Seattle Times Biased Against Labor?

Seattle-area labor activist Sarah Luthens noticed recently a pattern of biased anti-union reporting in the Seattle Times on school board issues, particularly by Times reporter Sanjay Bhatt. In a letter to the Times, Luthens particularly objected to the following report by Bhatt: "While [school board president Brita Butler-Wall] supports the drivers' right to organize, she rejected the notion that re-bidding the contract was payback for union support to her election campaign."

Luthens checked public records, which revealed that Butler-Wall received contributions from only five labor unions more than two years ago. One of these unions made an identical contribution to her opponent. The total of labor's contributions to Butler-Wall constituted less than 12% of all the money she raised in her campaign year.

The public records also reveal that Butler-Wall's incumbent opponent had received more than 30% of her contributions from the Seattle's ruling class: attorneys from high-powered law firms, especially Perkins Coie, and from big businesses like PEMCO, Boeing, and the Seattle Mariners.

Luthens noted: "It's funny how the Seattle Times rarely accuses elite-friendly incumbents of corporate "payback."

Doug Collins