Labor drawn to preserve collective bargaining law

Group might divert money from gas tax effort to defense of workers rights bill

DAVID AMMONS, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Friday, April 12, 2002

OLYMPIA -- Organized labor, in a decision that could imperil a gas-tax referendum, announced Thursday that it's prepared to redirect its campaign cash and army of volunteers to efforts to preserve newly won collective bargaining rights for state employees.

Washington state Labor Council President Rick Bender acknowledged that the $7.7 billion, 10-year transportation plan is vital to labor, but said it's even more important to fend off a challenge to the collective bargaining bill that was signed just days ago.

Shortly after Gov. Gary Locke signed the legislation, the Building Industry Association of Washington announced a referendum to place the issue before the voters in November.

The industry group and other opponents of the collective bargaining law have until early July to collect 98,867 voter signatures.

The unexpected referendum will cause labor to reassess where to focus its efforts this year, Bender said in a statement. The big loser, he indicated, would be the transportation campaign. He urged business to back off the collective-bargaining referendum or bear the consequences.

Backers of the transportation package said it could be derailed if labor shifts its support to defending the collective-bargaining law.

"It is tough under the best of circumstances" to pass a 9-cent gas tax increase, said Don Brunell of the Association of Washington Business, which terms transportation its top concern. "Any one group could scuttle it right now."

Former state Rep. Tom Huff, a spokesman for the collective-bargaining referendum and also a backer of the transportation plan, said he believes labor is bluffing and will end up working heavily on both campaigns -- and maybe even others.

He and others predicted labor will oppose a Building Industry Association referendum to overturn recent changes in the unemployment insurance program and an Association of Washington Business-backed initiative to impose strict state spending limits.

A major player such as labor doesn't "put all its eggs in one basket," Brunell said.

"I think it's an idle threat," Huff said. "Talk about being shortsighted. The reason we need transportation is to keep employers like Boeing here, creating good jobs, union jobs."

Bender, though, insisted that labor will have to make some tough choices, rather than spread resources too thin.

"The labor movement has been poised to invest substantial resources into a major campaign effort to win passage of a statewide transportation package this fall," he said. "Although a statewide transportation package is vitally important to our future economy, we believe the rights of employees to organize and bargain collectively is a fundamental human right, and efforts to repeal this law are a direct attack on working people and organized labor.

"This would constitute an attack we must defend against with every available weapon and would cause us to focus our efforts on defeating this referendum. We will not hesitate to make this shift of resources."

The business community should consider the impact on the state "if these kinds of sour-grapes referendum campaigns continue," he said.

On the Web:

- Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO: www.wslc.org

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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