Governor Gregoire addresses the Building & Construction Trades Council AFL-CIO Convention

July 31, 2008

AS WRITTEN

Good morning, and thank you Dave (Johnson, executive secretary) for the very kind introduction.

I�m honored to be here this morning with the people who have built Washington, and who will continue to build our great state in the years to come.

Let me also recognize Mike (Grunwald, president), and all of you who traveled from all over Washington to be here today.

So! Here we are in the last day of July � and the clock is ticking louder. The big day is looming larger and larger, and drawing closer and closer. Will it go well?

In fact, late at night, I secretly ask myself, will it be a disaster?

I do hope you don�t think I�m nervous about what happens in November!

No -- Actually I�m thinking about my oldest daughter Courtney�s wedding, which is just a week away.

I know some of you have already been through our modern wedding-industrial complex to see your sons and daughters to the altar.

There is simply no end to the planning, and of course, the spending. Wow, what a trip! And as you probably know, it simply has to be perfect!

As for my husband Mike -- he now knows his role is very, very simple. He just needs to show up, shut up, and pay up!

Speaking of showing up. You know, I�m a responsible woman. In fact, some have called me a Type Triple A personality -- and one thing I always do is I always show up.

So it was a bit of a surprise to me to learn recently that some people have their doubts about that.

I went to an event and heard about it in a somewhat unusual way.

Like I said � I always show up, and you know what?

So do you.

You show up on construction sites every day all over Washington to help us build a state where the economy stays strong and families can depend on good, family wage jobs.

You show up at meetings to make sure your union stays strong�contracts are followed�and hardworking men and women are kept safe and treated with respect.

You show up in the halls of the Legislature and in my office to make your case for fair wages, better treatment of unemployed and injured workers, and safer working conditions.

And since I took office, I think we can agree that you and I have shown up together to do some great things for the working men and women of Washington.

For starters, we�ve put on the street about $8 billion dollars worth of capital construction projects and $2.6 billion in transportation projects over the last 4 years to provide Washingtonians the buildings and roads and other infrastructure we need to continue to thrive.

And as importantly, these projects provide many thousands of family wage jobs for your members and their families.

Working together, we�ve protected the prevailing wage rule so construction and trades workers are treated fairly. And you and I are both committed to making sure prevailing wage remains is enforced.

Working together, we fixed unemployment compensation to protect and improve this benefit for construction and seasonal workers.

And in my first year in office, we fixed one of my top priorities � decent, effective vocational rehabilitation for injured workers.

We made substantial improvements, including faster claims procession, effective rehabilitation, and more financial help to retrain to get into a different line of work when necessary.

We made real strides to improve the safety of men and women on construction sites, including crane safety and heat stress.

I was there with you and the family members who had lost loved ones when you dedicated the new worker memorial bell. It was a very powerful reminder. The safety of our workers is very serious business.

I want you to know that when I work on safety issues � the image I always carry in my mind is of a Washington family hearing that their father or mother won�t be coming home from work ever again.

I�m extremely proud of the work we�ve done together to help our Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans get into the construction trades if that�s what they want to do.

I�m proud of the work my husband, Mike, contributed to this effort � Helmets to Hardhats. And I especially want to thank Dave (Johnson) for his efforts.

Starting this fall, the building trades council, our Department of Veterans Affairs, and other stakeholders will begin working directly with returning veterans to move them into trade apprenticeships.

The trades will gain young, well-disciplined workers and the veterans will be on the path to careers that will support their families.

We will provide a combination of state and federal money to make sure veterans can make the transition without having to hold down other jobs to support themselves and their families.

This brings me to the bigger picture for apprenticeships. Together we launched the �Running Start for the Trades Program� and thanks to you, it�s working even better than I had hoped.

Together, we�re connecting motivated high-school kids to the trades. We are increasing graduation rates, preparing kids for a good career, and meeting the need for these high-demand, good-paying jobs. And we have nearly doubled the number of these apprenticeships to nearly 15,000 so far.

These apprentices will build a union career for Washingtonians � a career they can count on.

Unfortunately, some Washingtonians wind up in the underground economy where they will have lower skills, suffer unfair wages and no benefits, and risk life and limb in unsafe and shoddy job sites.

Meanwhile, their employers won�t pay business, workers comp, or unemployment taxes and undercut legitimate contractors in the process.

The customers will suffer too because the fact is no labor is better than union labor.

So I very much appreciate the Building and Trades Council for helping us move the problem of the underground economy to the front burner. And I appreciate the work you did on our Underground Economy Task Force.

Working together, we are going to flush out unscrupulous businesses and level the playing field for our workers and our state.

Before I close, I want to address something that we hear too often � and it�s that labor unions are just one more special interest.

Yes, you care about wages and benefits -- but you know what? You also fight for so much more that matters to all Washington families.

You care about the right to collectively bargain for your members so you can get a fair shake and a fair share of your labor. So do I, and that�s why I support collective bargaining � in both the private and public sectors.

You care about building an education system that serves our kids from early childhood through adulthood. So do I, and with your support, we�re building a world-class, learner-focused education system.

You care about creating a health care system where little kids can see a doctor before they wind up in an emergency room, and senior citizens don�t have to choose between dinner and medication.

I care too, and with your backing, we�re going to cover every kid in Washington by 2010, and we�re going to make health care more affordable for everybody.

You care about an economy where businesses and innovators can prosper so we can sustain the Washington Way � which is to create good jobs that support families now and in the future.

So do I, and with your support, we�ve been able to diversify our economy to the extent that even now, with the national economy struggling, we�re managing fairly well.

That�s why Forbes and Fortune magazines call our state one of the five best states for business, and that�s why as of this June, our economy has created 226,000 new jobs since 2005.

You care about leaving our children and grandchildren an environment where our incredible natural wonders stay that way and our kids can depend on green-collar jobs to build a better world that relies on ingenuity � not fossil fuels.

So do I, and with your support, we have created the framework to get us there.

And you want a state government that works. So do I, and that�s why the Pew Center on the States says we are among the top three best-managed states in the country.

In short � you and I share values that go way beyond a �special interest� � unless that special interest happens to be the entire population of Washington State.

We value healthy, happy families who are able to provide for themselves to make our neighborhoods and communities stronger.

We believe that everybody should be at the family table � grandma and grandpa, all the kids, the down-on-her luck sister, the difficult brother-in-law, and the neighbor next door.

I want you to know I�ll keep standing with you to make sure there are always seats at our table for everybody.

Thank you