WSLC’s Sims-Carter swearing-in event Jan. 6 in Tacoma

TACOMA — All are invited to join the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO for the historic swearing-in ceremony of its newly elected leadership team of April Sims as President and Cherika Carter as Secretary Treasurer. It will be at the Hotel Murano, 1320 Broadway in Tacoma, at 3 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 6 with a reception to follow. (COVID testing and masks are strongly encouraged.) The ceremony can also be joined remotely via Zoom and Facebook Live @WAaflcio.

Sims, who is finishing her four-year term as Secretary Treasurer, will become the first woman and the first person of color to serve as President of Washington’s state federation of the AFL-CIO. Carter, who has served as WSLC Political and Strategic Campaigns Director since 2019, will be sworn in as new Secretary Treasurer.

The unions that comprise the WSLC made history last fall by electing this new leadership team of Black women for the state’s largest union organization. Widely considered to be the “voice of labor” in Washington state, the WSLC has more than 600 affiliated local unions and organizations, representing some 550,000 rank-and-file union members.

As WSLC President, Sims will be the chief executive officer of the council supervising all of its activities and staff, promoting affiliation with the WSLC, representing the council at the national AFL-CIO, and performing any other duties as assigned by the WSLC Executive Board.

As WSLC Secretary Treasurer, Carter will be the chief financial officer of the council, taking charge of all financial documents and records, overseeing all receipts and expenditures, reporting on those activities to the WSLC Executive Board and convention, and performing any other duties as assigned by the Board.

Both begin their four-year terms as the WSLC’s executive officers on Jan. 5, 2023.