WSLC Reports Today -- March 13-17, 2000

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RALLY for DEMOCRACY Monday in Olympia!
Special guests AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer RICHARD TRUMKA and AFSCME President GERALD McENTEE (click here for info)

Reports for March 13-17, 2000

FRIDAY, March 17 -- SPEEA "delivers" in tentative agreement
In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing, SPEEA reach tentative agreement
In today's New York Times -- Boeing, engineers reach labor pact
SPEEA overview of contract -- Today's statement by Boeing

THURSDAY, March 16 -- Will the UW recognize the graduate employees' new union?
In today's Seattle P-I -- Transit won legal fight, may lose I-695 money war
In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing strike forces airlines to juggle plans, cancel flights
In today's (Everett) Herald -- Patients given bill of rights
In today's Washington Post -- The littlest laborers: Child labor problems on the rise
...and in other "trade-related news" -- China threatens voters in Taiwan
In today's New York Times -- Largest private prison company faces abuse charges
(This story should be of particular interest to Washingtonians where some political opportunists have seized onto I-695 as an excuse to privatize our prisons... and many other government services.)
In yesterday's Spokesman-Review -- Locked-out steelworkers camp out at Capitol

WEDNESDAY, March 15 -- I-695 ruling too little, too late for laid-off transit workers
...and also -- Labor bills pass Senate (again), steelworkers pass the time
In today's Seattle P-I -- International puts HERE Local 8 into receivership
...and also -- Judge's 695 ruling legally rock solid (editorial)
In today's New York Times -- Details of China trade pact released in U.S.
...and a related Washington Post story -- China jails woman for mailing newspaper clips
In today's Seattle Times -- WashTech calls for study of foreign worker visas

TUESDAY, March 14 -- Steelworkers, others continue vigil at Capitol
In today's (Spokane) Spokesman-Review -- Kaiser workers camp out at Capitol
In today's Seattle Times -- A leaner, shrewder labor flexes rediscovered muscle (oped)
In today's (Everett) Herald -- Wichita SPEEA reaches no-strike pact
In today's New York Times -- White House to publish pact negotiated with China
In yesterday's (Vancouver) Columbian -- Laid-off Nordic workers to get NAFTA retraining benefits

MONDAY, March 13 -- 24-hour sit-in begins again at noon TODAY in Olympia
In today's New York Times -- A poisoned minimum wage bill (editorial)
Over the weekend at the AFL-CIO -- Working women cheer Gore's agenda
In this week's Puget Sound Business Journal -- Normalizing China trade status vital to exporters
In last Friday's Wall Street Journal -- Maxxam, Calpers talk about board

News from previous weeks: Mar. 6-10 -- Feb. 29-Mar. 3 -- Feb. 21-25

FRIDAY, MARCH 17
SPEEA "delivers" in tentative agreement

The largest and longest strike by white-collar workers in history may have ended after 38 days early this morning as a tentative agreement was reached by Boeing and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, IFPTE 2001. Union members will vote Sunday whether to ratify the contract, but it appears as though the union succeeded in accomplishing almost all of its bargaining objectives.

"We wanted respect for our contributions and a better future for our families and our company," SPEEA Executive Director Charles Bofferding said in the statement. "We believe the tentative agreement... delivers on those demands and can make a strong company stronger."

Three of the biggest union objectives were all achieved in the pact: cash bonuses totaling $2,500 over the next 12 months, pay raises that are largely guaranteed, and no takeaways on benefits as Boeing dropped demands for a phased-in medical premiums and co-payments for new employees. (See the proposal's highlights posted at the SPEEA website.)

SPEEA picketing will continue until the votes are counted, but look for a decidedly more upbeat mood on the picket lines today.

"It appears to be another victory, similar to the excellent contract recently achieved by Boeing's Machinists," said Rick Bender, President of the Washington State Labor Council. "I think we have all been inspired by SPEEA members' solidarity, and it looks like that strength has paid off for them.

"I think this will send a strong signal to other white-collar workers who are not organized that they too can benefit from union solidarity," Bender added.

The settlement was announced about 3 a.m. this morning following talks that began yesterday at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service headquarters in Washington. FMCS Director C. Richard Barnes congratulated " the leadership of the company and union for their hard work and their commitment to reaching this agreement."

The talks were characterized by "some new thinking," Barnes said. Participating in the talks for the first time were AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka and James B. Dagnon, Boeing's senior vice president for personnel. Their presence "was a tremendously important factor," Barnes told a Seattle newspaper reporter.

In October of last year, SPEEA affiliated with the AFL-CIO and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. The AFL-CIO and many of its affiliates have contributed to SPEEA's emergency relief fund to help the union hold out as long as possible in the dispute, and many union members participated in rallies and pickets with SPEEA strikers.

With SPEEA membership voluntary among Boeing's engineers and technicians, some were surprised by the strength and solidarity have demonstrated throughout the dispute as more than 17,000 employees walked, and with very few exceptions, stayed out for more than a month. SPEEA has reported a surge in membership immediately preceding, and even during, the strike. Roughly two-thirds of the engineers and technicians are now dues-paying members, more than ever before in the union's history.

THURSDAY, MARCH 16
Will the UW recognize the graduate employees' new union?

The Graduate Student Employee Action Coalition/UAW announced Wednesday that fully 80 percent of the University of Washington's 1,650 teaching assistants, readers and tutors have signed union cards, selecting GSEAC/UAW to represent them in collective bargaining. The union has called on UW President Richard McCormick to commence bargaining without delay.

But so far UW spokesman Bob Roseth has only said the university was "trying to come up with appropriate response." And there's good reason to suggest that the response (probably being toiled over by publicly funded attorneys as you read this) may not be favorable.

Just two months ago, the UW aggressively opposed SB6346, a state legislative proposal to grant academic personnel (professors) and other non-classified staff at four-year colleges the same collective bargaining rights private-sector workers now enjoy. UW Government Affairs Director Richard Thompson came to the bill's Senate hearing and expressed opposition, asking for the UW to be excluded from its provisions. The bill ultimately died, but will likely be back in 2001.

"The UW has no problem accepting an endowment from unions for a labor chair or seeking unions' help for such things as building of new law school or in other areas," Washington State Labor Council lobbyist Robby Stern said at the time. "Yet the UW finds no inconsistency, at the same time, in opposing the most fundamental democratic rights for its faculty and staff."

Across the country, more and more graduate student employees have pushed for the right to collective bargaining, arguing that union status will improve wages and working conditions among these workers who say they carry an increasing share of the teaching load. Currently, graduate student employees are recognized for collective bargaining on 20 campuses, according to the Coalition of Graduate Employee Unions.

But universities that have opposed such organizing efforts say teaching assistants are, first and foremost, students and that unionization will sour any chance for a collegial relationship with faculty.

The UW graduate student employees remain positive, energized and hopeful.

"We expect that the University of Washington administration will respect our choice, and negotiate with our union over wages, benefits and working conditions," said GSEAC/UAW activist Christopher Hibbeln, a teaching assistant in the Psychology Department.

"At the University of Washington, just as at universities across the country, teaching assistants, readers, and tutors shoulder a great deal of the teaching load," said history teaching assistant and GSEAC/UAW activist Roberta Gold. "We are dedicated to our work. All we ask is that, like thousands of other academic student employees nationwide, we enjoy union representation."

So as UW President Richard McCormick and the Board of Regents consider "the appropriate response," why not contact them and tell them what you think YOUR public university's appropriate response should be? McCormick's e-mail address is rlm@u.washington.edu , and the Board's collective address is regents@u.washington.edu.

In case your interested or a fan of copy-and-paste writing, here's what your webmaster sent Mr. McCormick and the Board:

"I urge you to recognize the union organized by UW graduate student employees, and to commence good-faith negotiations with them. I feel they have very clearly exercised their democratic rights, and I would be very disappointed if the UW decides to expend precious resources opposing their unionization effort. I look forward to hearing the university's response in this matter. Sincerely..."

And while you're at it, contact the GSEAC/UAW at (206) 633-6080, congratulate them, and ask what else you can do to show support for the UW graduate student employees.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15
I-695 decision too little, too late for laid-off transit workers

"This is a nation of laws... not of (con) men." -- from a Seattle P-I editorial today on the ruling that Tim Eyman's I-695 is unconstitutional.
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Yesterday's Superior Court ruling is too little, too late for the many laid-off transit workers, like 100 in Thurston County and 74 in Kitsap County, and countless citizens of Washington stranded or inconvenienced by reduced transit service.

But the ruling is reason for optimism (if it's upheld by the state Supreme Court) because then the local officials we have elected could respond to the transit crisis and other 695-related funding problems as they see fit, without being hamstrung by the prospect of countless expensive micromanaging referenda. After all this is a representative democracy, is it not?

Barry Samet, President of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587, which was the lead plaintiff in the case challenging I-695's constitutionality expressed confidence the ruling will be upheld. "This to me is a critical ruling," he said. "I think it will be insurmountable when it gets to the Supreme Court."

Meanwhile, as our state lawmakers trip over each other to reaffirm the $30 license tabs with new legislation, now would be a good time to call your representatives on the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000. Tell them to do everything they can in the current budget negotiations to replace some of the public transit funding disproportionately impacted by I-695. A long-term solution, whether in the form of fare increases or new revenue sources, will be possible later if the 695 ruling is upheld this fall. In the meantime, OUR TRANSIT SYSTEMS NEED HELP NOW!

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15
Labor bills pass Senate (again), steelworkers pass the time

Dozens of labor activists in Olympia, mostly locked-out Kaiser steelworkers, took a short break Tuesday from their 24-hour vigil in front of the House Chambers to walk across the Capitol Building and observe the State Senate passing (again) bills to grant state employees full collective bargaining rights and extended unemployment benefits to workers locked out of their jobs.

Both bills were sent (again) to the State House of Representatives where Republican Co-Speaker Clyde Ballard has prevented a vote from happening. It's also where the steelworkers and other union members vow to remain camped out as long as necessary to get the bill passed or until the special extended legislative session ends -- which could be at least another week given the snail's pace of budget negotiations.

"(We'll stay) as long as it takes," said steelworker Robert Kenyon of Spokane. "We'll just keep applying pressure in whatever way we can."

Sen. Lisa Brown (D-3rd), prime sponsor of SB6368 amended her measure Tuesday to grant locked-out workers unemployment benefits for up to 60 weeks (as opposed to the duration of the lockout as previously proposed) to try and break the House logjam. The bill passed 27-18 mostly along party lines, with Sen. Shirley Winsley (R-28th) joining majority Democrats in support.

SB6402, the Civil Service Reform bill, also passed the Senate again Tuesday by a 29-16 vote, with Sens. Winsley, Pam Roach (R-31st) and Dan Swecker (R-20th) voting yes with all Democrats.

Meanwhile, about 70 Kaiser workers who have endured almost 18 months of unemployment as their employer continues to try to starve them out (and lose millions of dollars doing it), have endured two nights on the cold marble floors of the Capitol Building. But in determined defiance of the hardship and loss inflicted on them by Kaiser's unscrupulous owner, the workers' spirits and hopes remain high that justice will prevail.

Their struggle is epic and heroic, and should be an inspiration to all of us who are union members. And all of us should consider coming to Olympia to join in the vigil, even if just for a short time, to express solidarity and admiration for the Kaiser steelworkers.

TUESDAY, MARCH 14
Steelworkers, others continue vigil at Capitol

A 24-hour vigil continues at the State Capitol in Olympia where some 70 labor activists, mostly locked-out Kaiser Aluminum steelworkers, maintain their presence outside the House chambers where two critical labor-supported bills languish.

Sleeping on the cold marble floors, participants in the vigil vow to stay right where they are until the democratic process is allowed to proceed and a vote taken on the bills, or until the special session ends. The extended session was called because the Legislature failed to pass a budget during the 60-day regular session, but Gov. Gary Locke has also asked lawmakers to reconsider the two bills in question:

SB6368 would allow unemployed workers locked out of their jobs, like some 2,200 Kaiser Aluminum employees who've been out of work for nearly 18 months, to receive unemployment benefits for the duration of the lock-out. (For details on the Kaiser dispute and this bill, click here.)

SB6402, the Civil Service Reform Act, would grant full collective bargaining rights to state employees (just as city and county workers and private sector workers enjoy), let the state manage public-private competition for public services, and replace hundreds of civil service reform rules. (For more info, click here.)

Both bills passed the State Senate with strong majorities during the regular session, and although they have the support of the majority of representatives in the State House, under the rules adopted to deal with the 49-49 split in that body, Republican Co-Speaker Clyde Ballard has exercised his power to personally prevent a vote on either issue.

DAY 2 -- WHAT'S HAPPENING

The State Senate is expected to again pass both measures and send them over to the House where it is hoped that mounting pressure will force Ballard to reconsider his obstruction of the democratic process.

At 7:30 p.m. this evening, the Capitol demonstrators will participate in a Common Sense Economics workshop conducted by WSLC Education and Safety Director Randy Loomans and WSLC Political Director Diane McDaniel. There will also be live acoustic music tonight.

DON'T MISS OUT! Please make plans to come to Olympia for the workshop/music, and to show solidarity in this critical struggle -- whether it's for a few minutes, a few hours, or for the night!

MONDAY, MARCH 13
24-hour sit-in begins again at noon TODAY in Olympia

A 24-hour sit-in will again be established beginning at noon today (Monday) inside the State Capitol Building in Olympia, protesting the refusal of Republican Co-Speaker Clyde Ballard to allow the democratic process to proceed for two labor-supported bills that already have enough votes to become law.

Please make plans to come to Olympia and show solidarity in this critical struggle.

Contrary to some press reports, this fight is not over. In fact, it's just beginning... again.

Before calling the special extended legislative session now in progress to achieve a budget compromise, Gov. Gary Locke urged state legislators to allow votes on the two labor-supported bills: SB6368 to allow locked-out workers, like Kaiser Aluminum's, to receive unemployment benefits and SB6402 to grant collective bargaining rights to state employees.

During the special session, the Senate must again pass these measures, which passed with strong bipartisan support during the regular session. Those Senate votes could happen as soon as today.

If so, plenty of affected people will be on hand to observe the votes. Two busloads of Kaiser steelworkers will be arriving this morning to reestablish the Capitol building sit-in.

Come join them today or after work or tonight. The plan is to remain in place indefinitely, until a House vote is finally allowed on the bills or the special session concludes.

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.