Northwest labor press., February 05, 2016, Page 5, Image 5

NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | February 5 , 2016 | PAGE 5
“I believe that when
people have benefits
from organizational rep-
resentation, it’s not un-
fair to ask them to par-
ticipate in the costs of
the association that
gave them those bene-
fits.”
— Washington Governor
Jay Inslee
SW Washington union officials meet with Gov. Inslee
VANCOUVER — In an hour-long meeting Jan.
13 with Southwest Washington union officials,
Gov. Jay Inslee said he supports an initiative to
raise the minimum wage, he supports paid sick
leave for workers, and he will continue to work
to find consensus for an I-5 replacement bridge.
The meeting was arranged by the Labor
Roundtable of Southwest Washington. Chair-
man Ed Barnes said it is the first time in 18
years that a sitting governor has met with labor
leaders in Southwest Washington.
Inslee, a first-term Democrat from Seattle,
said despite the country’s growing economy,
working people simply aren’t benefitting.
“Frankly, it’s going to the higher echelon in
the corporations,” he said. “In 1965, the differ-
ence between the average workers’ wage to that of the
CEO was 20 to 1. Today it’s 300 to 1.”
According to Inslee, Washingtonians are producing
more products and services per hour than at any time in
the state’s history. “Yet, the real wages for many, many
working people are not keeping pace with inflation.
They’re less than they were 10 years ago in real dollar
terms for a variety of segments of our population,” he
said. “So its my view that we have to work on some
policies that will make sure that this economy works for
everyone.”
Inslee said the U.S. Supreme Court could further hurt
the middle class if it rules in favor of Friedrichs v. Cal-
ifornia Teachers Association, In this case, the court
could impose a right-to-work standard for all public em-
ployees. Workers earn less in right-to-work states, and
research indicates the middle-class share of income has
declined as union membership has declined.
“I believe that when people have benefits from orga-
nizational representation, it’s not unfair to ask them to
participate in the costs of the association that gave them
those benefits,” he said.
“If it goes the wrong way, against working people,
we’re going to have to do some hard thinking here,” he
continued. “We cannot allow this continued diminution
of the middle class in this country.”
Inslee said a multibillion dollar transportation pack-
age passed by the Legislature last year was the largest
in the history of the state and will create 200,000 jobs.
Asked about the failure to include an I-5 replacement
bridge between Vancouver and Portland, Oregon, Inslee
blamed Southwest Washington legislators. “I want to
make it really clear what happened here: The state was
ready to move on this. I was ready to move on this. We
had the ‘go’ button. We had the money. The local legis-
lators killed it,” he said.
Inslee said that if he is re-elected in November he will
do everything he can to help jump-start the project. “I
will try to be as positive as I can to come up with a uni-
fied plan that can have unified support,” he said. “But
you’ve got to have a real financing plan, okay? And
that’s going to be a challenge. It’s a very expensive proj-
ect now that the federal money has probably disap-
peared.”
Asked about the controversial Vancouver Energy
Project at the Port of Vancouver, which if approved
would be built all union under a project labor agree-
ment, Inslee said: “I have to be extremely judicious
on my comments on this subject because I serve in a
quasi-judicial position. So, I literally can’t say any-
thing about it. I can share with you this right now: I
do not have any pre-determined view on the subject
right now. I have an open mind about this subject.”
The governor has final say over the $210 million
project proposed by Tesoro Corp. in a joint venture
with logistics firm Savage Cos. The energy infrastruc-
ture project has been endorsed by the Washington
Building and Construction Trades Council and the
Southwest Washington Central Labor Council, AFL-
CIO.
Asked about proposed carbon taxes or caps and
the impact on industrial and high tech jobs, Inslee
said there are two proposals being floated. One is a cit-
izen’s initiative (I-732) that is a tax on carbon. The other
is a plan being drafted by the state that would set limits
on some of the largest emitters in the state.
“What we are doing ... it is not a tax, it doesn’t have
a direct revenue application. It is a permitting system
that over time would reduce emission of carbon diox-
ide,” Inslee said.
“I’ll tell you this, I’m not going to do something that’s
going to woefully injure the economy of the state of
Washington — I’m not going to do that.”
Inslee said he has looked at other states and counties
that have implemented similar policies “and we have
not seen economic dislocation associated with their pro-
grams.”
On other topics, Inslee said he fought hard to get mod-
est raises for teachers, and that he will continue to fight
in this legislative session to create a framework to fully
fund the state’s public education system.
“Washington is short 7,000 teachers in the classroom,”
he said. “We hire new teachers, and they leave in five
years because they aren’t being paid adequately. We have