Committed to
Working Families

Unions protect their members’ lives and livelihoods by working for better working conditions and preventing arbitrary employer actions like wage adjustments, no-cause firings and job changes. Keeping Washington’s economy robust requires broad based policy initiatives and support for working people across the state.

Senate Democrats have pursued an agenda to create jobs with fair wages and benefits.

Most Recent Accomplishments

• Job one was responding to the economic crisis: We temporarily increased Unemployment checks to Washington workers who suddenly found themselves without a job. State weekly benefi ts increased by $45 and minimum weekly checks increased from $129 to $155. For many families, this increase is just enough for them to keep their heads above water. (HB 1906, 2009)

• Privacy for those hurt on the job: Until 2009, workers in the middle of workers compensation cases could have their medical records released by doctors to an opposing party without notifi cation. Now, workers must be notifi ed and restrictions are in place about access to the information. (SHB 1402, 2009)

• Worker retraining: The Legislature funded a program to retrain unemployed workers in high demand fi elds. Most of the training will be done at community/technical colleges. We have allocated $7 million as a match for federal and local workforce investment act funds that is expected to help 3,000 to 6,000 students learn a trade that will help get the state out of recession. (SB 5809, 2009)

• Binding arbitration: The Legislature authorized binding interest arbitration for employees at Hanford Nuclear Reservation, a vital tool in an environment in which labor strikes are prohibited. (SB 5492, 2009)

• Apprenticeship utilization: The Legislature added specifi c minimums for use of apprentices in public works construction at four-year colleges and universities, requiring that 15% of the labor hours be performed by apprentices for such projects after 2011. (ESSB 5873, 2009)

Collective Bargaining and worker rights

• Granted State Patrol permission to negotiate pay and wage level with the State (2005, 2SHB 1188).

• Extended collective bargaining rights to professional and technical employees of Western Washington University and retroactively applied cost-of-living adjustments (2006, SHB 2976).

• Provided collective bargaining rights to family child care providers and adult family home providers (2006: E2SHB 2353; 2007: ESHB 2111).

• Provided 8,000 professional staff at community and technical college and four-year- public colleges the same collective bargaining rights currently available to faculty and civil service employees (2007: HB 2361).

• Granted collective bargaining rights to student employees at WSU. (2008: SHB 2963).

• Created a program for the Washington State Patrol and the state to select an interest arbitration panel before the bargaining process begins (2008: SHB 3002). Wages and Benefits

• Provided state employees their first raise in three years. (2005: operating budget)

• Over the past 5 years, we’ve strengthened retirement benefits and pensions for our state’s teachers, firefighters, police and state employees (2005: HB 1319, 1321, 1327, 1936; 2006: SESHB 2680, SHB 2684, SBH 2688, HB 2960; HB 3019).

• Created program to implement a wage ladder for child care workers, providing better wages for employees of participating child care facilities (2005: SHB 1636).

• Provided additional funding to the prevailing wage program (2006: SB 5236).

• Increased penalties for violations of wage payment requirements (2006: SHB 3185).

• Protected against possible elimination of provisions under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act by bring the state program into partial conformity with the federal program (2006: SSB 6185).

• Enabled part-time academic employees at community and technical colleges to accumulate sick leave (2006: ESSB 6396).

• Became the second state in the nation with state family leave insurance to allow workers to better balance their family and job responsibilities (2007: E2SSB 5659).

• Included health care hours purchased through a trust when calculating time loss benefits (2007: SHB 1244).

• Created the Workers Family Tax Credit to provide sales tax refunds to working Washingtonians who qualify for the federal earned income tax credit (2008: ESSB 6809).

• Required employers to provide reasonable leave to and expanded leave sharing program to employees who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking (2008: SHB 2602, 6572).

Unemployment Insurance and Workers’ Compensation

• Barred employers from using short term disability policies to deny family leave rights (2005: SSB 5850).

• Higher unemployment benefits by using two quarter averaging for two years (HB 2255, 2005).

• Protected laid-off workers from drastic reductions in their UI benefits by making payment of benefits based on the two-quarter averaging permanent (2006: ESB 6885).

• Increased penalties for employers who knowingly evade successor employer unemployment contribution rates provisions (2006: SSB 6359).

• Increased the minimum worker compensation benefit for the first time since 1969 (2007: ESB 5675).

• Banned workers’ compensation claim suppression (2007: SSB 5443).

• Provided for a better advocacy system for self-insured workers to help avoid legal costs and lengthy disputes by creating a L&I Ombudsman (2007: EHB 1833).

• Modified the industrial insurance presumption of occupational disease for firefighters to include certain heart injuries and certain cancers (2007: ESHB 1833).

• Eased economic and health burdens injured workers suffer during workers comp. appeals by requiring all employers to provide benefits for employees during the appeal. (2008: E2SHB 3139).

Improving, training for and creating jobs

• Required public works projects valued at $1 million or more to have apprentices perform at least 15 percent of the projects labor hours (2005: SB 5097).

• Created and continued funding the opportunity grants program to providing funding for postsecondary workforce education (2006: ESSB 6386; 2007: 2SHB 1096).

• Granted tax incentives to aerospace, health care, and biotech industries to retain local family-wage jobs (2003: HB 2994; 2006: SHB 2640, SHB 2670).

• Established the Washington Customized Employment Workforce Training Program which allows employers to receive funds for employee training. Employers receive 50 percent business and occupation tax credit. (2SSB 6326).

• Established a pilot program for vocational rehabilitation services (2007: ESSSB 5920).

• Established the underground economy in the construction industry task force and implemented recommendations that reduce actions of negligent business owners (2007: SB 5926; 2008: 2SSB 6732).

• Added an additional “good cause quit” provision to cover individuals who left work to enter an approved apprenticeship program (2008: SSB 6751).

• Provided $5 million for building trades and aerospace apprenticeships.

• Funded 2005-07 collective bargaining agreements: $200 million in health care and salary increases.

• Funded I-732 & health care increases for K-12 -- over $255 million (2005-2007).

• Funded home care worker collective bargaining agreement - $31 million (2005-2007).