NEXT UPDATE -- Tuesday, Feb. 19 by 9 a.m. Pacific

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Reports for February 11-15, 2002

Previous weeks' news:  Feb. 4-8 -- Jan. 28- Feb. 1 -- Jan. 22-25

FRIDAY, February 15 -- Legislative Update: HOUSE DEMOCRATS TAKE A STAND
...plus --  Don't forget about the Rally in Olympia on Presidents' Day (Monday, Feb. 18)
— In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing delivering bonuses, pink slips
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Boeing to give layoff warnings to 1,270 more local workers
...plus -- A third term for Locke? Others eyeing a first term (Connelly column)
...plus -- New initiative's cost to Sound Transit is put at $1.5 billion
— In today's Olympian -- House Democrats trot out business competitiveness plan
...plus -- Wal-Mart agrees to suspension of workers' comp claims administration
— In today's Yakima Herald -- Wal-Mart to spend $40 million on distribution center
— In today's Everett Herald -- Boeing 767 eyed for new Air Force role
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- Inspectors at Whatcom border crossings set to double
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Compromise shifts more costs to Narrows bridge users
— In today's Salem (Ore.) S-J -- Norpac, farm workers union reach agreement to end boycott
— In today's Washington Post -- Campaign reform momentum builds
...plus -- President's politics of pragmatism helped undermine GOP opposition
— Today at AFLCIO.org -- Judge's ruling brings voting rights victory as Senate considers reform

THURSDAY, February 14 -- State employee collective bargaining passes House, 54-43
...plus -- Supreme Court: Farm workers entitled to medical protection
— In today's Olympian -- Collective bargaining for state employees approved
— In today's News-Tribune -- House OKs bargaining for state workers
...plus -- AFL-CIO seeks probe of Labor Ready attorney
— In today's Seattle Times -- Assistants at UW close to goal on union status
...plus -- Boeing stock flies back to levels before Sept. 11
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Gas-tax hike wouldn't be cure-all, officials say
...plus -- Kaiser machinist "used to be proud"
— In yesterday's Columbian -- Public road tax vote coming, top Demos say
— In today's Tri-City Herald -- FFTF closure moving quickly
— In today's SCJ -- Pay raise likely for Maple Valley's city workers
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Low-paid nursing-home assistants wonder where the money went
— In today's Salem (Ore.) S-J -- Home care workers left to wait -- Republican legislators strip funding for state board established by Oregon voter initiative in 2000.
...plus -- Farm union attracts protestors -- Farmers, GOP fight FOR farmworker unionization (?!)
— In today's Oregonian -- Nurses return to OHSU, but strike tension chills the air
— In today's Everett Herald -- Enron paid out millions in bonuses, but nothing for worker severances
— In today's N.Y. Times * -- 240-to-189 vote caps 7-year effort to ban soft money -- Washington's delegation: Voting "Yes" were Democratic Reps. Baird, Dicks, Inslee, Larsen, McDermott and Smith. Voting "No" were Republican Reps. Dunn, Hastings and Nethercutt.
— In today's Washington Post -- United, IAM ask government not to intervene in talks

WEDNESDAY, February 13 -- Tell Enron today to pay laid-off workers a fair severance
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Kaiser Aluminum files for Chapter 11 to reorganize
— In today's Spokesman-Review * -- Kaiser workers not surprised by news
...plus -- Kaiser retirees, laborers have to hope and wait (editorial)
...plus -- Idaho measure to kill "Right-to-Work" misses deadline
— Also in today's Seattle P-I -- State weighs a tax boost
— In today's Seattle Times -- Dreaded "T" word spoken as senators eye budget hole
— In today's L.A. Times -- Rerun of SAG election takes a nasty turn
...plus yesterday -- Teamsters seeking to represent the LAPD
— Today at MSNBC.com -- United mechanics vote to strike
News about today's historic action in the U.S. House on campaign finance reform:
— In today's News-Tribune -- House weighs "soft" money ban -- Rep. Smith a "Yes," Dunn a "no."
— In today's N.Y. Times * -- House GOP leaders seek to scuttle campaign reform with alternative
...plus -- Congress in search of its soul -- Editorial: Today can be a historic moment in American politics. In the 19th century, Congress was basically up for sale. Lawmakers regarded it as a point of pride to pass special-interest legislation and harvest campaign money. The political establishment is back at that old game... This is an hour for soul-searching, not lobbyists' blandishments. If lawmakers approach it in that spirit, they will do the right thing.
— In today's Washington Post -- Squash the Jell-O -- Editorial: Why do so many big-money interests give to both sides in any given race? The corrosion is so widespread that no one even asks the question any more, but it's worth repeating: These interests give so that they are guaranteed access to whichever side wins. That means if you can't afford a place at those $25,000-per-person fundraisers, you are less likely to be heard after the election. Is that the kind of democracy members of Congress want to defend?

TUESDAY, February 12 -- Arrests of immigrant airport workers are senseless, unjust
— In today's Seattle Times -- State prescription-drug bill looks like a go
— In today's News-Tribune -- Proposed home-care cuts show legislators out of touch (Rolf op-ed)
— In today's Everett Herald -- Budget not tight enough to justify state health cuts (editorial)
— In today's Olympian -- State revenue shortfall is growing
...plus -- Chopp vows passage of roads plan
— In today's Yakima Herald -- Farm workers get a place to call home
— In today's Oregonian -- Farmers push collective bargaining bill as boycotts gain power
— In today's L.A. Times -- Congress may enter UAL labor dispute
— In today's N.Y. Times -- White House is backing foes of campaign finance reform
— In today's Washington Post -- Debate heated on campaign finance reform -- Says sponsor Rep. Meehan (D-Mass.): "You can't be a party of working families if you allow unlimited campaign contributions to come into the system and prevent the Patients' Bill of Rights bill, prescription coverage (for Medicare) and the Democratic agenda from getting passed."
...plus -- The raging Democrats -- Dionne column: The great Republican victory in the 1994 congressional elections came in part because Republicans tired of what they saw as the brazen, highhanded uses of power by the Democrats. Republicans were deeply and genuinely angry, and they transformed their anger into unity and triumph.  The president's domestic policies are now brewing exactly that kind of anger among Democrats.
...plus -- Let's insure America -- Op-ed by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and some other guy.

MONDAY, February 11 -- WSLC Legislative Update: COME TO OLYMPIA!
....plus -- Rally Tuesday opposing privatization at Port of Seattle
— In the P.S. Business Journal -- Nurses aim to ban required overtime
...plus -- Bargaining ships: Longshore union in crucial contract talks
— In today's Spokesman-Review * -- Ill nuclear workers, survivors can file claims
...plus -- Arsonist hits lesbian couple's house -- Victims are lead plaintiffs in discrimination suit against University of Montana seeking health insurance and other benefits for same-sex partners.
...and on Sunday -- Drug benefits need tightening quickly (editorial supporting HB 2431)
— In today's Seattle Times -- Seize the moment: Vote on gas tax bill in Olympia (editorial)
— In today's News-Tribune -- Nuclear cleanup dodge has Sen. Murray steaming
— In today's Everett Herald -- Assembly line for Boeing's 747 marks a big change
— In today's Oregonian -- Striking nurses approve contract with OHSU
...plus -- Lawmakers approves extension of jobless benefits -- In a state so close but so far away, a Republican lawmaker praises business-labor bill as "the best economic stimulus bill we’ve got."
— In today's Seattle P-I -- U.S. House, please pass Shays-Meehan reform bill (editorial)
— In today's Washington Post -- Hopes high in House for campaign finance reform
...plus -- Armageddon -- Editorial: The House has recognized (the need for campaign finance reform) twice before, when members passed essentially the same legislation that will be before them on Wednesday. Now they need to summon the courage to do it again, when it counts.
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- Union vote will test United Airlines, Creighton
— In today's L.A. Times -- Workers have the godly on their side (re: trend of clergy backing labor)
...plus -- Enron lobbyist plotted strategy against Democrats
— In today's N.Y. Times * -- More applicants answering the call for teaching jobs
...plus -- Cheney should stop stalling -- Watergate's John Dean has some op-ed advice for V-P.

Previous weeks' news:  Feb. 4-8 -- Jan. 28- Feb. 1 -- Jan. 22-25

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14
State employee collective bargaining passes House, 54-43

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14
Supreme Court: Farm workers entitled to medical protection

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13
Tell Enron today to pay laid-off workers a fair severance

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12
Arrests of immigrant airport workers are senseless, unjust

Did you see the recent Seattle Post-Intelligencer article, "INS Arrests 20 Illegal Sea-Tac Workers"?  As a union member and active member of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, I was hooked and read on.  The story reported that a recent audit by the Immigration and Naturalization Service turned up more than 100 people "employed illegally" at the airport, and while the "three-day roundup" led to worksite arrests of 20 airport personnel, INS agents are convinced that the other 80 or so ditched work after being "tipped off about the raid."

The P-I reports that this raid was part of "Operation Tarmac," an effort to bolster national security by "weeding undocumented aliens out of airport jobs."  According to the article, since "many [workers] have access to sensitive areas, their immigration status can make them vulnerable to intimidation or blackmail."

Just a week earlier, I had learned that the recently enacted Aviation and Transportation Security Act requires ALL lawful permanent residents currently employed as airport screeners to be summarily fired from their jobs by November 19, 2002.  In short, only citizens will be able to work as screeners in the airport.

It seems that by citizenship status alone, members of our communities are assumed to be disloyal, suspicious, criminal, NOT TO BE TRUSTED IN MATTERS OF NATIONAL SECURITY.  Our community is overwhelmingly immigrant and non-citizen, and if you’ve been to SeaTac lately, you’ve probably observed that a large percentage of the 22,000 airport workers—from the ticket counter staff, to the skycaps, to the food service employees—are Asian or Pacific Islander.

But back to Operation Tarmac.  Although I understand the critical importance of strengthening homeland security measures, some nagging questions persist:

1.  Who ARE these "illegal" workers and what’s happened to them since?

2.  Are we safer now that the INS has swept the airport clean of undocumented immigrants and that all screeners henceforth will be citizens?

3.  If I suppose I stand for principles of "social justice" and "civil rights" to what degree do I think these anti-immigrant measures are "just" or "civil"?

I spent a lunch hour trying to find out who these 20 undocumented workers are and what’s happened to them since the January 19 INS raid.  I called the Port of Seattle since they are the entity operating and overseeing all matters relating to airport employment.  I was told they didn’t have any information but was referred to SeaTac’s media relations office.  I called the airport contact and was shuffled on twice more before I reached the OFFICIAL media relations person who reported that all he knew was that in some sort of crosscheck, the INS found that 20 employees were "not entitled to work."  I called the INS to find out what had happened to these workers and in a nutshell, didn’t discover much.  Granted, I’m a state office worker, not an investigative reporter—I simply asked what had become of the 20 apprehended immigrants and what the INS meant when they told the P-I that undocumented immigrants were "vulnerable to intimidation or blackmail," i.e. LIKELY TO ENGAGE IN TERRORIST ACTIVITIES.  In the end, I was advised to call the Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, or the Port of Seattle (I didn’t tell him that the port gave me HIS number).  GEEZ.  My lunch hour was just about over and I still hadn’t gotten many answers.

Finally, I called the Hotel & Restaurant Employees union—a union that represents food service workers at the airport—and found out that while most of the workers are Latino employees of Hertz car rental, at least one is a Filipina food service worker and one is a 21-year old Chilean woman arrested at her job at the airport Taco Bell stand.  This 21-year old is a community college student who immigrated with her parents and brother four years ago when she was in high school.

All 20 of the SeaTac detainees are being processed for deportation.

So my second question: Is air travel from SeaTac airport safer now that these undocumented Hertz and Taco Bell workers are being deported and all the non-citizen screeners are being fired?  And if we DO feel safer, what does this say about how we view immigrants and the assumption we make about their capacity to be loyal and ethical?  Are non-citizens of all ethnicities more likely to be national security risks in 2002 than, say, Japanese Americans in 1941?

As it turns out, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Service Employees International Union are actually challenging the constitutionality of Operation Tarmac’s screener citizenship requirement and they raise an important question—what is the point barring legal immigrants from working as airport screeners even though no such requirement exists for members of the U.S. military, airline pilots, baggage handlers, flight attendants, cargo loaders, mechanics, guards, and plane cleaners?  In an ACLU press release, a plaintiff in the lawsuit--a legal U.S. resident who took a job as a screener at LAX after serving the U.S. Army--is quoted as saying, "it doesn’t make sense that I can serve my country in the Army but not work in an airport as a screener.  If I get fired because of this new law, I could enroll in the National Guard and be back in the airport two weeks later, standing behind the screeners holding a rifle.  I believe this law won’t make anyone safer, but it will hurt a lot of good, hard-working people."

So undocumented immigrants at airports across the U.S. are being hunted down and deported as part of Operation Tarmac.  Who’s to say whether these policies are making air travel safer or not?  And as for our civil liberties?  It took our country 50 years to admit that Japanese Americans were never "enemy aliens" and that Japanese American World War II Internment was indeed unjust and unconstitutional. Perhaps it will take another fifty to sort out the constitutionality of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act.

By the time my lunch hour was over I couldn’t get this age-old imponderable out of my head: "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?"  A major immigration raid at SeaTac airport is leading to the deportation of 20 rental car and food service workers.  How many have there already been?  How many more will there be?  Will it ever be more than a blip in the news?

By the time my lunch hour was over I had made about 15 phone calls and didn’t have a lot of answers.

I guess you could say I still have a lot of questions.

Cathy Malia Lowenberg is a member of the Washington Federation of State Employees, Local 443 and the president of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO—Seattle Chapter.  You can contact her at c_lowenberg@hotmail.com.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11
Rally Tuesday opposing privatization at Port of Seattle

We must stop privatization and restore accountability!  Show the Port of Seattle our unity by attending a rally Tuesday, Feb. 12 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Port of Seattle Headquarters, Pier 69 (2711 Alaskan Way).  This rally is sponsored by IBEW Local 46.

The Port of Seattle has "privatized" several dozen jobs, resulting in members of IBEW and the Operating Engineers losing their jobs.  These jobs, involving crane maintenance at the Port, are generally (perhaps all) remaining union, but there are two issues involved:

— We need to oppose "privatization" of work -- public interests should be served with public accountability.

— And this is only the start -- the Port is threatening to "privatize" hundreds of other jobs, including the ILWU warehouse jobs, most of which would almost certainly end up going to non-union employers with sub-living wages and benefits.

If you have news items regarding unions or workplace issues in Washington state that you would like to see posted here, please submit them via e-mail to David Groves or via fax to 206-285-5805.

Copyright © 2002  Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO