Delegates representing hundreds of affiliated unions gathered July 16-18 at the union-represented Coast Wenatchee Hotel and Convention Center for the convention of the Washington State Labor Council, the state AFL-CIO.
Resolutions approved by delegates:
- Support passage of state laws establishing paid vacation and raising Washington’s minimum wage;
- Support passage of a state law extending unemployment benefits to striking workers;
- Encourage unions to heed the call from UAW president Shawn Fain to align contract expirations for May 1, 2028, and to prepare for potential mass strike action on that day; and
- Support an effort by AFGE to increase funding to reduce backlogs in Social Security administration.
Special guests included national AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler and SEIU International President April Verrett, who called for labor to fight for a $25 minimum wage in her address to delegates.
The convention also singled out groups and individuals for honors, including:
- The limited energy electricians of Seattle-area IBEW Local 46, who won $12.50 in raises after 10 weeks on strike, the first strike at that local since the 1940s; and
- Laborers District Council policy coordinator Mallorie Davies for her work passing a state law to require free menstrual products for women in construction and longer breaks for those who are expressing milk.
- Workers at Homegrown sandwich shops in Seattle and Redmond whose 100-day strike won the reinstatement of a fired coworker and a first contract with UNITE HERE Local 8.
- Longtime state senator Karen Keiser, a former WSLC spokesperson who retired this year after a career defending workers in the Washington Legislature.
