses Lake voted overwhelmingly, 44 to 13, to authorize the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Union Local 598 of Pasco to represent them in collectivbe bargaining.
Union organizers Richard Monlux and Pete Crow said that the key to the union victory was that the employees were very tired of not being represented, having no health care coverage, no pension and earning wages that are less than 50 percent of the union wage in the area. The next step is to negotiate an agreement with P.S.I.
Process Systems Inc., a Memphis, tenn.-based company, is currently constructing a sugar beet process plant in Moses Lake for Pacific Northwest Sugar Company. The union has several unfair labor practice charges filed against the company related to the successful organizing campaign that will be decided by the NLRB.
For more information, contact William Wright at fax 425-259-8064 or wmwright@worldnet.att.net.
If you have a news item regarding unions in Washington state that you would like to have posted on WSLC OnLine, please e-mail or fax a news release to (206) 285-5805.
Back to WSLC Reports OnLine index
