Here’s a little item on a sleepy Sunday (I’m celebrating the Yankees’ clinching the division yesterday…). It’s a press release so that’s why it’s a rah-rah tone.

TUKWILA – Leaders of the Public School Employees of Washington today (Oct. 1) voted unanimously to recommend affiliation with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), to form the largest union in Washington at roughly 86,000 members.

Until now, Public School Employees, or PSE, has been the state’s largest independent union representing over 26,000 workers in 175 school districts. SEIU is 1.8 million workers strong, including 60,000 union members in Washington.

Affiliation will help both PSE and SEIU to grow in numbers and increase workers’ strength.

According to PSE officials, affiliation with SEIU gives a huge power boost to classified school employees to negotiate funding for schools and to help workers win better wages and job benefits from their school districts and from the legislature.

“Classified school employees gain new strength and confidence standing beside our SEIU brothers and sisters, said PSE Executive Director Randy Dorn. “We plan to flex these new muscles to secure increased state funding for classified school services and to earn more livable wages and affordable health insurance.

“PSE and SEIU have a lot in common and we have many reasons to feel optimistic about the future,” he said…..