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PRESS RELEASE December 7, 2004 Forced union dues at work to count every
"Gregoire" vote OLYMPIA, WA—Necessity is motivating the Washington Education Association (WEA) and other unions to discard any facade of merely pursuing the interests of the workers. Yesterday, the WEA sent out an urgent memo asking its members to "Please sign up today to serve as a Democratic Party observer for this count. To participate, please e-mail the party at count@wa-democrats.org." The training sessions to become an observer are held at six union halls around the state. "Even though only slightly more than a third of the teachers identify themselves as Democrats, unions are jumping in to provide resources, staffing and volunteers for this civic service just to the Democrats," said Bob Williams of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. "This further proves that the union does not make decisions on political expenditures by member consensus as it claims." The WEA is not alone; the Washington State Labor Council is also soliciting contributions and encouraging local unions to donate paid staff to the Democratic Party's efforts to find more votes for Christine Gregoire. "The WEA and other unions have made no attempt to seek worker approval for spending mandatory collective bargaining dues on a purely partisan recount effort," said Williams. "These dues are most often required because they are supposed to be used for bargaining and grievances, but union officials are once again diverting them to electioneering." Additional Information Contact: Jami Lund | Project Manager | 360.956.3482
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1 Part Honesty; 2 Parts Arrogance At a March 23, 2005, House Appropriations hearing on a bill to gut the voter-approved I-601 spending limit, Rep. Jim McIntire (D) asked a supporter of I-601’s two-third supermajority requirement for the legislature to raise taxes the following question: "Can you name a time when we [legislators] have actually not just set it [supermajority requirement] aside by majority vote? I mean, this is in many respects a procedural motion that has no bearing. It’s a statutory constraint that cannot constrain any legislature that chooses as a majority to set it aside . . . have we ever used a supermajority [to raise taxes]?" - Rep. Jim McIntire (D - 46) Despite the arrogance of some state officials, Washington's constitution is clear: "All political power is inherent in the people..." |
