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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.   Disclaimer: WSLC Reports Today  links to all stories of interest to organized labor;  some positive and some negative.  The intention is to inform.  The creation of a link on this page does not constitute an endorsement of that story's content.

Reports for April 8-12, 2002

Previous weeks' news: April 1-5 -- Mar. 25-29 -- Mar. 18-22

FRIDAY, April 12 -- Worker Memorial Day observances planned later this month
— In today's Olympian -- Labor drawn to preserve collective bargaining law
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- BIAW's anti-collecting bargaining measure riles up unions
...plus -- Spokane, city employees turn to mediation as talks hit snag over COLAs
— In today's Yakima Herald -- Farm workers rally seeking better medical care, treatment
— In today's Everett Herald -- Everett pipe plant (LIUNA 292) to close; 35 to lose jobs
...plus -- Building trades workers testify in support of new gas-fired power plant
...plus -- Criminal prosecutors (AFSCME) support Krider's opponent
— In yesterday's PSBJ -- Court reverses fired worker's damage award -- Attorneys for the employer call the state Supreme Court opinion a "landmark" ruling that affirms so-called "at-will" employment, in which employers can dismiss non-contract workers for nearly any reason without liability. Add this story in your bulging "Why Workers Should Organize Unions" file.
— In today's News-Tribune -- L&I plans construction trade camps  (Also click here for more info.)
— In today's Salem (Ore.) S-J -- Union dues measure stricken -- Oregon Supreme Court tosses labor-supported 1998 ballot measure affirming right of union dues deductions for political advocacy. It was rejected because the measure dealt with multiple unrelated issues.
...plus -- Governor vetoes farm worker collective bargaining bill opposed by labor activists
At AFL-CIO.org -- House pension reform: Baby steps forward, big steps backward
— In today's Washington Post -- GOP building alliances with unions
...plus -- Senate GOP wins time on Arctic drilling plan
— Yesterday from Dow Jones -- NLRB says Wal-Mart harassed, retaliated against pro-union workers
— In yesterday's Detroit Free Press -- Labor Dept. seeks more disclosure of UAW training funds
— In today's N.Y. Times -- The white stuff -- Krugman column: It's obvious Bush has appointed a record number of corporate executives to high-level positions, often regulating or doing business with their former employers. So do these politicians-turned-businessmen-turned-politicians really know their stuff? Or are they just crony capitalists, men who have lived by their connections?

THURSDAY, April 11 -- Labor will strongly defend collective bargaining from attack
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Builders group seeks to repeal state employee collective bargaining
...plus -- Three Senators order GAO investigation of Air Force's 767-tanker plan
— In today's Seattle Times -- Airbus touts efficiency, says Boeing must lay off more to match theirs
— In today's Olympian -- State follows PDC recommendation, sues initiative king Eyman
— In today's News-Tribune -- Shippers say hike in Puget Sound Pilots' fees will hurt ports
...and yesterday -- There's insane logic to state tax system; straitjacket won't fix it (Burbank column)
— In yesterday's Daily World -- More ships expected to call at Port of Grays Harbor this year
— In today's Yakima Herald -- WEA only hurts members with EFF smear campaign (editorial)
— In today's L.A. Times -- Oil prices rise as strike grips Venezuela
— In today's Washington Post -- House votes against diluting new campaign finance law
...plus -- Investment firm backs AFL-CIO effort to oust Lockheed director with Enron connection
— In today's Wall Street Journal -- Enron scandal taints business leaders -- Some 57 percent of respondents in a new poll said the standards and values of corporate executives have dropped in the past 20 years, compared with 38 percent who said standards and values are the same or higher. That is a stark reversal from four years ago, when Americans by a 53-42 percent margin said business leaders’ standards were the same or higher.

WEDNESDAY, April 10 -- Bender: Retirement Disasters Loom for Many Baby Boomers
— In today's Olympian -- Referendum filed by builders' group (BIAW) to sink collective bargaining
....plus -- EFF sues NEA over campaign spending; move derails PDC action
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Eyman could face heavy fines as case referred to Attorney General
...plus -- Horizon workers face union challenge -- Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, a non-AFL-CIO union which says: "We do not view ourselves as stealing another union's members, we are simply gathering together our class and craft," seeks to raid Transport Workers' mechanics.
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Kaiser to quit making lids and tabs, lay off 150 more
— In today's Seattle Times -- The best way to keep the Sonic Cruiser here -- Columnist Bruce Ramsey recommends not only that the state "lighten up on ergonomics" (no surprise), but also suggests a constitutional change may be in order to target "incentives" to specific businesses.
— In yesterday's Daily World -- Port of Grays Harbor seeks bid for new grain facility
— In today's L.A. Times -- Bill targets U.S. firms that move HQs offshore to avoid taxes
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Critics charge pension bill favors highly paid workers
...plus -- Campaign finance provision muddies fate of taxpayer-friendly bill

TUESDAY, April 9 -- WSLC Women's Committee offers Summer School scholarships
— In today's News-Tribune -- Home-care workers lose to Locke's principles -- Read this!
— In today's Seattle Times --Tight-fisted Legislature squeezes the needy -- Op-ed by SEIU's David Rolf: Rather than listening to political consultants and media talking heads, politicians should listen to — and trust — our state's working families. Working families that want and need quality public services and are willing to pay their fair share of taxes to get them.
...plus --  Exiled Eyman still in thick of latest initiative (I-776)
— In today's So. County Journal -- Regional traffic plan may wait for 2003 vote
— In today's Eastside Journal -- Boeing union (SCPEA-OPEIU) in Calif. on verge of meltdown?
— In today's Olympian -- WEA ads attack Evergreen Freedom Foundation
— In today's Seattle P-I -- PDC says NEA violated campaign finance law
— Also in today's News-Tribune -- Dockworkers face high-tech glitch as ILWU talks set to begin
— In today's PSBJ -- Verizon, IBEW 89 sign tentative 3-year agreement
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- Low-income complex opens for farm workers
— In today's Yakima Herald -- Health-care fight expected to re-emerge, say area legislators
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- District Democrats try to live with Sen. Tim Sheldon
— In today's L.A. Times -- Clothing firm (SweatX) adopts non-sweatshop concept
...plus -- Levi Strauss to close 6 plants, lay off 3,300
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Due to state cutbacks, many on Medicaid lack drugs, study says
— In today's Washington Post -- Corporate tax-avoidance moves are hardly patriotic -- Column: Watching corporations vanish into a Bermuda Tax Triangle in these post-Sept. 11 days is a tad hard for us wage slaves to take, especially as April 15 nears. It's silly not to minimize your taxes in simple, straightforward ways. But it's a whole other thing to torture the tax code to concoct complicated schemes Congress never intended.

MONDAY, April 8 -- Sweeney: Bush's ergonomic measure is "meaningless"
...plus at AFLCIO.org -- New federal ergonomic safety "plan" fails to protect workers
— In today's Everett Herald -- Machinists taking brunt of Boeing layoffs, IAM's Blondin says
— In Saturday's Seattle P-I -- Locke's veto of in-home care workers' raises angers union
— In Saturday's Olympian -- Locke vetoes home care raises; protects state employee health costs
— In today's Seattle Times -- Sitting on the fence (on gas tax) only gets GOP splinters (editorial)
...plus -- Court finds for Kaiser in worker's fatal accident in 1997
— In today's P.S. Business Journal -- Kaiser trading suspended; NYSE moves to delist
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Did CEO pay incentives cut both ways in 2001?
— In today's Washington Post -- Teachers' salaries barely match living costs, NEA says
...plus -- Adjusting trade politics -- Editorial: If Bush is serious about the April 22 deadline he has set for Fast Track approval in the Senate, his administration needs to strike a deal with the Democrats on one important issue that is holding up trade authority's passage: Trade Adjustment Assistance.
...plus -- Bush wary of upturn in economy -- White House officials believe rising gas prices could spook consumers and perhaps stall the recovery and rob Bush of credit for ending the recession.

Previous weeks' news: April 1-5 -- Mar. 25-29 -- Mar. 18-22

FRIDAY, APRIL 12
Worker Memorial Day observances planned later this month

Worker Memorial Day is Sunday, April 28.  It is a day organized labor and other advocates for safe and healthy workplaces rededicate themselves to "Mourn the Dead and Fight for the Living."  But this year's observances honoring fallen and injured workers will have special poignancy because of the thousands of workers who died on Sept. 11.

Each year, some 6,000 people are killed at work and another 50,000 die from occupational diseases.  Millions more suffer injuries on the job, including epidemic proportions of crippling repetitive stress injuries. Meanwhile, state and federal governments are slow to implement standards to protect our citizens' right to a safe and healthy job.

Union members and their families, and all other supporters, are invited to attend the following observances (if you know of others in the state not listed, please contact us):

BELLINGHAM -- The Northwest Washington CLC is hosting its observance on Sunday, April 28 at 1 p.m. at the Worker Memorial Monument at the Bellingham City Library, 210 Central Ave.

EVERETT -- The Snohomish County Labor Council is planning its observance for Monday, April 29 from 5:30 to 6 p.m. at the Snohomish County Courthouse at the Workers Memorial sculpture, at the corner of Wetmore and Pacific. Participants are invited to bring union banners and march there from the Everett Labor Temple at 5:10 p.m.

OLYMPIA / TUMWATER -- The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries will host its annual Worker Memorial Day ceremony Wednesday, April 24 at 2 p.m. at L&I's Tumwater headquarters, 7273 Linderson Way SW off I-5 Exit 101. (WSLC President Rick Bender will speak.)

SPOKANE -- The Spokane Labor Council will host its observance Saturday, April 27 beginning at noon at Mission Park. The ceremony will be followed by a picnic at the park. (WSLC Secretary-Treasurer Al Link will speak.)

THURSDAY, APRIL 11
Labor will strongly defend collective bargaining from attack

Following is a statement by Rick S. Bender, President of the Washington State Labor Council, regarding reports that the Building Industry Association of Washington has filed a referendum to repeal the state employee collective bargaining law just signed by Governor Locke:

When legislators passed the Civil Service Reform bill last month granting state employees collective bargaining rights, it was after 14 years of debate, negotiation, amendment and compromise. In the end, the process worked when lawmakers passed the bill by votes of 54-43 in the House and the 29-19 in the Senate.

We were proud to have finally won a law that grants our state's employees the same rights workers in the private sector, as well as those in city and county government, have long enjoyed. Ironically, some of those in the private sector who claim to want government to "act more like business" are now objecting to having government do just that. According to news reports, the well-funded Building Industry Association of Washington has filed a referendum to repeal the collective bargaining sections of the Civil Service Reform Act.

We view this development with utmost concern. If this attack on collective bargaining rights were to qualify for the ballot, it would cause the Washington State Labor Council and its affiliates to reassess its political actions plans for this year.

The labor movement has been poised to invest substantial resources into a major campaign effort to win passage of a statewide transportation package this fall. Although a statewide transportation package is vitally important to our future economy, we believe the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively is a fundamental human right, and efforts to repeal this law are a direct attack on working people and organized labor. This would constitute an attack we must defend against with every available weapon, and would cause us to focus our efforts on defeating this referendum. We will not hesitate to make this shift of resources.

The BIAW and other members of the business community should consider what kind of future the State of Washington and its citizens will have if these kinds of "sour grapes" referendum campaigns continue.

TUESDAY, APRIL 9
Women's Committee offers Summer School scholarships

MONDAY, APRIL 8
Sweeney: Bush's ergonomic measure is "meaningless"

If you have news items regarding unions or workplace issues in Washington state that you would like to see posted here, please submit them via e-mail to David Groves or via fax to 206-285-5805.

Copyright © 2002  Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO