FEB. 6, 2009:NWLP
2/3/09
10:12 AM
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Lots at stake for workers
Labor has full plate before Washington Legislature
By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
OLYMPIA — State lawmakers as-
sembled here Jan. 12 for what will
surely be a crisis session of the Wash-
ington Legislature. Washington state
government’s share of the global re-
cession is a projected $5.7 billion rev-
enue shortfall in the next two-year
budget. Unlike the federal govern-
ment, states have to balance their
budgets. So unless there’s a full-scale
federal bailout of state governments,
Washington lawmakers and Gov.
Christine Gregoire will be weighing
spending cuts and revenue increases.
Workers have a big stake in those
decisions, and representatives of the
state’s labor movement will lobby and
testify in the weeks and months lead-
ing up to the April 26 close of the leg-
islative session.
Grappling with the budget won’t be
the only topic, though. Organized la-
bor also expects the Democratic ma-
jority to deliver on reforms — such as
extending the right to unionize, setting
up a fund to provide paid family leave
for workers, and requiring payment of
the prevailing wage on mixed public-
private construction projects.
Most of labor’s political efforts are
coordinated through the Washington
State Labor Council (WSLC) — the
statewide body chartered by the na-
tional AFL-CIO. In the fourth most
unionized state in the nation, WSLC
represents most major unions except
the Washington Education Associa-
tion, Service Employees International
Union (SEIU), and the United Broth-
erhood of Carpenters. About 500 local
unions are affiliated, with a combined
membership of about 400,000. And
WSLC sees itself as the advocate for
working people in general, not just of
union members, said spokesperson
David Groves.
WSLC is calling on lawmakers to
put more money in the hands of unem-
ployed workers, which could help
stimulate the economy. Washington’s
unemployment insurance trust fund
has $4 billion in reserves, a much
higher level than most states. Gov.
Gregoire is proposing to tap the fund
to add $45 a week to unemployment
insurance benefits. Business groups
have vowed to fight the proposal.
WSLC supports it, and also wants
to see a rule change so that individuals
can get unemployment if they quit be-
cause they’re relocating to where a
spouse has found a new job.
Last fall, responding to the budget
shortfall, Gov. Gregoire announced a
state government hiring freeze. Since
then, the budget picture has worsened
to the point where state worker layoffs
are on the table. But her December
budget proposal to the Legislature
crossed the line for several unions. The
governor didn’t ask lawmakers to fund
the modest raises that had just been
agreed to in contract bargaining with
PAGE 4
several state worker unions. Three
public employee unions filed suit for
breach of contract — the Washington
Federation of State Employees (an af-
filiate of the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employ-
ees, which represents most state em-
ployees); SEIU Local 775, which rep-
resents home health care workers; and
health insurance. That means no cuts
to the state’s program of health insur-
ance for children from low-income
families. And it means a decision on
how to move forward on a program of
comprehensive health care reform.
Under Senate Bill 6333, passed last
year, a citizen task force hired a con-
sultant to account for five major pro-
posals to overhaul
health care; that
gives lawmakers a
menu of options
to choose from.
“We think
health care reform
is part of eco-
nomic recovery”
Groves said. “To
take the burden
off business and
working families … frees up money to
create jobs and spend money in other
areas that help the economy.”
The labor council also wants law-
makers to stop stalling and make a de-
cision on how to fund a paid family
leave benefit they approved in 2007.
The program would replace up to
$250 a week of lost wages for workers
who take family leave after the birth or
adoption of a child. The benefit would
apply only at workplaces with 50 or
more employees, the same workers
who now have a federal guarantee of
unpaid family leave. The problem with
unpaid family leave is that workers
can’t afford to use it. So the modest
benefit would make a difference. Ex-
cept Olympia never decided how to
fund it: Would it come from a 2 cents
per hour payroll tax on workers, or a
penny each from workers and employ-
ers, or even from unemployment in-
surance fund? Whichever, it’s time to
get it off the ground, WSLC will ar-
gue.
Meanwhile, the Washington State
Building and Construction Trades
Council (WSBCTC), which pools the
political agendas of the state’s building
trades unions, will focus on proposals
to expand apprenticeship opportuni-
ties; bring unemployment insurance
Aside from the economy and
the state budget, WSLC’s top
reform priority ... is the
Worker Privacy Act.
SEIU Local 925, which represents
childcare workers. The legal dispute
had not been resolved as of press time.
Basically, the governor’s office is
arguing economic necessity, whereas
the unions counter that the governor
has to ask to renegotiate the raises, and
can’t just unilaterally dump the con-
tract. And they say the governor’s
budget failed to suggest alternatives —
like ending corporate tax breaks.
Washington has no personal in-
come tax, so public services rely on
the property tax, sales tax, and a busi-
ness gross receipts tax; receipts from
the last two have fallen significantly
with the drop-off in sales and business
activity. Cutting back on corporate tax
breaks would be one way to increase
revenue without raising taxes. A tax
break for producers of bull semen has
been the most singled out for ridicule,
but all told there are about 600 busi-
ness tax exemptions, totaling tens of
billions of dollars. WSLC isn’t propos-
ing that they be eliminated wholesale,
just that they be looked at to see
whether they accomplish their pur-
poses, and whether those purposes are
worth the cost to the treasury at a time
when public agency budgets are facing
severe cuts.
Aside from the economy and the
state budget, WSLC’s top reform pri-
ority this year is the Worker Privacy
Act. Under the bill, workers could not
be disciplined for refusing to attend
workplace meetings at which issues of
individual conscience are to be dis-
cussed — including whether to sup-
port unionization, but also matters of
religion, politics, or charitable giving.
WSLC also wants to extend state-
administered collective bargaining
rights to community college faculty
(possibly the last major group of pub-
lic workers without that right) and to
performing artists at small symphonies
and opera companies not covered by
the National Labor Relations Act.
And WSLC, which is a member of
the Healthy Washington Coalition,
wants to see more progress toward
making sure all Washingtonians have
rules into compliance with federal
standards; and give the state better
tools to make employers comply with
workers’ compensation coverage re-
quirements.
Thanks to previous rounds of legis-
lation, most public works projects in
Washington require at least some work
be done by apprentices — opening up
chances for new workers to gain skills.
State-certified apprentice numbers
have doubled since 1999, and now
stand at close to 16,000. This year,
WSBCTC hopes to extend the appren-
tice utilization requirement to con-
struction projects on higher ed cam-
puses.
“It’s a policy statement,” said WS-
BTC Executive Secretary David John-
son. “If you’re going to bid on public
work, you need to make some com-
mitment to training the future work-
force.”
WSBCTC also will push a bill tar-
geting “bid shopping,” in which gen-
eral contractors, after getting a con-
tract, play subcontractors against each
other to see which will do the work
most cheaply. The bill would require
contractors to name their subcontrac-
tors when they get a contract.
And WSBCTC will bring back a
bill to expand the requirement that
workers employed on public construc-
tion projects be paid the prevailing
wage. One idea would be to require
private sector projects to pay prevail-
ing wage if they’re given public
money in the form of tax incentives or
lower-than-market-value public land.
Another would have the state begin to
collect data on wages paid to out-of-
state workers making pre-fabricated
parts used in public construction, such
as pre-cast concrete forms.
For information and regular up-
dates, union members can visit the
Washington State Labor Council Web
page at www.wslc.org.
Members who want to get involved
in WSLC’s legislative efforts should
plan to attend a half-day legislative
conference Thursday, Feb. 26 at the
Olympia Red Lion Inn.
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