Washington AFL-CIO urges ‘No’ vote
on I-960; ‘Yes’ on Ref. 67, EHJR 4204
Painters’ Kirkpatrick retires
John Kirkpatrick (seated) of Painters District Council 5 gets the treatment
at a retirement party on his behalf. Kirkpatrick retired Oct. 1 after 18 years
with the council, where he worked as an organizer, apprenticeship
coordinator and business rep. Kirkpatrick, 55, is active in safety and health
issues and will continue to serve as a labor representative on Oregon’s
Management-Labor Advisory Committee for Workers’ Compensation. He
also will continue as chair of the Safe Employment Education and Training
Advisory Committee of OR-OSHA and on the Workers Memorial
Scholarship Program. Kirkpatrick has received numerous awards from the
state for his work on safety and training. He has written and received more
than $350,000 in grants from OR-OSHA, NIOSH and the Environmental
Protection Agency that have allowed him to design training curriculum for
painting health and safety awareness, respiratory protection, lead abatement,
drywall finisher ergonomics and more. In addition to all the job-safety work,
Kirkpatrick helped found the Organizers Roundtable of the Columbia-
Pacific Building Trades Council and he represents labor in discussions with
the City of Portland on a day labor center.
SEATTLE — Washington voters
have five ballot measures to vote on in
this year’s off-year election, and the
Washington State Labor Council, AFL-
CIO, is weighing in on three of them.
The state labor federation is recom-
mending union members vote “No” on
Initiative 960, and “Yes” on Referen-
dum 67 and Engrossed House Joint
Resolution 4204.
Initiative Measure 960 was placed
on the ballot by conservative activist
Tim Eyman. It would require voter ap-
proval for any kind of tax increase, leg-
islative approval for any government
agency fee increase, and advisory votes
on taxes enacted without voter ap-
proval.
“This measure would allow a small
minority of legislators to block every-
thing,” said Washington State Labor
Council Political Director Diane Mc-
Daniel. And, McDaniel said, there
would be no pro- or con- statements in
the Voters’ Pamphlet, only a 13-word
description of each item. “We believe
that’s why we have a Legislature and a
governor,” McDaniel said, — “to make
well-informed decisions for the good
of the state, not send everything out to
voters to decide.”
Referendum 67 would penalize in-
surance companies if they deny or de-
lay reasonable claims — it allows
wronged individuals to sue and get
triple damages, plus attorney fees, if
they can prove their case. The law
doesn’t apply to health insurers.
Currently, there is no penalty in
Washington when insurers delay or
deny valid claims, and McDaniel says
insurance companies are abusing that
impunity.
“We’re saying ‘You pay your pre-
miums on time, you expect them to pay
legitimate claims on time,’ ” McDaniel
said.
The Legislature passed this bill as a
law, but then insurance companies paid
signature gatherers to refer it to voters;
now they’re spending $8 million to per-
suade voters to reject the law, arguing
that it’s mainly about enriching trial
lawyers and that it will lead to in-
creased insurance premiums.
Engrossed House Joint Resolu-
tion 4204, the “simple majority”
amendment, would let voters approve
school district property tax levies by
simple majority vote. Currently, be-
cause of an earlier ballot measure, there
is a 60 percent “supermajority” re-
quirement that is based on voter turnout
in previous elections. McDaniel said
too many local levies fail with 59 per-
cent of the voters in support.
“It’s unfair to expect schools to pass
with 59 percent, while stadium, parks,
jails levies can be approved with 50
percent plus one vote,” McDaniel said.
For WSLC to take a position on a
ballot measure requires two-thirds
vote of the Executive Board. In the
case of these three measures, there was
complete unity by organized labor.
WSLC didn’t take a position on two
other measures — one that would re-
strict prison labor, and one that would
create a state rainy-day fund.
About one-fifth of the Washington
electorate — 400,000 Washington vot-
ers — are members of union house-
holds, and McDaniel said the WSLC is
working hard to reach them with mail,
phone calls and workplace fliers.
In local races, the Clark, Skamania
and West Klickitat Central Labor
Council, AFL-CIO, also issued voter
recommendations. The labor council is
calling on union members to vote for
Larry Smith and Dan Tonkovich for
Vancouver City Council; Al Swindell
for Woodland City Council; Jim Irish
for La Center mayor; and Arch Miller
for Port of Vancouver commissioner.
Washington is moving to a county-
by-county vote-by-mail system. Ballots
were mailed out to Southwest Wash-
ington voters in mid-October and must
be postmarked by Tuesday, Nov. 6 in
order to be counted. [That’s different
from Oregon, where mail ballots must
arrive by Election Day.]
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CLARIFICATION
Oregon AFL-CIO Resolution No. 6 “Illegal Employers” was amended in the
Law and Legislation Committee to read: “The Oregon AFL-CIO is on record for in-
creased penalties, including incarceration, for illegal employers and to strictly en-
force safety and health, wage and hour, and collective bargaining laws regarding
employers who hire and exploit workers without legal status.”
The NW Labor Press did not report the amended language in its convention re-
port Oct. 19. The Labor Press regrets the oversight.
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