Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, announced the results of leadership elections Dec. 8. The state labor federation has over 600 local union affiliates, totaling about 400,000 rank-and-file union members. Leadership elections occur every four years. This year there were no contested seats, so all candidates ran unopposed.
Incumbent WSLC president Jeff Johnson and secretary-treasurer Lynne Dodson were re-elected, and so were 14 of the 18 Executive Board members. The WSLC Executive Board is divided into six geographic districts, which at one time corresponded to Washington’s Congressional districts. (Because of population growth and redistricting, the state today has 10 Congressional Districts.) To be a candidate for WSLC office, an individual must be nominated by five affiliated unions. In Northwest Washington’s Second District, only one candidate met that requirement, so there are two vacant seats that will be filled by appointments. There were also two new Executive Board members: David Myers and Paul Parmley.
For District 3 in Southwest Washington (Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Skamania, Thurston and Wahkiakum counties), the vice presidents are: Bob Guenther, lobbyist for SeaTac-headquartered IBEW Local 77; David Myers, international representative for IBEW Ninth District (replacing organizer Tim Pfeiffer of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers); and Shannon Walker, member, Machinists Lodge W56.
The other vice presidents are:
First District (King County): Todd Crosby, David Freiboth, Jon Holden, Lee Newgent, and Karen Strickland
Second District (Northwest Washington): Mark Lowry
Fourth District (Central Washington): Paul Parmley, Mark Reavis and Eric Thrift
Fifth District (Eastern Washington): Beth Thew and James Tieken
Sixth District (Olympic Peninsula): Rick Johnson and Vance Lelli
Also elected were representatives to the WSLC from AFL-CIO-chartered constituency groups: Bob Hasegawa, Asian-Pacific American Labor Alliance; Jackie Boschok, Alliance for Retired Americans; Ted Thomas, Coalition Black Trade Unionists; Stephanie Lloyd-Agnew, Coalition of Labor Union Women; Cariño Barragà n Talancón, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement; Lee Malinda, Pride at Work; and Angela Marshall, Washington Young Emerging Labor Leaders.
