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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2016)
PAGE 10 | October 21, 2016 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS A Union Guide to the Washington Ballot Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, representing 600 local unions and 400,000 Washington workers, is making the following recommendations, each of which was approved by a two-thirds majority of rank- and-file delegates. YES on I-1433 for minimum wage increase and sick leave: Currently, over 1 million Washington workers have no paid sick time, and an estimated 730,000 workers earn less than $13.50 an hour. I-1433 would gradually raise the state minimum wage from $9.47 to $13.50 by 2020, and provide up to seven paid safe and sick leave days for all workers in Washington state. Yes on I-1501 to protect homecare workers and seniors: Sponsored by SEIU 775, the union that represents state-paid homecare workers, I-501 would exempt from public disclosure the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of in-home caregivers and the clients they serve. It would also increase civil penalties on those who defraud senior citizens and other vulnerable people. The measure is a response to the anti-union Freedom Foundation, which uses publicly disclosed contact information to try to convince homecare workers to stop paying union dues (with the ultimate goal of weakening the union and the policies it stands for.) NO on I-732 carbon tax: WSLC favors a serious response to global warming, but has concluded that I-732 is the wrong way to do it. I-732 would put a carbon emission tax on the sale or use of fossil fuels and fossil-fuel- generated electricity, but rather than use the funds raised to build clean energy infrastructure and increase conservation, it uses it to lower other taxes. The carbon tax would start at $15 per metric ton of emissions in July 2017, rising to $25 in July 2018, and then annually by 3.5 percent plus inflation until it reaches $100 per metric ton. Meanwhile, the measure would lower the state sales tax from 6.5 to 5.5 percent, increase the Working Families Tax Credit for low-income families, and reduce the business and occupation tax rate on manufacturers from 0.484 to almost nothing – 0.001 percent [Hi Boeing!]. The tax cuts are in the measure because for political reasons, measure sponsors wanted I-732 to be revenue neutral. But it now appears they miscalculated, and I-732 actually would result in a cut in state funding for schools and services of over $100 million a year. YES on I-735 to repeal Citizens United: In its 2010 Citizens United decision, the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated limits on corporate expenditures for political candidates and opened the floodgates for corporate cash to influence elections. I-735 decision would urge the Washington state congressional delegation to propose a federal constitutional amendment that constitutional rights belong only to individuals, not corporations, and constitutionally-protected free speech excludes the spending of money. U.S. CONGRESS Third Congressional District — Jim Moeller STATEWIDE RACES Governor — Jay Inslee Lt. Governor — Cyrus Habib Insurance Comm. — Mike Kreidler Attorney General — Bob Ferguson Lands Commission — Hilary Franz Secretary of State — Tina Podlodowski State Auditor — Pat McCarthy State Treasurer — Duane Davidson Supt. of Public Instruction — Chris Reykdal STATE SUPREME COURT Pos. 1 — Mary Yu Pos. 5 — Barbara Madsen Pos. 6 — Charles Wiggins LEGISLATURE, SW WASHINGTON 17th Legislative District Senate — Tim Probst House 1 — Sam Kim 19th Legislative District Senate — Dean Takko House 1 — Teresa Purcell House 2 — Brian Blake 49th Legislative District Senate — Annette Cleveland House 1 — Sharon Wylie House 2 — Monica Stonier BALLOT DEADLINES Washington ballots are mailed out Oct. 21 and should be received no later than Oct. 25. They must be post- marked no later than Nov. 8 – Elec- tion Day – or returned to a ballot drop box by 8 p.m. Election Day. NATIONAL Workers at Jim Beam go on strike over forced overtime Chicago teachers avert strike with 11th-hour deal On Oct. 15, 252 members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 111D went out on strike at Jim Beam plants in Clermont and Boston, Ken- tucky. The key issue is a union demand that the company hire more workers so current em- ployees can spend more time with their families — instead of continuing to work up to 80 hours a week. Amid a nation- wide revival of interest in Ken- tucky bourbon, workers at the two plants are working 12- hour shifts six or seven days a week. Jim Beam, the world’s largest bourbon producer, is owned by Suntory Holdings Ltd., a Japanese beverage company. The two sides had been bargaining since April, and the previous contract ex- pired in August. The strike comes after workers voted 201-19 to reject a contract pro- posal that included substantial wage increases and eliminated a two-tier wage system but didn’t solve the overtime issue. Just before midnight Oct. 10 — six hours before 29,000 teachers were set to go on strike — the Chicago Teachers Union and the city school board agreed on a tentative four-year contract. The con- tract provides 3.5 percent raises for new hires in January and July 2017, and cost-of-liv- ing raises totalling 4.6 percent in its third and fourth years. Union members will pay 0.8 percent more for health care coverage. But the new contract adds enforceable limits on class sizes. The school board also promised huge new in- vestments in schools and teachers. Teachers had been without a contract since July 1, 2015. In 2012, teachers made gains after a week-long strike that shut schools for an esti- mated 350,000 students.
