There is a long history of unions in the United States and their work on behalf of workers. But when joining a union is forced by state law and allows minimal control by the people it is forcing to participate, that is problematic and ultimately defeats the entire purpose of being “for the worker.”
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) wrote SB 5062 and HB 1128. Senator Stanford, District 1-Bothell, and Representative Fosse, District 38-Tulalip/Marysville, respectively, sponsored these bills.
Contrary to the typical model of workers uniting themselves, these concurrent bills promoted by the state labor council require teachers to either join the new Child Care Workforce Union or give their personal contact information to that union. Instead of the teachers asking to be unionized, the state is mandating that they must be. These bills benefit the union at the expense of the teachers, taking away autonomy, flexibility, and curriculum decisions from the schools.
WFIS has many issues with the bills. Here are two:
Private schools are mission-based and cannot operate successfully with a “one-size fits all” determination of curriculum, staffing models, or payscales. The majority of early learning programs are not separate entities but intrinsically connected to a K12 school.
The Workforce Standards Board would have no private school voice and be dominated by union representatives. The board is allowed to conduct “investigations,” but there is no description in the bill of what they will investigate.
**If your legislator is on the Labor & Workforce Committee, please contact them before Thursday, January 30th, at the phone numbers below:
- Rep Liz Berry, Chair from District 36, 360-786-7860
- Rep Mary Fosse, Vice Chair from District 38, 360-786-7864
- Rep Shaun Scott, Vice Chair from District 43,360-786-7920
- Rep Suzanne Schmidt from District 4, 60-786-7820
- Rep Alex Ybarra from District 13, 360-786-7808
- Rep Dan Bronoske from District 28, 360 786-7958
- Rep Joel McEntire from District 19, 360-786-7870
- Rep Edwin Obras from District 33, 360-786-7834
- Rep Lillian Ortiz-Self from District 21, 360-786-7972
A simple phone call saying, “I live in your District, or my school is in your District, and I ask you to vote NO on HB 1128. This bill is bad for the diversity of programming available to families in Washington and not what early learning educators need.”
If you want to email your legislators, their address is Firstname.Lastname@leg.wa.gov.
Go HERE to look up your legislative district representatives.
Thank you for your attention to this critical policy issue.
