WSLC Monthly Report -- December 2003

WSLC Reports is a monthly summary of labor news and a preview of coming events.
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(See previous editions of this newsletter.)

THURSDAY, JANUARY 8 -- A Voice@Work Training Session on the evidence that Americans would like to join unions, that unions are good for democracy and American society, that workers are being denied the right to join unions, and what we are going to do about it. This inspiring interactive workshop will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Hall 1 of the Seattle Labor Temple, 2800 1st Ave. Space is limited. If you are interested in attending, contact Verlene Wilder of the King County Labor Council at (206) 441-7102. Learn more.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 30 -- The Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council has scheduled a labor rally and march in Olympia. Learn more.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20 -- The Washington State Labor Council's 2004 Legislative Conference will begin at 9 a.m. at the Red Lion Olympia Hotel. All affiliated unions members are invited to attend and get updates on the status of legislation affecting working families. More details on registration will be available soon.

After the Boeing Co. announced Dec. 16 that it will build the 7E7 Dreamliner -- its next generation commercial jet -- and conduct final assembly work in Everett, the Washington State Labor Council congratulated the company for its recognition of our state’s single most crucial competitive advantage: We have the best aerospace workers in the world.

"There’s just no substitute for our highly skilled machinists, engineers and technicians who produce the world’s finest aerospace products," said WSLC President Rick Bender. He also noted that the decision counters the negative, doom-and-gloom comments about our state’s business climate: "Our state’s business climate is not only competitive, it is superior to the ‘low-road, low-wage’ route of other regions."

But Boeing’s plans should also include some revised calculations. "I do hope the company will reconsider its plans to outsource so many pieces of the 7E7. The workers here are confident they can produce better components than other suppliers," Bender said.

Boeing’s 7E7 decision should not divert the state from continued efforts to improve our transportation system, he added. Transportation needs are far from being met, and new manufacturing and production in all parts of Puget Sound will be hobbled without further investment in our transportation system.

The Washington State Labor Council’s affiliated unions are urged to nominate members to serve on WSLC standing committees. Many of these active, high-profile committees have developed national reputations for their education and advocacy work on issues important to working families. As of Dec. 31, there will be vacancies on the following committees: Economic Development & Transportation; Education, Training & Apprenticeship; WISHA Monitoring; and Women’s Committee. Nomination forms (download in MS Word format) must be submitted by Jan. 16, 2004. Committee members whose term expires Dec. 31, but wish to be reappointed to that committee must submit their names using this form. For more information, or to have the nomination form sent to you, contact Jan Hays the WSLC’s Seattle office at (206) 281-8901.

Several hundred union members and their community allies rallied in downtown Seattle’s noontime rain Dec. 10 to demand that Americans regain the freedom to join a union. Although the law says you have the right to join a union in this country -- free from threat, intimidation and coercion by your employer -- that right is routinely denied across the nation and in Washington state. Dec. 10 was a National Day of Action in cities throughout the United States marking the anniversary of the United Nations’ adoption in 1948 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes the right to join a union. The rally marked the beginning of a multi-year campaign by the AFL-CIO and its affiliated international unions, called Voice@Work, to restore the freedom to join a union. It includes labor law reform, more militant action on behalf of workers being denied their rights and greater efforts in the community to publicly shame employers who deny union rights. (Learn more.) Following are examples of each...

DEMOCRATS BACK EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT -- This historic legislation was introduced in Congress last month and articulates the kind of labor law reform necessary to level the playing field for American workers and restore the freedom to join unions. Every Democratic U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative in Washington state has either co-sponsored the measure or is committed to signing on when they return to D.C. in January. The Employee Free Choice Act would allow employees to freely choose whether to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation; provide mediation and arbitration for first contract disputes; and establish stronger penalties for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first contract negotiations. Learn more.

JANITORS, SUPPORTERS ARRESTED AT RALLY -- Nine people -- including a striker, union leaders, and union supporters -- were arrested at a Dec. 17 rally in Seattle in support of janitors striking to protest unfair labor practices committed by Allied Building Services. The janitors have filed new federal charges accusing ABS of violating their legal right to choose a union. Janitors at Allied have been organizing with the Service Employees International Union since 2002 in their fight to attain family health care. In their ongoing efforts for union recognition and health care coverage, the janitors conducted a two-day strike after weeks of informational picketing outside the downtown office buildings where they work. Learn more.

BOYCOTT DARIGOLD PRODUCTS -- Since Aug. 30, some 200 workers in Issaquah and Seattle represented by Teamsters Local 66 have been locked out of their jobs by WestFarm Foods, a dairy farmers’ cooperative that produces dairy products under the brand name Darigold. The company has fired 60 drivers, subcontracted 14 union jobs to a non-union warehouse and hired scab replacement workers to keep the plants open. At the request of Teamsters Local 66 -- which is not affiliated with the Washington State Labor Council -- the AFL-CIO has just added Darigold to the national boycott list. The Teamsters are conducting a radio and newspaper advertising campaign to publicize the boycott. Please urge your family, friends and co-workers to honor this important boycott. Learn more.

Faced with ever tightening budgets, a growing number of state agencies are either importing cheaper foreign workers or outsourcing information technology work offshore to countries such as Canada or India, according to a new report by WashTech/CWA. The bottom line: millions of dollars in the state’s shrinking tax revenues are leaving the country rather than circulating within the local economy. Learn more at www.washtech.org.

Department of Ecology workers who organized with the Washington Federation of State Employees earlier this year are negotiating a contract to protect their new rights until the first master collective bargaining agreement goes into effect in 2005. But Ecology management has balked at allowing the union team any more release time to negotiate. No other agency, including Licensing and Health where union teams are also negotiating interim contracts, has made such a request. To deny Ecology union team negotiators the same release time is a dangerous double standard that shows gross disrespect for the work they do. Learn more at www.EcologyUnion.org.

The Marine Employees’ Commission, an agency that oversees labor relations on the state ferries, ruled Dec. 8 that the Washington State Ferries unlawfully omitted long-established worker protections from its bid proposal for food service concessionaires. The Inlandboatmen’s Union, which represents those workers, says the confusion and uncertainty about the workers’ status led to the impending disruption of food service aboard the ferries, which may begin Jan. 1. For nearly 50 years, the WSF required food contractors to give preferential hiring to the existing galley workers and honor their current wages and benefits. The commission ordered the WSF to retract the current request for proposals because it failed to include these provisions, and to promptly revise and reissue a new bid proposal. Learn more.

America’s working families may be getting unwelcome holiday gifts from President Bush in the coming weeks. Long-term unemployed victims of the "jobless recovery" face losing federal unemployment benefits and those of us fortunate to have jobs face losing our right to overtime pay.

OVERTIME PAY -- Bush’s overtime pay take-away could go into effect any day now. Despite bipartisan congressional votes to block Bush’s rule changes, Republican leaders succeeded in dropping OT protection from the omnibus spending bill that passed the House this month. The Senate, citing concerns about the OT pay take-away and a number of other non-budget attachments to the spending bill, delayed a vote until Jan. 20. So please visit www.SaveOvertimePay.org to sign an online petition, urge family/friends to do the same, and write letters to the editor opposing Bush’s OT pay take-away for 8 million workers.

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS—Just days before Christmas, workers running out of regular unemployment benefits will have them cut off. Some 80,000 people a week will start to run out of benefits, including thousands here in Washington state. This happened because, for the second year in a row, Congress left Washington for the holidays without reauthorizing federal jobless benefits. Last year, after a public outcry, President Bush intervened just before Christmas and Congress eventually returned in January to reauthorize the program. But so far this year, Bush hasn’t indicated whether he will do so again. Please visit action.nelp.org and urge Bush to extend jobless benefits.