Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna will become a declared candidate for governor at 6 p.m. but the Washington State Labor Council and NARAL Pro-Choice Washington aren’t waiting to get in some digs on his record.
This morning, WSLC President Jeff Johnson said McKenna’s decision to run “is not particularly welcome in the labor community.”
He described McKenna as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and cited three issues of concern to labor leaders – minimum wage, health care reform and collective bargaining rights.
Johnson chastised McKenna’s for a 2010 opinion backing efforts to prevent a scheduled 12-cent increase in the state minimum wage. The effort failed when a Superior Court judge ruled that state law dictated the pay hike.
He also rebuked McKenna for joining attorneys general in other states in challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care law passed last year — and for doing so without consulting other Washington legislative leaders.
“Do we really want a lone wolf for a governor?” he said.
Regarding the suit, McKenna has said his concern is focused on voiding the law’s mandate that everyone have health insurance. But Johnson said the legal fight could wind up erasing the entire law from the books and hurt people in this state.
Finally, Johnson said McKenna’s past statements regarding collective bargaining “give us pause.” He claimed the attorney general has referred to collective bargaining rights as statutory rights and those types of rights can be done away with by any Legislature.
The right to collectively bargain “gets to the core of who we are” in labor, Johnson said. He raised the spectre of McKenna following a trail blazed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to strip those rights away from workers.
Meanwhile, leaders of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, took aim at McKenna’s record today too.
“Washington voters have demonstrated that they want a strongly pro-choice Governor, one who will use the office to be a champion for women’s rights and health. To date, McKenna has been determinedly vague on issues of reproductive choice. While he has made the occasional claim of support for women’s rights, he has done very little to demonstrate that Washington women and families can count on him,”,” Lauren Simonds, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington said in a press release.
You can read the entire release here.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
