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Updated DAILY... almost every day™ by 9 a.m.

Links to press stories are functional at the date of posting.  In some cases, free registration is required at newspapers' sites.  Links sometimes "expire" when the source would like to begin charging 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.


WSLC Legislative Tracker™

Today and Monday are the next two cutoff deadlines. What's alive and what isn't? Get updates with the WSLC Legislative Tracker™, a table listing many of the bills being tracked by the WSLC.  Bookmark it for up-to-the-moment-we-get-to-it updates on the legislation that you want to track.  Check it out at www.wslc.org/legis/tracker.htm.

FRIDAY, FEB. 24  ■  Five new Vice Presidents appointed to serve on WSLC Board -- They are IAM District 751 President Mark Blondin, ILWU Local 4 Vice President Cager Clabaugh, WFSE/AFSCME Local 1326 member Howard Ocobock, AFT Washington President Sandra Schroeder, and Ligia Velazquez of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.

Local news:
 ■  In today’s Bellingham Herald -- Faculty union backers win at WWU -- The state labor board counted mail-in ballots and announced that the United Faculty of Western Washington (WEA-AFT) was approved, 300-284.
■  In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing hires non-union out-of-state contractor for 787 parts delivery
■  In today’s Everett Herald -- Boeing plan riles Machinists -- Union leaders are fuming over a Boeing plan to hire a North Carolina firm to distribute 787 parts. "So much for working together," says IAM 751 President (and WSLC Vice President) Mark Blondin. "It's a real BS deal."
■  Today from AP -- Airbus orders spank Boeing at Asian air show
 ■  In today’s Olympian -- State workers face ER change -- About 21,000 state employees and dependents in Thurston County will be warned by mail that their Uniform Medical Plan insurance won’t cover as much of the cost as it previously did for an ER visit at Providence St. Peter.
■  In today's Seattle Times -- Alaska Airlines baggage handler cited in altercation with United workers
■  In today’s News Tribune -- Alaska Airlines investigates problems -- For the sixth time since Christmas, an Alaska Airlines flight had cabin pressure problems Thursday.

We-No-Longer-Suck news:
■  In today’s Kitsap Sun -- Kitsap job growth among the best in the nation -- Bremerton-Silverdale ranks 18th out of 200 of America’s "Best Performing Cities" in terms of job growth, says report.
■  In today’s Everett Herald -- State's on the right track -- The business climate is improving, but health care costs, traffic congestion and education are threats, says AWB boss Brunell.

Legislative news:
 ■  In today’s Olympian -- Bill might pay off for part-time college faculty members
■  In today’s News Tribune -- Long-term solution needed to nursing home funding (Rev. Boonstra op-ed) -- Our state’s nursing homes – home to many of the most vulnerable among us – are in crisis... and a major factor in this crisis is that state reimbursement rates for nursing homes are still based on 1999 costs despite the drastically climbing cost of providing quality care.
■  In today’s Kitsap Sun -- Passenger ferry bill moves on -- It easily passes the Senate, but a schism over public funding for private service could stall the legislation in the House.
■  In today’s Olympian -- House orders news releases edited for forbidden phrases -- Among the forbidden phrases: “Shell game.” “Lack of honesty with taxpayers.” “Tax-and-spend liberal.” 
■  Today at HorsesAss.org -- EFF initiative illegal... and they know it -- Federal law says you can't remove people from the list of eligible voters except by their own request. So why would the EFF sponsor this initiative? Because they are a bunch of deceitful, manipulative, calculating liars, whose only goal is to seize political power for themselves and their right-wing fellow travelers.

Spud-gate news: 
■  In today’s King Co. Journal -- Students lose food fight; onion likely won't become state veggie -- For the third year, a junior high class's bill is blocked by the Washington State Potato Commission. The class's teacher is retiring after after 21 years. Questions/comments? Send them here.
■  In the Yakima Herald -- You say potato, we say ONION! (editorial) -- The Walla Walla sweet is no ordinary onion, while there is no Washington potato variety. Let Idaho have the potato moniker.
■  At Tri-City Herald Chris Mulick's blog -- New idea for state vegetable: It's baaad, ngkay -- Potatoes are the state's 4th largest agricultural commodity and sweet onions are far down the line. So how about we split the difference? So let's let compromise be the order of the day and declare marijuana (would qualify as our 8th largest ag commodity) Washington's official state vegetable.

National news:
 ■  In today’s NY Times -- NEA will let its local unions join AFL-CIO -- Local chapters of the nation's largest labor union (such as locals of the Washington Education Association) could opt to join AFL-CIO central bodies and state federations (like, say, the Washington State Labor Council).
■  In today’s LA Times -- AFL-CIO nurses seek to team up across unions -- Nurses from eight AFL-CIO unions are banding together in an effort to increase their political and organizing strength. Some 200,000 nurses, calling themselves RNs Working Together, are bidding to become the first industry coordinating committee within the AFL-CIO.
■  In today’s NY Times -- Union leader supporting guest worker proposal -- SEIU's Eliseo Medina, who as a teen picked California grapes alongside fellow Mexican immigrants, is backing Bush's proposal. The AFL-CIO, which fiercely opposes the guest worker plan, says it would result in the disappearance of thousands of jobs and create an underclass of poorly paid foreign workers.
■  In today’s NY Times -- U.S. to pay big employers billions not to end their retiree health plans

We'll-Believe-It-When-We-See-It news:
■  Today from AP -- Wal-Mart plans to offer improved health benefits -- The announcement marks the second time in six months that the world's largest retailer has pledged to improve health benefits and comes ahead of the Wal-Mart CEO's speech this Sunday to the nation's governors.
■  Today at the AFLCIO Now blog -- New Wal-Mart health plan: The placebo effect -- Why, after so vigorously defending its long-standing health plan -- one that covered fewer than half its workers, was unaffordable for most of its low-wage employees and shifted billions in health care costs to state governments -- would Wal-Mart trumpet its new and supposedly more generous plan?
■  At WakeUpWalMart.com -- Wal-Mart health care spending actually dropped in latest public filing

 

 

THURSDAY, FEB. 23  ■  Gov. Gregoire deserves our thanks for Fair Share commitment -- Meanwhile, the rest of the Fair Share Coalition's health-care proposals remain in play.

Local news:
■  In today’s Spokesman-Review -- Spokane County has fewer low-wage jobs -- New data says those jobs aren't just disappearing, many of those workers moved up to the next-higher wage bracket. A state economic analyst looked at the state's average wage data covering the same time period. He found nearly every county in Washington reflected a common pattern of wage gains. (This story fails to mention the impact of our state's indexed minimum wage. ("Hel-lo... McFly!"))
■  In today’s Olympian -- Arts center stagehands' labor vote expected -- Stagehands (IATSE) at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts expect to vote next week on their first labor contract.
■  In today’s Everett Herald -- Boeing names Ross Bogue new big-jet chief -- He will oversee major changes on the 777 line, as Boeing both increases production rates on its best-selling widebody, and implements a new moving production line, intended to produce the plane more efficiently.
■  In today’s Kitsap Sun -- Demand exceeds supply for health-care workers
■  In yesterday's Columbian -- As usual Wal-Mart gets people fired up -- A WSU-Vancouver meeting to discuss unconfirmed plans of a new Wal-Mart in the Salmon Creek area gets contentious.
■  In today’s Salem S-J -- Western Oregon University faculty (AFT) OKs possible strike

Legislative news:
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- Campaign funding limits should be expanded (editorial) -- Nationwide, money has been flooding into state appellate-court races. As one of only four states with elected judges and no campaign limits on their races, Washington is vulnerable.
■  In today’s Everett Herald -- Speak up for those who care for others (letter from nursing home worker)
■  In the Daily World -- Biomass plan in House budget would benefit Grays Harbor paper mill, PUD

National news:  
■  Today from AP -- Average American family income declines -- The average income of American families, after adjusting for inflation, declined by 2.3 percent in 2004 compared to 2001.
■  At the AFL-CIO Now blog -- Congress gives itself a raise; minimum wage sinks to a 60-year low
■  At the House of Labor blog -- Bush: A failure on the economy -- When Bush argued for his 3rd tax cut, he said it would create 5.5 million jobs from July 2003 through the end of 2004 -- almost 1.5 million more jobs than would be expected in a normal recovery. Instead, only 2.4 million jobs were created, 1.7 million less than the number we were told to expect with no tax cut.
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- Labor unions tested by giveback demands -- As flight crews await a bankruptcy judge's decision, due Friday, on whether Northwest can void its contracts with them, there is a sense across the entire labor movement that events are taking workers to a place they've never been before... "We've moved into a deeper round where there really is no floor."
■  In today’s Wash. Post -- Hope for health care? (Broder column) -- HHS chief Leavitt acknowledges that as long as millions of Americans lack basic health insurance, forcing the costs of their care onto taxpayers or those buying private insurance, the system will remain out of control.
■  In today’s NY Times -- Playing with pension reform (editorial) -- Pension reform is now falling victim to lobbying, partisan politics and all the other usual suspects.
■  Today from AP -- Bush administration takes tough stance on China -- (Oh, not on human-rights abuses or the massive trade imbalance, silly!  This is about software piracy.)

Port Security news:  
■  At the AFL-CIO Now blog -- White House "out of touch" with bipartisan port concerns
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- Sen. Murray calls on Bush for port-deal details -- or halt to sale
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- More port security measures in place here
■  In today’s LA Times -- GOP allies abandon Bush in fight over Arab port deal
■  In today’s NY Times -- Port security is a big problem, Dubai deal or not (news analysis)

The State of the Unions:  
■  At the House of Labor blog -- AFL-CIO discriminates against UFW -- In a Jan. 30 letter written to State Federations and Central Labor Councils, John Sweeney says that the United Farm Workers, which disaffiliated from the AFL-CIO last month, was not eligible to be part of Solidarity Charters--nor would any other union that leaves the AFL-CIO from this day on.

 

 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 22  ■  Sunshine Week event March 13 to spotlight open government

Legislative news:
 ■  Today from AP -- EFF initiative would force all voters to reregister -- Voters would have to prove they are U.S. citizens and reregister under an initiative the Evergreen Freedom Foundation will soon file. (Yes, the right-wing, anti-union EFF -- funded by the Walton Foundation, among others -- is getting into the initiative business. And its first salvo is a transparent attempt to suppress voter turnout by fixing a problem that doesn't exist.)
 ■  In today's News Tribune -- House bill would audit results when state allows tax breaks (Burbank column) -- The state is spending more than $6 million to enable McDonald’s to not pay health care benefits to its workers. And we want to give it a tax break? How likely is it that the tax break will translate into a drop in the price of a Big Mac or that fast-food workers, whose average earnings are only $1,200 a month, will get a raise?
 ■  Today from AP -- House budget "no spending spree," Dems say -- Proposal plows money into health care and education, while leaving nearly $1 billion in reserves.
 ■  Today from AP -- House gives go-ahead to Puget Sound transportation plan
 ■  In today's Salem S-J -- Oregon supreme Court upholds Measure 37 "property-rights" law -- The state, city and county governments face thousands of land-use claims. (Is Washington next?)
■  In today's Everett Herald -- Gregoire helps broker an unlikely compromise on malpractice (editorial)
 ■  In today's Seattle Times -- Gregoire herds cats to malpractice law (editorial) -- For the governor, this is a genuine leadership moment. Gregoire's hard-nosed negotiating skills prove once again to be one of her most successful leadership traits.

Wal-Mart news:
 ■  In today's Seattle Times -- It's Wal-Mart's business, not the Legislature's (Ramsey column) -- What a company pays its workers is not a public question. It is between management and employees. (This simplistic Ayn Rand-y capitalist-libertarian perspective is most effectively rebutted in a previous Times column by Danny Westneat, based on an interview with local grocer Craig Cole.)
 ■  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Wetland mysteriously filled in at proposed local Wal-Mart site
 ■  Today from Bloomberg -- Wal-Mart overtime class-action suit blocked -- Wisconsin court rules that a trial would be "unmanageable" because of the number of employees involved. (Apparently, when it comes to protecting workers' rights, size matters.)
■  In today's -- Wal-Mart profit is up 13% -- To lure more affluent customers, Wal-Mart plans to add faux hardwood floors, wider aisles and stainless steel restroom fixtures. (?!)

Local news:  
 ■  In today's Tri-City Herald -- Potlatch to build sawmill near Boardman -- Spokane company says the mill will employ up to 55 people when it opens in late 2006.
 ■  In yesterday's Kitsap Sun -- When we needed help, ferry workers came through (letter)
 ■  Today from AP -- Rep. McMorris engaged to be married -- The congresswoman, 36, will marry Brian Rodgers of San Diego, a retired Navy commander and son of a former Spokane mayor.

Port Security news:
■  Today from AP -- Bush backs Arab takeover of U.S. ports -- The president has pledged to veto any bill that angry Republicans and Democrats in Congress might approve to block the deal.
■  In today's NY Times -- The president and the ports (editorial) -- Bush's first veto after more than five years in office could be because he wants to hand control of operations at major American ports to a company controlled by the United Arab Emirates government. After signing a parade of misbegotten congressional initiatives and irresponsible budgets, that would be a strange choice.
 ■  And finally, this from AP -- Bush unaware of port deal before its approval -- Somehow this particular White House spin is entirely believable.
 ■  At AFL-CIO Now blog -- Port security, what port security?

Other national news: 
 ■  In today's NY Times -- Bush admits to "mixed signals" on renewable energy -- Budget cuts forced the layoff of 32 DOE energy-lab workers who were then hastily reinstated just before Bush's visit.
 ■  Today from AP -- Departing Radio Shack CEO will get golden parachute -- The guy who last week announced that weak earnings will force closure of up to 700 stores and this week resigned after it was revealed that he lied on his résumé, will get more than $1 million in cash.
■  Today at The Onion -- White House had prior knowledge of Cheney threat -- An August 2005 briefing warned: "Cheney is determined to shoot an old man in the face."

 

 

 

TUESDAY, FEB. 21  ■  AFL-CIO launches "AFL-CIO Now: News That Works" blog

WSLC Legislative Tracker™
Check out the WSLC Legislative Tracker™, a table listing many of the bills being tracked by the WSLC.  Bookmark it for up-to-the-moment-we-get-to-it updates on the legislation that you want to track.  Check it out at www.wslc.org/legis/tracker.htm.

Legislative news:
 ■  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Labor wants unemployment benefits revised -- "The trust fund is doing unexpectedly and surprisingly well," said ESD chief Karen Lee.  The 2003 benefit cuts saved money, she said, partly because they dramatically pared back the number of workers who qualify for unemployment benefits, from 49% to 29%.  She estimates SB 6885 would actually cut employer payroll taxes by $443 million more through 2014, even with increased benefits.
 ■  Today from AP -- Senate passes construction budget
■  In today's Seattle Times -- Doctors, lawyers make deal on medical-malpractice bill -- The breakthrough agreement was the result of confidential negotiations in which Gov. Gregoire kept doctors and lawyers talking just months after they spent millions of dollars attacking each other in a brutal political campaign.
■  In today's Olympian -- Governor steps to helm of issue -- “The governor basically took those interests and brought them into the room and got the politics out of this,” says Sen. Dale Brandland (R-Bellingham). Turning to Gregoire, Brandland adds: “I’ve got to tell you, I think if you hadn’t done this, we’d probably be at loggerheads today.

National news:  
 ■  In today's NY Times -- In wireless world, Cingular bucks the antiunion trend -- Cingular's wireless competitors have fought, at times fiercely, against unionization, arguing that an organized labor force would hobble their ability to move workers, cut costs and make changes necessary to compete in a high-tech industry. But the growth of Cingular into the nation's largest wireless carrier -- with a nearly fully unionized labor force -- has challenged those assumptions.
 ■  In today's NY Times -- Budget evasions (editorial) -- Bush's assault on domestic programs should stand as a permanent reminder of the folly of the $285 billion in additional upper-bracket tax cuts the president and the Republican-controlled Congress are aiming for across the next five years.
 ■  In today's Washington Post -- Millions not joining Medicare drug plan -- The Bush administration's  $400 million campaign to enroll low-income seniors in the prescription drug coverage program has signed up 1.4 million people, a fraction of the 8 million eligible for the new coverage.
 ■  In today's LA Times -- Railroads back on track -- They're posting record profits and expanding their operations, but rising rates and delays irritate some customers.
 ■  In today's Washington Post -- Creating wealth for the poor (Dionne column) -- King County Executive Ron Sims believes government, far from being a drain on the nation's wealth, ought to "provide the social infrastructure and the physical infrastructure to help wealth be created." He says that Democrats should run under the slogan: "Rebuild America."

 

 

MONDAY, FEB. 20  ■  Public hearing on UI reform bill, SB 6885, TODAY in Olympia
 ■  In the Seattle Times -- Unemployment Insurance again haunts legislature -- The state brought in Wayne Vroman, a national UI expert with the Urban Institute... (his) top recommendation to lawmakers was to permanently restore two-quarter averaging (which is what SB 6885 does).

Other legislative news:  
 ■  In Saturday's Seattle P-I -- Senate passes new state budget -- House Democrats tentatively plan to produce their counterproposal Tuesday. Negotiators, along with the governor, will iron out details.
 ■  In The (Centralia) Chronicle -- Tax cuts justified for timber firms as much as for Boeing (editorial)
 ■  In the (Longview) Daily News -- Democrats wanted to vote on "Fair Share" bill -- Reps. Dean Takko and Brian Blake were among rank-and-file House Democrats who wanted their leader to allow a vote on a bill aimed at making large employers spend more on health benefits.
 ■  In the P.S. Business Journal --  Wal-Mart's cost shift (letter by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles) -- As health-care costs continue to spiral -- and with the state picking up more of the tab -- it's time we put a stop to corporate welfare. 

Local news:  
 ■  In the Seattle P-I -- A troubling look at King County's health -- A new report finds that African Americans, the poor and residents of South Seattle and South King County are dying younger and suffering disproportionately from chronic diseases and a lack of access to health care.
 ■  At the HorsesAss blog -- Exposing the Farm Bureau's lies, and the media's complicity
 ■  In the News Tribune -- Restaurateur Rainbow Buffet must pay $51,923 in back wages to workers 

National news:  
 ■  Today from AP -- Families of 65 trapped miners in Mexico are desperate 
 ■  In today’s LA Times -- Latinos sought as mining next generation -- In Kentucky, Big Coal wants to bring in non-English speakers to fill jobs. Miners fear the move may degrade safety and wages.
 ■  In today’s LA Times -- L.A. workers join fierce debate over immigration -- Jobs are a key issue in an area with a large Latino population and high black unemployment.
 ■  At BusinessWeek online -- Outsourcing hasn't hit its peak -- Not even close, says the CEO of Cognizant, who explains how Western companies can benefit from the growing ternd.
■  In the Working Life blog -- Minimum wage gets more minimal -- Barring a federal minimum wage increase, we are poised to break a record in 2006 for the greatest inequality between minimum wage and average wage workers since the end of World War II.
■  In today’s NY Times -- Town relies on G.M. long after plants have closed -- G.M.'s generous medical plans, prescription drug coverage, dental care and pension checks are a lifeline for the 10,000 retirees and an untold number of surviving family members who still live in the area.

 

 

Previous weeks' news: Feb. 13-17 -- Feb. 6-10 -- Jan. 30-Feb. 2

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2006
Five new Vice Presidents appointed to serve on WSLC Board

Five new members of the Washington State Labor Council's Executive Board were appointed last week to fill the unexpired terms of board members who have resigned. The new WSLC Vice Presidents are IAM District 751 President Mark Blondin, ILWU Local 4 Vice President Cager Clabaugh, WFSE Local 1326 member Howard Ocobock, AFT Washington President Sandra Schroeder, and Ligia Velazquez of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.

Mark Blondin has served as IAM District 751 President since first being elected in February 2001. He began his career at Boeing as a mechanic in 1979, and has now served the union for 26 years, working his way up through the ranks and holding many District 751 leadership positions along the way. He also holds leadership positions within the Machinists Union, serving as Secretary-Treasurer for the Washington Machinists Council and on the union's International Law Committee.

Cager Clabaugh, a Clark County native, is a third-generation longshoreman and serves as Vice President for International Longshoremen and Warehousemen’s Union Local 4, which represents workers at the Port of Vancouver. He is President of the Clark, Skamania and West Klickitat Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. He is also a board member of the Clark County Skills Center, a vocational training center for all of the county's high schools.

Howard Ocobock is an equipment mechanic with the Washington State Department of Transportation in Yakima and has worked with WSDOT for 23 years. A member of Local 1326 of the Washington Federation of State Employees/AFSCME Council 28, he is in his second term as vice president of Council 28, has previously served as president and vice president of Local 1326, and was also a member of the WFSE Statewide Executive Board. In 2004, he served on the WFSE/AFSCME General Government Bargaining Team that negotiated the first-ever full-scope contract including wages and benefits for 30,000 state employees represented by WFSE/AFSCME.

Sandra Schroeder was elected president of AFT Washington, the state federation of the American Federation of Teachers, in May 2001 and appointed to the AFT Higher Education program and policy council the following fall. She taught English at Seattle Central Community College beginning in 1979, served as president of the Seattle Community Colleges Federation of Teachers for two terms, and held several other seats on its Board. She also served four years as AFT Washington Vice President for Community Colleges and terms as secretary and treasurer. In 1998, she worked as the federation lobbyist and as a project organizer for Washington State Labor Council.

Ligia Velazquez is a Union Representative for Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 8 in Seattle. She is a member of the Executive Board of the Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council, and serves as President of the Puget Sound Chapter of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, which advocates for the rights of all Latino workers and their families in all phases of the American trade union movement and the political process.

The WSLC Executive Board meets quarterly to establish the policies and programs between conventions of the state's largest labor organization. The current Board is composed of President Rick Bender, Secretary-Treasurer Al Link and 25 Vice Presidents, 19 of whom are elected by district. In addition, any international union that has WSLC per capita membership of 10,000 or more rank-and-file members is entitled to an At-Large Vice President, if that union is not already represented on the board. Five AFL-CIO affiliated constituency groups also have Vice Presidents appointed to represent their unique interests.

The five new Vice Presidents were nominated by WSLC affiliates, interviewed and appointed by the Executive Board to fill vacancies created by the resignation of IAM District 751's Ron McGaha and Linda Lanham, UFCW's Lynda Hart and Dale Palmer, and LCLAA's Tania Maria Rosario.  All members of the WSLC Executive Board, including the new Vice Presidents, will stand for election to a new 4-year term this fall.

Click here for list of the WSLC Executive Board (and staff).

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2006
Gov. Gregoire deserves our thanks for Fair Share commitment

Nine days after the Fair Share Health Care bills (SB 6358 and HB 2517) missed a cutoff deadline for a floor vote in the State Legislature, the halls of Capitol are still buzzing with the remarkable debate on health-care issues that it prompted. The issue wasn't even on the radar screen of many leaders and media pundits when the short 60-day legislative session began. And though it never got a fair vote, it led to a significant debate and, ultimately, an important commitment to address the issue of cost-shifting by large profitable employers onto taxpayer-funded health plans.

The buzz continues largely because of the pledge Gov. Chris Gregoire made at the Washington State Labor Council's Legislative Conference last week to work to pass a "perfected" version of the Fair Share bill in 2007.  Her support for the Fair Share concept -- establishing a minimum health-care standard and stopping the race to the bottom led by Wal-Mart and other big corporations that share its destructive business model -- has corporate lobbyists in Olympia still frothing onto their tassel-toed loafers.

TAKE ACTION: Gov. Gregoire deserves our thanks for her leadership and her commitment to seeking passage of a revised Fair Share bill in 2007. Please call her office at (360) 902-4111, send her a personal message using her electronic mail form, and/or participate in a "Thank Gov. Gregoire" e-mail campaign at  www.healthsecurityaction.com/campaign/fairsharehealthcare_gov 

After her speech at the WSLC Legislative Conference, the governor told a reporter, "There are a lot of really good employers who want this done and have reached out to me and said, 'We need to make this happen. We need a level playing field in the state of Washington, and we're not going to reduce our health-care benefits in order to make that a level playing field'."

Like many other labor, business, health-care and community leaders that are part of the Washington Fair Share Health Care Coalition -- see www.fairsharehealthcare.net -- WSLC President Rick Bender has also made a commitment to continuing to press for a Fair Share bill, saying, "This issue isn't dead. It will be a top priority next session."

Meanwhile, the rest of the Coalition's four-part health-care proposal remains alive in Olympia:

Small Employer Health Insurance Partnership Program -- HB 2572 provides a subsidy to small employers with low-wage workers to help them buy health insurance coverage. Most small employers want to provide health coverage, but many can’t afford it, because of premium increases driven by cost-shifting and rising numbers of the uninsured. Eligible employers who choose to participate contribute a reasonable 40 percent of the premium, employees pay what they can afford toward coverage for themselves and their families, and government helps make up the difference.  STATUS: HB 2572 passed the House 57-42 and was heard last week in the Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee. It must pass out of that committee by the end of the day tomorrow (Friday, Feb. 24) to remain alive.

Coverage for Children -- Gov. Gregoire and the Democratic leaders of both houses have made a strong commitment to the goal of having every child in Washington state have health coverage. The Coalition strongly supports that goal and urges state lawmakers to make continued progress toward in this year's supplemental budget.  STATUS: Again, both the Senate-approved and House-proposed budget include a sensible and necessary investment of a small portion of our state’s budget surplus toward enrolling more children.

Coverage for Adults in Working Families -- State government should  not only partner with small business to help more working people get coverage, it should also restore 10,000 slots to the state's Basic Health Program of affordable coverage for uninsured working families. It is important to invest in our children's health, but it is also important to make an investment in that of Washington's working adults.  STATUS: The Senate-approved budget included funding for an additional 5,000 BHP slots and the House Democrats' proposed budget includes 4,500 slots. The Coalition is urging the governor and legislative leaders who negotiate the final version to do even better in this important area.

Another bill that isn't part of the Coalition proposal but directly affects the Fair Share debate is HB 3079, the Health Care Disclosure Act. It would require agencies to work together to prepare a report identifying the employers of Basic Health Plan and Medicaid enrollees. This information is critical for taxpayers to assess the extent to which certain large employers are shifting health costs on state government, so an informed decision can be made about what to do about it.  STATUS: HB 3079 breezed through the House on a 94-3 vote and was heard but not yet voted upon in the Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee. It was until tomorrow to advance from committee.

TAKE MORE ACTION: Call the toll-free Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and leave a message for your State Representatives, State Senator and Governor Gregoire in support of the above-mentioned health-care bills and budget priorities.

Thank you for your efforts on this critically important issue.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2006
Sunshine Week event March 13 to spotlight open government

The following press release has been distributed by the Washington Coalition for Open Government:

Sunshine Week 2006, March 12-18, is a nationwide event supported by a coalition of interest groups anxious to preserve, protect and perpetuate access to a free and open government.

March 13, in the studio auditorium of KOMO-TV Seattle, the Washington Coalition for Open Government hosts a special program on government secrecy and efforts to maintain and restore transparency. A national panel discusses federal government access issues from the National Press Club in Washington , D.C. , via satellite feed to the Seattle television station’s studio. A panel of Washington open government advocates and state leaders then discusses local access issues.

“Our federal, state and local governments are not always as responsive, responsible, accountable and accessible as our laws and constitutions require,” said WCOG Pres. Michele Earl-Hubbard.

“As Sunshine Week was created to call to the attention of the public the many threats to access and openness. It is a reminder that vigilance is the only response to secrecy; that an open accessible government assures the preservation of our democracy,” she said.

The program is free to the public, but seating at the studio is limited.

TVW, the state public affairs television cable channel, plans to tape the event and show it at a future scheduled times. A live telecast by TVW may also be available.

The national forum begins at 10 a.m., followed at 11:30 by discussion and dialogue among local panelists and the audience. The event concludes at 1 p.m.

To reserve a seat contact Washington Coalition for Open Government: info@washingtoncog.org, (206) 782-0393.  The event venue is at Fisher Plaza , 140 Fourth Ave. N. , Seattle , the entrance to the Main Lobby.

Invited local panelists include Gov. Christine Gregoire, State Auditor Brian Sonntag, Rep. Toby Nixon (45th District, Republican, Kirkland , King County ) and media law attorney Michele Earl-Hubbard, a partner with Davis Wright Tremaine, Seattle, and WCOG president.

The Seattle panel moderator is Scott Wilson, past president of the host coalition, past president of Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and an active publisher in the newspaper group. He is a former Olympia reporter for the News Tribune of Tacoma and holds a masters degree in Journalism from the University of Washington .

The national teleforum on March 13 examines the question, "Are We Safer in the Dark?" During the 90-minute national conversation, speakers and video segments address:

  • Do federal laws such as the Freedom of Information Act fulfill their promise to guarantee openness in government? How do laws passed and policies/regulations implemented since 9/11 encourage secrecy or openness?

  • How does transparency (or a lack thereof) affect the government's readiness and response to disasters such as Sago Mines and Hurricane Katrina? What about the public's ability to plan and respond - or to prevent disasters?

  • How do secrecy and openness influence the personal choices you make to ensure the education, safety and well-being of your families?

  • What tools and resources work effectively in safeguarding the public's ability to hold government accountable?

Sunshine Week is not about journalists; it's not about partisan politics. Rather it's about the public and the importance of protecting and promoting open government. Sunshine Week is not about protecting journalists' rights, it's about the right of all citizens to know what their government is doing -- and why.

For more info, visit www.WashingtonCOG.org, e-mail info@WashingtonCOG.org, or call Washington COG Executive Director Ellie Snow at 206-782-0393.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2006
AFL-CIO launches "AFL-CIO Now: News That Works" blog

The following press release was distributed today by the AFL-CIO:

AFL-CIO Launches ‘AFL-CIO Now: News That Works’
Super-Blog Delivers Daily “News with Attitude” About Working Families and Unions
http://www.aflcio.org/blog

(Washington, February 21)  -- The AFL-CIO today launched AFL-CIO Now:  News that Works, a comprehensive news and opinion blog offering fresh, online information from around the country about issues affecting working people, unions and the AFL-CIO.

 “With AFL-CIO Now, we are bringing vital information on bread-and-butter issues directly to the people who can change things,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.  “There’s nothing like it out there and it couldn’t come at a better time.  It’s a powerful new tool for working men and women, and it arrives just as we’re seeing a surge of new energy from activists, union and non-union alike.”

Today the new blog includes reaction from former Enron employees Digna Showers and Deborah Perrotta on the trial of former Enron CEOs Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling.  Showers and Perrotta are two of the more than 21,000 Enron employees who nearly lost everything when the company’s stock nose-dived amid allegations of financial irregularities and strange business deals.  Also today, the site will include a feature on Ford’s plan to close a Wixom, Mich. factory as part of its recent announcement to shut down 14 plants and cut 30,000 jobs, despite the fact that the factory was rated the third highest quality plant in North and South America by J.D. Power and Associates last year.

AFL-CIO Now provides news on worker organizing and political efforts, health care, the economy, jobs, retirement security and other issues, updated several times daily.  It is designed to elevate workers’ issues in the blogosphere and strengthen grassroots action, while providing a new resource to members of the media and influentials in policy and government.

The blog adds a dynamic new element to the AFL-CIO’s online presence, which already includes a popular website and a network of over half a million online activists.  The AFL-CIO’s network of activists have proven to be a potent force on behalf of working families –activists sent nearly 2 million faxes, calls and e-mails to Congress in a successful campaign to stop the Bush Administration’s attempt to privatize Social Security.

AFL-CIO Now will also feature guest bloggers who will offer insight on issues and events shaping news relevant to working families.  The site launches today with a blog from Greg LeRoy, author of “The Great American Jobs Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation,” who will discuss the ills of corporate tax breaks in the name of “economic development.” 

The site can be accessed at http://www.aflcio.org/blog.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2006
Public hearing on UI reform bill, SB 6885, TODAY in Olympia

Today, the Unemployment Insurance (UI) reform bill, SB 6885 which would permanently restore two-quarter averaging in the calculation of benefits, will get something that the 2003 legislation that unnecessarily slashed those benefits never got: a public hearing. 

The House Commerce and Labor Committee chaired by Rep. Steve Conway (D-Tacoma) will give SB 6885 its second hearing at 1:30 p.m. this afternoon in House Hearing Room C of the John L. O'Brien Building.  Union members and other supporters are urged to attend.

The omnibus bill that slashed UI benefits in 2003 was never subject to a public hearing. It was approved in the middle of the night in the final minutes of a second special overtime legislative session.  (Read the Puget Sound Business Journal's memorable 2003 account of watching the UI "debate" on TVW at 4 a.m. -- Legislature's late-night must-see TV -- which lamented, "this kind of political theater should be scheduled during prime time, and during the regular season. The ratings would be better, and the outcome would be more carefully considered.")

This year's SB 6885 would restore one of the most extreme and unnecessary of the benefits cuts approved in 2003, but leave in place several other labor-opposed benefits cuts and the volatile 40-rate class tax structure sought by business interests. If SB 6885 is approved, the combined cost savings to business will still be more than $1 billion in 2006-2010. 

Given the haste with which the 2003 legislation was slapped together and approved, it's ironic to say the least that business interests this year are accusing Democrats who support SB 6885 of trying "ram it through."  Carolyn Logue, a lobbyist for the National Federation of Independent Businesses, told the Seattle Times, "There's no reason to jam it through in a 60-day session."

At today's hearing, business lobbyists will get an opportunity that working families and the public never had in 2003.  Their talking points will be a predictable mush of misleading claims and overstated rhetoric designed to convince House Democrats to amend SB 6885 in some way -- any way -- so the bill will have to go back to the Senate, where it already passed on a 25-22 vote.  The business community's goal is to force another Senate vote, where they intend to twist enough arms to deny SB 6885 that 25th vote necessary for it second passage, or for time to run out in the session. (See the latest edition of the WSLC Legislative Update newsletter for more detail.)

That's why the Washington State Labor Council is urging State Representatives to pass SB 6885 without amendment.  If legislators decide that other changes in the UI system are necessary, there is other legislation alive that can encompass those changes.  Passage of SB 6885 without amendment and permanently restoring two-quarter averaging should be State Representatives "highest priority" on UI, as recommended by the nation's leading expert on state UI systems, Dr. Wayne Vroman of the Urban Institute.

TAKE ACTION:  Please come to Olympia for today's hearing. If you can't, call the toll-free Legislative Hotline right now at 1-800-562-6000, and leave a message for both of your State Representatives urging them to pass SB 6885 WITHOUT AMENDMENT.

For updates on this and other legislation affecting working people in Washington state, check out the WSLC Legislative Tracker™.

 

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 © 2006   Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO