The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO (WSLC) is a state-level pressure group affiliated with the AFL-CIO, the largest association of labor unions in the United States. The council assists AFL-CIO member unions with organizing activist campaigns and engages in its own activism, lobbying, and public relations initiatives on their behalf. While the WSLC works with unions outside the AFL-CIO on a limited basis, and while not all AFL-CIO member unions work with the WSLC, the council is an official partner of the national federation and represents its positions on labor policy and political affairs in general. More than 600 unions in Washington State are affiliated with the WSLC, which claims to represent nearly 500,000 workers. ¹

Political Ideology

The WSLC follows the official positions of the AFL-CIO, which has steadily moved towards closer ties with the Democratic Party and greater adherence to left-of-center values since the 1980s, when its membership and leadership started shifting to favor public-sector workers. ^{2 3} The council has a “diversity committee” which is tasked with developing ways to shift the racial makeup of union membership and leadership towards racial minority groups. ⁴ In addition, the WSLC has a “racial justice committee” which is intended to promote left-progressive views on race and combat alleged racism in the labor movement. ⁵ The council also promotes left-progressive expansionist immigration policies: its “labor immigration committee” provides guidance and resources for resisting enforcement of immigration laws, and assists immigrants with obtaining legal residency status and citizenship. ⁶

The WSLC women’s committee provides resources and training related to the allegedly unique challenges that women in the labor movement face. It also provides scholarships exclusively for women. However, the council specifies that membership on the committee is not limited to women. ⁷

Following the imposition of a vaccine mandate on several hundred thousand healthcare and government employees in August 2021 by Gov. Jay Inslee (D), the WSLC released a statement on what it called “labor’s position” on such mandates. This included feedback from local unions, which requested the right to “bargain the impacts of the mandate” and called for “clearly stated policies and practices for exemptions.” Some local unions also requested alternatives to vaccination such as regular testing, while others preemptively stated their opposition to policies that would lead to segregating or separately identifying unvaccinated employees. ⁸

Candidate Endorsements

The WSLC endorses candidates for federal, state, and local office. The council overwhelmingly supports Democratic Party politicians: in 2020, endorsements included Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson, as well as U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WI), who has been celebrated by socialist publications such as The Nation for opposing more moderate Democrats. ^{9 10}

Leadership

Larry Brown was elected president of the WSLC in December 2018 and took office in January 2019. Before joining the WSLC, he worked as the legislative and political director of a machinists’ union district council. Brown also previously sat on the board of trustees for Green River College in Auburn, Washington, and was elected to the Auburn City Council. ¹¹

April Sims is the secretary-treasurer of the WSLC. She was elected and took office at the same time as Brown. Previously, she was the council’s political and strategic campaign director and first joined the council in 2015 as its field mobilization director. Prior to working for the WSLC, Sims worked as a coordinator for the Washington Federation of State Employees, an organizing body affiliated with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, a leading government worker union. ¹²

Financials

In 2019, the WSLC had a total revenue of approximately $4.6 million, including at least $1 million in government grants. The council spent more than $400,000 on leadership salaries, as well nearly $2.4 million on other staff salaries and benefits. ¹³

1. “Who We Are.” Washington State Labor Council. Accessed October 9, 2021. https://www.wslc.org/who-we-are/
2. “Who We Are.” Washington State Labor Council. Accessed October 9, 2021. https://www.wslc.org/who-we-are/
3. Kenneth Weinstein. “From Meany to Sweeney: Labor’s Leftward Tilt.” The Heritage Foundation. October 4, 1996. Accessed October 9, 2021. https://www.heritage.org/jobs-and-labor/report/meany-sweeney-labors-leftward-tilt-0
4. “Diversity Committee.” Washington State Labor Council. Accessed October 9, 2021. https://www.wslc.org/diversity-committee/
5. “Racial Justice Committee.” Washington State Labor Council. Accessed October 9, 2021. https://www.wslc.org/racial-justice-committee/
6. “Labor Immigration Committee.” Washington State Labor Council. Accessed October 9, 2021. https://www.wslc.org/labor-immigration-committee/
7. “Women’s Committee.” Washington State Labor Council. Accessed October 9, 2021. https://www.wslc.org/womens-committee/
8. “COVID Vaccine Information.” Washington State Labor Council. Accessed October 9, 2021. https://www.wslc.org/covid-vaccine/
9. “2020 WSLC Endorsements.” Washington State Labor Council. Accessed October 9, 2021. https://www.wslc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/WSLC-endorsements-20Sep30.pdf
10. John Nichols. “Pramila Jayapal’s Perfect Pitch.” The Nation. October 5, 2021. Accessed October 9, 2021. https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/pramila-jayapals-perfect-pitch/
11. “President Larry Brown.” Washington State Labor Council. Accessed October 9, 2021. https://www.wslc.org/president/
12. “Secretary Treasurer April Sims.” Washington State Labor Council. Accessed October 9, 2021. https://www.wslc.org/secretary-treasurer/
13. “Washington State Labor Council AFL-CIO.” CauseIQ. Accessed October 9, 2021. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/afl-cio-washington-state-afl-cio,910668471/