Published: Sunday, July 4, 2010
Unions dig into the war chests
Labor expects to spend richly this election season as it supports an income tax and fights privatization.
OLYMPIA — This fall’s election has leaders of the state’s largest unions wrestling with how best to use the cash in their treasuries and the energy of their members.
They want to pass one initiative, defeat five others and unseat a few Democratic state lawmakers associated with the Roadkill Caucus of the Legislature.
Achieving all that won’t come cheap or easy. Failing could make them appear a less potent political force. Nonetheless, union leaders say they expect to engage as fully as possible in skirmishes on the initiatives and contests for legislative seats.
“We’ll expend a lot of money and a lot of energy on multiple fronts,” said Dennis Eagle, director of legislative and political action for the Washington Federation of State Employees.
“The possibility of what happens on the ballot measures making what happens next year exponentially worse is sobering. Yet we can’t back away from our legislative program either,” Eagle said. “We’ll probably spend more on ballot measures and more on legislative races than we ever have before.”
Six initiatives that could affect the lives of much of organized labor appear destined for November’s ballot. With each one, winning may require a multimillion-dollar campaign.
For example, Initiative 1098 would raise $1 billion for public schools, colleges and health care programs through a new income tax on high-wage earners. Its passage is top priority for unions representing public employees, health care workers and teachers. Winning will be tough and it will be very expensive to bring voters to their side.
The Washington State Labor Council is focused on beating Initiative 1082. This measure, pushed by the Building Industry Association of Washington, would let private insurers compete with the state in providing workers compensation coverage — a change unions worry will leave workers with delayed or denied claims.
United Food and Commercial Workers will be a force in opposing two measures that would allow private businesses to sell liquor. Initiatives 1100 and 1105 would close the state liquor stores where that union’s members are employed.
Beyond initiatives, organized labor intends to spend money to ensure its champions in the Legislature are re-elected.
And then there are those in the Roadkill Caucus that the unions want out of the Legislature.
Among the targets are state Sens. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, and Jean Berkey, D-Everett. Several unions are endorsing Democratic challengers to the incumbents, but it’s too soon to know if they’ll also spend heavily on their behalf.
“It’s a pretty interesting, and complex, landscape,” said Mary Lindquist, president of the Washington Education Association.
Initial decisions on exactly where WEA invests itself most heavily will be made in August, she said.
“We know where we stand but we haven’t yet decided where we are going to prioritize our resources,” she said.
WEA will undoubtedly assist the campaign behind Initiative 1098. She knows members in Snohomish County view unseating Hobbs as a priority, too — so much so that they pushed WEA to endorse two of his opponents.
Balancing desires of affiliates with the broader agenda of the union will be an evolving challenge the next few months.
“I see my job as keeping my eyes on the prize of making sure we have the funding to support a strong education system,” she said. “At the same time, we will be driven by the enthusiasm our members have for their local candidates.”
Adam Glickman, vice president of Service Employees International Union Local 775, said it’s not a matter of choosing either initiatives or candidates this election cycle. Unions can and will do both.
“To the extent we can, we are going to try to make all these issues fit together,” said Glickman, whose union represents 40,000 long-term-care workers. “This whole election is about whether we’re going to let the corporate interests continue to run this state and run this economy.”
Washington’s business establishment faces plenty of targets, too, this cycle.
“It’s going to take every business in this state digging deeper than they ever have before,” said Jan Gee, president of the Washington Food Industry Association
Unions plan to coordinate their punches on the ballot measure battles.
“It just makes sense,” said Benjamin Lawver, political director for the state council, an affiliation of 500 unions representing 400,000 people. “We are in all of these fights together.”
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
They want to pass one initiative, defeat five others and unseat a few Democratic state lawmakers associated with the Roadkill Caucus of the Legislature.
Achieving all that won’t come cheap or easy. Failing could make them appear a less potent political force. Nonetheless, union leaders say they expect to engage as fully as possible in skirmishes on the initiatives and contests for legislative seats.
“We’ll expend a lot of money and a lot of energy on multiple fronts,” said Dennis Eagle, director of legislative and political action for the Washington Federation of State Employees.
“The possibility of what happens on the ballot measures making what happens next year exponentially worse is sobering. Yet we can’t back away from our legislative program either,” Eagle said. “We’ll probably spend more on ballot measures and more on legislative races than we ever have before.”
Six initiatives that could affect the lives of much of organized labor appear destined for November’s ballot. With each one, winning may require a multimillion-dollar campaign.
For example, Initiative 1098 would raise $1 billion for public schools, colleges and health care programs through a new income tax on high-wage earners. Its passage is top priority for unions representing public employees, health care workers and teachers. Winning will be tough and it will be very expensive to bring voters to their side.
The Washington State Labor Council is focused on beating Initiative 1082. This measure, pushed by the Building Industry Association of Washington, would let private insurers compete with the state in providing workers compensation coverage — a change unions worry will leave workers with delayed or denied claims.
United Food and Commercial Workers will be a force in opposing two measures that would allow private businesses to sell liquor. Initiatives 1100 and 1105 would close the state liquor stores where that union’s members are employed.
Beyond initiatives, organized labor intends to spend money to ensure its champions in the Legislature are re-elected.
And then there are those in the Roadkill Caucus that the unions want out of the Legislature.
Among the targets are state Sens. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, and Jean Berkey, D-Everett. Several unions are endorsing Democratic challengers to the incumbents, but it’s too soon to know if they’ll also spend heavily on their behalf.
“It’s a pretty interesting, and complex, landscape,” said Mary Lindquist, president of the Washington Education Association.
Initial decisions on exactly where WEA invests itself most heavily will be made in August, she said.
“We know where we stand but we haven’t yet decided where we are going to prioritize our resources,” she said.
WEA will undoubtedly assist the campaign behind Initiative 1098. She knows members in Snohomish County view unseating Hobbs as a priority, too — so much so that they pushed WEA to endorse two of his opponents.
Balancing desires of affiliates with the broader agenda of the union will be an evolving challenge the next few months.
“I see my job as keeping my eyes on the prize of making sure we have the funding to support a strong education system,” she said. “At the same time, we will be driven by the enthusiasm our members have for their local candidates.”
Adam Glickman, vice president of Service Employees International Union Local 775, said it’s not a matter of choosing either initiatives or candidates this election cycle. Unions can and will do both.
“To the extent we can, we are going to try to make all these issues fit together,” said Glickman, whose union represents 40,000 long-term-care workers. “This whole election is about whether we’re going to let the corporate interests continue to run this state and run this economy.”
Washington’s business establishment faces plenty of targets, too, this cycle.
“It’s going to take every business in this state digging deeper than they ever have before,” said Jan Gee, president of the Washington Food Industry Association
Unions plan to coordinate their punches on the ballot measure battles.
“It just makes sense,” said Benjamin Lawver, political director for the state council, an affiliation of 500 unions representing 400,000 people. “We are in all of these fights together.”
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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