Advance HB 2351 from the House Finance Committee!

We need your help to stop tax incentives from being used in Washington state to intimidate, coerce and harass workers who might wish to belong to a union. HB 2351 would prevent recipients of the $3.2 billion in aerospace tax breaks from forcing their employees to attend "captive audience" meetings to coerce employees to reject unionization. But HB 2351 needs to get a public hearing and be passed from the House Finance Committee by Monday, March 5 to stay alive in Olympia. That's why we need your help.

If you received this email, one of your State Representatives serves on the House Finance Committee. Please ACT NOW by sending an email urging your Representative to hold a hearing and pass HB 2351 from that committee.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject:

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I'm writing to urge you to support a public hearing and committee passage of HB 2351, the Aerospace Incentive Accountability Act. The House Finance Committee, upon which you serve, must keep this critically important issue alive by acting quickly.

The problem with the tax incentives passed in 2003, is they are promoting growth in lower-wage and lower-benefit jobs in the aerospace supply sector, acting as a drag on wages and benefits of organized machinists and engineers. The tax exemptions were supposed to create family wage jobs, yet wages and benefits in the aerospace supply sector are 30% to 50% below what machinists and engineers earn at Boeing. This lowers the community standard of living as well.

Tax incentive money is also being used to intimidate, coerce and harass workers in an attempt to influence their choice in union representation elections. This is not right. No worker should have to choose between their job and union recognition. Yet a worker is fired or penalized every 17 minutes of the day in the U.S. for supporting a union.

HB 2351 will insure that employees are not required to attend "captive audience" meetings unless they choose to. I don't want my taxes going to subsidize companies that interfere with their employees' consideration of unionization by forcing the workers to attend one-on-one meetings with supervisors where they are intimidated and coerced into opposing forming a union.

Thank you for your consideration. It is my sincere hope that you and the rest of the Finance Committee advance HB 2351 before the Monday's cutoff deadline.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
March 01, 2007

Background Information

HB 2351, the Aerospace Incentive Accountability Act, addresses concerns that good Boeing jobs are being contracted out to aerospace firms that pay lower wages and offer fewer benefits, while these companies receive a major public subsidy intended to preserve Boeing jobs. There have been cases where aerospace contractors have aggressively fought their employees' attempts to form unions and violated labor laws intended to protect workers' freedom to choose -- without employer intimidation and coercion -- whether they want a union.

The bill prevents aerospace companies that are recipients of the $3.2 billion in tax incentives approved in 2003 from conducting "captive audience" meetings where wporkers are intimidated or coerced to oppose forming a union.

"This unprecedented taxpayer subsidy is worthwhile only if it creates good family-wage jobs where workers' rights are respected," said Rick Bender, President of the Washington State Labor Council. "If this investment is succeeding and producing good jobs as intended, then employers -- with their happy workers -- have nothing to fear from union neutrality."