UPDATED DAILY  M-F by 9 a.m. Pacific

Links to commercial press stories are functional at the date of posting. In some cases, links "expire" when the source would like to begin charging you 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 31-April 4, 2003

Previous weeks' news: March 24-28 -- March 17-21 -- March 10-14

FRIDAY, April 4 -- WSLC Legislative Update: State Senate OKs class-warfare budget
At SPEEA.org -- SPEEA files ULP against Boeing for "Employee Incentive Plan"
...plus -- The other war: Homeland Security is now an unfunded mandate (Bender column)
...plus -- Rally on April 16 to oppose BPA rate hike, support IAM aluminum workers
...plus -- Senate approves Murray amendment to help laid-off airline workers
— In today's Seattle Times -- Senate GOP's proposed budget creates frenzy
...plus -- Business lobbyists plead for Olympia's best shot
— In today's Olympian -- Senate budget proposal draws partisan clash
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Why the State Supreme Court upheld Referendum 53
— In today's News Tribune -- Boeing decides to get tough with Airbus
...plus -- Western State's $1 million sexual harassment debacle (editorial)
— In today's Yakima H-R -- State puts smallpox vaccinations on hold
— In today's Everett Herald -- Wait until next year for regional transportation vote (editorial)
— In today's King County Journal -- Hiring freeze not enough so Kent plans city worker layoffs
At AFLCIO.org -- More jobs lost in March; Bush, Congress offer no solutions
— New from AP -- House panel: Comp time OK instead of overtime (Learn more about this.)
— In today's Washington Post -- Key GOP lawmaker wants "fast track" government reorganization
...plus -- Humpty on the House floor -- Dionne column: A strange thing happened in the House of Representatives on April Fools' Day. Republicans repudiated their own budget. But in the fog of war, the news was lost entirely.
— From Business Week -- Still waiting for corporate reform -- Column: The lessons of Enron-esque scandals haven't sunk in yet. Just look at the eye-popping new allegations of CEO malfeasance.
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Will SEC allow "shareholder democracy"? -- Column: What would you call an election in which voters are presented with only one slate of candidates and informed that votes against that slate will not matter? How about "shareholder democracy"?

THURSDAY, April 3 -- 35th Annual Pacific NW Labor History Conference is May 1-4
— In today's News Tribune -- SPEEA calls 7E7 bidding "a slap in the face" of Boeing workers
— In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing draws fire from unions for 7E7
...plus -- Lawmakers still at odds over gas-tax proposal
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Bleary-eyed for nothing -- Editorial: The governor's Tuesday night transportation pajama party kept him and key legislative committee chairs up into the wee hours. Too bad they all went home to their own beds without a deal.
— In today's Everett Herald -- Boeing deliveries, new orders plummet
...plus -- No-new-taxes theme resonating in Olympia (editorial supporting Senate GOP budget)
— In today's Olympian -- State employees' health costs jump 20% in Senate GOP budget
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Critics take a crack at Senate GOP budget -- "They are the perpetual pathetics. They're always here whining," Senate Majority Leader Jim West said of the advocates, lobbyists and groups that criticized the budget. "There's never enough money for them."
— In today's Yakima H-R -- Senate GOP's budget release causes a ruckus -- SEIU 775 President David Rolf calls it "one giant love letter to the wealthy friends of Jim West and Dino Rossi."
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- State-run passenger ferry plan hangs by a thread
— In today's N.Y. Times -- AFL-CIO's Sweeney wants Ullico directors to give up $6 million
...plus -- Smallpox compensation plan advances in Senate -- It's weaker than House-rejected version.
...plus -- The budget fight is now -- Editorial: As the country moves deeper into war sacrifice, spiraling deficits and borrowing into the future, the thin GOP line that rebelled and voted last week to halve the president's $726 billion tax cut is about to have its resistance sorely retested.
— In today's Washington Post -- President Bush seeks to revive plan for tax cuts
...plus -- Republicans thwart Democrats' attempts to fund Homeland Security
...plus -- Senate votes to cut Postal Service pension costs
...plus -- A 1997 move is paying off for Northwest Airlines -- Its decision to rebuild 173 aging DC9 aircraft rather than join rivals' buying spree of new, fuel-efficient Boeing and Airbus jets has put the airline in better position than most competitors to survive a severe industry crisis.
— In today's USA Today -- Workers at American Airlines "not happy" with deal
— In today's L.A. Times -- SAG + AFTRA = Alliance of International Media Artists

WEDNESDAY, April 2
At AFLCIO.org -- Congressional Republicans join Bush in move to slash overtime pay
As we reported yesterday, Reps. Jennifer Dunn and Doc Hastings have co-sponsored an OT attack.
Boeing news:  In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing 7E7 could be built overseas
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Hungry cities plan bids for 7E7 -- A well-placed industry source who has first-hand knowledge about the matter told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas is already being eyed as one of the potential final assembly sites.
— In today's King County Journal -- Boeing to shop around for 7E7 home -- IAM 751 has urged state legislators "to do whatever they can to make sure that that airplane lands here in Puget Sound."
State budget news:  In today's Seattle Times -- Senate budget in line with Locke's
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Senate offers surprise no-new-taxes budget -- It staves off some Locke cuts in human services by cutting more than 40,000 children in low-income families off of Medicare.
— In today's News Tribune -- Wage freeze, service cuts, no new taxes in Senate GOP budget -- "They took our catch-up money and gave it to the teachers," said the WFSE's Bev Hermanson.
— In today's Olympian -- Senate GOP, Locke in step with all-cuts budget
...plus -- Locke: Gas tax deal "very close;" details of late-night session to come today
Other labor news:  In today's Seattle Times -- Dwayne Lane auto mechanics (IAM 130) strike ends
...plus -- Pull the plug on FFTF (editorial)
...plus -- Fire the boor -- Editorial: The Western State sexual-harassment lawsuit filed against Barrette Green claims that he said he was "untouchable" because he was head of Local 793, the largest local of the Washington Federation of State Employees... Fire him.
— In today's News Tribune -- Eyman, jail guards' union help each other -- In exchange for access to his media skills and network of supporters, Eyman says all he's asking for in return is help from guild members collecting signatures for his latest effort to limit government growth, Initiative 807.
— In today's Salem S-J -- Oregon House votes to freeze minimum wage; governor vows veto
— In today's Washington Post -- White-collar work a booming U.S. export
...plus -- War, fear of new illness add to airlines' problems and Bush comes up empty on airline policy
...plus -- Ullico report calls trades questionable, urges union executives to return profits
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Suppressed report says Ullico directors should return unfair trading profits
— New from Business Week -- Labor's new organization man -- Bruce Raynor is reinvigorating UNITE, the troubled garment workers' union. Could he be the successor to AFL-CIO chief Sweeney?

TUESDAY, April 1 -- Potential end of 40-hour work week is no April Fools joke
— In today's Yakima H-R -- It's moot to keep slamming Locke's proposed budget -- This editorial misses the point entirely. The point is not to criticize the governor, the point is to educate voters what proposed cuts will mean in their community. His all-cuts budget's bottom line: working poor lose health coverage, nursing homes and services for developmentally disabled are cut, school funding is reduced, teachers and state employees get pay freezes, benefit cuts and some lose their jobs. Nobody wants to pay more taxes, but everyone must know what happens if we don't. Learn more.
— In today's Olympian -- House OKs first round of budget cuts
...plus -- Legislators pick "Plan B" allowing transit districts, private firms to operate passenger ferries
— In yesterday's Columbian -- Sentiments on half-cent sales tax increase turn again
— In today's News Tribune -- Closing Fircrest School makes more bottom line sense (editorial)
...plus -- Western State settles sexual harassment case involving WFSE Local 793 president
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Kaiser Aluminum losses hit $468.7 million
...plus -- After deaths, 10 states (including ours) halt smallpox vaccinations -- House GOP's benefits bill for shot victims rejected as not generous enough. (Your family would get $262,000 if it kills you.)
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Sex, fear and changes in U.S. rules of trade -- Virgin column: The U.S. will respond to the EU's WTO demands on service sector privatization by offering some changes to give more access to American markets in insurance, banking and financial services, the energy business, environmental services and express delivery. What's not in the offer: changes to state and local laws and rules. Forced privatization of water distribution, postal services or other government monopolies.
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Mass layoffs threatened for teachers in California
...plus -- American Airlines reaches deal with 3 unions to avoid bankruptcy
— In today's Washington Post -- Begging, borrowing for security -- Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (a Republican) said: "If you put extra personnel on bridges, you're taking money from public schools or telling scholarship students they can't go to college or taking medicine from elderly people. We're beyond the point of inconveniencing people. We're close to hurting them."

MONDAY, March 31 -- Rally with Eastside Janitors Organizing for Justice this Friday
Today is Cesar Chavez Day -- Born 76 years ago today, Cesar Chavez never earned over $6,000 a year, never owned a house and left no savings to his family when he died. Today the beloved labor leader's legacy is celebrated throughout the nation. Learn more at the United Farm Workers website.
— In the Wichita Eagle -- Boeing asks cash-strapped Kansas for $500 million tax break -- Kansas is a so-called Right-to-Work state where employers on average pay about one-third what they pay here in UI premiums. Boeing's Alan Mulally: "We want to (keep jobs) in Wichita -- as long as we can be competitive." This story begs the question, how low must labor standards sink and how high must tax breaks get to achieve Boeing's definition of "competitive"? Is it even possible any more in the U.S.?
— In Sunday's Seattle Times -- Boeing's work force aging with fewer replacements
...plus today -- Teachers put objections to budget cuts in TV ads
— In today's Olympian -- Teachers say class-size gains threatened with budget freeze
...plus Sunday -- House in no rush to come up with state budget plan
....plus Saturday -- State senators call for 5-cent gas-tax increase
— In Sunday's Seattle P-I -- Don't stand there -- build something (editorial re: transportation budget)
— In Sunday's News Tribune -- Budget squeeze puts business tax exemptions under microscope
...plus -- Lobbyists for call centers say tax breaks would support well-paying jobs in state
...plus -- High minimum wage means more poverty (business lobbyists' op-ed)
...plus -- Closing Fircrest School would be win-win for budget (Sens. Fairley and Rossi op-ed)
— In Sunday's Walla Walla U-B -- State House should vote on minimum wage freeze (editorial)
— In this week's P.S. Business Journal -- State GOP pursues host of regulatory reform bills
— In today's Yakima H-R -- Deadline looms over House for business-backed bills -- Webmaster's note: I tried all morning to find a status report on labor-supported bills, and the liberal media failed me.
— In today's Oregonian -- State, cities worry Bush may lower service industry trade barriers
At AFLCIO.org -- Bush proposal could end overtime for millions of workers
— In today's Washington Post -- Democrats have mixed feelings on scaled-back tax cuts
...plus -- Lay off the tax candy -- Editorial: A half-trillion-dollar tax cut should be turned down -- and now. The country's fiscal health demands it.
— In Saturday's N.Y. Times -- Union-owned insurer Ullico will release insider-trading report

Previous weeks' news: March 24-28 -- March 17-21 -- March 10-14

FRIDAY,  APRIL 4
Rally to oppose BPA rate hike, support IAM aluminum workers

FRIDAY,  APRIL 4
Senate approves Murray amendment to help airline workers

“This is great news for thousands of Washington state’s aviation workers who have suffered from the downturn in air travel,” said Murray.  “Since the war in Iraq began, 10,000 more aviation workers have lost their jobs. Airline workers have had to endure a ‘perfect storm’ of September 11th, the economic downturn, the war in Iraq, and now the SARS virus. I hope that in the final bill, Congressional leaders will not turn their back on our workers.”

THURSDAY,  APRIL 3
35th Annual Pacific NW Labor History Conference is May 1-4

TUESDAY,  APRIL 1
Potential end of 40-hour work week is no April Fools joke

MONDAY, MARCH 31
Rally with Eastside Janitors Organizing for Justice this Friday

Students, union members and community supporters are encouraged to Rally With Eastside Janitors Organizing for Justice at noon this Friday, April 4 at Bellevue Plaza Center, 10900 N.E. 8th St. , as part of the 4th Annual National Student-Labor Day of Action.

This entire week is National Student-Labor Week of Action spanning from today's Cesar Chavez Day to the April 4 anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. as he organized with the striking Memphis garbage workers and youth activists 35 years ago. The week of national organizing activities is endorsed by Jobs with Justice, Students for Fair Trade, Justice for Janitors-SEIU 6, National MEChA , United States Students Association and others.

Eastside cleaning contractors do not pay a living wage or health care to mostly immigrant janitors.  These contractors operate in wealthy commercial office buildings such as Plaza Center or US Bank owned by Equity Properties. As janitors organize, the union reports that managers are retaliating with illegal firings and intimidation.

For more information about the rally or carpooling, call Washington State Jobs with Justice at (206) 441-4969 or email wsjwj@igc,org.

Background on the Justice for Janitors campaign: Currently, most janitors in downtown Seattle ’s office buildings are immigrants who speak more than 26 different languages and come from nations as diverse as Laos , Somalia , Bosnia and Mexico . Some 80 percent of them earn about $20,000 a year, with family medical benefits, and a pension because they organized for it in a "street heat" union campaign called Justice for Janitors.

The 2,300 members of the janitors' union, Service Employees International Union Local 6, would like to see these conditions of dignity extended to their sub-poverty wage coworkers in suburban office buildings. These buildings are in wealthy areas like the Eastside which have become virtual sweatshops by night.  Already, Eastside janitors are staging mini-strikes for better conditions and union recognition.

But some building owners want to use the current backlash against immigrants to bolster their anti-worker strategies before the Seattle master union contract is set to expire on June 30, 2003 .  Building owners often try to switch contractors as a shell game to avoid organizing efforts and paying living wages. Anti-worker contractors in turn hire mostly undocumented workers to intimidate the most vulnerable in our workforce.

To win union standards and prevent erosion of gains, the union plans to use innovative strategies and direct action tactics to hold building owners accountable.

For more information about the rally or carpooling, call Washington State Jobs with Justice at (206) 441-4969 or email wsjwj@igc,org.