Jan. 7, 2011:NWLP
1/4/11
9:59 AM
Page 8
...Donations pour in for holiday events
(From Page 1)
WSLC President Rick Bender (right) shares a laugh with Secretary-Treasurer
Al Link at the state labor federation’s convention in 2009. Both union officials
retired at the end of 2010.
...WSLC passes the baton
(From Page 5)
teered from an early age on door-to-
door union political campaigns: His fa-
ther was Spokane Democratic Party
chairman, and his mother was political
director of the Spokane Labor Council.
Link was drafted and spent 1967 and
1968 in Vietnam in an army engineer-
ing group. He returned to the Kaiser
mill, became active in the union, and
served many terms as vice president be-
fore running for president in 1992. Link
became WSLC secretary-treasurer in
1994.
Of their years together at WSLC,
both Bender and Link say the high
point was 1993, when the union move-
ment won numerous victories in the
State Legislature — such as beefed-up
workers’ compensation and unemploy-
ment benefits, and expanded rights for
public employees to unionize. The low
point came the following year, when
Republicans swept to power at the state
and national levels. That 1994 election
ended the 30-year career of a labor ally
— Eastern Washington Congressman
Tom Foley, who was Speaker of the
U.S. House of Representatives. Still,
WSLC helped return Democrats to
power in Olympia a few years later,
and won some victories at the ballot
box, most notably a 1998 measure that
raised the minimum wage and tied fu-
ture increases to the consumer price in-
dex. That made Washington the first
state to index annual minimum wage
increases to inflation; 10 other states
have followed, including Oregon.
A retirement party to honor Bender
and Link will be held Jan. 8 at the Seat-
tle Airport Doubletree Hotel. Their suc-
cessors were sworn in Jan. 5.
Jeff Johnson, 59, has been on the
WSLC staff for 24 years. He first taught
labor economics and labor history to
apprentices at IBEW Local 3 in New
York, after earning a master’s degree in
political economics from the New
PAGE 8
School of Social Research. Then he
spent two years as a labor studies pro-
fessor at the State University of New
York-Empire State College. He moved
to Olympia and went to work for
WSLC as research and organizing di-
rector and lobbyist, battling in the State
Capitol to promote and defend workers’
rights. In 1988, he helped write a ballot
measure that raised the minimum wage
from $2.30 to $4.25 and extended it to
farm workers. And in 1998, he laid the
groundwork for the ballot measure that
indexed the minimum wage to inflation.
Somewhere in the neighborhood of
300,000 workers get a raise every year
because of it.
Lynne Dodson, 49, is new to WSLC.
A psychology professor at Seattle Cen-
tral Community College, Dodson de-
cided in 1997 to get involved with her
union, American Federation of Teach-
ers Local 1789, after she saw a co-
worker retire after 25 years with noth-
ing but an “emeritus” award. Dodson
grew up in Inchelium, Washington, on
the Colville Indian Reservation, where
her mother, a teacher, had been active
in her union. Dodson, WSLC’s first fe-
male executive officer, has a passion for
social justice and a PhD in social wel-
fare from the University of Washington.
President Johnson and Secretary-
Treasurer Dodson have an ambitious vi-
sion for WSLC. They want to build up
the capacity to educate members, to
counter the ideology that put Wall Street
first and left working America behind.
They want to make organized labor
more appealing to younger workers, re-
build labor’s communications infra-
structure, and rekindle a union culture
based on the principle of solidarity. And
they want to strengthen labor’s alliance
with other movements, showing Wash-
ingtonians that unions aren’t just about
defending their own members —
they’re about building power to win
economic and social justice for all
working people.
rated the labor community with an-
nouncements at every meeting,” Burns
said.
Within days of the initial appeal, do-
nations arrived for holiday dinners.
Marc Levy, president of United Way of
the Columbia-Willamette, provided
special-use funds as a cornerstone for
the dinner efforts. Monetary contribu-
tions came pouring in, some on behalf
of local unions, some from members
and staff. LCSA’s workforce develop-
ment partner, Worksystems, Inc.,
passed the hat, too.
“All were made with a determina-
tion to help labor’s struggling families,”
Burns said.
In December, the toy drive took
shape. Union organizations, members,
and families brought in toys galore.
Others thought it best to leave the shop-
ping to someone else, and helped out
with cash donations.
Madison’s Restaurant offered the
Nase Building event hall, with holiday
décor, staffing, and beverages included,
at a rock-bottom rate. Brad Nase fol-
lowed suit, lending an empty suite of
offices to store and set up toys for
Santa’s workshop. The local Dominos
Pizza gave a bulk rate of $5 per pie, and
Terry Lansing, secretary-treasurer of
Bakers Local 114, donated two gigan-
tic union-made cakes for dessert. To
top it all off, Darice and Jay Robinson
of Hollywood Impress Printing pro-
vided 300 hand-packed goody bags for
Santa to distribute at the party, and Tim
Foster of IBEW Local 48 offered up
free Christmas trees from his own tree
farm.
A father and son
decide what toy
to pick during
“Presents from
Partners”
holiday party
Dec. 19 hosted
by Labor’s Com-
munity Service
Agency and the
Northwest
Oregon Labor
Council. All told,
73 union families
(219 kids) receiv-
ed toys, visited
Santa Claus, and
enjoyed pizza
and cake.
When the toys were sorted and
arranged for the Dec. 19 party, they
filled five office rooms. The final count
was over 2,000 toys for boys, girls,
tweens, teens, and toddlers.
On the day of the event, dozens of
volunteer “elves” and “reindeer” wel-
comed appreciative families. They of-
fered activity books and helped kids
chose from Santa’s “stocking stuff.”
They guided families to the event hall,
helped with seating and serving,
brought families to visit and take free
pictures with Santa & Mrs. Claus, then
led kids to Santa’s workshop, helping
them choose four presents each.
Leftover toys were donated to the
Department of Human Services offices
in downtown Portland for foster chil-
dren and kids removed from their par-
ents and homes, to women’s shelters,
and to disabled children.
All told, LCSA distributed Holiday
Dinner Program gift cards to 65 fami-
lies across 15 local unions. Seventy-
three families (219 kids, 342 people,
from 26 local unions) were lifted up
through the “Presents from Partners”
program. Additionally, LCSA had
enough funds to sponsor two holiday
luncheons for dislocated workers at lo-
cal WorkSource offices.
“The outpouring of support this hol-
iday season was a gift from and for
working people and organized labor,”
Burns said. “It was a combined effort
of unions, community partners, and lo-
cal businesses (too numerous to list) a
display of solidarity, an inspiration, and
a resounding success.”
Know Your Rights
You can win a penalty
from an insurer if it is
proven that the workers’
compensation claim denial
was unreasonable.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
JANUARY 7, 2011