Rick S. Bender

Rick S. Bender was elected President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, in March of 1993. He was a State Labor Council Vice President from 1988 until he assumed the office of President (March 1993). Mr. Bender was Executive Secretary of the King County Labor Council from 1991 until assuming leadership of the Washington State Labor Council. From 1987 to 1991, he was Executive Secretary of the Seattle Building and Construction Trades Council. Prior to these labor positions, Rick was a State Legislator (1973-1991), serving ten years in the House and eight years in the Senate. Mr. Bender did his undergraduate work in Economics at the University of Puget Sound. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Washington State Trade & Convention Center, the Washington Dental Service, the King County Housing Authority and Freedom House. He is a member of the Efficiency and Accountability Commission, the Employment Secondly Advisory Committee (ESAC), the Advisory Committee to the Economic Climate Council, the Governor's Council on School-to-Work Transition, the Governor's Economic Forecast Council, and is a member of the Workers' Compensation Advisory Committee for the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. Rick has just recently been appointed to the new Economic Climate Council Advisory Board He is a former President of CoLab (Coalition of Labor and Business). He also participated on the Stakeholders Committee, a part of the Health Services Commission, the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, the Seattle Community College District Chancellors Round Table and Expansion of the Washington State Trade and Convention Center Task Force. He has also served on the Long Term Disability Task Force, United Way of King County and the American Red Cross. He is a member of Laborers Union Local 242. He is also a veteran of the Vietnam war. He was born in Fairbanks, Alaska, and was raised in Seattle's Shoreline area. He, his wife, Carla, and their two children live in Bothell, Washington. rev. 7/18196