National news:

Make plans to attend the Workers Rally for Senator Patty Murray starting at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 7 at the Machinists 751 Hall, 9125 15th Place S. in Seattle. (Download an event flier that includes a map with directions now that the South Park Bridge is closed. And please post and distribute it to help spread the word.)

Sen. Murray has been unanimously endorsed for re-election by the affiliated unions of the Washington State Labor Council. She earned that endorsement by being a champion for job creation and working families in Washington. 

With her seniority on the powerful Appropriations Committee, Sen. Patty Murray has made sure hundreds of specific transportation and other projects in Washington have been funded. She makes no apologies for fighting to bring OUR tax dollars home to create tens of thousands of desperately needed construction jobs, to make our roads and bridges safer, and to improve Washington’s business climate with better freight mobility.

But she faces an election fight against two-time gubernatorial loser Dino Rossi, a Republican who has criticized Murray's job-creating efforts as "dragging home pork." He has even vowed, if elected, not to seek budget "earmarks" for specific projects in Washington state, whether or not they create jobs.

That's right. This fall's election poses a choice between a true champion for job creation in Washington state and a right-wing ideologue who thinks that protecting tax breaks for corporations that send American jobs overseas is more important than protecting the jobs of teachers, nurses and police officers here at home.

That's why organized labor unanimously supports Sen. Murray, and that's why we need to demonstrate that support by attending Tuesday's rally at the Machinists 751 Hall and showing Sen. Murray that labor is energized and ready to fight for her like she's fought for us.

For more information on the rally, contact IAM 751 at 206-763-1300.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2010
Eastern Washington small business owners urge "NO" on Initiative 1082

Small business owners in Richland and Yakima announced their opposition to Initiative 1082 on Wednesday, joining thousands of other business owners and working families across the state. I-1082, written by the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) and the insurance industry, would scrap the state’s current workers’ compensation system by allowing largely unregulated private insurers in our market.

Among its many provisions, I-1082 forces small business owners to pay the employee share of workers’ compensation premiums. Even according to its sponsors, I-1082 would increase $315 million in costs to employers. What’s more, private carriers wouldn’t be allowed to sell insurance until 2012, but employers would have to pay increased premiums immediately.

"I-1082 would increase costs for business owners while doing little to promote safety in the workplace," said Ron Bonlender of Yakima Sub Shop. "Insurance companies are driven by excess profits, not by what's in the interest of small businesses. After 18 months of increased rates I don't trust them to lower rates. It's certainly not a risk small business owners like me can afford to take in this economy."

I-1082 hurts taxpayers as well. If the measure passes, the cities of Kennewick, Pasco and West Richland will be forced to pay for workers compensation premiums now paid by public employees.

For the City of Kennewick, that translates into a hit of about $96,000. Taxpayers in the City of Pasco would be forced to pay about $90,000, and West Richland would have to pay an extra $11,500.

Restaurants across the state such as Smoovies in Richland and Essencia Artisan Bakery in Yakima are hit especially hard, paying an extra $17.3 million.

Here’s how I-1082 works:

• According to Labor & Industries, restaurants and tavern owners with a good safety record pay a workers’ compensation premium of $.37 per hour for each employee. That includes the employee portion for medical aid coverage, about $.07 an hour.

• Under I-1082, the employee contribution of the medical aid fund would be eliminated

• That amounts to an annual increase of $145 per employee for the business owner.

• With 119,167 employees across the state, restaurants and taverns would pick up a total of $17,302,118 in extra costs.

Restaurants and taverns aren’t the only the only businesses that would be hurt under I-1082. Even the initiative's boosters admit there are problems. In a memo to members, the Association of Washington Business stated: "This will increase costs for some employers."

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2010
Union movement, UW collaborate on labor archive for Washington state

The following story by Robert Roseth is cross-posted from here:

The University of Washington, working together with organized labor and many individuals interested in preserving labor history, is creating an archive that will ensure that documents chronicling the labor heritage of Washington state are preserved and made available to wide audiences.

The archive will become one of the premier bodies of labor related material in the country, says James Gregory, professor of history. "We are rescuing wonderful collections, some of which already have been donated to the UW Libraries, and others which are still in private hands. It is critical that these materials are preserved before they are damaged or disappear. This unique collaboration with organized labor in Washington was essential to make this archive possible."

Major gifts from labor unions and individuals, including from the Washington State Labor Council, representing more than 500 unions with more than 400,000 members, are supporting the archive. Local labor affiliates have responded with their own donations, and also have submitted collections of valuable historical records.

"We are proud to participate in the creation of this archive," says Rick Bender, president of the Washington State Labor Council. "This state has a rich labor history that is critically important to preserve, so that the next generation can understand how labor became such a strong force in Washington."

The labor archive, housed in the University Libraries Special Collections, will serve as a center for historical research and as a repository of information that can be used by teachers and others interested in exploring this state's labor history. 

"We already have between 50 and 60 collections, containing hundreds of boxes of materials, Gregory says. "The documents come from major labor unions as well as smaller groups and individuals. Washington has a long and distinguished labor tradition, which is woven into the history of the state and its major industries -- at the docks, in timber, and in the aircraft industry. The labor movement has affected all of us in Washington. The labor archive will reflect not just the activities of organized labor but the history of people who have worked for social justice."

Gregory says that the papers of Tyree Scott, who was a key figure in the United Construction Workers Association of the 1970s when that group organized in opposition to discriminatory hiring practices, were nearly lost because they were kept in a shed in his back yard. "Heroic work by UW archivists has allowed us to save some important collections, but we know that history is being destroyed every day. And much of it is irreplaceable."

So far, about $250,000 has been donated, which will fund about three years of work, including the hiring of an archivist, who will work jointly with UW Libraries and UW's Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies. The archive will become a key component of the UW's Special Collections Library, and the plan is to bring portions of the archive online, along with educational projects for union members, schools and the general public.

The UW archive will become part of an elite group of places with extensive collections of labor-related material, including: the Labor Archives & Research Center at San Francisco State University, the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University, the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University, and the labor archives at Carnegie Mellon University.

Major donors to the labor archive include the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the Washington State Labor Council and the UW's Bridges Center. The ILWU is contributing $150,000 in matching funds for the project.