...Police escorts
in Vancouver
(From Page 13
Jeff Johnson, president of the Wash-
ington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO,
said Mitsui-United Grain is trying to
“starve workers into submission,” and
having government-provided escorts fa-
cilitates this strategy and has caused the
dispute to drag on longer. He added:
“(Ending the escorts) rightfully puts
the state in a neutral position regarding
this management dispute. While the
state provided escort services, United
Grain was able to carry on business as
usual while depriving some 50 workers
of their jobs and providing little incen-
tive for the company to reach a negoti-
ated settlement with the union.”
But Sen. Benton sees things differ-
ently, and in his ethics complaint
against Inslee says the governor “has
jeopardized a multibillion-dollar indus-
try in our state.”
Benton, who is part of what has been
dubbed the “Millionaire Coalition Cau-
cus” of wealthy legislators who control
the State Senate, is the subject of an
ethics-related probe himself. The state
Auditor’s Office is investigating his
dual role as a state Senator and as the
Clark County director of environmen-
tal services, a $114,000 position for
which The Olympian noted “he has no
obvious qualifications” and was hired
by Republican colleagues without post-
ing the job or interviewing any other
candidates. (In the process, Benton’s
state pension could reportedly triple to
nearly $70,000 a year.)
The Auditor’s Office is investigating
whether Benton violated an agreement
he signed with the county administrator
to take leave of absence from his county
job during legislative sessions. He re-
portedly did both jobs during the spe-
cial session last winter.
(Editor’s Note: David Groves is
Publications Director for the Washing-
ton State Labor Council. He edits The
Stand blog.)
THE KORPI LAW FIRM PLLC
Honoring Employees
on Labor Day
Michael H. Korpi
Attorney at Law
Representing employee benefit plans
in Oregon and Washington
for more than 20 years
135 Second Avenue North, Suite 202 - Edmonds, WA 98020
(425) 582-8935 - Email: mikek@korpilaw.com
PAGE 14
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
AUGUST 15, 2014