Local news:  ■  AFSCME: Urge Tacoma City Council to stop "union busting"
■  In today’s News Tribune -- City takes hard line with union workers -- For perhaps the first time in history, the Tacoma City Council will consider breaking off negotiations and imposing its “best and final” contract offer on a group of union workers. It’s “union busting,” says AFSCME's John Ohlson. “They’re trying to use us as an example for the other unions.”
■  In today’s News Tribune -- Legislators made head way on health-care access (editorial) -- Two unheralded bills that were signed into law earlier this month will help efforts to provide more health care options to low-income state residents: HB 2572 creating the Small Business Insurance Partnership and SB 6459 establishing the Community Health Care Collaborative Grant Program.
■  In today’s Everett Herald -- Facing decline in admissions, Stevens Hospital will cut 100 jobs 
■  Today from AP -- Bechtel fined for safety lapses at Hanford waste-treatment plant
■  In today’s Kitsap Sun -- Several hurdles face new foot ferry service -- Bremerton-Seattle passenger-only ferry service will be scaled back beginning April 3.
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- UW to give $17.45 million in back pay to faculty members
■  In today’s Spokesman-Review -- Spokane County may get contract for ambulances

GOP minority-retention news:
■  In the Everett Herald -- Republicans renew political campaign to raise fears over sex offenders
■  In today’s Everett Herald -- GOP tactic undermines efforts to protect public (editorial) -- The Republican party's misinformation campaign about sex offenders has Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart, himself a Republican, furious. But the party official behind the campaign doesn't give a rip. He told Bart as much in a phone call: "His quote to me was, 'It's going to get worse'."

Other political news:
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- Signature season: Decline to sign (editorial) -- Three measures voters will soon have foisted upon them (re: property rights, stripping transportation funds and repealing gay civil rights) are such poor public policy choices that they shouldn't even make it to the ballot.
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- McGavick tells party the rules of his campaign -- The race is expected to be the most expensive in the state's history, with each candidate spending $13-15 million.
■  Today at the Horses Ass blog -- Rancher Peter Goldmark to challenge McMorris in 5th CD
■  In today’s Tri-City Herald blog -- Second GOP challenger for Rep. Bill Grant in Walla Walla

Immigration news:
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- Unusual local alliance fears immigration changes -- Business, labor and church groups together with immigrants advocates are calling for fair and comprehensive reform.
■  In today’s NY Times -- As Senators debate immigration bill, Frist offers his own
■  In the SF Chronicle -- Immigration bill showdown for GOP in Senate -- A move by presidential wannabe Sen. Bill Frist, M.D. ("I watched the videotape and that's not a persistent vegetative state") threatens the effort to craft a comprehensive immigration bill.

Other national news:
■  In today’s LA Times -- High deductible health care up -- About 30% of large and mid-size corporations are now offering the plans, which include a high deductible coupled with a savings account to pay for health costs. That compares with 7% of companies polled in 2004.
■  In today’s NY Times -- Senate approves budget, breaking spending limits -- The budget decision at followed a separate 52-to-48 Senate vote to increase the federal debt limit by $781 billion, bringing the debt ceiling to nearly $9 trillion. The move left Democrats attacking President Bush and Congressional Republicans for piling up record debt in their years in power.
■  In today’s Washington Post -- Ginsburg faults GOP critics, cites threat from "fringe" -- The Supreme Court Justice assails the court's congressional critics, saying their efforts "fuel" an "irrational fringe" that threatened her life and that of a colleague, former justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
■  In today’s Yahoo News -- GOP lawmakers try to diffuse minimum wage ballot proposals
■  Today from AP -- Australian strippers win right to overtime pay, meal breaks -- New workplace rules approved for members of the strippers' union, the Striptease Artists Australia. (SAA-WA?)

THURSDAY, MARCH 16 ■  Gregoire signs landmark child care collective bargaining bill
■  In today’s Everett Herald -- Law helps child care workers -- "Now we have a voice," says an Everett child care worker. "We all have a common goal: We all want to have quality child care."
■  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Child care workers can unionize -- The message at Wednesday's bill signing: It's not just baby-sitting, and the pay, training and benefits should reflect that.
■  In today’s Olympian -- Gregoire signs bill allowing child care workers to unionize

Right-to-Work (for Less) news:  
■  In today’s Olympian -- National group files suit for state workers over mandatory union dues -- The national right-to-work group is using a few people who refuse to pay dues to try to undermine the rights of the majority who have agreed to pay for representation, says one WFSE member.
■  In today’s Spokesman-Review -- State employees suing union -- Even if the workers win their case, a National Right to Work Foundation spokesman concedes that it's likely that state workers will still have to pay some money to the WFSE for its collective bargaining work on their behalf.
■  Today from AP -- State workers, right-to-work group file suit over mandatory union dues

Other local news:
■  In today’s Yakima H-R -- Teamsters, UFW to try again in Valley -- The two unions plan a two-year campaign to organize Central Washington food processing workers, with a goal of avoiding a long and expensive election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board.
■  In today’s Seattle P-I --  Tentative labor deal approved by Alaska, flight attendants
■  Today from AP -- Hu to SayWA -- Chinese President Hu Jintao will make a rare visit to our state April 18-19, which Gov. Gregoire says could help cement business and cultural ties leading to "amazing" expansion of two-way trade. (Two-way would be nice... for a change.  Between 1989-2003, the loss of nearly 19,000 jobs in Washington state alone have been attributed to the growing trade imbalance with China, according to an Economic Policy Institute report.)

Political news:
■  In The Stranger -- Fighting mood -- Darcy Burner is a military brat, computer geek, and former Microsoft executive. Howard Dean believes she can help the Democrats take Washington state's 8th Congressional District and the U.S. Congress -- with your help.
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- Big victory for property-rights advocates in war of words over ballot title
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- Rep. Tom's sensible switch (editorial) -- Sen. Esser has left himself ripe for challenge with a voting record increasingly discordant with his district. He has been a regular vote against gay rights, abortion rights, a simple majority for school funding measures and -- in particular contradiction to his district's interests -- against increases in transportation funding.
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- All eyes on Eastside politics (editorial) -- Rep. Tom's party switch is part of a noticeable trend away from conservative Republican politics in Seattle's close-in suburbs.
■  In the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal -- Why do blacks continue to support Democrats? (PDF of column by GOP activist Adele Ferguson) -- This column was yanked from the Journal's web site after it got national attention for her suggestion that her black "brothers and sisters" should "rise above the fact (their ancestors) were slaves" and "consider their presence here as the work of God."

National news:  
■  In today’s SF Chronicle -- Immigration bill showdown for GOP in Senate -- A move by presidential wannabe Sen. Bill Frist, M.D. ("I watched the videotape and that's not a persistent vegetative state") threatens the effort to craft a comprehensive immigration bill -- and it could mean President Bush's desire to create a guest worker program will fail again in Congress.
■  Today from AP -- Most Americans get mediocre health care, study says
■  In today’s LA Times -- Fearing voter backlash by seniors, Senate GOP pushes drug plan changes
■  Today from AP -- Bush spokesman defends White House staff -- "We're all doing a heckuva job."

Last Throes update: (Wag the Dog edition)
■  Today from AP -- Largest U.S. air assault in Iraq since 2003 begins
■  In today’s Washington Post -- More rallies, no sale (Broder column) -- On the third anniversary of the war in Iraq, Bush once again finds himself trying to rally American public opinion to support that costly venture. So far it hasn't worked. Polls show 57% of Americans say it was a mistake to start the war and 60% say the struggle for democracy and order in that country is going badly.
■  In today’s NY Times -- American raid on insurgent kills civilians -- U.S. says three civilians were killed; Iraqi officials say an entire 11-member family died -- from a 75-year-old grandmother to a 6-month-old baby. Television images showed 11 bodies. The insurgent suspect was captured.
■  Iraq casualty report -- U.S. soldiers killed: 2,311 -- U.S. soldiers killed since Bush's photo op announcing Mission Accomplished: 2,174 -- Iraqi body count: 33,638 to 37,754 (plus or minus 8).
■  Privatized war update from AP -- Halliburton failed to protect U.S. troops' water in Iraq -- Leaked internal company report reveals it missed contamination that could have caused "mass sickness or death." (Look for Dick Cheney to launch a criminal investigation into who leaked the report.)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15  ■  WSLC hopes settlement ends farm-inspection hyperbole
■  In today’s Yakima H-R -- Warrants needed for farm safety inspections -- The Farm Bureau sued L&I in 2003, alleging that inspectors' entry without permission or a warrant was unconstitutional.

Legislative news:  
■  Today at AFLCIO Now -- Working America leads the way to FMLA protection in Washington state -- Working America, the AFL-CIO’s million-member community affiliate, generated 724 letters to state legislators supporting the bill, SB 6185, which Gov. Gregoire is scheduled to sign today.
■  In today’s Yakima H-R -- Governor should resist plea to scrap biodiesel legislation (editorial) -- The WSLC supports the biofuels standard approved by the legislature. (Learn more.)
■  In today’s King Co. Journal -- Rep. Rodney Tom will run as Democrat against GOP Sen. Esser

Wal-Mart news:
■  At AFL-CIO Now -- Are you paying the Wal-Mart tax? -- In Washington, the answer is "yes!" More than 3,100 Wal-Mart workers and dependents got state-subsidized health care in 2004, costing taxpayers $12 million.  (That same year, Wal-Mart got $1 million in public infrastructure assistance for its Grandview distribution center.)  Meanwhile, facing a $34.2 million Medicaid budget shortfall in FY 2005, the state has had to freeze provider payments and make other cuts.
■  In today’s LA Times -- More Wal-Mart workers using public health care (brief)
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- New Microsoft chief sees similarities with Wal-Mart -- Seemingly oblivious to his former employer's self-inflicted public-relations problems, a new Microsoft exec touts the similarities of Sam Walton and Bill Gates. Does that extend to aggressive "union avoidance?" Asked that by reporters, and specifically about WashTech/CWA organizing efforts, he will only say that Microsoft "will continue to stay focused on taking care and listening to our employees."

Boeing news:
■  In today’s Everett Herald -- Port flap may hurt Boeing sales (Corliss column) -- The sheiks who run the United Arab Emirates reportedly are furious at the U.S., and might take it out on Boeing.
■  In today’s NY Times -- Raising the bar in aircraft wars -- Airbus is in talks to build an assembly plant in China, a landmark deal that would significantly lift its prospects for business there.

"Free" Trade news:
■  Today from AP -- "Hemorrhaging red ink" -- America went deeper into debt to foreigners last year as the deficit in the broadest measure of foreign trade hit a record $804.9 billion.
■  At AFLCIO Now -- Spiraling U.S. trade deficit means fewer U.S. jobs -- The United States needs to borrow about $2.5 billion every day in foreign capital to finance this deficit. (Learn more.)

Local news:
■  In today’s Spokesman-Review -- Spokane firefighters' union calls for probe of ambulance contractor
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- City of Seattle wants tax boost to fix roads -- A $500 million maintenance backlog has left Seattle with deteriorated streets, weakened bridges and outdated traffic signals.
■  In yesterday’s Columbian -- Don't throw out the baby with the drinking water (column by AWB's Brunell) -- In the Olympia area, three cities are attempting to take the water rights from a company that's trying to create 200 family-wage, union manufacturing jobs.
■  In today’s Salem S-J -- Union organizing vote (SEIU 503) sought at Oregon State Lottery

Immigration reform news:  
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- Moving beyond legal and illegal (Varner column) -- It was tough last week to be Hispanic. Like some other ethnic groups navigating racially-obsessed America, people of Hispanic descent try to fly below the radar. They quietly work, raise families and obey the rules. Then something blows their cover. In the time it takes a stereotype to build -- surprisingly not long -- they go from Hispanic-American to Latino to Mexican to illegal immigrant to public scourge.
■  In today’s NY Times -- Immigration's moment (editorial) -- The Senate Judiciary Committee resumes debate today over a bill that could determine whether Congress finally achieves workable reform.

Other national news:
■  In today’s Wash. Post -- Solving inequality problem won't take class warfare (Pearlstein column) -- What "modest steps" do I have in mind? One would certainly be giving workers more bargaining leverage by restoring the right of workers to form a union -- a right that's been effectively repealed through the indifference of the NLRB. (Learn more about labor law reform.)
■  In today’s Wash. Post -- Study links nurse shortage to pay that lags behind inflation -- How can hospitals attract and keep nurses? The answer is simple, according to a study of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Increase nurses' wages at a rate that keeps them from falling behind inflation.
■  In today’s Wash. Post -- Military uniform makers pay poorly, says UNITE HERE union
■  From AP -- Deadbeat firms still winning federal contracts; 1 in 10 contractors owe back taxes
■  In today’s LA Times -- UAW chief says deal with Delphi, GM is not close
■  In today’s NY Times -- Bush admits to rocky start with Medicare drug plan -- The president hits the trifecta on confessing the obvious: first about Katrina, then Iraq reconstruction, and now this.
■  Today from AP -- Pay, benefit cuts essential for airline to survive, Delta exec says
■  Today from The Onion -- Report: Many jobs lack benefits to cut (brief) -- One analyst estimates that 97% of the possible benefit cuts in American jobs have already been made, reducing the potential for greater company profits and executive-level benefits to "alarming" lows.

TUESDAY, MARCH 14  ■  SPEEA to host workshops on trade policy, outsourcing

Local news:  
■  In today’s Olympian -- State worker dues may spur lawsuit -- National Right to Work Foundation is working on a class-action lawsuit with some state employees who don't want to pay union dues.
■  In today’s Spokesman-Review -- Idaho's Fair Share Health Care legislation dies -- Legislators say more time is needed to study the problem of large companies' employees on tax-funded health programs. But the state won't release the companies' names, citing privacy concerns.
■  In today’s Everett Herald -- Kudos to Snohomish Council for apprenticeship ordinance (letter)
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- By land or sea, another ferry delay (editorial) -- Lawmakers told transit agencies they cannot contract out to private companies on either the Vashon or Southworth runs, and they will use union labor... If King and Kitsap counties can come up with workable, affordable plans and the money to pay for them, this just might work.
■  Today from AP -- State's students not ready for global marketplace, Gregoire says -- She says a top-to-bottom overhaul is needed, blowing up the separate "silos" -- the turf-conscious higher education, K-12 and pre-kindergarten establishments -- to create a well-oiled, well-financed, seamless system of cradle-to-the-grave learning.
■  In today’s Everett Herald -- Brightwater's challengers may lose right to appeal -- King County plans a rule change that would prevent an appeal from being heard by the county's hearing examiner.
■  In today’s Everett Herald -- Alaska Airlines plans all-737 fleet; will retire its MD-80 jets
■  In the Everett Herald -- McClatchy's Puget Sound newspapers would eclipse No. 2 P-I's circulation
■  In the PS Business Journal -- Todd Shipyards gets $5M ferry overhaul contract
■  In today’s Olympian -- Cedar Creek prison workers file federal discrimination lawsuit

Politics news:
■  In today’s Spokesman-Review -- Packing a powerful punch -- Fourteen years after Lisa Brown first  headed for Olympia, she has grown into one of the two most powerful lawmakers in the state.
■  In the Walla Walla U-B -- Legislature's move to center is good policy, politics (editorial) -- Democrats walked away from the 2004 gubernatorial election understanding their grasp on power is tenuous.
■  In today’s Kitsap Sun -- Former GOP Rep. Lois McMahon to run for Sen. Bob Oke's seat -- Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Gig Harbor) will announce next week whether he'll seek the Senate seat.

National politics news:  
■  In the NY Times -- The right's man (Krugman column) -- Sen. John McCain isn't a moderate. At a time of huge budget deficits and an expensive war, when the case against tax cuts for the rich is even stronger, McCain is happy to shower benefits on the most fortunate. A statistical analysis of his  recent voting record ranks him as the Senate's third most conservative member.
■  In today’s NY Times -- Campaign doubts arise for divisive candidate -- Florida Republican election fixer Katherine Harris may soon abandon her lackluster campaign for a U.S. Senate seat.
■  In today’s NY Times -- Drop out of the College (editorial) -- Legislatures across the country should get behind an innovative new proposal to undo the Electoral College.
■  Today from AP -- Conservative groups to boycott Ford -- The American Family Ass. is angry that the automaker continues to run advertisements in gay publications.

Last Throes update: ■  Tacoma march, rally Sunday to bring U.S. troops home, shift money
■  In today’s NY Times -- Bush, conceding problems, defends Iraq war -- In the first of a new series of speeches, he declares his strategy is working and, "We will not lose our nerve." However, less than 10 months after his vice president said the insurgency is "in the last throes," Bush now concedes, "We will see more images of chaos and carnage in the days and months to come."

Chaos and Carnage update:
■  Today from AP -- Iraqis find 87 bodies within 24 hours -- At least 87 men have been killed in execution-style shootings in a gruesome wave of apparent sectarian killing.
■  Latest Iraq casualty report -- U.S. soldiers dead: 2,309 (since Bush's aircraft carrier photo op announcing "Mission Accomplished:" 2,172) -- Iraqi body count: 33,600 to 37,750.

MONDAY, MARCH 13  ■  State legislators missed chance to support labor law reform
■  In Saturday’s NY Times -- Employers sharply criticize unions' shift from NLRB elections to cards -- A business lobbying group is running advertisements that seek to equate union leaders who support card-check elections with foreign dictators, trying to discredit the most successful strategy that unions have used to try to reverse a decades-long slide in membership.
■  At the House of Labor blog -- Card check gets under their skin -- Employers are freaking out about card check because it removes much of the ability of companies to intimidate workers.

Legislative news:
■  In Sunday’s News Tribune -- Gregoire hit her stride this session, watchers say -- Pundits like to say Gregoire has emerged as the state’s negotiator in chief. But will that dispel a nagging public image of her as too lawyerly and not emotionally connected to the voters?
■  In Sunday’s Seattle P-I -- Democrats managed 59-day miracle (Shapley column) -- Success springs from leadership, and the Democrats had that in spades, starting with Gov. Gregoire... Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown moved the pieces on the chamber's chess board with strength and finesse... Speaker Frank Chopp continued to cement his reputation for acumen and authority.
■  In today’s Yakima H-R -- Session earns good marks (editorial) -- At least a B, maybe a B-plus.
■  In Sunday’s Columbian -- Spending lid proves easy for politicians to remove
■  In Sunday’s Daily News -- Lawmakers pass law to keep tabs on tax breaks
■  In Sunday’s Olympian -- Parties tout their triumphs -- House Republican Leader Richard DeBolt brags that his caucus killed the Fair Share Health Care bill, which polled at 82% support. (The other 18% are the same ones who still say Dick Cheney's doing a good job.)

Local news:  
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- Mind your loose lips, Boeing warns employees (in memo leaded to media)
■  In today’s Everett Herald -- Union's health care costs leap -- Snohomish County clerks paying lots more. The 75-member union disaffiliated from AFSCME last year and is now working without a contract. The county agreed last year to freeze medical premiums in contracts with AFSCME.
■  In today’s King County Journal -- News Tribune parent to buy Knight-Ridder for $4.5 billion -- The Sacramento-based McClatchy publishes The News Tribune of Tacoma and 11 other newspapers. San Jose-based Knight Ridder owns a 49.5 percent stake in The Seattle Times and controls 32 other daily newspapers, including The Olympian and The Bellingham Herald.
■  In Saturday’s Kitsap Sun -- Angry Olympic College instructors (WEA) picket over salaries
■  Today from AP -- Union escalates Starbucks effort -- IWW Starbucks Workers Union settles ULPs from Manhattan organizing drives, and says it will ramp up its organizing efforts elsewhere.

National news:  
■  In Saturday's NY Times -- Outsourcing the picket lines -- SEIU President Andy Stern: "If workers are ready to go on strike in the United States, and we are ready to pay them to strike, it would be very costly. But paying workers in Indonesia or India or other places to go on strike against the same global employer isn't particularly expensive."
■  In today’s News Tribune -- Governors get it right on immigration (editorial) -- As Congress attempts – in its usual politicized way – to deal with illegal immigration, it would be wise to heed some people who know the problem intimately: the nation’s Western governors.
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- The hidden rule of 1 in 20 workers (editorial) -- No bill will solve the problem without acknowledging -- and making accommodations for -- the role illegal immigrants have come to play in the U.S. economy, thanks to flawed policy and lackadaisical enforcement.
■  In today’s NY Times -- Tax madness (editorial) -- At a time when Congress is slashing programs for low-income Americans, there's no justification for yet another round of tax cuts.

The following press release was distributed Thursday by the Washington Education Association:

The Washington Supreme Court has ruled that a controversial state campaign-finance law violates the U.S. Constitution and is an undue burden on union members’ rights, a major victory for the Washington Education Association’s 80,000 members and a defeat for the right-wing political group behind the case.

It is the third time in recent years that the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of WEA and against the right-wing Evergreen Freedom Foundation. WEA represents teachers, school support professionals and higher education faculty members. EFF is funded by wealthy out-of-state foundations that oppose unions and public education. 

The case dates back to 2001. Acting on a complaint by EFF, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Gary Tabor ruled that WEA intentionally used fees from non-members (agency fee payers) for political purposes without authorization. In 2003, the Washington State Court of Appeals Division Two overturned Tabor’s decision and said the law violated the U.S. Constitution and was an undue burden on union members’ rights.

In its most recent ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the Appeals Court decision, 6-3.

“…there is no indication or argument that WEA is compelling non-members to support political activities or preventing non-members from asserting their First Amendment rights,” the Court ruled (page 10).

WEA President Charles Hasse said WEA does not use non-members’ fees for political purposes, and he criticized EFF for using the court system to attack educators’ political rights.

“This decision from the high court is yet another reaffirmation of educators’ political rights,” Hasse said. “It is also further evidence that the Evergreen Freedom Foundation’s allegations against teachers are without a basis in law. The EFF simply seeks to exploit the legal system for political gain.”

Hasse said WEA has consistently sought to fully comply with all state and federal regulations, and he said EFF used an unclear, flawed state law to attack WEA through the Public Disclosure Commission. Hasse noted that the state law in question was enacted through an initiative that was written and promoted by EFF President Bob Williams. In 2000, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision that dismissed EFF’s argument that WEA was a political action committee. In 2003, the Supreme Court refused to hear EFF’s appeal of a related case WEA won in Appeals Court . Since 1998, WEA has prevailed in every court challenge filed by the EFF.

“The practice of persons banding together to make their political voices heard is deeply embedded in the American political process,” the Court wrote (page 7).

The complete Supreme Court decision is online.

The following message was distributed by John Ohlson, President of AFSCME Local 120:

The following press release was distributed Wednesday by Service Employees International Union Local 925:

WASH. PROVIDERS WIN VOICE FOR AFFORDABLE, QUALITY CHILD CARE
Stronger voice for providers in Washington, contract in Illinois
are latest victories in growing national movement

OLYMPIA -- More than 10,000 Washington family child care providers moved one step closer to protecting affordable, quality child care services, thanks to a bill signed by Governor Christine Gregoire today. Reflecting a growing trend in child care policy nationwide, the legislation helps improve parents’ access to child care by allowing providers to work together with the state to raise standards.

“I get calls every week from mothers and fathers who can’t find care for their children,” said Debbie Knighten, a provider in Kennewick. “Now providers like me will have a stronger voice to help parents get the quality care their kids need.”

Providers like Knighten have been working together in SEIU Local 925 -- along with parents, legislators, and child care advocates -- to support the bill, which had bipartisan support in both houses. The Access to Quality Family Child Care Act makes Washington the second state to give family child care providers the freedom to bargain collectively for training and other improvements that reduce turnover and ensure more consistent, quality care for children.

This breakthrough in Washington comes just days after SEIU providers in Illinois won the first-ever contract for family child care providers. The agreement signed last week by Governor Rod Blagojevich is expected to stem the loss of experienced providers through better training, wage improvements, and affordable health insurance.

With this legislation, SEIU child care providers are on their way to a contract that will help to stabilize the profession and improve care for children here in Washington.

SEIU is the nation’s largest child care union, with more than 200,000 child care and early education workers among its 1.8 million members. It is America’s fastest growing union. Family child care providers are joining with the 12,000 SEIU Local 925 members who work in university, public school and preschool education, child care, state and local government, and non-profit organizations throughout Washington.

SEIU Local 925 is proud to be a part of the largest and fastest growing union in the United States, the Service Employees International Union, with over 1.8 million members nationwide.

For more information, contact SEIU 925's Gretchen Donart at 206-322-3010 x14.

The state Department of Labor and Industries has settled a lawsuit with the Washington Farm Bureau over whether L&I safety inspectors should have access to agricultural work sites, thanks in part to legislation (HB 2538) supported by the Washington State Labor Council and other parties involved in the suit.

"We are pleased that the lawsuit is settled and hopefully so will the hyperbole about poor growers being subjected to drive-by inspections," said WSLC Research and Organizing Director Jeff Johnson. "Agriculture is one of the most dangerous industries in America, and the ability to gain access to farms for health and safety inspections is critical to the life and limb of farm workers as well as to growers learning how to run safer workplaces."

The following press release about the settlement was distributed Tuesday by L&I:

Are you worried about the harmful effects of unfair trade agreements and globalization on your community?  Do you care that good, high-wage jobs are lost due to offshore outsourcing?  The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, IFPTE Local 2001 is conducting two important workshops on the issues of U.S. trade policy and outsourcing, and all interested union members are invited to attend:

"Why should 19th century trade theory work in a 21st century global economy?" featuring a discussion of comparative advantage, data review, and restoring the conditions of beneficial trade. (Download flier.) TUESDAY, MARCH 21 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at SPEEA's Everett Hall, 2414 106th St. S.W. (RSVP: 425-355-2883); and THURSDAY, MARCH 23 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at SPEEA's Tukwila Hall, 15205 52nd Ave. S. (RSVP: 206-433-0991)

"Outsourcing -- Winners and Losers: The smart guys at the top of the value chain aren't us" featuring a discussion of where the U.S. economy is strong, whether education is a solution, and wealth and income inequality.  (Download flier.) TUESDAY, MARCH 28 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at SPEEA's Everett Hall, 2414 106th St. S.W. (RSVP: 425-355-2883); and THURSDAY, MARCH 30 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at SPEEA's Tukwila Hall, 15205 52nd Ave. S. (RSVP: 206-433-0991) 

For more information on these sessions, see the attached flyers, e-mail StanS@speea.org or call 425-355-2883.

A "War Hits Home" march and rally will be held Sunday, March 19 at 1:30 p.m. at People's Park in Tacoma to call on the U.S. government to bring home American troops from Iraq and shift money to health care, living-wage jobs, veterans' benefits, education, housing, Gulf Coast rebuilding and other domestic priorities currently being shortchanged.

The consensus among media pundits is that the 2006 State Legislature accomplished a great deal during the short 60-day session, and there's no question that is true. But as will always be the case, some important issues were not addressed. And one of those votes that never happened was on a resolution that, although symbolic, was of critical importance to organized labor.

Ask every union leader what the single biggest challenge facing organized labor is, and the answer will be the same -- unions are losing members because ineffective and unenforced federal labor laws have taken away American workers' freedom to choose unions without employer intimidation and harassment.

House Joint Memorial 4036 would have put Washington state legislators on record as supporting (or opposing) labor law reform in the form of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would require employers to recognize the union after a majority of workers sign cards authorizing union representation. It also would provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes and establish stronger penalties for violation of the rights of workers seeking to form unions or negotiate first contracts.

The Jan. 24 WSLC Legislative Update newsletter, urging passage of HJM 4036, described the problem:

Of all the freedoms we hold dear in this nation -- religion, speech, assembly, Philadelphia -- the freedom to join a union is the one that today exists only in theory. Nearly all private-sector employers fight their employees’ efforts to form unions, according to a Cornell University study.  A quarter of them illegally fire workers who stand up for a union.  Even when workers manage to win a union, they never get a contract in one out of three cases.

It's gotten so bad that Human Rights Watch, an internationally respected organization, now lists the United States right alongside Third World dictatorships as a human rights violator: "Legal obstacles tilt the playing field so steeply against workers’ freedom of association that the United States is in violation of international human rights standards for workers."

HJM 4036 offered an excellent opportunity for rank-and-file union members and other workers in Washington to see which of their state representatives support restoring the freedom to join unions, and which ones support maintaining the current system that stacks the deck in favor of employers.  But House Speaker Frank Chopp chose not to bring it to a vote.

The EFCA is not a radical left-wing piece of legislation. It has been co-sponsored by all six Democratic members of Washington's congressional delegation. The House version (H.R. 1696) now has 212 co-sponsors, nearly enough to force House leadership to allow a vote. And they are not all Democrats; recent additions include Reps. Shays (R-CT) and Sweeney (R-NY). The Senate version (S. 842) currently has 41 co-sponsors, including both Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.

TAKE ACTION:  A new advocacy campaign has been launched to call for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.  Visit www.unionvoice.org/campaign/EFCA02605 and send a message to Congress today.

HJM 4036 would also have condemned the Bush administration's latest attempt to bust federal employee unions. The National Security Personnel System, which a federal judge recently ruled to be an illegal subversion of workers' rights, would throw out civil service rules at the Department of Defense.

Again, it would have been nice to know which state lawmakers support the Bush administration's federal union-busting.