Workers rally to end legislative blockade

OLYMPIA - Union workers rallied on the steps of the state Capitol yesterday to vent their frustration with lawmakers blocking two of labor's biggest priorities: extended unemployment benefits for locked-out steel workers and collective-bargaining rights for state employees.

The union members have been aiming those grievances for weeks at House Republican leaders who have used legislative rules to stymie organized labor.

But yesterday, protesters turned much of their wrath toward the top Democrat in the state House, Co-Speaker Frank Chopp of Seattle, who has been reluctant to attempt a rewrite of the legislative rules Republicans are using to halt the bills.

"No more excuses. No more hiding behind arcane rules. No more broken commitments," thundered Rick Bender, president of the Washington State Labor Council. "This institution will not crumble if they make this rules change."

Bender quickly added: "But also remember that (Republican House Co-Speaker) Clyde Ballard is the real enemy of working people."

It was clear that labor leaders were just as irritated at Chopp. Duwane Huffaker, president of the Washington Federation of State Employees, suggested the issue might affect union support for Democratic leaders in upcoming elections.

With perhaps 200 protesters, turnout at the rally was less than expected. Labor leaders said last week they expected between 500 and 1,000 people, but they had been counting on support from Boeing engineers, who ended their strike and returned to work yesterday.

Under the proposed steel-worker legislation, Kaiser Aluminum workers would be given 30 additional weeks of unemployment benefits, with the company solely responsible for the cost, estimated at more than $20 million. That would be an unusual arrangement and would bring extra pressure to bear on the company to settle its differences with the United Steelworkers of America.

About 2,400 Kaiser workers in Spokane and Tacoma went on strike in September 1998. The workers offered to return to work last January under their old contract, but the company refused, locking them out. Contract negotiations are expected to resume Thursday in Minneapolis.

The union leaders are frustrated because they are so close to getting what they want. Both the steel-worker and collective-bargaining bills passed the state Senate twice this year. And in the state House, a few Republicans say they'd cross party lines to vote for the measures.

But Republican leaders have prevented a vote by relying on rules agreed to by lawmakers at the beginning of the session. Those rules were drafted as a result of the unusual 49-49 tie between Democrats and Republicans in the state House. They give Co-Speakers Ballard and Chopp immense power to block legislation, no matter how much support it has.

Union officials say Chopp ought to try to break the impasse by altering those rules, even though it would likely infuriate Republicans and end any pretense of bipartisan cooperation on other issues, including the state budget.

A Spokane lawmaker, Rep. Jeff Gombosky, was sympathetic to Chopp's dilemma even as he held a banner urging a vote on the steel-worker bill.

"It's not an easy matter," said Gombosky, a Democrat. "If you choose to break the rules, especially at the end of the session, you know what that does to the working relationship in the institution."

Jim Brunner's phone message number is 360-236-8266. His e-mail address is jbrunner@seattletimes.com