By Don McIntosh
There’s almost nothing else like it anywhere in the nation: Five days a week, for free, an email newsletter goes out to anyone who wants it with all the most recent labor news from Washington state and “that Washington.” Known as The Stand, it’s published by the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC), AFL-CIO.
WSLC communications director David Groves spends four to six hours a day working on it. He starts as early as 4 a.m. every weekday, scouring every daily newspaper in Washington—plus a handful of national publications—on the hunt for labor news. At 10 a.m. it goes out to nearly 6,000 subscribers. They get a calendar of union events, links and summaries of each news story from a union point of view, plus one or two original reports authored by Groves.
The Stand isn’t dry. There’s a voice, a sense of humor, dollops of ridicule for those who deserve it, and every Friday, a music video reflecting the eclectic tastes Groves has developed as a self-described vinyl junkie.
On May 1, The Stand marked 10 years of publication.
“It was born out of frustration at the lack of coverage that unions were getting in the commercial press,” Groves says, looking back. “As communications director, part of my job has been to get union news out there, to get the general public to see what we’re up to and what we stand for.”
David is skilled, knowledgeable and political savvy. His publication has bested many in the labor communications field. He never tires of getting it done. We are all appreciative of his toiling in the labor vineyard all of these years. We are fortunate for his dedication to the union movement.