Washington AFL-CIO scores
legislators for 2014 session
By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
Washington State Labor Council
(WSLC), AFL-CIO, has released its
rankings of state lawmakers for their
work in this year’s legislative session
in Olympia. It’s not a cheery report.
WSLC called the 60-day session
another taste of “D.C.-style political
gridlock” because the Republican-led
state senate blocked votes on infra-
structure spending and dozens of la-
bor-backed bills — and approved anti-
labor legislation that had no chance of
passing the Democratic-majority
House or being signed by Washing-
ton’s Democratic governor Jay Inslee.
It was Washington’s second year in a
row of political impasse, created when
two Democratic senators defected in
late 2012 and turned control of the
Washington Senate over to the Repub-
lican minority. Washington voters will
have a chance to change the partisan
makeup of the Legislature this No-
vember.
As a state labor federation, WSLC
coordinates political work for its affil-
iated unions and their 400,000 mem-
bers. This year it promoted a package
of bills it called the “Shared Prosperity
Agenda.” Some of that agenda passed
the House, but failed to get a vote in
the Senate, including bills to:
• Require businesses with five or
more employees to provide paid sick
leave;
• Establish the union wage as the
prevailing wage for public construction
contracts;
• Crack down on wage theft; and
• Curb contracting abuses by re-
quiring cost analysis before outsourc-
ing, mandating that contracts to have
performance objectives and a cancel-
lation clause, requiring agencies to
monitor contracts to ensure they are
meeting performance objectives, and
instituting a five-year ban on contrac-
tors who commit fraud or other crimes.
WSLC said Senate Republican ob-
struction killed even uncontroversial
bills that had House Republican sup-
port — like a school construction bill
that passed the House 90-7.
But other WSLC proposals didn’t
make it even in the Democratic major-
ity House, including a bill to raise the
state minimum wage to $12 over three
years, and a bill to assess a fee on large
employers that don’t provide health in-
surance to their low-wage workers.
Meanwhile, the Senate took up an
anti-labor agenda, passing bills that
link teacher evaluations to student test
scores, amend the state constitution to
require a two-thirds supermajority vote
to raise taxes, and create a “good faith”
defense when employers violate mini-
mum wage and overtime laws. None
of those proposals went anywhere in
the state House.
One bill passed both chambers over
labor’s objection and would have be-
come law if it weren’t for the gover-
nor’s veto. That was a bill pertaining to
a program of state grants and loans to
local jurisdictions for infrastructure
projects intended to promote business
development and job creation. The
program requires that the jobs created
pay at least the county median wage,
but Sen. Brian Hatfield (D-Raymond)
amended it to eliminate that wage stan-
dard. After the House refused to agree
with that amendment, a “compromise”
was reached to remove the wage stan-
dard from half of the program’s grants.
It passed the Senate 39-10 and the
House 53-44.
WSLC counted just one legislative
win: The “DREAM Act,” which al-
lows children of undocumented immi-
grant workers to receive state need
grants to attend public institutions of
higher education.
Here’s how legislators stacked up in
Southwest Washington, where many
readers of this newspaper live. For
each legislator, the first figure is the
percentage of pro-labor votes in the
2014 session; the second figure is the
lifetime percentage.
DISTRICT 49
Senator Annette Cleveland (D)
100% / 100%
Position 1 Rep. Sharon Wylie (D)
90% / 87%
Position 2 Rep. Jim Moeller (D)
100% / 90%
DISTRICT 17
Senator Don Benton (R)
13% / 27%
Position 1 Rep. Monica Stonier (D)
90% / 85%
Position 2 Rep. Paul Harris (R)
0% / 32%
DISTRICT 18
Sen. Ann Rivers (R)
0% / 15%
Position 1 Rep. Brandon Vick(R)
0% / 5%
Position 2 Rep. Liz Pike (R)
0% / 5%
Rep. Liz Pike (R-Camas) also spon-
sored a bill to create a sub-minimum
“training” wage for new hires — 75
percent of the minimum wage for the
first 680 hours (four months of full-
time work).
WSLC publishes House and Sen-
ate voting records each year so union
members can understand how their
elected representatives voted on issues
that affect jobs, wages, and working
conditions. The full report is available
at the WSLC web site, wslc.org.
PAGE 8
BREMERTON, Wash. — The
Washington CLUB Charity Golf Clas-
sic will be held June 11-12 at Gold
Mountain Golf Complex in Bremerton,
Washington. CLUB stands for Contrac-
tors, Legislators, Unions and Business.
Wednesday is a pre-CLUB tournament
in which participants play their own
ball. Thursday is a four-team scramble
format. The tournament is a fundraiser
for three Washington charities. Since its
inception 13 years ago is has raised
more than $1 million. For more infor-
mation, contact Brian Remington at
206-432-9014 or e-mail him at:
brian@golfcorpsolutions.com.
Even if an employer fails
to buy workers’ comp
coverage, an injured
worker has the right to
obtain benefits. Learn
about your rights before
you give up on obtaining
help when you are hurt
on the job.
Vancouver Laborers re-elect Ritchey
VANCOUVER — Dave
Ritchey has been re-elected
business manager/secre-
tary-treasurer of Vancouver-
based Laborers Local 335.
He ran unopposed.
Also elected without op-
position were President
Shannon Stull, Vice Presi-
dent Chad Brown, Record-
ing Secretary Wayne Dotson, Sgt.-at-
Arms Mike Williams; Auditors Daryl
Schill, Jeff Wilmot and Ken Cram; and
Executive Board members Bobby
Wescott, Fred Wilson Jr., and Glenn
(Butch) Willman Jr. Willman, Ritchey,
and David Letinich were tapped as del-
WA-CLUB charity golf
tourney June 11-12
egates to the Laborers District
Council.
Ritchey, 53, is a 35-year
member serving in his fifth
term. Local 335 is comprised of
540 members working as con-
struction laborers, heavy and
highway laborers, and public
employees.
Local 335 held a nomina-
tion meeting on April 23. There were
no contested races, so all of the nomi-
nees won by acclamation. Officers and
Board members were installed May 5
by Laborers Northwest Assistant Re-
gional Manager David Hayes.
Terms of office are three years.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
MAY 16, 2014