Bill Extends Benefits For Locked-Out Steelworkers Republican Opponents Say Measure Will Lessen Urgency To Negotiate

Kaiser Steelworkers locked out of their jobs would receive unemployment benefits until the dispute is resolved under a measure passed in the state Senate on Monday.

The bill would allow workers locked out during any labor fight to keep receiving unemployment benefits. Under current law, benefits ran out for most of Washington’s 2,900 Steelworkers late last summer.

“They’re poor, they’re hungry, they’re suffering …” said Sen. Mike Heavey, D-West Seattle. “It’s time for us to come to their aid. If we’re not here to help people, what are we here for?”

Earlier this month, a group of Steelworkers from Spokane rallied in Olympia. They told lawmakers they’re relying on food banks and financial assistance from other unions to pay their mortgages and feed their families.

But Republican opponents of the bill argued that providing unemployment benefits would lessen the urgency on the part of workers to negotiate an end to the 16-month dispute.

Bargainers for both sides are meeting in Pittsburgh this week.

“If they have unlimited benefits, why should they end the dispute?” asked Sen. Harold Hochstatter, R-Moses Lake.

Sen. Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, the sponsor of the bill, said the difference was that Kaiser risked losing money and the workers risked not making ends meet.

“Right now, the balance of power is overwhelmingly against the workers,” Brown said. “What’s the company face? Bad financial reports? Shareholder unhappiness? It’s not the same as losing your house.”

All of Eastern Washington’s Republicans - like most GOP senators - voted against the measure.

“It was a very difficult no - one of the hardest votes I’ve had to take,” said Sen. Jim West, R-Spokane. “My heart goes out to them. But to misuse the power of the state to interfere on one side or the other is not appropriate.”

When the bill passed, a handful of Steelworkers who watched the debate from the Senate gallery applauded, prompting Lt. Gov. Brad Owen to politely gavel them quiet.

The bill faces long odds in the House, which is split evenly between Republicans and Democrats.

Republican Rep. Jim Clements, R-Yakima, the GOP’s co-chairman of the Commerce and Labor Committee, said he had no plans to give the measure any consideration.

Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, the Democrats’ majority leader, said it’s unlikely her party would be willing to further alienate her Republican colleagues over the bill.

“Right now we’re busy trying to cooperate with the other side,” she said.

Steelworker supporters said they had no illusions.

“We’re going to try working on (Clements) some more to get him to see what this means for us,” said Spokane’s Tammy Baxter, who has joined with other Steelworkers’ spouses to lobby the Legislature.

Her friend and fellow Steelworker wife, Ginger Yeager, agreed. “Hopefully, if nothing else, it sends a message to everyone to end this thing,” Yeager said.