How we COPE | Election manipulation | Protect our reproductive rights

Thursday, June 6, 2024

WSLC

► From Teach with TVW — Candidate Endorsements: how do they really work? — The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO is the umbrella organization for over 600 labor unions in the state. In May, they held their Committee on Political Education (COPE) Endorsing Convention, where candidates from both parties came to talk to union delegates in hopes of earning the endorsement of the WSLC. After watching this 5 minute video, you will understand the role that the unions can play in an election.

From the STAND (May 18) — WSLC releases 2024 election endorsements — Hundreds of delegates representing WSLC-affiliated unions from across the state voted on endorsements for congressional, statewide, state legislative and judicial candidates, plus state ballot measures. In February, delegates overwhelmingly voted to endorse Bob Ferguson for Governor in a rare early endorsement, a testament to Ferguson’s pro-worker track record.

► From the Seattle Medium — Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration to be held June 15 — The event, which will take place on Sat., June 15, from 1:00-2:30 p.m. in front of the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) offices, located at 321 South 16th Avenue in Seattle, will commemorate the day that marks the end of slavery in our country on June 19, 1865. Featured speakers include WSLC President April Sims, WSLC Secretary-Treasurer Cherika Carter, and Larry Gossett, long-time Black community activist and former Martin Luther King Jr. County Councilmember.

We like our basketball like we like our state — UNION 🏀

The WSLC Women’s Committee gathered last night to watch the Seattle Storm and welcome WNPBA President Nneka Ogwumike to Seattle.

Proud to support our hometown, union team! pic.twitter.com/JDN8H2rhlQ

— Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO (@WAAFLCIO) June 5, 2024

LOCAL

► From the union-busting Columbian — PeaceHealth nurses will vote on contract that includes raises but doesn’t increase staffing levels — Nurses at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center will vote Thursday on a contract that includes higher wages but does not increase minimum staffing requirements at the Vancouver hospital. However, the tentative agreement will give nurses a bigger say in creating staffing plans.

From The STAND (May 30) — WSNA wins strong tentative agreement at PeaceHealth SW — The tentative agreement includes hourly wage increases of up to 18.4 percent over two years, including an average 10.3 percent bump for inpatient nurses after contract ratification. This includes the highest first-year and second-year wage increase ever included in the WSNA PeaceHealth Southwest contract and makes its nurses some of the highest paid in the state.

► From the (Longview) Daily News — Cowlitz County PUD union and nonunion workers receive raises — In their collective bargaining agreement with Cowlitz Public Utilities District, IBEW Local 77 negotiated wage increases for all 101 of their member employees. Nearly half of union employees earned a 12.75% wage increase, instead of the base 6.5%. Positions to receive higher pay include linemen, heavy equipment operator leads, apprentices, relays, meterers, fleet workers, dispatchers and substation workers. Cowlitz PUD staff recommended 3% wage increases for all nonunion represented employees.

READY FOR A VOICE AT WORK? Get more information about how you can join together with co-workers and negotiate for better wages and working conditions. Or go ahead and contact a union organizer today!

► From the News Tribune — ‘Terrifying.’ Tacoma leads state in dog-bite incidents against postal workers — With 13 incidents reported in 2023, local postal workers bore the brunt of the bites among the state’s five largest cities. Tacoma saw an increase compared with the prior year, during which it logged 10 occurrences.

► From the Bellingham Herald — Train carrying molten sulfur derails in Whatcom County; BNSF investigation underway

THIS WASHINGTON

► From NPR — Republicans are targeting late-arriving mail ballots ahead of the 2024 election — Many states (including Washington) allow ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day to be counted — even if they arrive after in-person voting has ended. But the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee argue this practice violates federal law. They’ve filed multiple lawsuits aiming to disqualify ballots that arrive after Election Day.

► From the WA State Standard — Republicans fight to keep budget fallout of November initiatives from appearing on ballots — A 2022 state law requires the fiscal effects of ballot measures to be described for voters. Two GOP leaders argue the “warning labels” aren’t required for three initiatives this year. Each of the three initiatives is expected to erode significant state revenue if approved.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Republicans don’t want Washington’s voters to know these initiatives’ consequences. Delegates representing unions across Washington voted to OPPOSE all three of these initiatives on this fall’s ballot: I-2109 (repealing the capital gains tax), I-2117 (repealing the Climate Commitment Act), and I-2124 (kneecapping WA long-term care insurance).

► From the Seattle Times — Will Dave Reichert vote for Trump? He gave his answer at a GOP event — Nodding that he would vote for the former president, Republican gubernatorial candidate Dave Reichert predicted that publicly saying so would be a “nail in the coffin” for his candidacy.

THAT WASHINGTON

► From The Hill — Biden urges Congress to restore Roe v. Wade protections after Senate GOP blocks contraception bill — President Biden doubled down on his push for Congress to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade into federal law, after Senate Republicans blocked a bill from consideration Wednesday that would have established a federal right to birth control. The vote to consider the underlying bill, “The Right to Contraception Act,” failed in a 51-39 vote. Support from 60 senators is required to bring the underlying bill to the floor for a vote.

The STAND (Jan. 24, 2023) — New report links abortion access to economic security

The STAND (June 27, 2022) — Amid attacks on abortion rights, unions must fight back (by Shaunie Wheeler James and Cherika Carter) — Organized labor has the tools to transform protests into concrete actions defending bodily autonomy.

The STAND (May 3, 2022) — WSLC: ‘Reproductive rights are workers’ rights’ — The Washington State Labor Council will fight to defend healthcare choices, abortion rights.

► From the AFL-CIO — AFL-CIO president supports Senate leadership’s action on contraception — AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler:

“Access to reproductive health care, including birth control, is a fundamental human right and essential to workers’ economic security.”

► From Politico — Supreme Court is poised to take one of Biden’s few tools on abortion access — The Biden administration is in court defending a federal law it argues protects emergency abortions. In practice, the statute has offered only limited help.

NATIONAL

► From In These Times — Florida’s brazen assault on public sector workers puts unions in survival mode — More than 50,000 Florida workers have lost their union membership in the advent of S.B. 256. More than a decade in the making, it essentially requires unions to have a lot of dues-paying members while simultaneously making it harder for them to do so. While the law bans public sector unions from deducting dues directly from members’ paychecks, it also requires at least 60% of a bargaining unit to pay dues or risk losing their union status.

► From Reuters — Union rejects American Airlines’ latest proposal offering 17% wage hikes — The Association of Professional Flight Attendants said Wednesday that it unanimously rejects the latest proposal from American Airlines, which CEO Robert Isom said included immediate wage increases of 17% and a new formula for higher profit sharing in 2024.

The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.