In January, Council 2 became the first major union to endorse Maria Cantwell in her bid for the U.S. Senate.

The reason for the support from the union is that Cantwell had a consistent pro-labor voting record when she served for six years in the State Legislature and two years in the U.S. Congress.

Maria Cantwell poses with supporters from Council 2 during a recent visit to Spokane. They are (from left): Joanne Vaughn, Local 270 (City of Spokane); Amie Swenson, Local 1553 (Spokane County); Nancy Smith, Local 270 (City of Spokane); Cantwell; Michealanne O’Neill, Local 1553 (Spokane County); Gordon Smith, Council 2 Staff Representative; Art Krumm, Local 270A (City of Airway Heights).

“What a great candidate she is,” says Chris Dugovich, President/
Executive Director of Council 2. “Maria Cantwell has been a friend of this union for more than 20 years, working for us in the State Legislature and then in Congress.

“We are pleased to see her back and, based on her past voting records, she is clearly the best pick for the U.S. Senate and we look forward to working with her again.”

For five years, she worked for Real Networks, which makes software that enables users to view video and hear sound over the Internet. Now she is seeking to return to office and will contest one of the state’s two U.S. Senate seats in November.

Cantwell’s lifetime AFL-CIO voting record is 93 percent pro-labor and her position on the issues that are important to our members has not changed during her five years in the private sector. Indeed, Cantwell has become even more secure in her knowledge that public employees are necessary and important to society.

Here is where she stands on several issues:

• Collective Bargaining
  Cantwell consistently has voted for legislation protecting and expanding the rights of public employees to collectively bargain wages, hours and working conditions.
  In her own words, “working in the public sector doesn’t make you a second class citizen.” She has voted for laws increasing NLRB coverage for private sector workers.
  
• Working Families
  In the legislature and Congress, Cantwell voted for the Family and Medical Leave Act, providing workers the right to as many as 12 weeks leave for medical and family emergencies.
  She has voted for many programs and benefits for working families, including strengthening and expanding unemployment and workers compensation benefits.
  
• Health Care
  Cantwell believes that health-care decisions should be made by doctors and patients, not insurance company bureaucrats. She supports a strong Patients Bill of Rights and has a long record of voting for expanded health-care coverage for working people, including the Basic Health Plan and High Risk Insurance Pool. She supports the president’s efforts to control prescription drug prices and has committed to continue voting for programs to keep health care costs affordable.
  
• Minimum Wage
  Cantwell has voted to raise the minimum wage, believing that workers should not have to remain in poverty if they work 40 hours a week.
  
• Privatization/Contracting Out
  In Cantwell’s words, “Privatization is a code word for eliminating family-wage union jobs and replacing them with low wage non-union jobs.” According to Cantwell, “I’ve been in the private sector and it is clear that it is no better than the public sector at eliminating bureaucracy. Privatization is not a cure for inefficiency. We need to give workers the technology and training they need to succeed.”
  Recent independent polls find Cantwell leading her primary opponent by 10 points, and place her within 8 points of Slade Gorton, her opponent in the general election.

By helping elect Maria Cantwell, Council 2 members will have a strong voice for our concerns in the U.S. Senate.