WSLC Monthly Report -- June 2002

WSLC Reports is a monthly summary of labor news and a preview of coming events. It is not intended to be comprehensive. More detail is available on these (and other) items online. If you would like to receive this via fax or mail, Get on the List!

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney will be keynote speaker at the Washington State Labor Council’s 2002 Constitutional Convention set for August 19-22 at the Ridpath Hotel in Spokane. Under the theme “Labor is Your Neighbor,” the principal issues to be discussed will be union organizing, the health care crisis, state transportation needs, retirement security, and strategic initiative campaigns.

Morning plenary sessions will feature speakers, congressional and legislative leaders, and panel discussions with national and regional experts on each of those issues. Delegates will choose from afternoon workshops on those topics, and others regarding state tax reform, workers’ compensation, websites/effective communications, substance abuse prevention, and much more.

Also speaking at the convention will be nationally syndicated radio commentator and populist activist Jim Hightower. Other special guest speakers will be announced as their participation is confirmed.

In addition, the WSLC will host a special public forum Monday evening (Aug. 19) on “Balancing the Community Checkbook” to discuss state revenue and tax issues. Among the evening social events—in addition to the annual reception, banquet and COPE barbecue—will be a special screening of the critically acclaimed film 10,000 Black Men Named George hosted by the local chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute.

AUGUST 2-4 —Western States’ Community Strategic Training Initiative. Sponsored by Western States Center and held at Reed College in Portland, the CSTI offers three days of intensive training in community organizing, electoral organizing, non-profit management and leadership skills. More info.

AUGUST 19-22—The WSLC 2002 Constitutional Convention at the Ridpath Hotel in Spokane. The convention call has been mailed to affiliated unions, indicating how many delegates each organization is entitled to send. Contact your union to find out how to serve as a delegate or alternate. (See story at left.)

All who plan to attend the Monday-to-Thursday convention will be encouraged to arrive early on Sunday, and discover firsthand how the Labor-Neighbor political action program works and why it has proven so successful. Convention delegates will hit the streets of Spokane that day to meet fellow union members and discuss the issues that matter most to working families.

Rank-and-file members of WSLC-affiliated unions across the state are encouraged to contact their locals or councils and find out how they can serve as a delegate (or alternate) representing their unions at the convention.

All union members and activists are reminded that petitions, including those only partially filled with signatures, for the Washington State Labor Council-endorsed Initiative 790 should be mailed in immediately. The 198,000 valid signatures necessary to qualify I-790 for the ballot must be submitted by July 5 and the campaign would like to have them in hand by July 1. If there is no time to mail your petition in, please call the WSLC at 1-800-542-0904 for information about where you can drop it off.

Today, Washington is one of only four states where local police and fire fighters lack any representation on their own pension board. Instead, the statewide Law Enforcement Officers and Fire Fighters Retirement System 2 (LEOFF 2) is run by a committee made up entirely of legislators, even though local police and fire fighters contribute half the cost of their pensions. Initiative 790 would change that. It would guarantee our public safety workers representation on a new governing board, giving them a voice in their own retirement without cost to taxpayers. More info.

Tobacco giant Philip Morris, Inc. is bankrolling efforts to put Initiative 791 on the fall ballot in Washington state. I-791 would jeopardize critical resources for our children, schools, environment and the public’s health, and our state legislature would be hamstrung to make up the shortfall.

The “Philip Morris Initiative” calls for new spending limits—even broader than its I-601 predecessor—that would fix state expenditures at the current recession levels. Inexcusably, during this time of drastic state budget cuts, I-791 declares Washington state has “exceeded its paramount duty to provide a basic education for the children of this state by providing significant enhancements for the common schools.” Paid signature gatherers have until July 5 to collect the 198,000 valid signatures necessary to put I-791 on November’s ballot. Supporting Philip Morris in its effort to pay for these signatures are the ; Safeway, Inc.; the Washington Restaurant Association; Washington Wine and Beer Wholesalers; the Washington Retail Association; and the Washington Association of Realtors. More info.

The Washington State Labor Council is looking for energetic, hardworking people with the ability to learn quickly, who are interested in strengthening grassroots politics in labor. The highly successful Labor-Neighbor program is being expanded to legislative districts around the state, and we need Field Coordinators.

It will be the responsibility of the Field Coordinator to effectively communicate with the local unions that are doing volunteer recruitment within their assigned legislative district. The coordinator will work with the local unions and Central Labor Councils to set up a schedule to confirm an efficient amount of volunteers to carry out doorbelling, phone banks and other activities. Field Coordinators will serve from Monday, Aug. 12 through Friday, Nov. 8. For salary or other information, please contact WSLC Political Director Diane McDaniel at (206) 281-8901 or dmcdaniel@wslc.org. Or go ahead and send her a resume! More info.

Delegates representing the affiliated union organizations that comprise the Washington State Labor Council conducted the 2002 WSLC Political Endorsement Convention on June 1 at the IAM District 751 Hall in Seattle. A two-thirds majority of the delegates present was necessary for the endorsement of any candidate or ballot measure. See the list of endorsed candidates or download a one-page PDF file with the list.

Union members and community supporters have been participating in a month of action in the Seattle area to fight for the rights of workers to organize and bargain for fair contracts. The King County Labor Council—in partnership with Washington State Jobs With Justice, the Washington State Living Wage Campaign, community and religious leaders, and elected officials—has helped various local unions conduct “Street Heat” actions to highlight workers’ struggles to gain a voice at work. Events included:

A public opinion campaign is under way to begin dismantling Washington state’s minimum wage as established by Initiative 688 four years ago.

Legislators and reporters were invited last month to tour a Dayton asparagus plant and hear the plant’s owners threaten to move if our state can’t be more “competitive” regarding its lowest legal wage. Soon, the Seattle Times was editorializing the two-thirds majority that voted for I-688 may have had good intentions but didn’t know what they were doing, and called on lawmakers to begin making exemptions to the minimum wage standard.

The state’s business community rails against our $6.90 minimum hourly wage—screaming, “It’s the highest in the nation!”—as if we should be ashamed rather than proud. But where Washington is leading, other states are following. Rather than wait for Congress to raise the federal minimum wage, frozen nearly five years at a shameful $5.15 an hour, the labor movement is forcing the issue.

Under threat of initiative from the Alaska AFL-CIO and allied groups, the Alaska legislature last month voted to increase the state’s minimum wage from $5.65 to $7.15, effective Jan. 1 and to have Alaska join Washington in indexing future increases to the consumer price index beginning in 2004. The Oregon AFL-CIO reports it is having no problem collecting signatures for a ballot measure to increase and index that state’s minimum wage. Based on successes out West, the labor movement in other states around the country are considering similar initiatives. More info.

Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives this month introduced bills purporting to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. But internal Republican documents reveal the effort is meant to confuse voters.

“The bills claim to respond to the needs of older Americans for affordable prescription drugs, but would benefit the pharmaceutical companies more than the seniors they say they would help,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. “These proposals, shamefully, are exactly what had been hoped for by the giant pharmaceutical companies—which are already funneling millions of dollars into ad campaigns that thank Republicans for supporting a drug benefit that pushes seniors to the private markets and further away from affordable medicine.” More info.