Washington state labor leaders are hammering their traditional Democratic allies, a smackdown that a Southwest Washington Democratic legislator dismissed this week as “propaganda.”

“It’s about raising money and rallying the troops,” said Sen. Brian Hatfield, D-Raymond. “You need something to get folks fired up.”

A rift between labor and the Democratic-controlled Legislature widened recently when the Washington State Labor Council declared a “new long-term political strategy” and formed a political-action committee, Don’t Invest in More Excuses (DIME).

Labor leaders, who complained the Legislature was hostile this year to labor’s agenda, say the council will be more careful about the candidates who get labor’s money, endorsements and, most importantly, energetic volunteers.

Some Democrats have taken labor’s support for granted, council spokeswoman Kathy Cummings said this week from Wenatchee, where the council is holding its annual convention. “If they are champions of our cause, we’ll be supportive. We don’t care if they’re Democrats or Republicans,” she said.

Hatfield and the two House members from the solidly Democratic 19th District, Dean Takko of Longview and Brian Blake of Aberdeen, usually receive high-ratings from the labor council. This year, they and nearly all Democrats were marked down for voting for a budget that labor complained hurt state and low-income workers. They also voted for changes to the unemployment insurance system that labor says will help employers but harm workers.

Democrats say they needed to bring the unemployment insurance system in compliance with federal law, which meant a reduction in benefits for seasonal workers. They also said that bridging a $9 billion budget shortfall meant unpopular cuts.

Overshadowing all issues, however, was a high-profile spat between labor and Democratic leaders over the Worker Privacy Act, which would allow employees to not participate in political, religious, charitable or anti-union causes promoted by employers.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown and House Speaker Frank Chopp shelved the legislation after e-mails surfaced implying labor would withhold campaign contributions if the bill didn’t pass. Brown and Chopp also turned the e-mails over to the State Patrol, which determined the implied threat was not a criminal matter.

Brown and Chopp have among the most pro-labor voting records in the Legislature, according to the labor council, but the incident caused labor leaders to rethink their relationship with Democrats, Cummings said.

“We got our period of introspection handed to us,” she said. “The actions of the leadership caused us to kind of step back and say, ‘Wait a second. None of the legislators are standing up for us.’ ”

Hatfield said distancing itself from Democrats won’t help labor because it would fare worse under Republican majorities. Hatfield attributed labor’s complaints to special-interest politics.

“They need to rally members, so they’ve got to come up with propaganda,” he said.

Cummings said labor will look beyond party labels and scrutinize legislators more carefully, judging them by their failure to speak up for pro-worker legislation as well as their voting records.

“We hope to separate the ‘champions’ from people who merely give us lip service, so we know better how to target our money and grass-roots efforts,” she said. “I don’t think that’s propaganda. I think that’s smart politics.”

Cowlitz County Democratic Central Committee chairman Derl Moore, a former president of the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Central Labor Council, said the incident over the Worker Privacy Act was “maybe the final straw.”

“Labor has been feeling for the last several sessions that with Democrats having majorities in the House and Senate, they should have got more done than they have,” Moore said.

Nevertheless, Moore and the current president of the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum council, Tim Pfeifer, said Hatfield, Blake and Takko have labor’s backing.

“Mr. Hatfield can feel he has the support of labor, as can Blake and Takko,” Pfeifer said.

Blake said Democrats and labor need to mend “some frayed nerves and relationships.”

“There’s a lot of time left before the next elections for people to come together and understand each other,” Blake said. “I think over time the relationship between Democrats and the labor movement will heal.”