WSLC Monthly Report -- Nov-Dec 2004

WSLC Reports is a pretty-much-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) stories online. If you want to receive this via fax or mail, Get on the List!
(See previous editions of this newsletter.)

JOE MURPHY (1940-2004)

State labor movement loses
"inspiring example for all of us"

The Washington State Labor Council’s senior vice president, Joe Murphy, and his twin brother, Jim, were lost Sept. 20 when a float plane they were aboard with three other men went missing in Alaska. An intensive six-week search by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Murphy family turned up no sign of the plane. A memorial service was held for Joe on Nov. 20 in Bremerton.

"This tragedy is a tremendous loss for the state of Washington," said WSLC President Rick Bender. "The Murphy brothers were both respected champions of working people and social justice, and Joe’s tireless advocacy for the developmentally disabled set an inspiring example for all of us."

In the late 1960s, Joe worked as a IBEW Local 46 wireman and eventually served as Business Manager for IBEW Local 77 from 1985 to 1987. A lifelong Democrat, he served as Kitsap County Democratic Chairman from 1974-78, and then as Democratic State Chairman until 1981. This year, Joe was his union’s political coordinator for the Kerry-Edwards campaign.

He served as WSLC Vice President since 1981.

"Joe was a dear friend and colleague," said WSLC Secretary-Treasurer Al Link. "I’m proud to have served so many years alongside him on the (WSLC) Executive Board. His presence, his humor and his wisdom will be sorely missed by all of us."

Joe is survived by his high school sweetheart and wife of 46 years, Gerry Murphy; and by six children and their families, including 13 grandchildren. Contributions be made in Joe’s name to the Holly Ridge Center, a non-profit agency that provides services for children and adults with special needs, at 5112 NW Taylor Road, Bremerton, WA 98312.

John Kerry won Washington state. Sen. Patty Murray was easily re-elected to a third term. Pro-worker Democrats gained control of the State Senate and strengthened their majority in the State House of Representatives by adding, among others, three union leaders to their ranks.

But despite these successes, it’s hard for union political activists and supporters of labor-endorsed candidates to feel celebratory given the re-election of President George W. Bush and potential election of Dino Rossi as governor. Both have a history of active hostility to working families’ interests and at least one of them will make next four years long ones for unions. After two machine counts, Rossi has 42 more votes than labor-endorsed Democrat Christine Gregoire out of more than 2.8 million votes cast. A hand recount will determine the ultimate winner.

The Washington State Labor Council’s 2004 Labor Neighbor program was unprecedented in scale. More than 7,200 volunteer shifts were logged by union members who spent week nights and weekends talking to other rank-and-filers about labor-endorsed candidates. In addition, the WSLC sent nearly 200,000 pieces of mail to union members featuring side-by-side comparisons of the candidates on workplace issues.

"Our 2004 political program was an ambitious, unprecedented mobilization. I’m proud of the way union members stepped up for thousands of volunteer shifts to get the labor vote out," said Rick Bender, President of the Washington State Labor Council.

"Again this year, Labor Neighbor expanded our base of union activists and stuck to the issues that determined labor endorsements, not the negative politics that permeated the airwaves," Bender added. "I’m confident that we made the difference in a number of close legislative races."

Labor-endorsed candidates in several districts where the full Labor Neighbor field, phone and mail programs were in place won by comfortable margins. Others were decided by fewer than 2,000 votes, including:

Other strong candidates came up just short, including 6th LD Senate candidate Laurie Dolan and 24th LD House candidate Kevin Van De Wege.

In addition to SEIU member Tami Green, two other trade unionists were elected to the State House. Snohomish County labor leader Mike Sells and Teamsters leader/activist Bob Hasegawa were both boosted by Labor Neighbor activities in their districts, winning close primary elections and then easily prevailing in November.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 -- The public is invited to attend a Forum on Family Leave Insurance to discuss a legislative proposal to Washington workers and businesses to help balance job and family responsibilities. It will be from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Machinists Hall, 9125 15th Place S. in South Seattle, sponsored by the Washington Family Leave Coalition. Please RSVP by emailing teresa@eoionline.org. For more info on family leave issues, visit the Equal Opportunity Institute website.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9 -- What is the impact of exporting jobs on the residents of Pierce and South King counties? That question will be explored at a Washington State Jobs with Justice Workers' Rights Board hearing on Job Exportation from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Oasis of Hope Center, 1937 South G St. in Tacoma. Come hear from aerospace and high-tech workers, social service providers, expert economists and workers struggling to find and retrain for living wage jobs. For more info, call WSJWJ at 206-441-4969.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13 -- A Forum on Protecting Social Security from President Bush's efforts to privatize it will be from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the Seattle Labor Temple, 2800 1st Ave., in Hall 1. The featured speaker will be Dean Baker, author, columnist, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and a nationally recognized authority on the Social Security system. This forum is sponsored by the Washington State Alliance for Retired Americans and the Economic Opportunity Institute. For more information, call 206-448-0859.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24 -- The Washington State Labor Council's 2005 Legislative Conference will be at the Olympia Red Lion Hotel. There will be a Reception Wednesday evening at the hotel. Details and registration information will be available soon.

The State Supreme Court on Oct. 21 overturned a decade-old rule allowing local affiliates of statewide and international unions to contribute to candidates as separate entities with separate contribution limits. For years, the Public Disclosure Commission’s interpretation of a 1992 campaign finance reform initiative has been that if a state council or parent organization "stays out" of a state campaign then its local unions were effectively autonomous -- deciding individually which candidates they would support -- and therefore had separate contribution limits for each local. The impact of the new ruling is that locals in the same international union will be restricted to a single contribution limit when contributing to an endorsed candidate. In the coming months, the WSLC will be working to make sure unions understand the new rule and how they can continue to be politically active and remain in compliance.

The Public Disclosure Commission on Oct. 27 unanimously rejected all counts of a complaint by the anti-union Evergreen Freedom Foundation against the Washington State Labor Council’s political action program. The EFF alleged that the WSLC’s internal member communications about election issues should be subject to campaign finance disclosure laws. It isn’t. The U.S. Supreme Court has twice ruled that laws restricting the right of a labor organization to communicate with union members regarding political causes raises "the gravest constitutional issues," and infringe on the First Amendment right of free association. Ironically, the attack comes from an organization that maintains near total secrecy about its funders and expenditures. The secret EFF funders are believed to be many of the same business and corporate groups that fund attacks on candidates who represent the interests of working families.

The Building Industry Association of Washington lost its last-ditch attempt to keep secret the list of participants in its workers’ compensation "retro" rebate program Nov. 5 as the state Court of Appeals rejected BIAW’s claim that the information is a trade secret. The WSLC now has the list of participants in the BIAW program, which the conservative homebuilders’ group uses to fund its political and lobbying activities. That list includes dozens of city governments and public agencies, which means taxpayer dollars are being siphoned by the BIAW to finance its partisan agenda. In addition to public agencies, there are a number of businesses that appear to have nothing to do with home construction despite legal requirements that retro groups "must be composed of employers who are substantially similar."

Negotiators from Group Health Cooperative and SEIU 1199NW resumed contract bargaining on Nov. 12 with both sides agreeing to a news blackout. Group Health management had previously announced that it is walking away from the federal contract mediation process with 1,060 frontline employees and unilaterally imposing benefits cuts and other changes that had been rejected in a vote by employees. Polls indicate widespread public support for Group Health caregivers’ efforts to maintain affordable health care and their 5-day limited strike in August. Hundreds of Group Health workers and supporters marched and picketed Oct. 16 in Seattle to urge a restart of negotiations.

The Washington state minimum wage will increase 19 cents to $7.35 an hour starting Jan. 1, 2005. It is recalculated each year as a result of Initiative 688, filed by WSLC President Rick Bender, supported by the state labor movement and community organizations, and approved by voters by a 2-to-1 margin in 1998. I-688 took the politics out of the minimum wage issue by requiring an annual cost-of-living adjustments. "It’s great news for minimum wage earners every year that they will be getting the cost-of-living raise they deserve," Bender said, "but $7.35 an hour is still poverty wages for thousands of Washington families. Every year, we should congratulate ourselves that the law is working as voters intended, and then rededicate ourselves to the fight for maintaining and creating good family-wage jobs."

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney formed a Committee of Change to consider proposals from the Service Employees International Union to restructure the AFL-CIO. The panel will present the proposals for a vote in February. Although he says his preference is to remain part of the federation, SEIU President Andy Stern has threatened to withdraw his union from the AFL-CIO unless dramatic reforms are implemented to increase union density and power. Stern’s 10-point proposal would allow the AFL-CIO to require coordinated bargaining, revoke union charters, prevent and grant mergers and transfer union responsibilities. (Visit www.unitetowin.org for details.) Some unions, including the International Association of Machinists and others, have already announced they oppose the SEIU proposals and also have threatened to withdraw from the AFL-CIO if they are implemented.

The AFL-CIO is organizing holiday shoppers to buy union-made gifts for Christmas, Hanukah and Kwanzaa with its "Buy Union Week" campaign Nov. 26-Dec. 5. Shoppers will be urged to "Give the Gift of Good Jobs" by spending their dollars in ways that keep people working for good wages and benefits. A new Internet shopping site has been set up at www.ShopUnionMade.org listing union-made products and unionized stores.