Northwest labor press., January 07, 2011, Page 5, Image 5

Jan. 7, 2011:NWLP
1/4/11
9:59 AM
Page 5
Washington State Labor Council leaders pass the baton
By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
SEATTLE — Rick Bender and Al
Link have fought for Washington
workers for 16 years — at the head of
the Washington State Labor Council
(WSLC). On Jan. 5, they passed the
mantle to Jeff Johnson and Lynne Dod-
son.
WSLC is a state-level body of the
AFL-CIO labor union federation. Its
leaders are in charge of unifying and
mobilizing the clout of 500-plus local
unions with a combined membership of
400,000.
Parallels are striking among these
four leaders. Early in their tenure at
WSLC, President Bender and Secre-
tary-Treasurer Link had to contend with
an election sweep by anti-union Repub-
licans; President Johnson and Secre-
tary-Treasurer Dodson begin office fac-
ing another Republican sweep. The new
leaders are the grandchildren of Penn-
sylvania coal miners; both are also la-
bor academics and have been anti-war
activists. Bender and Link are the sons
of labor leaders; both rode the draft to
Vietnam.
All four have an enduring belief in
unions as an indispensable protection
for workers — in the workplace and in
politics.
...IAM, Woodworkers districts merge
(From Page 1)
Lodge 24, will retain that position
with Machinists District W24.
The governing body for the new
district is a delegate council, which
will meet at least twice a year. An ex-
ecutive board, consisting of the five
officers mentioned above, also in-
cludes four trustees: John Hall of Lo-
cal 63, Ray Simonis of Local 1005,
Mike Heuer of W536, and Gary
Lokan of W246.
Machinists District W24 is char-
tered to cover Oregon, Washington,
California, Idaho, Montana, Col-
orado, Wyoming, Alaska, and
JANUARY 7, 2011
Hawaii.
The Machinists Hall off Powell
Boulevard in Southeast Portland is
being appraised and will be put up
for sale. The union staff — and Ma-
chinists Credit Union — will relocate
to the Woodworkers’ headquarters in
Gladstone. That building will un-
dergo modifications to accommodate
the District 24 staff, so the move isn’t
anticipated until April.
DBR Wilson said Machinists Dis-
trict W24 will focus on organizing.
Over the past 18 months W1 won six
of eight organizing campaigns.
“We are organizing because it
helps us at negotiations,” he said.
“Everyone fails together if we aren’t
organized. If we are, we rise to-
gether.”
Assistant DBR Petroff said busi-
ness agents will maintain their cur-
rent assignments servicing members,
but will spend up to half their time or-
ganizing.
“A combination of the staffs and
the local leaderships is a great way to
maximize the effectiveness of our or-
ganizing efforts,” Petroff said.
“In the long run, we will be spend-
ing less on administration,” DBR
Wilson noted. “But we won’t sacri-
fice representation.”
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
J IM J OHNSON
L YNNE D ODSON
Rick Bender, 61, was a state law-
maker who became a labor leader. His
father was school board president, busi-
ness manager at Cement Masons Local
528, and eventually head of the Seattle
Building Trades Council and the King
County Labor Council. The younger
Bender apprenticed as a cement mason
and laborer, and attended University of
Washington. In 1966, he drew a low
draft number, and enlisted voluntarily.
He spent time at the U.S. Army’s Long
Binh supply depot in Vietnam, and re-
turned home in 1972. That year, he was
recruited to run for state house, and beat
a three-term Republican incumbent by
149 votes. Thus began a legislative ca-
reer that lasted until 1991.
In 1987, by then a state senator, Ben-
der was approached to run for secretary-
treasurer of the Seattle Building Trades
Council, the job his father had once
held; he outpolled three others to win
the office. His rise within organized la-
bor culminated in his 1993 election as
WSLC president.
Al Link, 67, got his start in labor in
1961, when he went to work at the
Kaiser Aluminum smelter north of
Spokane. His father worked there, and
had been president of Steelworkers Lo-
cal 329. Like Bender, Link had volun-
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