King County Labor Council

Labor's Voice
Spring 2001

Does it pay to be prepared to strike? UFCW says YES!
Being prepared to strike was UFCW’s not-so-secret weapon in their recent contract negotiations with Allied Employers. Grocery workers in Puget Sound voted overwhelmingly on April 24th to approve a contract offer from Allied Employers, consisting of Albertsons, Associated Grocers, Fred Meyer, QFC, Safeway, Top Foods, and Brown & Cole.

This, of course, is very good news for all involved. The settlement affects approximately 20,000 workers, their employers, and countless consumers. Preliminary talks between the Puget Sound UFCW locals and Allied Employers began late last year but produced no positive results. Tense negotiations continued with the two parties still far apart on issues such as medical benefits and pension contributions.

As the first round of talks broke off with no progress, the seriousness of this situation began to sink in. The locals took steps to make sure they and their members were fully prepared to strike if necessary in order to get a fair contract. In a huge show of solidarity and commitment, members of the Puget Sound UFCW locals voted to increase their monthly dues by 50% to support a strike fund in case it became necessary.

In an effort to keep members accurately informed, publication of United Front, a newsletter packed with the latest news on the negotiations, began in December 2000. With a slogan of ‘Give up none in 2001!’ the newsletter ensured that all workers had the information they needed to fully understand the status of their contracts.

After a marathon bargaining session, a tentative agreement was reached in the early morning of April 7th, with union leadership confident that an offer they could recommend would soon be reached.

UFCW Local 1105 President Sharon McCann put out a broad message of appreciation, saying "We thank the union staff for their support and their efforts toward being prepared for the worst. We thank the members for their patience and support. We thank our associates in the larger labor community, especially the Washington State Labor Council, the King County Labor Council, the Snohomish County Labor Council, the Pierce County Labor Council, the leaders and rank and file members of individual locals, and community groups like Jobs with Justice, Washington Citizen Action, and the Church Council. All were standing in the wings waiting to be of assistance should the need for their help arise. We were heartened by the show of solidarity."

We’re always happy to report on a successful resolution to contract negotiations, especially when the contract affects so many people. The preparedness of the locals was really the key to this victory, and much credit is due to the leadership in making the decision to put the union’s resources to work to begin a major mobilization effort in preparation for a possible strike.

The efforts of the locals and the members undoubtedly served to show Allied that they were serious about striking in full force with total support from the membership. The employers’ bargaining team went into the more recent negotiating sessions knowing failed talks would result in a well-organized, fully-supported strike. That extra motivation to bargain in good faith was the push that was needed to get a fair offer the leadership could recommend and the workers could be proud of.

Congratulations to UFCW on this huge victory!

Executive Secretary's Report
Spring is here, and our labor movement is bustling. Many of our activities build for the future, as if putting down deep roots. Our Religious/Labor breakfasts are moving along and we’re preparing for our first Religious/Labor job fairs.

Committee activists have been busy. While it’s remarkable what a few committed activists have accomplished, they could use more volunteers. Let us put you to work!

Our airport unions organizing coalition is awesome. While the AFL-CIO, Worker Center, and SUN have stepped up to help with staff assistance and strategic expertise, our affiliate unions are doing the work and providing the energy. We have bold ambitions and it will not be easy. But the coalition is a testament to the spirit of our affiliates to enhance organizing by working together. Each union has added its own mark, its particular expertise. Our airport rally drew over 400 activists in an exciting demonstration.

We hosted a very successful King County Council Labor Summit. It was a Committee of the Whole meeting of the Metropolitan King County Council, including Executive Ron Sims, convened at the Labor Temple. When I described it to a City Councilmember recently, he suggested the same kind of annual forum with the city council. The roots are spreading.

Politics, like pollen, is in the air. Our COPE interviews are underway and there’s a buzz as we spring clean our political action greenhouse. Most prominently, we’re about to hire a full-time political organizer to help us mobilize our base for politics.

Our fight back campaigns focus on longer-term strategies. We’ve raised our voice against the brutal Bush agenda as part of a chorus of allies, including Washington Citizen Action. Similarly, the April 24th Peace Arch protest against the Free Trade Area of the Americas was a cooperative, international protest.

We’re also harvesting. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union affiliates, including Local 1105 and Local 81 in King County, settled their contract negotiations for about 20,000 workers. They won because the membership and leadership demonstrated they were fully prepared to strike if necessary. Congratulations to all the UFCW members, staff and leaders! A very satisfying harvest indeed.

If you haven’t got some dirt under your fingernails, by all means, dig in and plant some roots!

Beating the Bushes
Welcome to our new regular column. We will devote space in each issue to a listing of the many assaults on workers’ rights coming out of the White House. Read on for a breakdown of the latest dirty deeds.

• In March, President Bush supported and signed legislation killing the OSHA ergonomics standard that workers and friendly politicians fought so hard for.

• He issued four anti-worker, anti-union executive orders repealing rules protecting workers and labor-management relations. They would:
- Effectively bar project labor agreements on all federally funded construction projects.
- Allow service contractors in federal buildings to lay-off low-wage workers whenever there is a turnover of government contractors, eroding job security.
- Abolish labor-management cooperation systems that serve the federal government and hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
- Require government contractors to post notices concerning workers’ rights within their unions to object to dues and agency fee payments, while posting nothing at all about their fundamental labor rights to organize or join unions.

• He recently intervened to stop mechanics at Northwest Airlines from striking for a fair contract, indicating that he would seek to block all airline strikes this year. This undermines the long-standing federal presidential policy of promoting collective bargaining and staying out of labor disputes.

The President’s actions have even upset some Republicans in the House who were endorsed by labor last year.

Despite four more years of similar worker assaults looming ahead, we can all set our sights on 2002 as an important election year — a chance to regain a worker-friendly, Democratic majority in both houses.

Summit leaders seeking solutions
The sixth annual labor and Metropolitan King County Government summit was held April 9th at the Seattle Labor Temple. In attendance were all 13 County Councilmembers and Executive Ron Sims.

KCLC Executive Secretary Steve Williamson spoke about the fact that union busting in the private sector is too alive, too well and all too prosperous in King County. National or regional union busting firms, attracted by the potential wealth created by fighting our vigorous organizing, have moved to Seattle in recent years. Homegrown anti-union consultants have been active for decades. "Local elected officials can play a strong role in altering the climate for organizing by standing up for the right to organize. And, right here in King County, we’ve proven that creating a new atmosphere in the community can forestall or mitigate the effects of an all out anti-union campaign."

The main focus of the Summit was on one of the greatest budget challenges the County has faced. The Coalition of County Unions and Williamson cautioned the Council against solving this crisis by freezing COLAs and cutting wages and benefits. According to Dustin Frederick, coalition co-chair, "Looking to solve this year’s budget by focusing on employee costs alone does nothing to resolve the long-term problems facing the County."

Union representatives and County Councilmembers engaged in an extended discussion of the causes of the budget crisis, opportunities for increasing revenues, and providing the maximum up-front assistance to enable displaced workers to fill existing County vacancies. At the summit’s conclusion, County Council Chair Peter von Reichbauer requested a set of follow-up meetings to continue the dialogue with labor.

FTAA a bad deal for workers
Since 1994, trade representatives from the United States have been meeting with their counterparts in 33 countries of the Americas.

Their purpose is to expand the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which covers the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, into a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). President Bush and his entourage met in Quebec City, Canada in mid-April to finalize the deal.

Many elected officials and corporate heads portray trade liberalization, which they describe as ‘free,’ as a feature of democracy and something inevitable. The fact of the matter is, all trade has winners and losers. Freedom depends on who gets to decide. NAFTA is part of an international legal regime including WTO which gives corporations more freedom to pursue profits and violate human and labor rights.

The AFL-CIO Executive Council opposes the FTAA, encourages peaceful demonstrations with community allies, and calls for a trade system giving priority to equitable, democratic, and sustainable development.

Not one decision under NAFTA side agreements has supported labor rights or protected the environment. In the last six years, the damages from NAFTA include:

• the loss of approximately 400,000 jobs to Mexico;

• plant closures and job loss in the US and Canada resulting in declining living standards for families;

• an increase in income inequality between rich and poor in all three NAFTA countries; and

• increased use by U.S. companies of threats to move to Mexico to stop workers from organizing unions.

Committee update — This is what democracy looks like!
The committees of the King County Labor Council are the most direct route for workers to get involved with our work. Under the leadership of Union Cities Organizer Verlene Wilder, the committees have continued to grow and become more active.

WTO mural on display
The Seattle Labor Temple is the temporary home for "N30," a mural commemorating the one-year anniversary of the WTO protests in November-December 1999. The mural was created by artists Lauren Halloway, Erin Koch, and Cause B using hundreds of photos of marches, rallies and other actions during WTO. It will be on display in Hall One until mid-June, when it will travel to Everett for the 4th Annual Pride at Work Convention.

Members of the KCLC Education Committee’s Arts Subcommittee helped to arrange for the installation and showing of the mural. Subcommittee members represent a variety of trades including painters, stagehands, carpenters, laborers, office workers, and musicians. The Subcommittee also received support from the King County Labor Council Executive Board, the Seattle Labor Temple Association, the King County Labor Agency, and the Barefoot Theatre Group. A permanent home is needed for the mural. If you have any suggestions, please let us know.

Labor education for high-schoolers
What does the labor community have to do with racial and environmental justice? Fifteen Seattle-area high school students from the YMCA Metro Center found out when the KCLC Education Committee hosted their visit to the Labor Temple in March.

Students started the day by visiting the WTO mural. Verlene, along with Joan Weiss and Karen Hart of the Worker Center, presented the mural and a WTO overview. Student Sarah Burdick commented on the presentation, saying "It’s amazing how corporations can get away with paying workers so cheaply."

The group then discussed why workers organize and were given examples of effective organizing campaigns. After that, it was time for some research. The students headed downtown to visit Westlake Mall, the Gap, Nike Town, Banana Republic, and Old Navy. They investigated apparel and shoe prices, where the items were made, and even talked to store managers. "So many of our products come from other countries. What we need to do is make things more even, like wages and benefits, so that everyone has equal opportunities," said student Josh Cline.

The group left with a new understanding of our labor movement and more compassion for workers around the world. They were also able to connect the work of the Council with what they learned about racial and environmental justice.

Outreach to seniors
In January, KCLC’s Diversity Committee joined the Seattle Building & Construction Trades Council, Carpenters Local 131, and the Puget Sound Council of Senior Citizens to host a breakfast for seniors at the Central Area Senior Center. Committee members engaged the seniors in conversations about the role of the labor movement and assisted with set-up, serving, and clean-up. Linda Jones, Center director, said this breakfast was one of the best-attended ever.

Community Outreach
In March, the Diversity Committee staffed the KCLC table at the International Women’s Day event at the Seattle Center. Committee members volunteered their time to provide information on the programs of the Council, the King County Labor Agency, the Apprenticeship Opportunities Program, and AFL-CIO constituency groups. The table offered visitors the opportunity to get involved in organizing, become an activist with Jobs with Justice, find out more about apprenticeship programs, and get information on home ownership programs for workers.

The table was very positively received and many union members who visited said they weren’t aware that the Council and affiliated organizations had so much to offer.

Call Verlene at (206) 441-7102 for a schedule of upcoming committee meetings if you want to get involved.

Homecare workers and consumers mount campaign
Every day, homecare workers help care for our parents and grandparents and provide assistance to people with disabilities. Their hard and unglamorous work gives homecare consumers the option to live independently in their homes instead of in institutional care. But low wages, inadequate training, and poor benefits have led to skyrocketing turnover and a major shortage of qualified labor.

Here in King County, OPEIU Local 8 and SEIU Local 6 represent agency-based homecare workers at Fremont Public Association and Catholic Community Services. The unions and their community allies have worked together to bring visibility and respect to the fastest growing, but least visible, healthcare profession. However, some 15,000 other independent contractor homecare workers make just above minimum wage with few benefits.

Consumer groups like the Puget Sound Council of Senior Citizens, Washington Citizen Action, ADAPT, and other advocacy and faith-based organizations, are joining forces to improve the quality of homecare. The new coalition — called Washingtonians for Quality Homecare — has filed a "Quality Homecare Initiative" ballot measure to ensure safe, reliable, quality homecare. Initiative 775 would establish a consumer-governed board to create a registry to help consumers find qualified homecare workers and set standards for quality care. The Authority would also become the employer of record for limited purposes, although the individual consumer retains all rights to supervise their homecare worker.

"This measure is really to increase the rights of consumers so they have more say," said Puget Sound Council of Senior Citizens President Will Parry while speaking at a recent conference on proactive ballot measure strategies. "We’ve been working on this issue of the long-term care crisis, and we think using the ballot is a good solution to problems stemming from the lack of qualified homecare workers."

The campaign is collecting signatures and will need 250,000 by July 6th to qualify the measure for the ballot. To help with the campaign, please call Washingtonians for Quality Homecare, c/o Suzanne Wall, at (206) 956-0494 x14.

The King County Labor Agency — Working for you!
Every year, union members and their families donate millions of dollars to assist those in need. Union families also contribute to their communities by volunteering countless hours to help their neighbors.

The AFL-CIO has created a new opportunity for union members to put their generosity to work. A new national charity, the Union Community Fund (UCF), has been established to fill this need. The UCF enables working families to put their values to work by raising money for charity and deciding how those dollars are spent.

The UCF is intended to complement labor’s message of social and economic justice and will work in concert with national unions and local affiliates to promote workplace giving for union members. United Way contributions can even be designated to benefit the UCF.

Seattle has been chosen by the AFL-CIO as a pilot city to kick off the UCF under the umbrella of the King County Labor Council and King County Labor Agency. The local UCF will be overseen by an advisory council of union, community, and religious activists in terms of both allocating the donations and developing fundraising campaigns. Organizations supporting affordable housing, quality childcare, and promoting workers’ rights will be the recipients of the initial grants awarded.

In addition to supporting the local community, UCF also raises money nationally to assist with disaster relief. After our recent earthquake, the UCF raised over $13,000 to assist working families who suffered damages. That grant was awarded to the King County Labor Agency for allocation. UFCW Local 1001 and Teamsters Local 117 members employed at the Bon Marche Southcenter have received assistance, along with the St. Martin de Porres shelter and the Low Income Housing Institute.

If you know of quake victims in need of assistance, call the Labor Agency at (206) 448-9277.

Boeing workers give generously
Generosity was front and center for workers at Boeing starting April 30th. That marked the beginning of a two-week drive to raise money for the Employees Community Fund (ECF), the world’s largest employee-owned charitable campaign. Last year, over $34 million was raised due to the support of Boeing workers.

Endorsed by the unions representing workers at Boeing, including the IAM, SPEEA, Teamsters, and Operating Engineers, this campaign represents a true joint labor-management partnership. The non-profit agencies and programs receiving support from the ECF campaign all stand to gain as volunteer ‘boosters’ talk with fellow workers and ask for donations.

Please note that Boeing workers have the option of designating their contributions to the King County Labor Agency or the Union Community Fund if they wish to donate to an agency or charity created by union members to promote the values of working families.

News from our affiliates
KCLC welcomes new members: Two new affiliates have joined the King County Labor Council. The American Radio Association, which is based in New York, represents radio system operators, such as those who work on large ships. They brought 70 new members to the Council and two active delegates.

The 35 local members of the National Writers Union, which is affiliated nationally with the United Auto Workers as UAW Local 1981, also recently joined KCLC.

We welcome our new affiliates and their members to the Council and look forward to working together!

Dot.carnage in high-tech world: The King County Reemployment Support Center, a core program of KCLC’s Worker Center, has been working overtime to help hundreds of laid-off high-tech workers gain access to retraining resources and seek new employment.

The layoffs are a result of the recent slump in the high-tech industry. In the past 16 months, the dot-com sector has cut more than 75,000 jobs nationwide. In the King County region alone, more than 7,300 workers have been dislocated this year. Household names in the industry like Amazon.com, Ticketmaster, AT&T, and Egghead have been joined by scores of others in shedding workers.

Reemployment Support Center Director Charlie Best is concerned that this downward trend will continue creating special challenges for dislocated high-tech workers. "These workers will all have to get connected with new jobs at the same time as our economy is slowing. Fortunately, the RSC and our partners in the Community Response Team can assist with navigating the maze to their next family wage job... whatever it takes!"

Retirees mobilize, rally for action: Union retirees and community activists are invited to help launch the Alliance for Retired Americans (ARA) in King County. The kick-off rally for universal, affordable prescription drug coverage will be held on Wednesday, May 30th at 10:00 a.m. at the Central Area Senior Center, 500 30th Ave. S. in Seattle.

The ARA was conceived by the National AFL-CIO and the National Council of Senior Citizens as a vehicle to organize millions of retirees into effective lobbying, electoral, and community activity. On a local level, the Puget Sound Council of Senior Citizens and the King County Union Retirees Council will work with retiree groups based both in organized labor and in our communities to build the new organization.

Airport workers fight for contract: Service employees at Sea-Tac airport, including skycaps, utility/special service workers, and dispatchers, have been struggling to gain a fair contract from their employer, Huntleigh/ICTS.

After winning a challenging decertification election in February, the workers, who are represented by SEIU Local 6, have been telling Huntleigh management to bargain in good faith through daily actions at the airport. The company is clearly stalling to avoid negotiating. They didn’t even show up for their own NLRB hearing on their objections to the election results.

Workers will continue to picket daily and meet with airline officials and Port Commissioners until Huntleigh comes to the table.

WFSE welcomes new RTC unit: In April, the 64 members of the Renton Technical College (RTC) Classified Personnel Bargaining Unit voted to join Washington Federation of State Employees Local 304 in a vote of 42-7.

The unit consists of administrative support personnel and childcare workers at the college. The compensation package for this unit has lagged considerably behind those of similar workers at other community and technical colleges. A major issue was pay equity for all the workers. Among the initial items to be bargained for in a new contract will be a retroactive step increase and a cost-of-living increase of 3% from last July.

Election '01: Ready, set, go!
It’s time to start gearing up for the 2001 political election season, and KCLC has risen to the challenge. This is a big year for local politics, including elections for the Metropolitan King County Council, city councils, Seattle Mayor, school boards, and Port Commissioners. Several important seats are being vacated, clearing the way for new candidates.

Two early endorsements have been made in key races. Julia Patterson, 33rd Legislative District Senator, has been endorsed in her bid for Metropolitan King County Council, District 13. This South King County-area seat was vacated by Republican Chris Vance earlier this year. Long-time friend King County Executive Ron Sims has also been endorsed in his re-election bid.

KCLC held the first round of COPE endorsement interviews in early April and will be scheduling more later this Spring.

Legal victories for workers
It’s time to start gearing up for the 2001 political election season, and KCLC has risen to the challenge. This is a big year for local politics, including elections for the Metropolitan King County Council, city councils, Seattle Mayor, school boards, and Port Commissioners. Several important seats are being vacated, clearing the way for new candidates.

Two early endorsements have been made in key races. Julia Patterson, 33rd Legislative District Senator, has been endorsed in her bid for Metropolitan King County Council, District 13. This South King County-area seat was vacated by Republican Chris Vance earlier this year. Long-time friend King County Executive Ron Sims has also been endorsed in his re-election bid.

KCLC held the first round of COPE endorsement interviews in early April and will be scheduling more later this Spring.