News for the week of September 29 – October 3 News for the week of September 29 – October 3Friday, 10/3/97 — Press operators
picket at Seattle Times
Thursday, 10/2/97 — King County Labor Council endorses Paul Schell for Mayor
of Seattle
Wednesday, 10/1/97 — Supporters of
apple workers to rally Oct. 9 at Seattle docks
Tuesday, 9/30/97 — BIAW, PDC reach agreement on examining financial records
Monday, 9/29/97 — Ground-breaking
new film on workplace discrimination premieres tomorrow
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News from previous weeks:
September 22-26, 1997
September 15-19, 1997
Some 100 Seattle Times press operators and other union activists picketed the company's offices Thursday to call attention to the fact that they have been working without a contract for over a year now, and the company has been unable to negotiate an acceptable contract with their union.
Employees rejected a wage offer from management in July that, over the 5-year length of the contract, raised wages only $1.50.
"It was a slap in the face," said Doug Jerrett, a 20-year veteran pressman.
"That (wage offer) got some people pretty upset," said Mark Hepburn, business agent for Graphic Communications International Union Local 767M. "Another big issue was that we have had a huge increase in days lost due to work-related injuries over the past few years. The Times' answer to that is proposing that if people who they hurt on the job are unable to return to work after a year, they will terminate them."
Another hot button issue is overtime. The company wants to eliminate overtime pay for hours beyond eight a day and only pay for hours beyond 40 a week. Such a maneuver is often the first step in creating longer shifts and avoiding all overtime costs.
"(The members) call it blood money when they have to work 10 or 12 hours a day," said Hepburn, "and now the Times doesn't want to pay the proper overtime compensation."
The Executive Board of the King County Labor Council voted Wednesday to endorse Paul Schell's candidacy for mayor, citing his strong support of the right of workers to organize a union, enforcement of prevailing wage laws on public construction projects, and the need to create and maintain family-wage jobs in the City of Seattle.
"Paul is the clear choice for working people," said Ron Judd, KCLC Executive Secretary. "There is simply no question which candidate best understands and most respects our issues. Paul has made it very clear to us that as mayor, he will make sure organized labor will be at the table when important city policy is discussed and negotiated."
"I am running because I want to create genuine partnerships, to end the pitting of one group against another, of people against City Hall, and of labor against management," Schell said. "Seattle has long been a union town, long before its recent designation by the AFL-CIO as a pre-eminent Union City. It's time labor had a major voice in our city's present and future."
The King County Labor Council, AFL-CIO, represents more than 100,000 rank-and-file members of 155 affiliated local unions. For more information about the KCLC, please call (206) 441-8510.
All union activists and supporters of Eastern Washington apple workers are invited to rally at the Seattle's Pier 91, on West Galer just south of the Magnolia Bridge and west of Elliott, on Thursday, October 9 at 6 p.m. That's where the first apple ships are being loaded with this year's harvest.
The goal of the rally is to call attention to the fact that vicious union-busting tactics are being used by Washington's apple industry employers. Despite this, strong majorities of workers at the Stemilt warehouse in Wenatchee and Washington Fruit in Yakima are demanding the employers meet with them and start talks leading to a contract.
Despite the fact that the apple industry takes in $1 billion a year, much of it from exports, apple workers' real wages have actually declined over the past 10 years. During that same period both profits and productivity have doubled in the industry.
Now that apple workers are deciding to unite to try to improve their lives, raise their wages above poverty level, and get some justice and respect at work, they are facing an increasingly hostile union-busting campaign. It's time for other trade unionists to stand up and back up these workers.
For more information about the rally, call (206) 441-4654.
The Building Industry Association of Washington avoided a trip to court yesterday by finally agreeing to open its books to the Public Disclosure Commission, which is investigating a complaint filed against the BIAW by the Washington State Labor Council that alleges numerous violations of state campaign finance laws.
Until now, the BIAW had refused to release financial records of a subsidiary called the "Member Services Corporation," which the WSLC alleges it used to generate more than $500,000 for political expenditures for the 1996 election, but failed to register and report as a political action committee. The agreement to release the records stipulates that PDC investigators may look at the records, but not remove them from the BIAW offices in Olympia.
"Although we are encouraged that this (agreement) will finally allow the investigation to proceed, we are concerned that the BIAW's attempts to avoid disclosing how it generates political money may continue," said WSLC President Rick Bender. "We anxiously await word on the extent to which the BIAW is using a state program designed to encourage workplace safety to generate money for its political program. We feel very strongly that the public has a right to know about this."
The Member Services Corp. helps BIAW members participate in the state's "retrospective rating" program, which promotes safe workplaces by rebating a portion of workers' compensation premiums to firms with good safety records. For providing this service, the MSC retains 20 percent of those refunds. The complaint to the PDC alleges that the MSC passes a substantial portion of its "cut" of the refunds over to the BIAW for the purpose of political expenditures. One published report indicated this arrangement yields at least $350,000 a year, which would make it the primary source of BIAW's political expenditures. The BIAW's own newsletter bragged that the organization made cash contributions of "over $500,000 to help support its endorsed candidates" in the 1996 election.
Washington law requires "political committees" to file public reports, and defines them as a person or organization "having the expectation of receiving or making contributions or making expenditures in support or, in opposition to, any candidate or ballot proposition." The complaint filed against the BIAW concludes that an "entity that generates over $500,000 in an election year in cash contributions, but does not file public reports profoundly undermines the public's right to know of the financing of political campaigns."
The PDC is also investigating a host of other charges against the BIAW, including filing false PDC forms; failure to file reports in a timely fashion (in particular, those reporting last-minute expenditures in the weeks immediately preceding Election Day); failure to report expenditures and contributions; exceeding contribution limits; improperly coordinating "independent" expenditures with candidates; and others.
In addition to the WSLC, the complaint was filed by Jolene Unsoeld, the former state legislator and congresswoman who many call the “Mother of the PDC” for her role in passing campaign disclosure laws in this state; state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, state Rep. Hans Dunshee, former state Sen. Kathleen Drew and former candidate Lois Lopez, all of whom were victims of "hit pieces," negative campaign literature paid for and mailed by the BIAW and its network of at least 17 independent political expenditure committees.
A moving documentary about discrimination in the workplace against gays and lesbians will be premiered at a special showing in Seattle tomorrow night, Sept. 30, at 7:15 p.m. at Kane Hall, University of Washington, Room 110.
The film, Out At Work, profiles the difficult struggle of three people who fought workplace discrimination and homophobia — one an auto worker, another a librarian and the third a restaurant worker. Two of the three were able to turn to their unions for support, and ultimate victory. The third, the restaurant worker, did not have the benefit of a union and lost her job.
This is an especially timely premiere in the State of Washington because we are preparing to vote on Initiative 677, and decide whether employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation should be prohibited in this state.
The event tonight is sponsored by the Out Front Labor Coalition and Hands Off Washington. In addition, to the film, Hands Off Washington will present a speaker who will discuss her experiences with discrimination. Tickets are available at the door for $10, and $5 for students.
For more information, please contact Sarah Luthens at (206) 322-4926 or Sarah Scanlon at (206) 323-5191.
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.
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