Big Labor will keep its dimes in its own PAC
Friday, July 17, 2009 | 3:35 pm
Remember this infamous line from a March e-mail:
"Union leaders would send a message to the State Democratic party and to the Truman and Roosevelt funds from the House and Senate that "not another dime from labor" until the Governor signs the Worker Privacy Act."
Leaders of Big Labor look to be making good on their pledge. In May they formed the DIME (Don't Invest in More Excuses) PAC to support candidates solely of their choosing. They don't want to write any more checks to groups that help keep Democrats in office who don't truly support labor.
As of today, there was $81,500 in the PAC warchest.
Today, Dave Schmitz, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 21 and Larry Brown, legislative and political director Aerospace Machinists Local 751 issued a statement of support. It begins:
UFCW 21 and the Machinist Union are strong believers in the recently announced change in how we in the labor movement in our state will act in future elections. The DIME PAC is a way for unions to be able to control how and where our political contributions are spent. Up until now we have often given money to the Democratic Party’s various political funds, and then the Party leadership has determined who gets it or how it should be spent. It has proven to be a failed model.
There were many failings from the union perspective in the 2009 legislative session - layoffs, pay freezes, higher health care costs and so forth.
None hurt more than the loss of the worker privacy bill.
Dial back to March and you remember how union leaders were pressing to get a vote on the bill. That e-mail went out following a conference call of labor leaders on strategy. Four Democratic lawmakers also received it.
When one of them, Sen. Jeannie Kohl Welles, showed it to Majority Leader Lisa Brown, it touched off a political frenzy. Brown, House Speaker Frank Chopp and Gov. Chris Gregoire huddled, viewed it as a threat to extort votes for money and called the state patrol.
They also killed the bill.
The Washington State Patrol did investigate -- something it didn't do when one of their troopers drank some beer early July 10 then got behind the wheel of a golf cart that ended up overturning and injuring another trooper -- and found no criminal act.
But the bill never got resurrected. This new PAC may be a bit of payback.
"Union leaders would send a message to the State Democratic party and to the Truman and Roosevelt funds from the House and Senate that "not another dime from labor" until the Governor signs the Worker Privacy Act."
Leaders of Big Labor look to be making good on their pledge. In May they formed the DIME (Don't Invest in More Excuses) PAC to support candidates solely of their choosing. They don't want to write any more checks to groups that help keep Democrats in office who don't truly support labor.
As of today, there was $81,500 in the PAC warchest.
Today, Dave Schmitz, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 21 and Larry Brown, legislative and political director Aerospace Machinists Local 751 issued a statement of support. It begins:
UFCW 21 and the Machinist Union are strong believers in the recently announced change in how we in the labor movement in our state will act in future elections. The DIME PAC is a way for unions to be able to control how and where our political contributions are spent. Up until now we have often given money to the Democratic Party’s various political funds, and then the Party leadership has determined who gets it or how it should be spent. It has proven to be a failed model.
There were many failings from the union perspective in the 2009 legislative session - layoffs, pay freezes, higher health care costs and so forth.
None hurt more than the loss of the worker privacy bill.
Dial back to March and you remember how union leaders were pressing to get a vote on the bill. That e-mail went out following a conference call of labor leaders on strategy. Four Democratic lawmakers also received it.
When one of them, Sen. Jeannie Kohl Welles, showed it to Majority Leader Lisa Brown, it touched off a political frenzy. Brown, House Speaker Frank Chopp and Gov. Chris Gregoire huddled, viewed it as a threat to extort votes for money and called the state patrol.
They also killed the bill.
The Washington State Patrol did investigate -- something it didn't do when one of their troopers drank some beer early July 10 then got behind the wheel of a golf cart that ended up overturning and injuring another trooper -- and found no criminal act.
But the bill never got resurrected. This new PAC may be a bit of payback.
Most recent The Petri Dish posts
- Labor groups to host forum in Everett for 1st Congressional District candidates Feb. 15
- Gregoire: Santorum visit won't overshadow same-sex marriage law Feb. 13
- Will Santorum address lawmakers or just wave at them? Feb. 11
- Same-sex marriage bill to be signed Monday Feb. 9
- McKenna website posts form letter allowing people to thank him Feb. 9
Comments
(
