WE CALL FOUL
FROM THE BOTTOM.

THE OP-ED

We Call Foul: Washington’s Big Tent Must Include Injured Workers and Mixed-Status Families

I call this bad faith and a failure of representation. Washington Democrats need to answer the failure that has shaped my life and my family's life. Injured workers and mixed-status families deserve a place on the federal agenda, with specific legislation, public advocacy, and a plan to secure enforceable protections.

My father endured a nine-year ordeal. My father-in-law was an undocumented Mexican worker who kept working after an on-the-job injury. I believe he was worked to death. That is my family's experience as I describe it; it is not a legal finding establishing the cause of his death. Those years and that loss are why these demands are personal.

What happened to the big tent? A coalition should give the people at the bottom a voice in setting its priorities. Our usefulness cannot end with our votes, our stories, or our willingness to support somebody else's campaign.

My archived March 11, 2015 sent email asked for federal oversight of workers' compensation. It was an urgent demand then. More than eleven years later, I am still asking Washington's political leadership to explain what will turn that demand into durable protection. The archive proves the message and its listed recipients; it does not prove that every office received or read it. [E1]

Patty Murray's own public record supplies an independent starting point. On October 21, 2015, she joined lawmakers urging stronger oversight of state workers' compensation. They warned about eroding benefits and costs shifted to families and public programs. Senator Murray, what did you do after identifying that problem? What bill, hearing, or enforceable standard will you pursue now? [P1]

The record contains replies as well as frustration. In 2016, Mike Sells offered assistance through his district office. Pramila Jayapal's campaign answered my appeal about federal oversight with general assurances about her commitment to workers. Those responses deserve acknowledgment. They also deserve follow-through that the public can assess. [E2]

The Grand Bargain requires more than access to a medical appointment. Workers' compensation provides medical and cash benefits, including support when an injury prevents work. Its protections must remain meaningful when the worker is injured, disabled, or unable to return to the same job. [P2]

Workers pay into Social Security through covered employment. Washington also permits payroll deductions for the employee share of certain workers' compensation premiums. Employers remain responsible for the Accident Fund premium. People funding these protections deserve fair decisions, timely treatment, and a meaningful remedy when something goes wrong. [P3]

I have challenged medical accounts and benefit decisions that I believe harmed me. Those allegations require evidence and independent review. Lawmakers should investigate the incentives surrounding medical examinations, the adequacy of appeal rights, and whether proven wrongdoing produces meaningful consequences. A worker should not have to finance an exhausting fight merely to get an accurate record considered.

The accountability belongs across party lines. Democrats controlled Congress and the presidency when Baca introduced his proposal. Non-enactment is a policy outcome to investigate; it is not, on its own, proof of a recorded vote against the bill or a coordinated plan to defeat it. [P9]

Congress has a concrete place to begin. Joe Baca introduced H.R. 635 on January 22, 2009, in the 2009-2010 Congress. It proposed a National Commission on State Workers' Compensation Laws. Revive and update that proposal, then pair it with enforceable minimum protections. A commission can investigate; legislation must establish the rights workers are asking for. [P4]

My frustration with progressive priorities also has a contemporaneous record. A November 22, 2019 email I sent to myself preserves Facebook comments attributed to Jason Call identifying Medicare for All and Whole Washington as his primary objectives. It includes personal attacks, his allegation that I was threatening him, and an offer to work through someone else. I include that context because the record should be presented fairly. The exchange still raises a legitimate question about access and priorities: where was the route for injured workers' federal demands? [E3]

My September 2019 email also records my account of being referred toward Scott Stafne after a conversation with Tyler Vege. It preserves my complaint at the time; it does not independently establish everything said during the call or prove an instruction to vote Republican. [E4]

Whole Washington advocates should answer substantive questions about preserving the full workers' compensation promise. SB 5233's section 129 proposes a study of coordinating injured workers' health benefits. That provision does not itself demonstrate abolition of wage or pension benefits. It does justify demanding explicit safeguards and an independent assessment of who pays. The companion bills, SB 5233 and HB 1445, did not become law in the legislative histories reviewed for this report. [P5]

My demand is for healthcare and worker protections together. Likewise, mixed-status families need broad legalization, family unity, and due process alongside any debate over enforcement funding. Healthcare legislation and defunding proposals do not themselves confer immigration status.

Murray and Rick Larsen have publicly supported immigration reforms. Larsen's official position also addresses abusive enforcement and masked immigration agents. Acknowledging those positions sharpens the question: whom do their proposals protect, whom do they leave waiting, and what is their plan to enact lasting relief? [P6]

Julio Cortes, June Robinson, and Mary Fosse can publicly press federal colleagues and hold hearings within their own authority. Cortes began his House service in 2023; he is responsible for his actions during his tenure, not for a decade in office he did not serve. State and federal responsibilities differ, but constituents deserve a workable connection between them. [P7]

I call on Kshama Sawant and Socialist Alternative, Jason Call and the Green Party, and Democratic and Republican officials to answer the same demands. No political label should exempt anyone from scrutiny. Specific claims of obstruction should be backed by dates, statements, votes, or correspondence.

The immigration chronology matters: Congress enacted a legalization program in 1986; the Senate passed S. 744 in 2013; and the U.S. Citizenship Act was introduced in 2021. That record does not support saying nobody ever fought for reform. It supports asking why broad, lasting relief remains unfinished for families like mine. [P10]

Investigate exploitation and employee misclassification. Calling a person an independent contractor does not itself settle their status under wage law. Enforce the protections applicable to employees and close the gaps that leave workers vulnerable. Disclose detention contracts, political funding, and relevant financial interests. Show who benefits, with records. A charge that particular politicians intentionally sought exploitation or personally profited requires evidence identifying those actions and interests. [P11]

I cannot prove that every omission reflects a secret business agenda. I can demand that lawmakers disclose their priorities, their relevant meetings, and the reasons particular proposals advance while ours remain unresolved. The cost of delay falls on real people regardless of the motive behind it.

Washington Democrats should commit to a renewed national workers' compensation review, binding minimum protections, credible medical accountability, and broad legalization. Hold a public hearing where injured workers and mixed-status families help set the agenda. Answer these demands in writing within thirty days of receiving them, with named bills, responsible offices, and next steps.

That is how representation becomes measurable. WE CALL FOUL FROM THE BOTTOM. We are asking you to act.

Darren Fonzseau
Workers Won't Be Silent.