May 21,2010:NWLP
5/18/10
10:16 AM
Page 9
In a roll-call vote
Pridemore nabs AFL-CIO endorsement for Congress
SEATTLE — State Sen. Craig Pride-
more of Vancouver, a candidate for the
open seat in Washington’s 3rd Congres-
sional District, was endorsed in a roll-
call vote by the Washington State Labor
Council at its May 15 Committee on Po-
litical Education (COPE) convention.
Pridemore, (49th District), is running
against Denny Heck, a former state
House Majority Leader and chief of
staff to Gov. Booth Gardner, in the
Democratic primary.
Democratic incumbent Brian Baird
is not seeking re-election.
Pridemore came to the statewide
COPE meeting with the backing of the
Clark, Skamania, West Klickitat Coun-
ties Labor Council. Heck was endorsed
by the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Counties
Labor Council and the Thurston-Lewis-
Mason Counties Labor Council.
At the convention, a voice vote in fa-
vor of Pridemore was challenged on the
floor, which resulted in a roll-call vote.
A two-thirds majority is required for en-
dorsement. Pridemore captured 96,086
Glass Workers
#139B strikes
plant for a week
votes to Heck’s 41,576, said Shannon
Walker, president of the Vancouver-
based Clark, Skamania, West Klickitat
Counties Labor Council.
A motion from the floor for a dual
endorsement was defeated.
Cheryl Crist is the third Democrat in
the race, along with four Republicans
Under Washington’s “top two” pri-
mary, the two candidates with the most
votes — whether Democrat or Republi-
can — qualify for the general election.
In Southwest Washington races,
WSLC endorsed the re-election of Rep.
Jim Moeller in the 49th District, Posi-
tion 2; Washington Education Associa-
tion member Monica Stonier running in
the 17th District, Position 2; and Dennis
Kampe in the18th District, Position 1.
Efforts by the Clark, Skamania, West
Klickitat Counties Labor Council to en-
dorse the re-election of State Rep. Tim
Probst in the 17th District and State
Rep. Jim Jacks in the 49th District, were
unsuccessful.
Walker said some public employee
union delegates blocked the COPE en-
dorsements because of votes those law-
makers (and many other Democrats)
took on state budget cuts that resulted
in layoffs and furloughs.
Probst, Jacks and others will have a
second shot at obtaining a primary elec-
tion endorsement when delegates re-
convene at the WSLC’s Constitutional
Convention in August. The primary is a
vote by mail election, with ballots due
Tuesday, Aug. 17.
For more on WSLC’s primary en-
dorsements, go online to www.
wslc.org.
VANCOUVER — About 85 mem-
bers of Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics
& Allied Workers (GMP) Local 139B
waged a week-long strike May 8-14 at
Vancouver Iron and Steel, a truck parts
foundry. The workers, had been with-
out a contract since March 1.
The May 7 strike vote was 61 to 12.
Negotiations over a new three-year
contract broke down over numerous
proposed changes to contract language.
The company wanted to end time-and-
a-half pay for work on Saturdays, it pro-
posed to restrict conversations with
shop stewards on work time, and to of-
fer lower health benefits for new hires.
The company reportedly recruited
about a dozen strikebreakers, hired off
the street and through a temp agency.
Ten members of the union crossed the
picket line.
After the two sides met again
May14, members voted to accept the
offer they had rejected the week before.
Zachary
Zabinsky
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MAY 21, 2010
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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