Congressional candidate forum spotlights labor priorities on climate, AI, immigration and health care
May 18, 2024 | Campaign and Election (TVW), Washington
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A candidate forum at the Washington State Labor Council COPE convention featured opening statements and a timed question-and-answer period in which candidates for the 5th and 6th congressional districts outlined their priorities on climate, automation, immigration, and health care.
Emily Randall (Washington state senator and deputy majority leader) touted her record on higher education and workforce training and emphasized investments in apprenticeships that transfer into college credit. "We have to be planning for a just transition," Randall said, tying wildfire response and clean-energy projects to union jobs.
Hilary Franz (commissioner of public lands) described her experience managing public lands and firefighting response and pledged to require project labor agreements and apprenticeship minimums on public-lands clean-energy projects. "Every dollar that comes from the fed should go directly to labor building those investments," Franz said.
Other candidates — including Jacqueline May (video), Carmel Conroy, and Dr. Bernadine Ngai — emphasized reproductive and veterans' health, pipelines to rural health care providers, and widescale worker protections. On artificial intelligence and automation, candidates uniformly supported stronger regulation and worker participation in design and deployment decisions; several voiced support for the PRO Act as a framework to safeguard organizing rights.
Why it matters: The forum gave rank-and-file union delegates direct answers about how candidates would prioritize labor in federal policy. Candidates tied climate and technology policy to job creation and worker protections, signaling the labor movement's central role in mobilization and endorsement decisions.
What delegates will watch next: Delegates were invited to volunteer for Labor Neighbor and to use the WSLC endorsement process later in the day. The convention also held a rapid-fire paddle exercise to register explicit positions (e.g., co-sponsoring the PRO Act, opposing repeal of Davis-Bacon protections).
Emily Randall (Washington state senator and deputy majority leader) touted her record on higher education and workforce training and emphasized investments in apprenticeships that transfer into college credit. "We have to be planning for a just transition," Randall said, tying wildfire response and clean-energy projects to union jobs.
Hilary Franz (commissioner of public lands) described her experience managing public lands and firefighting response and pledged to require project labor agreements and apprenticeship minimums on public-lands clean-energy projects. "Every dollar that comes from the fed should go directly to labor building those investments," Franz said.
Other candidates — including Jacqueline May (video), Carmel Conroy, and Dr. Bernadine Ngai — emphasized reproductive and veterans' health, pipelines to rural health care providers, and widescale worker protections. On artificial intelligence and automation, candidates uniformly supported stronger regulation and worker participation in design and deployment decisions; several voiced support for the PRO Act as a framework to safeguard organizing rights.
Why it matters: The forum gave rank-and-file union delegates direct answers about how candidates would prioritize labor in federal policy. Candidates tied climate and technology policy to job creation and worker protections, signaling the labor movement's central role in mobilization and endorsement decisions.
What delegates will watch next: Delegates were invited to volunteer for Labor Neighbor and to use the WSLC endorsement process later in the day. The convention also held a rapid-fire paddle exercise to register explicit positions (e.g., co-sponsoring the PRO Act, opposing repeal of Davis-Bacon protections).
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