Implementing Pullman Workers Council 

The right to strike is an important tool for collective bargaining and should always be protected against retaliation. This includes protecting those outside of the bargaining unit who participate in sympathy strikes in solidarity with other unions. The whole purpose of striking is to show the economic and daily operational impacts to employers to realize the value workers bring to them. In the case of the Glacier Northwest Supreme Court Case, I believe the Teamsters Local 174 were kind to have tried to prevent the cement from drying up by keeping trucks running. There is evidence to show that the Teamsters made a a concerted effort to prevent company property damage. It is extremely unfortunate that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of making Teamsters Local 174 liable for dried cement. With that said, workers should not have to pause to make impossible arrangements, such as figuring out what to do with massive amounts of cement, to be able to strike.

Overall, this is extremely concerning, because I think this rulings blurs many lines for employers to start suing unions for further financial gain and even intimidate union members from striking in the first place.I think the definition and evaluation, especially when precautions were generously taken to prevent economic costs to their employer, needs to be more well defined such that there is no blurred lines. We do not want to encourage a law that makes retaliation from employers permissible because of ill-defined wording and interpretation.

To ensure that employers do not infringe on their employees’ right to strike, I will work with local unions to establish a workers council as the first step to get consultation on how to best protect collective union power in Pullman. Ideas and discussion I would like to explore that would potentially lead into ordinances include defining what the Glacier Northwest Supreme Court Case means for Pullman area unions, how we can protect against wrong interpretations of the law which favors employers weakening collective bargaining, and standardizing definitions on what counts as retaliation.

With the help of local unions, I will work to establish workers council where decisions can be collaboratively made between the city and workers around how the city could best support labor protections. I think having worker representatives from across the different industries will provide a lot of insight and cohesiveness in how the city should establish new ordinances around local labor protections. I’m still very new to what could be done at the local city level in terms of ordinances, but I believe giving range of workers direct and regular access to members of city council will provide line of communication necessary to ensure that the city is supporting workers as best as it can through legislature. Although further development of this idea is needed, it could also be a space to establish ways where workers could feel safe in reporting workplace violations directly to a government official. 

Establishing a Wage Board

I have also looked into the possibility of establishing wage board, which, I think would be of great benefit to Pullman which struggles to attract and maintain workers, especially young professionals. Some of the common things I have heard from community members is that the wages in Pullman are still not competitive enough compared to other locations. I think a wage board could create cohesiveness between the city, businesses, and employees in terms of what should be the most appropriate wage standard across Pullman and beyond. It could assist in making Pullman an attractive place to work and live.