One of the services the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO provides its affiliated unions is legislative education and advocacy. As with collective bargaining, by joining forces and speaking with a united voice on public policy issues affecting working families, labor has greater influence. There are about 550,000 union members in Washington — 18% of the non-agricultural workforce — ranking us as the 3rd most unionized state in the nation. With few exceptions, the positions taken by the WSLC are on issues affecting ALL working people, not just union members. From the equal pay to minimum wage to workers’ compensation, the WSLC and its affiliated unions are proud to advocate for their rank-and-file members and all working families.
2023 Legislative Report & Voting Record
The 2023 edition of the Washington State Labor Council’s Legislative Report is now available. (Download the full 18-page PDF.) This annual report summarizes the fate of legislation affecting working families in each year’s session of the Washington State Legislature, and how each legislator voted on these issues. (You can also download the WSLC 2023 Voting Record only.) As always, many union members came to Olympia during the 2023 session to share their personal stories at hearings, or meet with their legislators, or demonstrate outside the State Capitol. As documented in this report, their voices were heard on a number of important issues. Rank-and-file labor activism continues to be the key to successfully advancing pro-worker policies.
Printed copies of the WSLC’s 2023 Legislative Report are being mailed to all affiliated unions and will be available at the 2023 WSLC Convention on July 18-20. Officers, staff and rank-and-file members of WSLC-affiliated unions can request additional copies.
Previous years’ Legislative Reports:
2013 — 2014 — 2015 — 2016 — 2017 — 2018 — 2019 — 2020 — 2021 — 2022
Previous years’ WSLC Voting Records:
2003 — 2004 — 2005 — 2006 — 2007 — 2008 — 2009 — 2010 — 2011 — 2012 — 2013 — 2014 — 2015 — 2016 — 2017 — 2018 — 2019 — 2020 — 2021 — 2022
For earlier WSLC Voting Records and/or WSLC Legislative Reports, email your request to David Groves.
2023 WSLC Legislative Agenda
After three years, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the economy and exposed how tenuous economic security is for working families. Exposure to dangerous viral infections has led to burnout for frontline essential workers, particularly in health care and consumer services. Inflation driven by pandemic supply-chain disruptions, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and record corporate profits has made it difficult, if not impossible, for working parents to make ends meet and secure quality, reliable child care. Meanwhile, income inequality and the impacts of climate change continue to ravage the middle class, and economic opportunity promised by the energy transition has yet to be realized. In 2023, the State Legislature must take steps to grow an economy that works for working people by prioritizing job creation and work-life balance, safety on the job, and dignity in our employment. See the WSLC’s 2023 “Better Jobs, Stronger Communities” Legislative Agenda: 1-page (front-and-back) summary or 4-page version.
In addition, the WSLC will be supporting other legislation (not listed on the agenda) that is championed by its affiliated unions and a range of issues to address economic opportunity and justice. For updates about the status of these bills — and Action Alerts explaining how you can help support their passage — subscribe to The Stand. You can also see an archive of all the legislative news in The Stand’s State Government section.