the sanctioning of the second Seattle Community College strike of 1976. 1980s The KCLC strengthened their stance on pro-labor rights when they actively supported the Hotel and Restaurant Employees strike of 1981. Twenty-one restaurants and hotels were affected around the greater Seattle area. The Council urged all of its members to honor picket lines, while offering strike benefits, as well. An estimated 2000–3000 restaurant employees and 5000 hotel employees walked out in a demand for higher wages. In 1984, the Council's 50,000 union members were asked to oppose levies proposed by the Seattle School District to show support for school custodians and other union workers who had been working for two years without a contract. The proposed levies included a $69.5 million two-year operating levy and a $64 million, six-year levy for capital improvements. The KCLC supported the players strike against the National Football League in 1987. Then Executive Secretary Treasurer Dan Bickford urged a protest against NFL Seattle Seahawks games that used strike replacement players. Bickford affirmed that the same issues other unions face: "worker rights, fair treatment, fair share of revenues and the right to bargain and speak without reprisal" were issues that every working person faced. In July 1989 the media highlighted KCLC's refusal to make a political candidate endorsement based on the pro-choice abortion issue. Women's rights advocates urged organized labor's support for the upcoming elections. However, the KCLC took a more conservative position that pro-choice issues were not labor issues. That same month, the KCLC asked its members to not cross picket lines of nurses belonging to Washington's largest health care provider, Group Health. The strike centered on pay and proper staffing levels. It was reported that 95% of the hospital's nurses went on strike. 1990s In 1991 the KCLC, and its 85,000 members, opposed a project by the Seattle School Board called Step Forward. The project's purpose was designed to promote school leadership and public education which was established by CEOs from Safeco, Boeing and other large corporations. However, KCLC President Dale Daugherty deemed Step Forward as "the attempt of business to seize control of the School Board and turn it into a board that functions like boards of directors of corporations." The KCLC stated that many of those same corporations, like Boeing, have been against tax laws that would benefit public education. A coalition in opposition to this effort was formed by the