Next Out of the Gate With a Hearty, "Democrats? F Those Guys!", it's the Washington State Labor Council

This article and the accompanying comments from the Seattle PI are fascinating because of what they say about the last legislative session and where the state could go in the future. Also check out the source documents from the Washington State Labor Council; their report card is highly interesting reading.

The education angle? Where the WSLC is going sounds quite similar to where the Washington Education Association is starting to tread via New Business Item K from the last Rep Assembly, which is an overhaul of how we look at politics after the spanking education took in the last session. I'm unsure as to what the long-term impact will be, but what you've got is a core constituency making some noise that they've not made before, and that could be fun to watch.

Update: Publicola here; Horse's Ass here.

Read more here, if any.

But on the other hand.....

Political Buzz at the News-Tribune has the story of how Terry Bergeson got a big endorsement from the Washington State Labor Council. Two thoughts:

1) For anyone who tells you that labor is a monolith, here's your counter-argument. The Public School Employees endorsed Randy Dorn, for obvious reasons, as did the Washington Education Association.

2) It's highly interesting that the WSLC didn't find their way clear to endorsing Terry at their nominating convention in May; it's only now that the stars have lined up. Her name is an obvious omission from their list of endorsed candidates. What's changed since?

Read more here, if any.

Terry Bergeson and the WSLC: Big Deal, Little Deal, or No Deal?

An email received today that raised my eyebrows:

Thanks to Seattle Education Association who worked with their colleagues, the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 609, who represent Seattle School District ESP's. Local 609 delivered a rousing speech on the floor of Saturday's endorsement convention of the State Labor Council regarding Terry Bergeson's anti union support of charter schools and convinced the Labor Council, who had endorsed her in previous elections, to deny Terry Bergeson their endorsement this year.

It seems odd to me that an old stance on charter schools, which is a dead-as-a-doornail issue here in Washington State, would have any resonance. I would have expected criticism for underfunding the skills centers, or championing practices that have made it harder for kids to pursue a career in the trades, but charter schools?

A quick check of the Washington State Labor Council's website shows that they didn't endorse anybody for the OSPI race, which is a mild surprise to me when you consider that PSE Executive Director Randy Dorn has declared for the office; I maybe would have expected some inter-union synergy.

The crowd I hang with is decidedly in the "ditch the bitch" camp, so it's not a surprise that I hear a lot of anti-Bergeson buzz; it's just odd to me to see so little positive momentum, either. She's a 12 year incumbent, after all.

Read more here, if any.