Tim Eyman Wants You To Stay Home On Saturday

Tim Eyman and his corporate cronies are waging a war on public servants, as well as public services, on the ballot in 2010. If some of the initiatives on the ballot this year come to pass it will have a devastating affect on the entire state. But, thanks to the power of solidarity, we can join other union members all across the state to show ol' Eyman that we've got a lot of fight left in us.

As our old friend David Groves at the WA St Labor Council reported, "Labor Neighbor is making its final push this weekend to stress to all union members the importance of voting this election -- and supporting candidates and causes that advance their best interests."

Union members will be conducting neighborhood walks this Saturday, Oct. 30, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, in Bellingham, Everett, Olympia, Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver and Yakima. There are also walks scheduled for Sunday and Labor Neighbor phone banks are running every day through election day.

A complete schedule of activities, along with a list of locations and local coordinators, can be found here. For more information, contact the WFSE Legislative & Political Action Department, at 1-800-562-6002 or lpa@wfse.org, or your local WFSE field office.

AFSCME Rocks the 2010 Elections

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that AFSCME is "now the biggest outside spender of the 2010 elections..." In a year when independent expenditures have dominated the election landscape, it's heartening to know that AFSCME is in there swinging on behalf of our members.

According to the Journal, "the 1.6 million-member AFSCME is spending a total of $87.5 million on the elections after tapping into a $16 million emergency account to help fortify the Democrats' hold on Congress. Last week, AFSCME dug deeper, taking out a $2 million loan to fund its push. The group is spending money on television advertisements, phone calls, campaign mailings and other political efforts..."

Some of AFSCME's war chest has been spent here in Washington state in this ad condemning Dino Rossi and in support of Patty Murray:



The most recent series of AFSCME-sponsored political ads -- airing in Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania -- can be seen in a recent post at Talking Points Memo. They are powerful and, I would think, very effective.

As the WSJ reported, "the union is spending heavily this year because 'a lot of people are attacking public-sector workers as the problem,' said AFSCME President Gerald McEntee. 'We're spending big. And we're damn happy it's big. And our members are damn happy it's big—it's their money,' he said."

-- Dennis