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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.

Reports for March 22-26, 2004

Previous weeks' news: March 15-19 -- March 8-12 -- March 1-5

FRIDAY, March 26 -- Small consolation for Seattle's WTO protesters: You were right
...plus -- Group Health caregivers hit airwaves for affordable health care
— In today's News Tribune -- Unions seek reversal of campaign finance rule (AP)
...plus -- Teachers union (WEA) plans to sue state to force more education funding (AP)
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Teamsters Local 174 to picket King County garbage sites
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Hanford halts work after more workers affected by vapors (AP)
— In today's Columbian Basin Herald -- State farm groups say Calif. ruling may spark changes
— In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing may outsource desktop support jobs to Dell -- If the work goes to Texas-based Dell, some of the 200 affected Boeing workers may be hired by Dell but with lower wages and benefits. Others face layoff. Boeing recently hired a Dutch firm to take over internal printing work. Of the 280 Boeing employees affected, some were laid off and the rest got a new employer, a big pay cut and fewer benefits. (Remind us, how many 7E7 jobs do we get for that $3 billion?)
At AFLCIO.org -- Senate GOP pulls bill that would have stopped Bush's OT pay takeaway -- Says Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa): "The Bush administration and the Republican leadership would rather pay tariffs to Europe than pay overtime to American workers.”
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Kerry backs eliminating tax break on U.S. companies' overseas profits
...plus -- Measure to limit tax cuts narrowly fails in House -- With historic budget deficits mortgaging our children's future, Reps. Dunn, Hastings and would-be Sen. Nethercutt vote to allow more tax cuts.
...plus -- The Medicare muddle -- Krugman column: Privatizers use scary numbers about future medical costs to panic us into abandoning a retirement program that's actually in pretty good shape.
— In today's L.A. Times -- Pension funds seek to oust Safeway chairman Burd -- Dissidents allege the grocery chain has been mismanaged; company sees a union ploy. (What about Washington?) 

THURSDAY, March 25 -- Oregon's 'Eyman' seeks elimination of public employee unions
...plus -- Free-market dysfunction: Cialis CEO artificially inflates drug prices, too
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Criticism grows over Hanford worker safety -- Last week, 11 more Hanford workers were exposed to potentially dangerous vapors seeping out of massive waste tanks.
— In today's Yakima H-R -- Ex-Del Monte workers eligible for federal Trade Act assistance
— In today's Seattle Times -- State economy may be stalling again as tax collections lag
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- State auditor slams ferry system (for 16th straight audit)
— In yesterday's Columbian -- Rep. Mielke to give up seat, run for county commissioner
At ShowUsTheJobs.com -- Check out the blog (personal journals from the AFL-CIO tour bus)
— From Reuters -- Union movement hits the road over job losses
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Corporate tax bill hits wall in Senate after debate on overtime -- Sens. Murray and Cantwell both vote to protect overtime pay, but GOP leaders refuse to allow passage.
...plus -- Getting the most out of teachers -- Is it true that school teachers just aren't as smart as they used to be? After all, women have more job opportunities. Bright women who once would have taught school today become doctors and lawyers. A new study addresses this "conventional wisdom."
— In today's Washington Post -- A GOP strategy on jobs -- Newt Gingrich op-ed: GOP should focus on making America "competitive" rather than engage in the losing argument on offshore outsourcing. Newt adds: making us more competitive includes creating a "new, better health care system."
....plus -- WTO says U.S. ban of online gambling violates trade accord -- Another example of America having resigned its sovereignty and self-governance to a bunch of unelected international bureaucrats, all in the name of free trade. And speaking of evidence that Seattle's WTO protesters were RIGHT...
— At BusinessWeek Online -- One giant global labor pool? -- Below the boiling political rhetoric, a real threat America's workers face is the potential for U.S. wages to sink to overseas levels.

WEDNESDAY, March 24 -- U.S. Senate battles today over Bush's overtime pay takeaway
— In today's Yakima H-R -- Farm workers' ride time is on the clock -- In a major victory for farm workers, a federal judge has ruled that one of California's largest vegetable producers must reimburse laborers for thousands of hours spent traveling in company vans to and from the crops they picked.
If the ruling stands, it could change the way some Washington farmers pay their workers.
— In today’s Everett Herald -- Boeing still laying off, but 7E7 firms hiring -- Boeing's decision not to announce publicly any more layoffs may be because they is no longer legally required to do so.
— In the Seattle Weekly -- The state's two-timing consultant -- Taxpayers paid Deloitte Consulting $715,000 to help woo Boeing -- which just happens to be a $5 million Deloitte client.
— In today's Wichita (Kan.) Eagle -- SPEEA readies for new negotiations with Boeing
— In Monday's Walla Walla U-B -- Possible strike at Boise Cascade plant delayed by PACE 8-990
— In today's News Tribune -- Tax breaks stay on books without accountability (Burbank column)
— In today's Seattle P-I -- European Union hits Microsoft with record $613 million fine -- "Our state R&D tax break won't cover this," says one company insider. "When's the next legislative session?"
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Groups sue over wording of education tax initiative -- EFF, BIAW and Citizens for a Sound Economy (Clyde Ballard) want "higher taxes" more prominent in ballot question.
— In yesterday's Columbian -- Locke says Vancouver's economic development progress "amazing"
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Don't heed Social Security Cassandras -- Op-ed: Social Security is the most successful insurance program ever created. Today, less than 10% of those over age 65 live in poverty. Without Social Security, the elderly poverty rate would soar to over 50%. Greenspan's preference is to cut the retirement benefits of millions of workers who have paid into the system their whole life, to lower the taxes of people like Enron's Ken Lay and Kaiser's Charles Hurwitz. Don't let the fear mongers fool you. Destroying Social Security in order to “save” it is not a solution.
At AFLCIO.org -- Show Us the Jobs™ tour kicks off today -- Follow its progress at tour website.
— In today's Washington Post -- Dire report on Medicare: It'll go broke in 2019 under new law
...plus -- U.S. Postal Service rescue debated -- As Congress debates how to fund pensions, Bush administration wants $27 billion in "efficiencies" and higher rates. Read: USPS employees, bend over.
...plus -- Grocers, union jostling over broken model -- Column: The UFCW's hold-the-line position is reminiscent of the rallying cry of unions in industries that now barely exist in the U.S.  At the same time, it is folly for grocers to think they can regain competitiveness simply by cutting labor costs.
— In today's S.F. Chronicle -- Tech industry group: U.S. overreacting to outsourcing -- Webmaster comment: Overreaction implies action. Nobody's done anything but talk so far. Is that no longer OK?
— In today's N.Y. Times -- White House irks Senators with its inaction on immigration

TUESDAY, March 23
At AFLCIO.org -- Bush's record on job growth is worst in 50 years
— In today’s Seattle P-I – What economic recovery? -- Five months ago, Rob Anderson of Tukwila lost his job as an electrician when funding stalled for the Seattle light rail project. Soon after, the 46-year-old visited his union hall looking for work, only to find out he probably would wait nine months for another job. So Anderson helped promote an AFL-CIO-sponsored national bus tour yesterday that will hit on what is emerging as perhaps the central issue of the presidential campaign: job creation.
Also today -- SPEEA members, non-members in Kansas reject Boeing officer
— In today’s Wichita (Kan.) Eagle – SPEEA rejects offer 3-to-1 -- Boeing's "final offer" would have raised health premiums favefold for many workers. Union official says next vote on a proposed agreement will include a strike authorization provision.
— In today's Seattle Times -- 300 more jobs lost as production rates decline at Boeing
...plus -- Appeals court rules in favor of Seattle Times in JOA case
— In today’s Seattle P-I -- A union voice for UW student academic employees
— In today’s Yakima H-R -- Yakima County judges must bargain with court workers (AFSCME)
— In today’s News Tribune – Audit hits city’s financial oversight -- Tacoma city employees improperly charged expensive cell phones and other items, kept sloppy police payroll records, overspent budgets and disregarded several city rules and regulations in 2002, according to a state auditor's report.
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Another cottage at Fircrest to be closed
— In today’s Bellingham Herald -- WTO panel: U.S. duties on lumber are illegal (AP)
— In today’s N.Y. Times – For Wall Street chiefs, big paydays continue
...plus – Lawmaker sees peril for corporate tax bill -- Companies that benefit heavily from the existing tax break, like Boeing, complain they would be net losers under the House bill. But companies that are being hurt by the European trade sanctions have yet to lobby intensively for a new law.
...plus – Lifting the shroud -- Krugman column: Something remarkable has been happening lately: insiders are finding the courage to reveal the truth about the Bush administration.

MONDAY, March 22 -- Worker Memorial Day commemorations planned next month
— In today's Seattle Times -- Home-care union (SEIU 775) blended force, finesse to win gains
— In the P.S. Business Journal -- Dock workers get tech savvy -- Washington longshore workers are beginning to flex their muscles under the contract they won after a bitter fight that shut down ports.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Inlandboatmen's Union seeks extra hands in oil loading
...plus on Saturday -- Times will lose $7.7 million this year, publisher projects
— In today's News Tribune -- Congress, public deceived over cost, ads for Medicare bill (editorial)
— In today's Yakima H-R -- After a year at L&I, Trause sees necessary changes -- Workers and employers "are estranged" from the workers' compensation system, the L&I director says. "They see us doing things to them instead of our doing things with them. And we must change that."
— In today's Olympian -- Workplace safety rules have a purpose (editorial) 
— In the P.S. Business Journal -- Small business groups threaten to file health-care initiative
...plus -- Legislators send tax break bills to governor (business agenda roundup)
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Governor's race shapes up as state's most costly (AP)
— In today's Everett Herald -- Rep. Jeanne Edwards (D) retires, and so will Rep. Barry Sehlin (R)
— In Sunday's Seattle Times -- "The Working Poor" tells rarely told tales -- Book review: David K. Shipler, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, spent nearly seven years following 15 people as they tried to work their way out of poverty after the 1996 welfare-reform law forced them off the dole. Their stories will make readers occasionally hopeful but more often discouraged and angry at both the brutal reality of American-style capitalism and at the poor themselves, who often make glaringly stupid decisions.
At AFLCIO.org -- Show Us the Jobs™ tour spotlights nation’s jobs crisis
— In today's Seattle P-I -- AFL-CIO's "Magical Mystery Tour" to focus on lack of jobs (AP)
— In today's Washington Post -- Trade and labor rights -- Editorial: The ethical basis of free markets is that they reflect free, individual choices. Workers may be paid little, but if they sign up for jobs voluntarily, then those jobs must be the best options available. But what if the workers' choices are not free -- what if workers are locked up in factory dormitories and brutalized when they protest? In that case capitalism has lost its ethical foundation. Capitalism may remain a wonderful engine of economic growth, and growth in the long term tends to bring freedom. But in the meantime it will not be just. This is why the trade complaint against China, filed by the AFL-CIO last week, deserves qualified sympathy.

Previous weeks' news: March 15-19 -- March 8-12 -- March 1-5

FRIDAY,  MARCH 26
Small consolation for Seattle's WTO protesters: You were right

Free-trade history revisionists continue to characterize those who protested outside the 1999 World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle as anarchist hoodlums and turtle-costumed freaks who "just didn't get it," rather than 40,000 peaceful people who had legitimate concerns about U.S. trade policy. But the evidence is mounting that the protesters were something else. They were right.

WTO protesters warned of a "race to the bottom" as corporations are encouraged to move operations overseas to take advantage of lax or non-existent environmental policies, low wages and worker exploitation including forced and child labor. Protesters predicted the downward pressure on U.S. wages and living standards that began with the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement would be exacerbated by the WTO and similar trade agreements that lack enforceable labor standards.

Free-traders said that trade's rising tide would lift all boats, that good-paying U.S. jobs will continue to be created and even grow thanks to trade expansion, and dismissed the American labor movement and other protesters as self-interested protectionists who don't really care about struggling Third World nations and international poverty.

Fast forward to 2004. Offshore outsourcing has become one of the biggest issues in the presidential campaign. It's a hot political topic now that white-collar professionals have joined manufacturing workers on the unemployment lines, having lost their jobs overseas. This week, BusinessWeek's cover story poses the question "Where Are the Jobs?" and points out that many economists are now worried about the "conceivably widespread impact (of offshore outsourcing) on U.S. incomes and living standards."

WTO protesters decried the loss of U.S. sovereignty associated with membership in the international trade body. They warned that federal, state and local laws approved by our elected government leaders could be preempted and nullified by other nations via an unelected, secretive group of WTO international bureaucrats who arbitrate trade disputes.

Free-traders dismissed this criticism as fantasy.

Fast forward to 2004. This week, acting on a complaint by operators of overseas online casinos, the WTO ruled that U.S. laws prohibiting Internet gambling violate international trade law. The New York Times reports this morning, "It is not clear precisely why the dispute panel of the trade body ruled in favor of Antigua and Barbuda, since the specifics of its decision remain confidential."

The Bush administration plans to appeal the decision, but if they fail, the U.S. will face sanctions unless we change our law. Several members of Congress now say they would rather have an international trade war or withdraw from future WTO rounds than have American social policy dictated from abroad.

"It's appalling," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican who voted for NAFTA, Fast Track and is a self-avowed free-trader. "It cannot be allowed to stand that another nation can impose its values on the U.S. and make it a trade issue."

Of course, it's not just "values" the other nations are imposing on us. Ironically, one of the first casualties of the WTO board was a major U.S. tax break that WTO-cheerleading exporters like Boeing and Microsoft have used to save hundreds of millions of dollars a year. The WTO ruled it was illegal and the appeals process has been exhausted. This week, in the face of punitive tariffs that began March 1 on U.S. exports from lumber to jewelry -- which could cost as much as $4 billion -- Congress is struggling amid corporate special-interest infighting and other issues to replace the tax break.

But despite the mounting evidence WTO protesters were right, those who oppose U.S. trade policy -- and especially those of us in Washington state, the Most Trade Dependent State in the Nation™ -- continue to be dismissed as ignorant protectionists.

Check out last week's Seattle Times interview with Jagdish Bhagwati, a "world-renown" economist who held a Town Hall in Seattle called "In Defense of Globalization." He paternally dismisses the Seattle WTO protests as a Clinton administration "goof-up" and warns Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry to "get away from all this outsourcing, protectionist talk, which really makes him look like a crazy wacko."

How did "wacko" Kerry earn his consternation? For daring to contradict the Bush administration's suggestion that offshore outsourcing is good for America. Is "protectionist" Kerry proposing a ban on outsourcing? Of course not. All he supports is that we stop promoting it. 

Today's New York Times reports that Kerry will propose eliminating a tax break for U.S. companies' overseas profits, part of a sweeping proposal to revise U.S. tax policy that also includes cutting the overall corporate tax rate. Eliminating the overseas profit tax break is intended to prompt companies to invest more money and create more jobs here in the U.S.

"You know, economic plans aren't just about dollars and decimals -- they're about choices," Kerry will say today (tomorrow's news today!) at a speech in Detroit, a city decimated by job losses during Bush's tenure. "Time after time, this administration has put ideology first and jobs last. Today, I'm announcing a new economic plan for America that will put jobs first."

Does removing incentives for U.S. companies to ship U.S. jobs overseas sound wacko to you?

The mistake free-traders keep making is ignoring and dismissing the unpopularity and the real social and political consequences of free trade and globalism. This condescending attitude that John Kerry and others who have concerns about international trade policies "don't get it" only further alienates the people free-traders want to persuade: the majority of Americans.

Meanwhile, the commercial media seems incapable of reporting on the outsourcing issue and other objections to free trade as anything other than a fleeting campaign issue that candidates and politicians seek to exploit.

What about the fact that the vast, VAST majority of Americans, when somebody bothers to ask them, opposed and continue to oppose NAFTA (and its proposed expansion into CAFTA), Fast Track trade negotiation authority for President Bush, offshore outsourcing as "good," etc.

Name one other issue where popular opinion is so completely dismissed as in international trade.

The truth is, that many of us among the great unwashed masses, support trade and the jobs it creates, but also support using America's enormous power and influence to encourage trading partners to respect fundamental human rights -- like banning child and prison labor and protecting the freedom of association among workers who may want to act collectively to improve their jobs and lives -- just as we force trading partners to respect copyright and intellectual property laws.

Dismissing us as "protectionists" with the wave of a hand and rewriting WTO-Seattle history as a bunch of wackos in turtle costumes serves no purpose other than to ignore the real and legitimate concerns the overwhelming majority of us have about free trade.

FRIDAY,  MARCH 26
Group Health caregivers hit airwaves for affordable health care

The following was distributed this week by District 1199NW of the Service Employees International Union:

As Group Health Cooperative demands health care cuts for frontline staff . .. .
GROUP HEALTH CAREGIVERS LAUNCH RADIO ADVERTISEMENTS TO PROTECT ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE

Nurses and other frontline employees at Group Health Cooperative launched a radio advertisement campaign today (Wednesday, March 24) to raise public awareness of the Cooperative's demand to shift health benefit costs onto its frontline staff and their families.

The advertisements feature a husband and wife at a breakfast table expressing concern that Group Health's demands will make access to health care less affordable for everyone.

"If health care workers have less access to health care, that puts access for all of us at risk," notes the woman in the radio spot.

The radio spot is available on the web here:
http://progressive.playstream.com/ctsg/progressive/seiu/se001actually60.mp3

"It's important for the public to understand that a major health care provider in our area wants to make the health care affordability crisis even worse," explained Chris Barton, a former RN at Group Health who is now secretary-treasurer of the caregivers' union, Service Employees International Union District 1199NW.

Under the Cooperative's proposals, some employees' out-of-pocket costs for health care would jump to 15 percent of their total income.

As Group Health, one of Washington's three largest health care providers, continues to demand cost increases for its caregiver's own family coverage, GHC nurses and staff are stepping up their campaign to inform the community:

• Radio spots will run on KOMO-AM and KIRO-AM.
• On March 6, Group Health caregivers passed out leaflets outside the Group Health Bike Expo at Seahawks Convention Center in Seattle. The leaflet-- "Even a 5-Time Tour de France Leader Needs Quality Care: We All Do" -- explained why SEIU members at Group Health are taking a stand on affordable health care.
• Other public outreach activities will continue.

Over 1,000 Group Health licensed practical nurses, clinic staff, and other workers have been negotiating since last summer for a new contract. A contract covering more than 1,100 Group Health RNs and social workers expires on June 30. The nurses and other staff are members of SEIU District 1199NW, Washington's largest union of health care workers.

For more information, contact SEIU 1199NW Communications Director Carter Wright at (425) 917-1199 or visit www.seiu1199nw.org.

THURSDAY,  MARCH 25
Oregon's 'Eyman' seeks elimination of public employee unions

The following news item was included in the Oregon AFL-CIO's weekly update (get on their list):

Sizemore declares new war on unions, seeks money to pay for it

Bill Sizemore knows that wars can be profitable for wartime profiteers. So the anti-union activist has re-declared war against public employee unions and is asking his former contributors to pay for it.

In a fundraising letter to his Oregon Taxpayers Union mailing list last week, Sizemore wrote: "It is time to stop playing footsy with the public employee unions. We need to recognize that there is no legitimate reason for them to exist, and eliminate them entirely."

Sizemore’s letter asked for contributions to fund a campaign for initiative #116, which would eliminate public employee unions in Oregon. And, in a rambling, five-page rant, he repeats the charge of U.S. Secretary of Education Rodney Paige that the National Education Association (NEA) is a "terrorist organization" and expands that charge to accuse the NEA and its affiliates of "an act of war."

Sizemore’s war, however, appears to be more about money than weapons, since he asked for contributions for his signature-gathering campaign but failed to include any copies of his petition.

Sizemore’s fundraising for his anti-union initiative might not have the effect he intends, since the Oregon Education Association and AFT-Oregon are still awaiting payment of $2.5 million he owes to their organizations for his racketeering activities. Any money Sizemore raises could end up going to the very organizations Sizemore says he wants to abolish.

THURSDAY,  MARCH 25
Free-market dysfunction: Cialis CEO inflates drug prices, too

The following Letter to the Editor, written by a local webmaster, was sent to The (Everett) Herald in response to today's story (ICOS chief decries limits on prescription drug costs) about the CEO of the Bothell-based prescription drug company best known for the erectile dysfunction drug Cialis:

Dear Editor:

A drug company CEO opposes cost controls for drugs?!  Not exactly "man bites dog," is it?

For a man espousing free market principles, what does ICOS CEO Paul Clark got against "buying in bulk"? One of the most basic free-market tenets is that if you place a big order, you get a price break per unit. So why, then, did the free-market ideologues in the prescription drug industry insist that the costly new Medicare drug benefit include language banning the government from negotiating lower prices for its massive drug purchases?

That's not a free market, that's price fixing.

Private health insurers routinely buy drugs -- and other health services -- in bulk and are able to negotiate lower prices for doing so. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that the health insurer for ICOS' own employees does this.

The U.S. government is about to become the single biggest purchaser of prescription drugs. Banning your biggest customer from negotiating lower prices artificially inflates the amount taxpayers must pay. No wonder the life expectancy for the entire Medicare program just dropped seven years. They now say it'll be broke in 2019.

Clearly, Mr. Clark only cares about free markets to the extent that they benefit his bottom line.

Look for his next speech to be about job-killing innovation-stifling business taxes and how they wouldn't be so high if our wasteful government was run more like a private business.

WEDNESDAY,  MARCH 24
U.S. Senate battles today over Bush's overtime pay takeaway

The Washington Post reports (see below) there will be a U.S. Senate showdown today on an effort by Democrats to block President's Bush's imminent overtime pay takeaway. The Democrats say they have enough votes to amend a high-priority business tax break bill -- sought by Boeing and other major exporters -- to replace a tax break that the World Trade Organization says we aren't allowed to have. Republicans leaders say they'll shelve the tax-break bill rather than allow an overtime vote.

Bush officials have promised to impose the controversial new overtime rules -- also sought by Boeing and the rest of Corporate America -- before the end of this month. The president pursues this policy during an election year, despite opposition from both Republican-controlled houses of Congress and the overwhelming majority of Americans who oppose the OT changes by an incredible 5-to-1 margin.

Visit www.SaveOvertimePay.org for more information.

Overtime Pay Battle Threatens Trade Bill

By Helen Dewar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 24, 2004; Page A04

A months-long Senate fight over proposed new rules on overtime pay for U.S. workers is threatening to derail a high-priority bill aimed at ending trade sanctions by Europe that could eventually cost American exporters $4 billion a year.

The bill to substitute corporate tax cuts for export subsidies that have been outlawed by the World Trade Organization has broad, bipartisan support in the Senate. But the Senate is more closely divided over a Democratic proposal to add a provision that would block a Bush administration proposal to reduce overtime pay protections for many white-collar workers.

Republican leaders have scheduled a showdown vote today on a parliamentary move aimed at avoiding votes on such issues. Democrats say they have enough votes to pass the overtime pay provision and keep Republicans from passing the tax bill without it. Republicans have hinted strongly that they will shelve the bill rather than vote on the Democrats' agenda.

Republican and Democratic leaders were trying late yesterday to end the impasse but reported no breakthroughs.

The dispute underscores the degree to which volatile political issues, such as overtime pay, have complicated passage of widely supported and basically nonpartisan bills such as the corporate tax measure, which sailed through the Senate Finance Committee, 19 to 2.

It also shows how both parties are prepared -- even before a decisive vote -- to use such standoffs as part of their campaigns.

During two days of debate on the measure, Republicans accused Democrats of playing politics with the fate of U.S. exporters and the jobs of their workers. Democrats accused Republicans of being willing to sacrifice the measure to avoid voting on overtime pay.

Democrats view the debate as a "political punt, pass and kick competition," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chief sponsor of the tax measure.

"What they are saying is they'd rather pay tariffs to Europe than overtime to our workers," responded Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), sponsor of the overtime pay proposal.

The overtime pay dispute arose out of a proposal by the Labor Department last year to expand eligibility for overtime to low-paid workers while reducing it for many better-paid workers. The department said the change could mean loss of overtime for 644,000 workers. Democrats said the figure was more like 8 million.

The Senate voted last fall to block the change as part of a huge catch-all spending bill. But GOP leaders stripped it from the final version of the measure after the White House threatened to veto the bill if it was included, infuriating Democrats.

They decided to try to piggyback it onto the corporate tax bill because the tax measure was among the few bills with enough support to ensure enactment. They also saw it as an opportunity to force Republicans to choose between breaking with the administration and angering constituents with a stake in overtime pay.

The tax bill was prompted after the WTO condemned U.S. export subsidies and gave the Europeans permission to impose sanctions totaling as much as $4 billion a year. The penalties started to kick in earlier this month, aimed at politically sensitive targets such as Florida citrus and Carolina textiles, and are to rise gradually each month.

Meanwhile, a companion bill is stuck in the House. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) warned corporate executives Monday that competing business pressures are threatening passage. Democrats are charging that Thomas's bill would encourage the United States to move jobs offshore.

TUESDAY,  MARCH 23
SPEEA members, non-members in Kansas reject Boeing officer

The following press release was distributed Monday by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, IFPTE Local 2001:

SPEEA members and non-members reject Boeing offer by wide margin

WICHITA, Kan. -- By a clear and solid majority, technical and professional workers at The Boeing Company's plant here have rejected the company's offer for a new three-year contract.

With nearly 85 percent of the union's members voting by mail-in ballot, the tally showed 904, or 74 percent, voting to reject the offer and only 319, or 26 percent, voting to accept. Rejection of the contract offer to the Wichita Technical and Professional Unit (WTPU) was unanimously recommended by the SPEEA Negotiations Team and the union's governing Midwest Council.

"Boeing now knows that the vast majority agree this is a bad offer and an insult to employees," said Bob Brewer, chief spokesman for The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001. "We hope Boeing gets the message and realizes the need to get back to the table with an offer that respects the contribution these employees make to Boeing."

In an unusual move, the voting process included a non-binding advisory ballot to the non-dues paying represented employees of the bargaining unit. The group also voted to reject Boeing's offer. That tally showed 508, or 69 percent, voting to reject and just 231, or 31 percent, voting to accept Boeing's offer.

"It is clear all represented employees recognized this contract offer as an attack and rightly voted to turn it back," said Charles Bofferding, executive director of SPEEA. "The vote to recertify the bargaining unit may have been close, but the vote to reject this offer is overwhelmingly supported by all represented employees. The company knows employees stand together."

SPEEA and Boeing are expected to return to the bargaining table. A timeline will be discussed, but it could be 10 days before talks resume.

Employees will rally tomorrow (Tuesday, March 23) from 11 a.m. to noon at the flagpole in front of the Wichita Boeing administration office. The event will show support for the WTPU Negotiations Team.

Among salaried employees at the Wichita plant, Boeing's offer singled out WTPU employees to have the lowest base wage increases, the lowest lump sum payment, the highest medical coverage premiums and made them the only group to pay for short-term disability insurance coverage.

Under the offer, employees would see monthly medical premiums jump by 500 percent - from $30 to $150. Salary increases come from wage pools of 3.5 percent in year one and 3 percent in years two and three of the contract. Individual employees are only guaranteed $750 in year one, $500 in year two and nothing in year three. A 3percent lump sum is offered in the first year.

Organized in 2000, the WTPU includes 3,400 professional and technical workers at the Wichita Boeing plant. Employees recertified the bargaining unit in a close election in February. Boeing campaigned strongly against the union with a dedicated website, mandatory meetings for employees, curtailing union officials' access to the workplace and promises that non-union employees would be treated better than unionized employees.

For more information, contact SPEEA Communications Director Bill Dugovich at (206) 433-0995 x148.

MONDAY,  MARCH 22
Worker Memorial Day commemorations planned next month

As always, April 28 will be Worker Memorial Day, a day set aside to honor the memories of workers killed or injured on the job during the past year and a day to rededicate ourselves toward the fight for workplace safety and health. The following commemorations are planned in Washington state (if you know of others, please contact us):

BELLINGHAM -- Northwest Washington Central Labor Council will host its Worker Memorial Remembrance Ceremony at noon on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28 at the Worker Memorial Monument on the Bellingham Library lawn, across the street from City Hall. A local elected official will speak and read a joint proclamation from the City of Bellingham and Whatcom County proclaiming April 28, 2004, Worker Memorial Day. For more information, contact Charlie Warren at (360) 676-0099.

OLYMPIA/TUMWATER -- The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries' Worker Memorial Day ceremony will be at 2 p.m. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28 at the L&I Building in Tumwater. For more information, contact L&I's Elaine Fischer at (360) 902-5413.

SPOKANE -- The annual memorial ceremony will be at noon SATURDAY, MAY 1 at Mission Park (Perry & Mission) in Spokane, followed by a picnic in the park.  The Spokane Regional Labor Council invites everyone in the state to attend in conjunction with Spokane's Bloomsday weekend. If you plan to run the race on Sunday, please also attend the ceremony and picnic Saturday after you register for the race. For more information, contact Beth Thew at (509) 327-7637.

TACOMA -- The Pierce County Central Labor Council will hold its Worker Memorial Day commemoration on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Thea's Park, 405 Dock Street in Tacoma. There will be speeches, music, and free refreshments. For more information, contact the PCCLC at (253) 473-3810.