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Recent local Workers Rights Victories that
Washington State Jobs with Justice is Celebrating
(June, 2005)
Roll Call of Victories
Janitors working at Holland America corporate headquarters have won affordable healthcare, living wages, and a voice at work with a union contract (with SEIU Local 6) on the eve of a new round of JwJ cruise ship protests. JwJ activists may remember our creative and daring SeaTac Airport protest at the end of last year's cruise ship season. We exercised our free speech airport rights to alert passengers of cruise ship health concerns and the connecting pattern to cruise ship management's denial of affordable healthcare for the janitor's who clean their toilets. Passengers were very eager to learn more about health issues at cruise lines.
During the action, airport authorities felt that we exercised too much free speech when we donned green latex surgical gloves, medical masks, and dispensed free toilet paper rolls as we leafleted cruise ship passengers. When airport police stopped directing traffic to curtail our free speech, a massive traffic jam ensued that ensnarled cruise ship passengers on already late charter buses trying to make plane departures after the ships ran afoul of early morning fishing nets. Rumor has it, the next day some activists infiltrated corporate headquarters with leaflets that warned that we would be back at the start of cruise ship season in May. Fortunately, Holland America did the right thing and switched from Cascadian to a cleaning contractor that treats janitors respectfully before the cruise ship season started.
Now we hope that the University of Washington School of Medicine will follow this socially responsible lead and respect the dignity of the janitors who clean UW lab toilets. UW School of Medicine off-campus lab janitors face the conditions that the Holland America janitors previously faced because UW administrators such as Albert J. Berger, Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Education, utilize the Cascadian contractor that refuses to provide affordable healthcare. The janitors clean toilets for UW labs that perform critical medical research yet these janitors have no affordable healthcare themselves. The UW School of Medicine and Dean Berger (berger@u.washington.edu, (206) 543-8196) have so far refused to exert their considerable influence as commercial tenants in a "tenants' market" to address this injustice. JwJ's UW Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) chapter has taken several delegations to Dean Berger and has corresponded with him on numerous occasions.
We have recently celebrated the tectonic shift by "free trade" leaders led by Congressperson Adam Smith (see last JwJ e-Victory report) to support living-wage jobs over the NAFTA race-to-the-bottom. Not only does Rep. Smith now oppose the expansion of NAFTA to Central America (CAFTA), he is aggressively campaigning for a more sustainable model of economic development nationally as the elected co-chair of the New Democrats. In Rep. Smith's most recent Labor Newsletter Update, his office acknowledges:
"Smith Focuses On Growing Jobs at Home"
"On December 9th, Adam participated in a Workers' Rights Board hearing organized by Washington State Jobs with Justice. As a member of the panel – joined by outgoing State Representative Velam Veloria, Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg, Pierce County United Way President Rick Allen, Executive Director of Associated Ministries Reverend David Alger, and other distinguished leaders in the community – Adam heard two hours of testimony from local workers, policy analysts and economists, non-profit directors, and a union leader from India. The testimony focused on the loss of living wage jobs in Pierce and south King County."
"Based on strong and informative testimony, Adam and participants of the Workers Rights Board later released the following findings amongst a longer list:
- That living wage jobs and high levels of employment are integral to the health of our communities and economy.
- That exporting living wage jobs from our community without an effective strategy to replace those jobs and provide laid off workers transition to future decent living standards is cause for serious concern.
- That both government and the private sector should develop local sustainable economy and community strategies to address the impact of job exporting."
"In closing, Adam joined with the other panelists and resolved 'to work to build a sustainable
economy of living wage jobs and stable high employment in our community of Pierce and south King Counties."
"'There is no doubt in my mind how vital good living-wage jobs are to the success of our economy and the well-being of our community,' said Adam. 'Determining which policies will preserve these jobs now and 100 years from now is a harder task, but it begins with talking to workers on the ground and forming partnerships in all levels of government and in the community.'"
To start 2005, Bush identified 2 top goals around which to campaign nationally, dominate debate, and build public support for his agenda: They were 1. Piratize Social Security 2. Expand the NAFTA race-to-the-bottom to CAFTA-Central America. So far, we are winning on both of these fronts. On the CAFTA front, Bush has had to resort to Plan B struggling to recruit "senior West Coast free-trade Democrats" to even publicly campaign with him. Trying to counter Rep. Smith's bold campaign launch, the Bush team spread rumors 2 weeks ago that he and the Microsofts and Boeings were influencing US Rep. Norm Dicks (WA, 6th Dst) to join him on the CAFTA campaign trail. WA JwJ organized with the Pierce County Labor Council, 21 faith and community leaders in Dicks' district, and a broad coalition of environmental, union, and community organizations to start a deeper dialogue with Rep. Dicks on the devastating impact NAFTA and corporate trade practices have had on us, the workers and voting residents in his district. That dialogue is beginning and so far Dicks' office has pledged to Patty Rose, Secretary-Treasurer of the Pierce County Labor Council not to campaign with Bush. If he does, we will need to mobilize even bolder and broader to get local accountability.
While we celebrate these victories, we have much organizing before they are secure. We need our combined volunteer activism and funding to continue to build a better world.
Please support WA State JwJ!
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