OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Rick Bender has announced he will retire from the Washington state Labor Council, where he’s served as president for 17 years.
Bender’s retirement will take effect on Jan. 5, 2011. Also retiring at that time is Al Link, who is the council’s secretary-treasurer.
The labor council is the state’s largest labor organization and represents about 400,000 union members working in the state. More than 500 local unions are affiliated with it.
Frustrated by what he perceived as an increasingly pro-business tilt to the Democratic majority last year, Bender and the council founded a new political action committee to keep a tighter grip on who gets their campaign dollars.
DIME, short for Don’t Invest in More Excuses has raised nearly $1 million this year.
