District 3 representative Kshama Sawant is following controversy over her involvement in the local carpenters union strike with plans for new legislation her office says would aid construction workers in the city.

CHS reported here on criticism from labor leadership of Sawant’s involvement in contract votes as a strike by the Northwest Carpenters Union continues.

Wednesday, Sawant said three pieces of legislation including one she plans to introduce during the City Council’s upcoming budget process would benefit the striking workers — and construction workers across Seattle.

“The carpenters are not only courageously on strike for these concrete demands, they are on strike for all of us in the working class,” Sawant said in a statement to media. “Workers have been pressed from all sides and our conditions have been deteriorating. Meanwhile, just since the COVID crisis began, American billionaires have become nearly two trillion dollars richer. This is not new: the bosses have raked in trillions more over the last decade, while workers fell behind.

Sawant’s office said she plans to introduce three pieces of legislation “to back construction workers in their demands for fair pay, protections, and rights.”

The first to be introduced during the upcoming budget session would “vastly strengthen the City’s ability to investigate and penalize construction contractors that engage in wage theft, and recoup stolen money for the workers,” her office said.

The second would “require contractors to pay 100 percent of the parking costs for all construction workers in Seattle” and a third would “restore the rights of workers to strike” —

Right now union carpenters are being told that they must continue working on jobs that are subject to Project Labor Agreements (PLAs). These are agreements in which the union, the city, and the contractors agree to good union pay and standards in exchange for a commitment to not strike. But union contracts that spell out the PLA standards have expiration dates, and once that date passes, there is no reason for the union to be bound by this no-strike clause.

It’s not clear what support Sawant’s proposals would find among her fellow councilmembers and no timeline was given for introducing the construction worker bills related to parking costs and strikes.

Trade union leadership continued to take swings at the Socialist city council member.

The vice president of the WA State Building Trades organization that helps coordinate the region’s unions Wednesday released a statement further criticizing Sawant’s involvement in the carpenters union strike.

“Unlike striking carpenters, she is not losing sleep, risking a mortgage payment, or putting her body on the strike line at 5AM in the cold rain,” the statement from Chris McClain reads. “She is playing politics with real people who work tough jobs to support themselves. It does not matter if you’re Mitch McConnell or Kshama Sawant – no politician should be meddling in a private sector union contract negotiation. It only helps those who want to destroy worker unions and take money out of workers’ paychecks.”

An offer rejected by union leadership would be about a 20.4% total package increase of wages and benefits over four years, the Seattle Times reports.

A major issue for some carpenters union workers is the impact of Project Labor Agreements that limit which sites and jobs can be included in a strike.

Meanwhile, Sawant said Wednesday her council office “has joined with unions in organizing a solidarity rally” Saturday to support the carpenters union strike.

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