PAGE 2 | November 20, 2015 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
NORTHWEST
Labor highlights from the November 3 general election
LABOR
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For working people and for
organized labor, this year’s low-
turnout Nov. 3 election was a
mixed bag of successes and
setbacks.
Southwest Washington races
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In races for Vancouver City
Council, Southwest Washing-
ton Central Labor Council was
2-to-1. Labor-backed incum-
bent Bart Hansen captured
nearly 82 percent of the vote,
and Ty Stober won an open
seat by 51 to 49 percent. But
George Francisco lost his bid to
unseat incumbent Bill Turlay
by 62 to 38 percent.
In Clark County, endorsed
Council candidates Mike Dale-
sandra and Chuck Green were
defeated. And labor-backed
Candy Bonneville lost her bid
for Battle Ground City Council
40 to 60 percent. Voter turnout
in Clark County was 34 per-
cent.
Tim Eyman anti-tax measure
wins in Washington
Voters in the state of Washing-
ton have a problem: They want
good transportation and public
services, and they passed a
measure to lower class sizes,
but they’ve also repeatedly
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passed proposals from conser-
vative ballot measure activist
Tim Eyman that require an un-
attainable supermajority for the
Legislature to raise the revenue
to do those things. The state
Supreme Court has held those
measures unconstitutional, and
in Washington, voters can’t
change the state constitution by
ballot measure; only the Legis-
lature can do that, by referral to
voters. So this year, Eyman got
Initiative 1366 on the ballot—
to force the Legislature to do
that. The measure would de-
crease the sales tax rate from
6.5 to 5.5 percent next April 15
(a revenue cut of $1.4 billion a
year) unless the Legislature
refers to voters a constitutional
amendment requiring two-
thirds legislative approval or
voter approval to raise taxes.
Defeating the measure was a
top priority of the state AFL-
CIO, but it passed by 53 per-
cent (57 percent in Clark
County).
Tacoma voters raise minimum
wage to $12, not $15
In Tacoma, Washington, voters
faced two questions: Whether
to raise the minimum wage (59
percent said yes), and if so,
how much and how quickly.
There were two choices: a citi-
zen initiative to raise it to $15
immediately for businesses
with annual gross revenues
over $300,000; and a City
Council referral to phase in a
raise to $12 over two years, for
all employers. The $12 in-
crease won with 71 percent for
$15. As a result, the minimum
wage will rise to $10.35 on
Feb. 1, 2016; $11.15 on Jan. 1,
2017; and $12 on Jan. 1, 2018.
from wrongful termination.
That last part would have elim-
inated “at-will” employment,
instead requiring employers to
show “just cause” in order to
terminate a worker. The meas-
ure was endorsed by 11 local
unions, the central labor coun-
cil and building trades council,
but it was outspent nine-to-one
and got support from just 36
percent of voters.
Labor backed candidate
loses in West Linn
GOP wins high-stakes race for
Washington state house seat
The Northwest Oregon Labor
Council was involved in only
one race this election cycle, en-
dorsing Mike Selvaggio in the
non-partisan race for a vacant
seat on the West Linn City
Council. Selvaggio lost to
Robert Martin in a three-person
race.
Labor-backed Democratic
Washington state rep Carol
Gregory lost a hard-fought spe-
cial election to retain her seat in
Federal Way. Gregory was ap-
pointed when the previous rep-
resentative died of cancer. But
big corporations, including
Walmart and Georgia-Pacific
(Koch Industries) created a
PAC called “Enterprise Wash-
ington” to back Republican
challenger Teri Hickel and get
rid of Gregory. By the end,
$1.8 million was spent on the
race, including a combined
$670,000 by the candidates,
and another $1.1 million by
outside groups. Hickel’s vic-
tory reduces the Democrats’
majority in the House to 50-48.
Worker Bill of Rights goes
down hard in Spokane
In Spokane, the group Envision
Spokane gathered signatures to
place a city charter amendment
called The Worker Bill of
Rights on the ballot. It would
have required equal pay for
equal work, a “family wage,”
at large employers (150 or
more), and a right to be free