Jon Holden, Cariño Barragán sworn in as WSLC VPs

(From left) Cariño Barragán Talancón, WSLC President Jeff Johnson, and Jon Holden are pictured on May 9 after the new WSLC Vice Presidents were sworn in.

SEATTLE (May 22, 2014) — Jon Holden of Machinists (IAM) District Lodge 751 and Cariño Barragán Talancón of Casa Latina are the two newest Vice Presidents of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, after being sworn into office at the council’s Executive Board meeting earlier this month. The WSLC is the largest union organization in Washington state, representing more than 600 unions and 400,000 rank-and-file members.

The WSLC Executive Board — composed of President Jeff Johnson, Secretary Treasurer Lynne Dodson, and 29 Vice Presidents representing districts across the state and various constituency groups — establishes the WSLC’s policies and priorities between conventions. These officers are elected to serve 4-year terms, with the current term expiring at the end of this year. Holden and Barragán were both appointed to fill vacancies.

Holden, who was recently elected President of IAM District 751, succeeds Tom Wroblewski, who retired as IAM District 751 President, and WSLC Vice President citing health reasons. Holden will be one of five Vice Presidents representing the WSLC’s 1st District (King County).

A Bothell native, Holden hired into Boeing’s Everett plant as a parts and tooling expeditor 17 years ago. For the past seven years, he has served as a business representative for District 751 for the past seven years, where he represented more than 2,500 workers on Boeing’s 747 assembly line in Everett.

Outside Boeing, Holden also played a key role over the past three years helping workers at three Whidbey Island Naval Air Station defense contractors to form union bargaining units, then negotiate and enforce their first contracts. He is one of a handful of union officers in District 751 to have served a full organizing apprenticeship, where he was trained in helping workers join unions and bargain for better pay and working conditions.

“I am proud to participate in the broader labor movement in my new role at the Labor Council,” Holden said. “I look forward to working on issues to make working men and women better off.”

Barragán joins the WSLC Executive Board to represent the Labor Council For Latin American Advancement (LCLAA). She is a campaign organizer for Casa Latina, a WSLC-affiliated organization that provides educational and economic opportunities to the Latino immigrant community in King County.

One of Barragán’s campaigns has been to raise public awareness about wage theft and to work with labor and community groups to support local and state policies that better protect workers. She also coordinates a program that offers Latino immigrant workers direct support in their effort to recover unpaid wages. Her other current campaigns include ending the use of detainers, increasing the minimum wage in Seattle, and supporting comprehensive immigration reform.

“I am excited to take on this new role and to be able to advance the Latino worker issues in this capacity,” she said.

Click here to see a complete list of WSLC Vice Presidents.