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Workers' Rights: "A Futile Gesture"

News   December 7, 2009 at 4:16 pm Josh Feit

State Rep. Mike Sells (D-38), labor Democrat and sponsor of last year’s controversial workers’ privacy bill, says the bill “will not come up this session.”

Citing last year’s “dust up with the governor and the speaker [and the senate leader Lisa Brown],” [who all opposed passing the bill] Sells said it would be a “futile gesture” to bring the proposal back this year.

The bill would have made it illegal for management to compel workers to come to meetings— like ones about union drives.

Sells says the Oregon legislature passed a version of the bill earlier this year, and local legislators are keeping an eye on that to see what effect it has—perhaps improving chances of passing it in Washington in 2011.


  • Francis

    Bullshit. You got hosed.
    The REAL reason: Labor only wanted that bill to try and make some case law in the 9th Circuit.
    Now that Oregon passed a version and Labor has its court case, they are afraid that Washington passing another version could screw up things with their prepackaged challenge of federal labor law.
    They got what they wanted out of Oregon, so they don’t need Washington anymore. It’s that simple.

  • Francis

    Bullshit. You got hosed.
    The REAL reason: Labor only wanted that bill to try and make some case law in the 9th Circuit.
    Now that Oregon passed a version and Labor has its court case, they are afraid that Washington passing another version could screw up things with their prepackaged challenge of federal labor law.
    They got what they wanted out of Oregon, so they don’t need Washington anymore. It’s that simple.

  • LEFTisRIGHT

    I thought if the legislature passed Worker Privacy then boeing would move to South Carolina…. oh wait.

  • LEFTisRIGHT

    I thought if the legislature passed Worker Privacy then boeing would move to South Carolina…. oh wait.

  • Trevor

    @1: Yes I’m sure that Chopp and the Governor have changed their mind and the only thing stopping the state of Washington from passing stronger labor law is the labor movement.

  • Trevor

    @1: Yes I’m sure that Chopp and the Governor have changed their mind and the only thing stopping the state of Washington from passing stronger labor law is the labor movement.