More than 400 union members and guests assembled at the Hilton Vancouver Convention Center July 22-24 for the annual convention of the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC), AFL-CIO. WSLC counts around 650 affiliates, representing close to 600,000 workers. As the state labor federation’s highest decision-making body, the convention is where delegates set policy via resolution. It’s also a chance for dedicated union activists to strengthen group feeling, get better educated, and leave inspired to continue the work.
Washington is the nation’s sixth-most unionized state, with 16% of workers represented by a union. Most of that union membership is concentrated in the Puget Sound region, but WSLC makes a point of holding conventions in other parts of the state too. In Vancouver’s case, the city’s unionized and publicly owned Hilton Hotel and Convention Center was the obvious choice.
Delegates were warmly welcomed by Vancouver mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle on the morning of the first day. McEnerny-Ogle spent 30 years as a teacher and teachers union member and has exceptionally strong ties to Southwest Washington’s labor movement.
“Unions are about a simple proposition,” she declared. “By joining together, working men and women gain strength in numbers so they can have a voice at work about what they care about.”
WSLC doesn’t necessarily have an easy time passing pro-worker legislation in the state legislature, but it’s a politically potent force, and several top state elected leaders were given a chance to address delegates.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown took the stage July 22 to a loud labor welcome. Since he took office in January, his office has filed 29 federal lawsuits challenging the legality or constitutionality of White House actions. Brown praised his office’s newly unionized paralegals and attorneys, who are represented by the AFSCME affiliate Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE). He also announced plans for a September town hall in Tacoma to talk about labor and worker protections.
Governor Bob Ferguson had a more mixed welcome, with a number of WFSE delegates remaining seated as he took the stage. Ferguson angered members earlier this year when he called for furloughs of state workers to balance the state budget and also declared he would not support a proposed wealth tax to bring in new revenue. He spent most of his 11-minute convention speech blasting the Trump administration, but Ferguson also reminded delegates that he doesn’t accept corporate political donations and that he signed several pieces of labor-backed legislation, including a new law allowing strikers to collect unemployment benefits. Also noted was an executive order asking all state agencies to streamline permitting in order to lessen delays for new construction.
WSLC conventions are also a chance to honor individuals and groups for their contributions to the labor movement. This year UFCW Local 367 got one of the state federation’s top awards — for pursuing an “open-bargaining” strategy, which supporters say helped them win a stronger than usual contract for Tacoma-area grocery workers this year. Other honorees were:
- Machinists District 751, for their courageous and successful strike at Boeing last fall;
- Machinists Local 695 president Richard Howard, for leading a fight to free his fellow union member Maximo Londonio from ICE detention;
- State Senator Marcus Riccelli (D-Spokane), for sponsoring and fighting the bill granting unemployment insurance for striking workers;
- Laborers Local 252 apprenticeship coordinator Jeremy Clevenger;
- Washington Education Association vice president Janie White; and
- Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network.
LIKE BEING IN THE ROOM The first two day’s morning plenary sessions were streamed live on TVW, a C-SPAN-style cable network for state and local government in Washington. You can watch Day 1 here and Day 2 here.
