Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2010)
Oct 1-2010:NWLP 9/28/10 10:01 AM Page 2 ...Voters have clear choice between Heck and Herrera (From Page 1) tivated by concern about the decline of the American Dream. Heck is putting his own money into the race, and has made rescuing the middle class the heart of his campaign. In interviews and cam- paign events, he hammers this message. “I believe the greatest domestic chal- lenge facing America is the creation of family-wage jobs and getting this econ- omy moving.” Heck said Sept. 14, kick- ing off a “Let’s Get to Work” jobs tour. In the tour, he’s asking business owners what government can do to help their businesses succeed and hire more em- ployees. Heck began the tour at Chris- tensen Shipyards, a Vancouver boat- building company that is branching out to make wind turbines. Creating jobs has become a moral imperative, Heck said, because a job is- n’t just about economic security, but about self-respect. “The American Dream is that our children will do better than we did,” Heck said. “That’s what’s at stake.” Running for office after two decades out of politics, Heck was unknown to many local labor activists. But several long-time labor leaders know him well. Rick Bender, president of the Washing- ton State Labor Council (AFL-CIO), served alongside Heck in the Washing- ton Legislature, and remembers him as an ally on workers’ collective bargain- ing rights and a staunch supporter of school funding. Heck’s votes during five terms in office earned him a 72 per- cent lifetime rating from the state labor council. Heck voted against the use of strikebreakers, for providing unemploy- ment benefits to workers during labor disputes, and for giving collective bar- gaining rights to groups of public em- ployees. In other cases, he defied the la- bor council recommendations, voting to limit public employee pensions and the right of individuals to sue when prod- ucts cause harm. Ed Barnes, former president of the Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council and retired business manager of International Brotherhood of Electri- cal Workers Local 48, has also known Heck since the 1970s. Barnes’ brother worked with Heck’s father as Teamsters Shannon Walker (left), president of the Southwest Washington Central Labor Council, makes a point to Third District Congressional candidate Denny Heck during a Painters Union “It’s About Jobs” bus tour stop in Vancouver last month. In the background is Lucy Carrier of the American Federation of Teachers-Washington. at Vancouver Fast Freight. Like Bender, Barnes describes Heck as smart, hon- est, even-tempered, “a guy who sup- ports business but also supports labor.” The Columbian has characterized both Heck and Herrera as moderates. Barnes disagrees with the latter. “If she’s a moderate, then George Bush, Karl Rove, and Dick Cheney are screaming liberals,” Barnes said. As chair of IBEW Local 48’s South- west Washington political action com- mitttee, Barnes talks to legislators of both parties. But Herrera, as a state leg- islator, rebuffed invitations to meet with him to discuss labor’s agenda. Herrera failed to return calls from the Northwest Labor Press. She de- clined to fill out a Washington State La- bor Council questionnaire. She ignored an invitation to appear before the South- west Washington Central Labor Coun- cil to talk about her campaign. She has said she opposes the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill to make it easier for workers to unionize and get a first con- tract. The bill is labor’s top-priority bill in Congress; Heck supports it. The state labor council rates Herrera at 19 percent for her votes in three leg- islative sessions. For example, she voted ‘no’on a $45-a-week increase in unem- ployment benefits, and ‘no’ on a pro- posal (since referred to this November’s ballot) to put Washingtonians to work doing energy efficiency retrofits in pub- lic schools. Jobs and the economy are big this election year. In Clark County, official unemployment is 13.9 percent. “What ideas do you have to put peo- ple back to work? That’s what matters to our people,” said Bender. Heck and Herrera are both talking jobs, but are utterly different in their ap- proach. To get the economy moving again, Heck believes in government in- vestment in green energy, making money available to community banks to loan to small businesses, and extending unemployment benefits to the long- term unemployed. Herrera has made it clear she opposes any government re- sponse — except for cutting taxes. And as a signer of Grover Norquist’s “Taxpayer Protection Pledge, ”she’s solemnly bound to oppose any and all tax increases. Herrera says she’s greatly concerned about the federal budget deficit, and even blames the deficit for joblessness, saying the reason businesses of all sizes are afraid to hire is that they fear new taxes they may have to pay in the future to repay the federal debt. Yet Herrera wants to extend the Bush tax cuts for wealthy taxpayers, which would add to the debt. Heck wants to extend the Bush tax cuts — but only for taxpayers with in- comes under $250,000 a year. And Heck said a recession is a great time to invest in infrastructure. He’s a big ad- vocate of investment in green energy as an alternative to imported oil. Heck is also an outspoken supporter of building a new bridge over the Co- lumbia River — a high priority for local building trades unions. “We’re coming up on the centennial of a bridge that was designed before mass-produced auto- mobiles,” Heck said. Building a new bridge, Heck said, will employ 27,500 people in the short term. “That’s a shot in the arm. But that’s not why we do it. We do it because we need to move peo- ple and freight more efficiently in this region if we want to grow our econ- omy.” Heck says if he had been in Con- gress at the time, he would have voted against the 2008 bank bailout, but for the 2009 stimulus bill. But, similar to a critique some union leaders have made, Heck says the stimulus act wasn’t big enough, should have been better tar- geted to the hardest-hit areas, and should have focused more on infra- structure spending and less on tax cuts. Moreover, Heck said, stimulus funds for infrastructure didn’t get spent quickly enough. (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon as a voice of the labor movement. 4275 NE Halsey St., P.O. Box 13150, Portland, Ore. 97213 Telephone: (503) 288-3311 Editor: Michael Gutwig Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non- profit corporation owned by 20 unions and councils including the Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Ore- gon and SW Washington. Subscriptions $13.75 per year for union members. Group rates available to trade union organizations. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a change of address. When ordering a change, please give your old and new addresses and the name and number of your local union. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS, P.O. BOX 13150, PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 PAGE 2 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS OCTOBER 1, 2010
