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Brothers and
Sisters,
The month of December brought an increase
to the already high level of political action in Washington
State. There have been several demonstrations at Bellingham,
Olympia, Spokane, Seattle, Vancouver, Aberdeen, and other
cities. They focused on hotel workers, firefighters, the postal
workers, job cuts overall, healthcare, and of course...the state
budget.
The Legislature ended the 2nd
Special Session on Dec.14h with another 480 million
dollars in cuts to our budget. Unfortunately, they were trying
to achieve 1.5 Billion in cuts. This need, along with the
bickering and party posturing by both sides will continue into
2012.
Redistricting of Legislative Districts
throughout WA is underway. District boundaries will be adjusted
to reflect population changers documented by the 2010 census.
Meetings continue, and results should be available early in
2012. I will try to get whatever changes are made to you as
soon as possible... But please check later in the year to make
sure there aren’t any changes to your district I might have
missed.
While those problems continue there is
some good economic news throughout the state. The Navy agreed to
a project Labor Agreement for the 600 million dollar project at
Bangor. (Silverdale WA). Boeing landed a huge contract from
Southwest Airlines for almost 200 planes. Boeing workers voted
for a four year contract that will provide stability for their
future. The Public Employment Relations Commission sided with
firefighters against the city of Everett for refusing to bargain
over work overload for the past two years.
All these things and many more that I
haven't mentioned are the reasons we want all our members to be
informed on current Political and Labor issues, and to vote in
every election. Not every issue is a blockbuster. Lots of small
and medium need resolution and serve as the foundation for the
larger ones that always surface.
The 2012 Legislative session will begin
on January 9th and will continue until March 8th.
If things go as they have in past years we will most certainly
be looking at more special sessions. On top of all this we will
be faced with choosing a new Governor and many other
legislators. My cry continues... Learn the facts of the issues
and VOTE.
In Solidarity,
Rich Prete, WASHINGTON STATE L&E
Chair.
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Well I Hope everyone had a great
Christmas. The New Year is ringing in load and clear, there were
many of our Brother and Sisters across the Country who did not.
They were either unemployed, on strike, or had been locked out
of their jobs.
We need to remember this when voting
comes up in November and or in the primaries in May. Look at the
people who we want to get elected and what they stand for, they
need to stand for working men and women across both our great
states and our country instead of corporations.. We need people
in congress state and nationally to stand up for them. This is
a Presidential election year and several seats in the House and
Senate are up for elections also.
We all have seen the stalemate from our
politicians in congress. So when they come around asking for
your votes, ask them what they did for the working people. Did
they vote against extending unemployment insurance? How they
voted for the so called free trade agreements and the health
care? Also how would they vote on the employee free choice act,
and right to work if they were to come up for a vote in the next
election cycle.
These are some of the questions we need to
be asking the people who are running for office as their vote
affects our lives and the lives of our children greatly. This
also applies to State office seekers as they have a say on some
of the implementation of the laws passed by our national
congress.
I know you don't like hearing about
politics so early in the year, but all year long you will be
bombarded either thru one or the other forms of medium and thru
individual contact. So be prepared to ask the hard questions
when you meet these candidates who will be asking for your vote.
As the Candidates’ file for election I
will let you know as soon as I can. Also the County is trying to
reduce the number of polling places from 72 down to about 50 so
some of you may have to travel a little bit to vote or you can
send into the county and ask for a absentee ballot sent to your
house. You can go to Kootenai County .gov and click on election
office to get your printable absentee form to mail into the
election office. If you need to register to vote you can get the
form to fill out and mail back to them.
"I hope you'll take some well-deserved time this holiday season
to rest, reflect and recharge. Because in 2012, huge challenges
will keep on coming. And we'll need you." (Richard L.
Trumka - President of AFL-CIO)
In
Solidarity, Dale R.
Broadsword,
IDAHO L&E Chair
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