Labor Neighbor: Fight back against corporate campaign cash

Volunteer for Labor Neighbor walks, phone banks

(Sept. 22, 2015) — Big multi-billion corporations including Walmart, Georgia-Pacific (Koch Industries), Boeing, and Comcast are spending more than $300,000 this year on a PAC called “Enterprise Washington” that’s dedicated to getting rid of Rep. Carol Gregory (D-Federal Way). Their expensive — and dishonest — campaign against a single Washington state legislator underscores why it’s so important for real working people to get involved in elections.

Big corporations don’t get to buy our state government unless we let them! We can complain about how their money corrupts politics, or we can fight back with the power of the people.

That’s what Labor Neighbor is all about. The Washington State Labor Council’s grassroots member-to-member political action program is where union members volunteer their time to inform other union members about these corporate political attacks, and the truth about WHY they are investing so much money to take out Rep. Gregory.

TAKE A STAND — YOU can volunteer to be a part of the Labor Neighbor walks on Saturday, Sept. 26, Oct. 17 and Oct. 24 in Gregory’s 30th Legislative District.  Click here to volunteer a few hours on these Saturdays to inform fellow union members about what’s at stake in this election.

Can’t make it those days?  You can also volunteer for phone bank shifts on Tuesday nights at UFCW 21 in Seattle, Sept. 29 through Oct. 27, at UFCW Local 21.  See the schedule for more details and the RSVP today!

Why are big corporations spending so much to take out Rep. Carol Gregory? Their ads falsely claim she wants to impose new taxes on working families. The truth is, at a time when the Legislature is under court order to improve funding of public schools, these big corporations want to maintain their massive tax breaks and further shift the tax burden onto the rest of us.

They also know that Rep. Gregory is a champion of working people, not corporate special interests. She has a 100% voting record with the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO on issues including:

Paid safe and sick leave — Gregory co-sponsored and voted for a bill to allow all workers in Washington to earn paid safe and sick leave (HB 1356), a bill that was aggressively opposed by all of the above-listed corporate interests. Polls show that overwhelming majorities of Americans — including those who self-identify as Republicans — support requiring employers to offer some level of paid sick leave.

Raising the minimum wage — Gregory co-sponsored and voted for legislation to raise the state minimum wage to $12 over the next four years (HB 1355), a bill that was aggressively opposed by the restaurant, food, and other industries. Again, polls show strong support for raising the minimum wage.

Equal pay for equal work — Gregory co-sponsored and voted for the Equal Pay Opportunity Act (HB 1646) empowering workers to combat wage discrimination based on gender, which was opposed by the above-listed corporate interests.

Promote apprenticeship and responsible bidders — Gregory voted to promote apprenticeship opportunities (HB 1590) and to promote responsible bidders on state contracts by adding restrictions on bidders who violate wage laws (HB 1089), both of which were aggressively opposed by the construction industry.

On all of those issues, Gregory’s position is clearly on the side of public opinion and her constituents in the 30th Legislative District. She has not only supported working families on these issues, she has been a leader and co-sponsored many of them. That is why corporate special interests are spending so heavily on an underhanded campaign to get rid of her.

That’s why we’ve got to fight back against corporate campaign cash with the power of the people.

Please volunteer to participate in the Labor Neighbor campaign to tell fellow union members the truth about Gregory’s positions on issues that matter to their families.