Still smarting from a legislative session in which they got spanked, the Washington State Labor Council will be holding its annual convention later this week east of the mountains.

I scanned the agenda, looking for a panel discusion on "Don't get angry, get even" but couldn't find it. There was this, however,

After a challenging legislative session in which corporate interests superseded those of working families, the WSLC will be making significant changes in its political program to better target labor's support to the legislators who have truly earned it, regardless of party affiliation. Those changes -- outlined in the newly published 2009 WSLC Legislative Report -- will be discussed at the convention.

Here's the news release. Stuff starts Thursday.

Holt Baker to keynote WSLC convention opener Thursday
Health care, immigration also on agenda at Aug. 6-8 meeting in Wenatchee

The 2009 Convention of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO convenes this Thursday at the Wenatchee Coast Hotel and Convention Center, and will feature keynote speaker Arlene Holt Baker, Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO. (See the convention's tentative agenda below.)

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Holt Baker's experience as a union and grassroots organizer, mostly with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in California, spans more than 30 years. In September 2007, she was unanimously approved to replace retiring Linda Chavez-Thompson as the AFL-CIO's Executive Vice President, becoming the first African American to be elected to one of the federation’s three highest offices and the highest-ranking African American woman in the union movement. (She is seeking re-election to her position at September's AFL-CIO Convention in Pittsburgh.) In her position, Holt Baker builds on her legacy of inspiring activism and reaching out to diverse communities to support the needs and aspirations of working people.

With the theme "Bring Change Home," the WSLC Convention will present an agenda of additional distinguished speakers on national issues such as sweeping reforms of labor law and our health care and immigration systems, with the idea that we need to finish what we started in last fall's election by making sure these long-overdue changes are made in the best interests of working families.

The theme also refers to new political efforts by the WSLC to make sure that the progressive change happening in Washington, D.C., also happens here in Washington state. After a challenging legislative session in which corporate interests superseded those of working families, the WSLC will be making significant changes in its political program to better target labor's support to the legislators who have truly earned it, regardless of party affiliation. Those changes -- outlined in the newly published 2009 WSLC Legislative Report -- will be discussed at the convention.

Here's a tentative agenda (subject to change):

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 6

7:30 a.m. -- Convention office/registration tables open; Rules & Order of Business/Sgt-at-Arms Committees Breakfast

8:00 -- New Delegate Orientation

9:00 -- CONVENTION CONVENES

9:30 -- Opening Address: WSLC President Rick Bender

10:00 -- Keynote Speaker: Arlene Holt Baker, Executive VP, AFL-CIO

10:45 -- Bob Baugh and Andrea Buffa on Cap-and-Trade

11:30 -- Kristin Beifus, Director, Washington Fair Trade Coalition

11:45 -- Mother Jones Award

Noon -- Lunch (on your own)

1:30 p.m. -- WORKSHOPS: WIA/TAA/Trade Act Reform; Women’s Committee; Political Action (1 of 2)

2:00 -- COMMITTEES: Safety & Health, Resolutions; Legislative Committee

2:30 -- Label & Unfair Committee, if necessary

3:15 -- WORKSHOPS: Project Help/workers' compensation; Colleges/Centers of Excellence; WA Fair Trade Coalition on post-NAFTA

4:00 -- Grievance Committee, if necessary

5:30 -- COPE Barbecue (until 8:30) -- Hotel's Fountain Court

8:30 -- Karaoke -- Fountain Court

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7

7:30 a.m. -- Convention Office/ registration tables open

9:00 -- CONVENTION RECONVENES

9:15 -- Kent Wong on diversity issues

10:00 -- John DeGraaf on “Take Back Your Time”

10:15 -- Denise McKay, Workers' Compensation Self-Insured Ombudsman

10:30 -- Bill Daley of the AFL-CIO on health care reform

11:00 -- Ana Avendano on Comprehensive Immigration Reform

11:30 -- Robby Stern on aging workforce

11:45 -- Congressman Jay Inslee

12:15 p.m. -- President’s Club Luncheon (Guest Speaker: Congressman Jay Inslee)

1:30 -- WORKSHOPS: Diversity; Communications; Aging Workforce

3:15 -- WORKSHOPS: Health Care; Organizing; Political Action (2 of 2)

6:00 -- Reception and Women's Committee Silent Auction

7:00 -- Convention Banquet

9:00 -- Dancing to "Just Us"

SATURDAY, AUGUST 8

9:00 a.m. -- CONVENTION RECONVENES

-- Resolutions, until finished (not open to the press)

Noon -- Estimated time of adjournment

For general convention questions, call the WSLC at 206-281-8901.

Kathy Cummings

Communications Director

Washington State Labor Council