State workers rally in Olympia for unions

OLYMPIA — Union members, students, parents and even former presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich rallied in Olympia on Monday, taking advantage of the holiday to lobby against budget cuts and to show solidarity with Wisconsin’s embattled union for state employees.

Hundreds of Washingt

on state employees chanted, sang songs and waved signs in the Capitol Rotunda in a rally supporting unions and state employees in Wisconsin. Ohio Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich addressed the group wearing a union T-shirt from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Last week, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker targeted public employees in a massive budget cut proposal, calling for cuts to their benefits and limiting their ability to collectively bargain on wage issues. Walker has said his proposal is about cutting state and local spending for years to come, but acknowledges that if approved, it could cripple unions.

Kucinich said he hoped the rally in Olympia would ripple across the country to show solidarity to union workers in Wisconsin.

“You cannot have a democracy if you don’t have people in a position to be able to negotiate for their wages and to have decent benefits,” Kucinich said, lauding Washington as being a “bastion for workers’ rights,” where people have the capacity to push back.

Washington is one of the most unionized states in the country, according to a January U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, reminded the crowd that collective bargaining ended child labor and created the 40-hour work week.

“Collective bargaining is not the problem,” she said.

KIRO-TV reported several other groups took advantage of the Presidents Day holiday to demonstrate — college students urging funding for higher education and the Washington State PTA asking legislators to protect students from budget cuts.

Most state employees have Monday off and Tuesday is an unpaid furlough day.