NEXT UPDATE — Tuesday, Jan. 21 by 9 a.m. Pacific

Links to commercial press stories are functional at the date of posting. In some cases, links "expire" when the source would like to begin charging you for old news. WSLC Reports Today  links to all stories of interest to organized labor; some positive, some negative. The intention is to inform.  The creation of a link does not constitute an endorsement of that story's content.
 

Reports for January 13-17, 2003

Previous weeks' news: Jan. 6-10 -- Jan 2-3 -- Dec. 10-12

FRIDAY, Jan. 17 -- WSLC Legislative Update: "It's the Economy, Stupid!"
(If you are not already on the WSLC e-mail list to receive this newsletter... Get on it!)
...plus -- Health care workers call on Bush to solve smallpox vaccination problems
— In today's Washington Post -- Unions call for changes in smallpox vaccine program
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Boeing continues to cut jobs, handing out 620 more layoff notices
...plus -- State Democrats would reorganize transportation to regain public trust
— In today's P.S. Business Journal -- State high court: Prison contractor doesn't violate constitution
— In today's King County Journal -- Attorney vows to appeal prison labor suit to U.S. Supreme Court
— In today's Seattle Times -- Pentagon challenges lease plan for Boeing tankers
...plus -- WTO orders U.S. to stop unfair trade relief to firms -- Anyone else get the sense that U.S. corporate leaders who championed the WTO a few years ago may now be cursing their success? Apparently, it's easier to exert corporate influence over trade policy domestically than internationally.
— In yesterday's Aberdeen Daily World -- ILWU officials say union has ratified agreement with PMA
— In today's Tri-City Herald -- College president, union (WPEA) disagree over officials' pay increases
— In today's Salem S-J -- Union-schools coalition backs limit on Oregon PERS
At AFLCIO.org -- Bush's opposition to affirmative action program "shocking," Sweeney says
— In today's New York Times -- U.S. court bars Mexican trucks pending environmental study
...plus -- Off the Wagon -- Krugman column: As a drunk is to alcohol, the Bush administration is to budget deficits. And sure enough, the drunk has turned mean. As the administration reaches for another bottle -- another long-term tax cut for the affluent -- its officials sullenly denounce the "fixation" on budget deficits, dismissing it as nonsensical "Rubinomics." (So much, by the way, for the war on terror as an excuse for deficits. "What did you do in the war, daddy?" asks Ronald Brownstein in the L.A. Times. "I got a big tax cut, and passed the bill on to you.")
— In today's L.A. Times -- Arguments for Bush's tax cuts weaker than in the past
...plus -- Educated, skilled and unemployed: Many trying to maintain their dignity, prospects
— In today's Washington Post -- U.S. Airways workers object to proposal rendering stock worthless
...plus -- Who will pay? -- Dionne column: William Gates Sr., father of one of the richest men in history believes the inheritance tax "is the most intelligent tax ever devised." Why? Because it doesn't tax labor or investment. It encourages each generation to build new wealth. And it accepts the idea that the very wealthy owe something back -- not just to society but to government itself.

THURSDAY, Jan. 16 -- Union members encouraged to participate in MLK Day events
— In today's Seattle Times -- Unfair unemployment -- Editorial: Although a court ruling upheld repeal of a legislative change to the state's unfair unemployment system, the Legislature should try again.
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Spokane's poor still struggling -- With 13.7% living in poverty, Spokane County ranks first in the state in almost every indicator of poverty. "One little thing happens, your car breaks down... your kid gets sick, and you lose your job," says a single mother who makes $7.01 an hour. (In other news, Sen. Honeyford (R-15) leads fight to freeze the state minimum wage.)
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Locke's image takes a beating; 30% job-approval rating is new low
...plus -- Cantwell, Murray say they'll stress state economy, temper GOP agenda
...plus -- Boeing gets some good news with Virgin Blue's 10-jet order with options for 40 more
— In today's King County Journal -- Boeing exec says trade issues need work -- SPEEA continues push for countervailing duties in response to European government subsidies of Airbus.
— Meanwhile, today from Reuters -- WTO judges say U.S. breaking rules, stoking dispute with EU
— In today's Everett Herald -- Fate of state workers' right to family leave rests with Supreme Court
— In today's Oregonian -- Class-action status sought in suit against Qwest over unpaid overtime
— In the Christian Science Monitor -- Labor lays down marker on health-care costs
— In today's Washington Post -- China tries labor leaders amid protests for "subversion"
...plus --  White House intensifies push for tax plan
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Bush aide sees deficit of $200 billion in 2003, $300 billion in 2004
...plus -- America's deadliest employer spends on ads, not safety, even as more sickening stories revealed of injured workers, OSHA incompetence (OK, that headline was mine.)
— In today's S.F. Chronicle -- Labor increases presence in anti-war movement

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 15
At AFLCIO.org -- Workers' protest over G.E. health care points to a growing crisis
— In today's Olympian -- 25,000 rallying teachers to Locke: Keep your promises
...plus -- Locke uses State of the State speech to sell budget plan
— In the new Seattle Weekly -- Angry Democrats in a Locke box over conservative budget proposal
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- State workers back education initiatives, teachers' cause
— In yesterday's Spokesman-Review -- Home health care workers demand pay raise
...plus -- Labor, business agendas have little in common (column)
...plus -- Kaiser Aluminum gives up on Mead smelter
...and today -- Nine Kaiser subsidiaries file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Kaiser Aluminum skips pension plan payment
....plus -- Union to appeal to readership to keep both Times and P-I
— In today's renamed King County Journal -- Support is building for Boeing 767 tankers
— In yesterday's News Tribune -- ILWU members finished voting on contract, results due Jan. 22
— In yesterday's Aberdeen Daily World -- Sierra Pacific mill workers (WCIW) sign union contract
— In today's Oregonian -- Pension insecurity among state workers prompts surge in retirements
— In today's Salem S-J -- Oregon PERS board adopts new mortality tables
— In yesterday's P.S. Business Journal -- Unions oppose more detailed financial reports
National news:
— In today's N.Y. Times -- 17,000 G.E. workers strike over higher health care costs
— In today's Louisville (Ky.) C-J -- Woman killed by car while picketing at G.E.
— In today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch -- Organized labor shows increasing distaste for war in Iraq

MONDAY, Jan. 13 -- AFL-CIO, PACE target Coors in Graphic Packaging Corp. boycott
— In today's Seattle Times -- Locke's budget plan puts legacy on the line -- Declaring new taxes as off the table, Locke skipped the first step of what his Priorities of Government consultant suggested: a far-reaching examination of revenue. That's why one Republican jokes: "POG backwards is GOP."
...plus on Sunday -- The worst of times -- Times editorial board offers its prescription for the state: Repeal ergonomics rule and privatize Washington state's workers' compensation system.
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Budget woes threaten local agenda -- Sen. Tim Sheldon ("D"-35th) offers his prescription for the state: Privatize ferry system and sell state liquor stores. Wondering why anti-government, right-wing ideology has gained a foothold in this debate? So are we.
— In today's Olympian -- Protests loom at Capitol; dueling rallies Tuesday by teachers, EFF
— In Saturday's Seattle P-I -- R-53 upheld, a victory for state building industry -- "The Supreme Court ruling makes labor the loser," said Sen. Margarita Prentice (D-11th), because unemployment benefit caps negotiated as part of the business-labor compromise remain in place.
...plus -- Seattle Community College extends contract with teachers, staff
...and today -- Supreme Court takes on case of whether family leave law applies to states
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Companies fight shortfalls in pension funds; many aim to reduce benefits

Previous weeks' news: Jan. 6-10 -- Jan 2-3 -- Dec. 10-12

FRIDAY, JANUARY 17
Health care workers call on Bush to solve smallpox problems

As a panel of experts created by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine (IOM) voices concerns about President Bush's smallpox vaccination plan, the nation's largest health care union is calling on the President and Congress to put better protections for workers and patients in place before vaccinations begin.

"Health care workers want to be prepared if a smallpox outbreak occurs," said Diane Sosne, RN, president of Service Employees International Union District 1199NW, a union of more than 10,000 Washington nurses and health care workers. "That's why President Bush should address the concerns raised by medical experts, public health officials, and health care workers. No one should be put at unnecessary risk."

The IOM report, quoted in the New York Times today and set to be made public next week, echoes concerns health care workers have been raising since President Bush announced his plan last month to begin vaccinating 500,000 health workers against smallpox. Hospitals in Washington, Colorado, Minnesota, Alabama, Georgia, and Virginia have declined to participate in the vaccination campaign, citing safety and liability concerns.
 
The IOM report calls for better screening, a system for covering lost wages and medical expenses for people who have adverse effects from the vaccine, and an independent, non-political voice for the program. The report is being prepared by a 15-member panel, mostly medical school professors, which was formed at the request of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While a provision in the Homeland Security Act protects the drug companies who produce the vaccine and the hospitals who participate in the program from liability, the federal government won't provide coverage for workers or patients who are injured as a result of the vaccine and coverage under state workers' compensation plans is unclear.

Strict screening standards and free testing to identify risk factors like pregnancy and HIV have helped prevent any serious complications so far among military personnel who have been vaccinated. About 30 percent of the men and women in the U.S. military who have been screened for the vaccinations have been ruled out, according to a Stars and Stripes article yesterday. That kind of free testing is not required to be offered to most health care workers being asked to volunteer for the vaccinations.

Health workers could begin receiving vaccinations as early as next Friday, January 24, the date that liability coverage for vaccine manufacturers and hospitals goes into effect.

"It is wrong for President Bush to ask health care workers to participate in a vaccination program that is not safe," said Andrew L. Stern, president of the 1.5-million member Service Employees International Union, which represents doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other health workers across the country. "The vaccination program should be delayed until the concerns raised in the IOM report have been properly addressed."

"If a worker or patient gets sick as a result of this vaccine, they'll be lucky if they receive a get well card from Washington," Stern said.

For more information, New York Times story on the IOM report and the SEIU 1199NW website.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 16
Union members encouraged to participate in MLK Day events

MONDAY, JANUARY 13
AFL-CIO, PACE target Coors in Graphic Packaging boycott

AFL-CIO AND PACE INTERNATIONAL UNION ANNOUNCE BOYCOTT AGAINST GRAPHIC PACKAGING CORP., COORS BEER TO BE TARGETED

Decrying the “brutal demands to force workers to work as many as seven days per week and 16 hours per day” at the Graphic Packaging Corporation (GPC) plant in Kalamazoo, Mich., and the “anti-worker, union-busting” practices of the Coors Family, PACE International Union has been joined by the AFL-CIO in announcing a nationwide boycott against GPC and consumer products for whom GPC provides packaging.  Included among manufacturers whose products are contained in GPC packaging are Coors Brewing Company, General Mills, Quaker Products and Kraft Foods.

GPC, headquartered in Golden, Colo., is the largest folding carton manufacturer in the United States, with one mill and 17 plants throughout the country. The corporation is publicly traded and owned and controlled by the Coors Family through family trusts.  On July 27, 2002, after a dispute primarily over mandatory overtime, holiday work requirements and pensions, GPC imposed a lockout on 429 members of PACE (Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers).

At the time of the lockout, GPC was demanding that workers could be required to work, if needed, all scheduled days off, all Saturdays, Sundays and holidays — even Christmas — as well as a lower pension for younger workers.  GPC later relented on its demand for Christmas work after Jeffrey Coors, GPC Chief Executive Officer, was challenged about this demand on religious grounds.

PACE officials indicate the primary target will be the Coors Brewing Company because the manufacturer is controlled by the Coors Family. 

Emphasizing that the GPC boycott is an official boycott of the AFL-CIO and will be honored by its 13 million members, Mark Gaffney, AFL-CIO Michigan State President, stressed: “This lockout of PACE members is an example of union busting and represents anti-worker and anti-family activity by an out-of-town corporation. We must send a clear message to Graphic Packaging Corporation and Coors Brewing that the workers and citizens of Michigan and across this country find this type of activity to be deplorable and totally unconscionable.”

PACE Vice President Bill Gibbons said the union has “gone the extra mile” to try and negotiate with the GPC and the Coors Family to end the nearly six-month lockout. He said the union and workers hold the Coors Family directly responsible for the lockout and view their actions as a return to their “virulent union busting” activities of the 1970s and 1980s.

“The Graphic Packaging workers in Kalamazoo are being punished by Coors solely because they have engaged in their legal right of collective bargaining and rejected the company’s unreasonable demands to work up to 16 hours a day, seven days a week, all days off and every holiday except Christmas," Gibbons said. "The conduct by Coors against these workers is a vicious attack because they have rejected sweatshop employment conditions. This conduct is socially reprehensible and could set an anti-worker, anti-family precedent.”

The hardship of the lockout on the workers and their families — particularly during the recently concluded holiday season — was stressed by PACE member James Thomas: “After working at this facility for more than 20 years, I find it impossible to understand why Coors would inflict this kind of pain and suffering on me, my family and co-workers for simply saying ‘no’ to their unreasonable demand to work more hours, thus eliminating valuable time we have to spend with our family and churches.”

Emphasizing that PACE is prepared to lead the boycott against all manufacturers who use GPC packaging materials for their products, Gibbons reported the boycott will start with Coors Beer as well as those products of General Mills, Kraft Foods and Quaker Products that are packaged at GPC’s Kalamazoo plant. Coors Beer products will initially get the emphasis he pointed out because the union believes the Coors Family wants its members to work until “they drop” and Coors would like to return to the days before unions existed to protect workers from this kind of abusive treatment.

General Mills cereal products which will be targeted include: Wheaties, Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Apple Nut Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Trix, Cocoa Puffs, Cocoa Crisp, Total, Total Raisin Bran, Golden Grahams and Wheat, Rice and Corn Chex.  Products of Quaker Products to be targeted by the boycott are all flavors of Rice-a-Roni and Pasta-Roni.  The Oscar Meyer brands of Kraft Products will be specifically targeted.

Gibbons emphasized that letters have already been sent to General Mills, Kraft Foods and Quaker Products requesting they cease doing business with GPC. “It would be a shame to see their brand names and the reputations of their products be stained by the unfair labor practices of the Coors Family,” he stressed.

Gibbons reported that the plan for the boycott has three phases. PACE will work with AFL-CIO state and local organizations and union affiliates to educate union workers, encourage them not to drink Coors beer or buy the other targeted products and seek to generate articles in union publications about the boycott. The second phase will involve working with United Students Against Sweatshops to make a boycott of Coors Beer a top priority on college campuses for students 21 years or older.

Finally, in respect to Coors Beer, Gibbons said PACE is developing a “counter-marketing” plan to compete directly with Coors Beer in key market places and to educate the public about the anti-labor practices of GPC’s CEO Jeffrey Coors and the Coors Family and to encourage them not to drink Coors Beer. The plan includes the use of radio and television advertisements.

Gibbons reported a website – www.Coors-abuse.org – has been set up on the Internet to provide information about the boycott and its progress.