WSLC: Labor will fight to ensure that all votes are counted

(Nov. 3, 2020 — 8:30 p.m.) — As election results from around the state began to be announced on Tuesday night, Washington State Labor Council President Larry Brown and Secretary Treasurer April Sims released the following statement:

“Amid a pandemic that has left millions of us grieving loved ones and struggling to make ends meet, voters have turned out in record numbers. We are confident that, when all the votes are counted, voters will have chosen Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Jay Inslee and other pro-worker candidates. Voters in our state and across the nation want a government that will confront the coronavirus, expand access to health care, promote family-wage jobs, and protect the air we breathe and water we drink.

“Donald Trump and his lawyers have made it clear that they will fight to silence voters and exclude as many ballots as they can. But for democracy to work for all of us, every eligible voter must have our voices heard and our votes counted. In America, the voters decide elections, not judges or politicians.

“The labor movement is determined and prepared to defend our democracy. Unions have mobilized not only to get out the vote, but also to make sure that every vote is counted. We knew all along that the extraordinary number of mail-in ballots cast during the pandemic would take longer to count. We must be patient and let election officials do their jobs. To those who seek to block the counting of votes or deny the will of the people, we have a simple message: we will fight you every step of the way.”

The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO is the largest union organization in the state, representing more than 600 local union organizations with some 550,000 rank-and-file members. For more information, visit www.wslc.org.