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FRIDAY, April 22 -- Microsoft flip-flops on gay-rights bill, is also pushing CAFTA
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Senate rejects gay-rights measure by one vote -- Senate Minority Leader Bill Finkbeiner (R-Kirkland), who has voted twice before in favor of the measure, votes "no."
— Yesterday in The Stranger -- Microsoft caves on gay rights -- Software firm quietly removed its support of the bill after a local Evangelical Christian pastor threatened a national boycott. When sponsor Rep. Ed Murray heard, "I told (Microsoft's lead lobbyist), 'This is a crisis. It will kill the bill.' She said no one will know." Now Microsoft denies that the pastor's threat had anything to do with its decision.
— In today's NY Times -- Microsoft comes under fire for reversal on gay-rights bill
— In today's Seattle Times -- Controversy sparked on Microsoft's stance on gay-rights bill
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Delayed and denied -- Editorial: (The gay-rights vote was) a ragged slice of a long, dark history of politicians and governments perpetuating prejudice, bigotry and injustice.

Other Olympia news: — In today's Olympian -- Lawmakers play "chicken" over tax plans -- House GOP say they won't vote for gas-tax increase unless Dems nix cigarette, liquor and estate tax hikes.
— In today's Everett Herald -- Transportation plan will get region moving -- Editorial: By holding out until late in the game, Sen. Schmidt wrangled a big prize for his constituents and the rest of the county.
— In today's News Tribune -- A roads package that still stiffs Pierce County (editorial)
— In today's Yakima H-R -- Petty posturing jeopardizes real election reform (editorial)

Local news: — In yesterday's Seattle P-I -- Unions looking to find role in planning -- Virgin column: Labor is smart to take the initiative now (with the WSLC's economic development conference May 17-18). As great as the challenges are -- technology changes and emerging international competitors chief among them -- it's easier to come up with answers to the question, "Where are jobs going to come from tomorrow" than its alternative, "What happened to the jobs we had yesterday?"
— In today's Tri-City Herald -- Boardman dairy under fire again -- Columbia River Dairy is accused of firing a pro-union dairy worker for speaking out against discrimination. The UFW, a Portland city council member, the Mexican consul and religious leaders today will call that Arturo Sepulveda be rehired.
— In today's Oregonian -- Dairy accused of firing man over lawsuit, union support
— In yesterday's Spokesman-Review -- Workers see dim future at Columbia Lighting -- Workers (IBEW 73) are worried the Spokane Valley factory could close, potentially putting up to 500 people out of work.
— In today's Seattle Times -- Governor's election lawsuit buries both parties in debt
— Today from AP -- Eyman has a Sugar Daddy -- Mr. Grassroots initiative profiteer is being bankrolled by one rich guy: Michael Dunmire, a Woodinville investment exec, who's handed Eyman $240,000.
— In today's Everett Herald -- Tulalips resist pier for Boeing -- Tribe says Port of Everett's offers fall far short so Governor Gregoire may resurrect the Quil Ceda tax bill in exchange for the tribes' approval.
...plus -- 787's supplier list growing -- Boeing names two more local aerospace firms as suppliers.
— In today's News Tribune -- Costs push Alaska Air deeper into red -- Quarter's loss doubles as airline seeks pay and benefit cuts from unionized workers. Baggage handlers to vote soon on "final offer."

National news: — In the Seattle Times -- Who speaks for employees? Certainly not management -- Op-ed: As the union voice has become weaker, this democracy of ours has become more fragile. Employees who believe that they don't need a collective voice are just wrong, based on the record. Democracies suffer when there is an absence of countervailing power... That is where we are now.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Pay not keeping pace -- Editorial: Abstract headlines about a slowing economy have a practical application: Life is getting more expensive, while most of us aren't getting paid more.
— In today's Washington Post -- Senate GOP sets up filibuster showdown
...plus -- For the first time, Greenspan says he expects tax increases -- Feb boss acknowledges his support for tax cuts in 2001 led to policies that helped swing the budget from surplus to deficits.
— In today's NY Times -- Private accounts, public accountability -- Op-ed: Fed chairman Alan Greenspan should be seriously concerned about the details of President Bush's Social Security proposal.
...plus -- Passing the buck -- Krugman column: Why do Americans put up with such an expensive, counterproductive health care system? Vested interests play a role. But we also suffer from ideological blinders: indoctrination in the virtues of market competition and the evils of government have left many unable to comprehend that sometimes competition is the problem, not the solution.
— In today's Washington Post -- DOL's Chao aiming to lead 2nd-tier pack -- Your Secretary of Labor is a shameless self-promoter, working hard and spending much to attach her name to everything in sight.

WEDNESDAY, April 20 -- Workers, lawmakers launch Employee Free Choice Act
— In today's Washington Post -- Remember the raise? - Meyerson column: Yesterday a bipartisan coalition in Congress introduced the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it possible for workers to join unions without putting their livelihoods on the line. Not that President Bush would ever sign it, but the bill is a twofer, creating a civil right for American workers and resurrecting the very idea of the raise. Which is something the American economy could use right about now.

Olympia news:  — In today's Olympian -- Jobless receive boost in bill -- Laid-off workers getting unemployment insurance will receive more in benefits under a bill headed to the governor.
— In today's Seattle Times -- Looking for leadership on roads, transportation -- Editorial: If Gregoire, Chopp, Brown and transportation leaders in both parties are serious about improving highway safety and mobility, they must flex their leadership muscles enough to make it happen.
— In today's Olympian -- Estate tax OK'd in Senate -- The party-line 25-21 vote after a caustic floor fight late Tuesday evening. It gives Democrats the first piece of new funding they need for their two-year budget plan, about $138 million. Meanwhile, the state Farm Bureau -- with the state's second biggest Retro group helping to fund its political and legislative activities -- filed a referendum aiming to undo the spending-limit bill (SB 6078) that Gov. Christine Gregoire signed into law Monday.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Don't mourn 601 -- Editorial: Guerrilla-theater tactics notwithstanding, lawmakers did the responsible thing in lifting the two-thirds majority requirement on tax increases.
— In today's News Tribune -- Democrats to restore "affiliation rule" on campaign contributions
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Record liquor tax proposed -- Budget writers in the House proposed a 50-cent-a-liter increase. The Senate proposed $1. Boosting the tax on beer -- a strong lobby with union backing -- fell flat after being proposed by Gov. Gary Locke during his final weeks in office. In a surprise move early Monday, the Senate budget committee raised the bar, calling for a $1.33-per-liter increase. If approved, Washington will have the highest state liquor tax in the United States.

Local news: — In today's King Co. Journal -- Boeing adding hundreds of jobs -- Boeing added nearly 500 jobs in the Puget Sound region last month, mostly to work on the top-selling 737 and the 787.
— In today's Seattle Times -- 3M CEO James McNerney says he's not in running for Boeing's top job
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- Public hearings on WWU professors' bargaining unit begins today
— In today's Tri-City Herald -- DOE working on dividing Hanford contracts
— In today's Seattle P-I -- GOP "analysis" gives Rossi 100-vote win -- The party's selective search for "illegal" votes gives Desperate Dino the win by using flawed proportional-vote assumption. Other GOP analyses on the horizon: Gorton beat Cantwell; Nixon edged Kennedy; Dewey defeated Truman.

National news: — In today's SF Chronicle -- Deeply split Senate rejects farmworker bill -- Craig- Kennedy AgJOBS measure, supported by the AFL-CIO, rejected on a 53-45 vote (needing 60). Sens. Murray and Cantwell both voted "Yes." Deep tensions are exposed between the nation's demand for immigrant labor and concern that the borders are being overwhelmed by undocumented workers.
— In today's NY Times -- As vote on filibuster nears, GOP senators face mounting pressure
— In today's LA Times -- As textile curbs fall, many feel hardship -- The Jan. 1 expiration of a global textile quota system has led to massive job losses and brewing labor unrest in countries from South Africa to El Salvador to the U.S. that are finding it harder to compete against China and India.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Raise a toast to "radical" FDR -- Herbert column: FDR died 60 years ago this month. His goal was "to make a country in which no one is left out." That kind of thinking has been consigned to the political dumpster. We're now in the age of Bush, Cheney and DeLay, small men committed to the concentration of big bucks in the hands of the fortunate few.

TUESDAY, April 19 -- Call your legislators TODAY about transportation funding
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Senate set to vote on gas-tax increase -- Odds that the plan would pass seemed shaky Monday, with Senate Republicans threatening to withhold their support if Democrats refused to include an additional performance audit provision for transportation projects.
...plus -- Roads plan at risk -- Editorial: Partisan gamesmanship may keep lawmakers from approving a new round of much-needed transportation improvements and the increased taxes to pay for them.
— In yesterday's Columbian -- Agreement on gas tax up in the air

Also today -- House concurs on EHB 2255; relief in sight as U.I. bill heads to Gregoire's desk
— In today's King County Journal -- Bipartisan House construction budget is a bonanza for schools
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Move the primary vote (editorial)
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Health becomes Sen. Bob Oke's focus -- Stricken with blood cancer, the Port Orchard Republican will undergo a stem-cell transplant as soon as the session ends.

Other local news -- In today's News Tribune -- Union scoffs at Alaska Airlines offer -- Baggage handlers' union (IAM) will recommend rejection of contract proposal, which it says lacks job security guarantees and cuts experienced workers' pay too drastically, as much as 35 percent for some.
— In today's Tri-City Herald -- Fluor Hanford lays off 148 workers -- Latest layoffs are in addition to about 1,000 jobs cut this spring by Bechtel National, which is building Hanford's vitrification plant.
— In today's Seattle Times -- A broken deal at Hanford -- Editorial: The Bush administration is reneging on the commitment it made to our state to clean up Cold War-era nuclear-defense wastes at Hanford.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- With Airbus sputtering, Boeing takes of new jet replacing 737
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- From one crucible to the next -- The faint pulse of the Pacific Northwest aluminum industry strengthened a bit last week when Golden Northwest emerged from bankruptcy. The company, which owns smelters in Goldendale and The Dalles, hopes to compete again.
— In today's Oregonian -- It's official: Oregon worse than Washington -- Report on how Oregon is meeting 90 benchmarks gauging its economic, social, environmental and cultural vitality released today. In it, Washington "fares slightly better" than Oregon. (Of course, it's like comparing apples with pears.)

National news -- CEOs pushing privatization pay little in Social Security taxes
— In today's Washington Post -- Bush continues stumping for Social Security privatization
— In today's NY Times -- Bush, on road, says he is open to ideas on Social Security
— In today's Washington Post -- Congress' energy bill increases tax breaks -- The House this week will consider $8 billion in tax breaks targeted to the energy industry at a time when some of those companies are enjoying soaring profits from high consumer prices.
— In today's Seattle Times -- Where would ANWR oil go? -- A possibility of selling Alaskan oil overseas undermines rationale for drilling on the refuge, opponents say.
...plus -- Tinkers tailoring information -- Editorial: Information into or out of the Bush administration is either manipulated toward a desired outcome or completely hidden. The latest incident is the State Department's decision to stop publishing an annual report on international terrorism... apparently it was a nasty counterpoint to administration claims of progress in the war against terrorism.

MONDAY, April 18 -- U.I. relief bill passes Senate (WSLC Legislative Update)
— In Saturday's Seattle Times -- Senate backs higher unemployment pay for some -- Senate Democrats handed labor unions a major victory Friday by passing a bill to boost unemployment benefits for laid-off construction workers, farm laborers and other seasonal employees.
— In Saturday's Tri-City Herald -- Measure partially polls back unemployment insurance reforms

More Olympia news:  Support the transportation package in Olympia TOMORROW
— In Sunday's Spokesman-Review -- It's time to press for highway fixes (editorial)
— In Sunday's News Tribune -- On the verge of a real highway package? (editorial)
— In today's Seattle Times -- Lawmakers save tough issues for last: Operating, transportation budgets 
— In today's Olympian -- Legislators move on state worker agenda -- The big issues for state employees, such as raises, pensions and lay-offs, still are being negotiated in the Legislature during the final week of session. But less controversial bills have been flowing through the lawmaking process.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Bill would allow Governor to select state Transportation Secretary

Local news:  "A baccalaureate degree is not the measure of a successful life" (Bender op-ed)
— In today's Seattle Times -- King County offers reward for employees' healthy lifestyle
— In Sunday's Seattle Times -- Mulally's the man -- Op-ed: Above all, the Boeing's Board of Directors need an institutional head with integrity -- trusted equally by Boeing line workers, executives and the company's airline and Pentagon customers. Mulally fulfills these requirements.
— In Sunday's Bellingham Herald -- Rep. Larsen: Privatizing Social Security "would make the issue worse"
— In today's Seattle Times -- Democrats look for errors in GOP land -- But Dino Rossi and Associates don't want any errors turned up outside King County to be admissible in challenge.
...plus -- White House weighing in on Cantwell rival -- Desperate Dino can have the Republican nod for U.S. Senate if he wants it. Otherwise, it looks like ex-Rep. Rick White, Safeco CEO Mike McGavick or Chris "Courtesy Mention" Vance.  But above all, by party edict, only one white man may run.

National news: — In Sunday's NY Times -- Labor Dept. plans increasing scrutiny of union finances -- Union leaders assert Bush administration efforts are nothing more than crude political retaliation.
— In today's Washington Post -- Bush's Social Security plan proves to be tough sell among working poor
— Today from AP -- Social Security polls cost $2 million -- Bush recast SSA surveys to delete questions about the program's benefits and effectiveness, and instead asked people to estimate  "when" the program will go broke and what they think of private accounts. You paid for the surveys.
— In today's Oregonian -- CEO income soars as rank-and-file pay stalls -- Compensation for top executives climbs 12.6 percent on average in 2004 to nearly eight figures.

Previous weeks' news: April 11-15 -- April 4-8 -- March 28-April 1

FRIDAY, APRIL 22
Microsoft flip-flops on gay-rights bill, is also pushing CAFTA 

Upon learning of the company's flip-flop on HB 1515, bill sponsor Rep. Ed Murray (D-Seattle) said, "I told (Microsoft's lobbyist), 'This is a crisis. It will kill the bill.' She said no one will know." Murray now says the company's assertion that the pastor's threat had nothing to do with its change of position is "an outright lie."

Senate Minority Leader Bill Finkbeiner (R-Kirkland), who represents the district where Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, joined all 23 Senate Republicans in voting against HB 1515.  Some observers had thought Finkbeiner might break ranks with his party on this vote because he had twice voted in favor of the measure as a member of the House, and he has broken ranks with his caucus this session on stem cell research legislation and the gas tax for transportation.

Meanwhile, WashTech/CWA recently reported that Microsoft launched a lobbying offensive in support of the U.S. free-trade agenda and placed advertisements in the New York Times, Capitol Hill’s Roll Call, and other publications. Microsoft is calling for passage of a proposed expansion of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to six additional nations through a Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), among other trade initiatives. (Learn more about CAFTA.)  

CAFTA would serve to push ahead the corporate globalization model that has caused the "race to the bottom" in labor and environmental standards and would promote privatization and deregulation of key public services.

“This is another action where Microsoft is further eroding the rights of its employees in the name of increased profit," said Marcus Courtney, president of WashTech/CWA Local 37083. WashTech has been engaged in a multi-year campaign to organize workers at Microsoft.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20
Workers, lawmakers launch Employee Free Choice Act

Working families are pushing hard to pass legislation that would remove unfair obstacles employers routinely use to thwart workers’ freedom to form unions.

The Employee Free Choice Act, introduced in Congress Tuesday by Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.) and Peter King (R-N.Y.) and Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), would reform the nation’s basic labor laws by requiring 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.

A previous version of the legislation before the previous Congress was co-sponsored by every Democrat in Washington's delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives. The Washington State Labor Council again will be asking every U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from this state to co-sponsor the new bills.

Lori Gay, a registered nurse at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center in Utah, was among seven workers joining lawmakers on Capitol Hill as they introduced the bill. Gay and the other workers described their efforts to join unions and bargain first contracts -- and the harassment and intimidation they faced from their employers.

“Management claimed that the hospital would be forced to close if we chose to form a union (with United American Nurses) and two leading union supporters were fired,” said Gay.  “Despite the hospital’s fierce campaign against us, we had an election. Yet we’ve been waiting three years for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to allow the ballots to be counted.” 

57 Million U.S. Workers Would Join a Union if They Could

Some 57 million U.S. workers say they would join a union if they could, based on research by Peter D. Hart Research Associates. But when workers try to gain a voice on the job by forming a union, employers routinely respond with intimidation, harassment and retaliation.

During union election campaigns, management routinely coerces employees to convince them not to choose union representation. According to a survey of NLRB election campaigns in 1998 and 1999 by Cornell University scholar Kate Bronfenbrenner, private-sector employers illegally fire employees for union activity in at least 25 percent of all efforts to join a union.

Employees not fired fear losing their jobs if they support union representation. According to the Bronfenbrenner survey, management forces employees to attend group anti-union presentations in 92 percent of all union campaigns. Brent Garren, senior associate counsel for UNITE HERE, told a House subcommittee this past September that 79 percent of workers agreed workers are “very” or “somewhat” likely to be fired for trying to form a union.

Workers fighting to form a union or gain first contracts at Freightliner, Comcast, Verizon Wireless, Osram Sylvania, Resurrection Health Care in Chicago and DHL also took part in the press conference, as did the Rev. Ron Stief of the United Church of Christ. The United Church of Christ has endorsed the bill.

“These employers are literally robbing working people and their communities of better lives,” AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney said at the press conference. “At a time in our nation when the middle class is shrinking, when the gap between the rich and poor is growing, workers deserve the right to form a union to win a real voice on the job through collective bargaining.”

The Employee Free Choice Act was introduced last year and gained 210 co-sponsors in the House and more than 30 in the Senate, but the Republican leadership refused to allow it to go to the floor for a vote.

More

• Watch workers and lawmakers launch the Employee Free Choice Act—webcast.

• Summary of Employee Free Choice Act (S. 1925/H.R. 3619). 

• The Employee Free Choice Act Questions and Answers About Majority Sign-Up (Card-Check). 

• The Employee Free Choice Act: Meaningful Remedies Against Employer Coercion. 

• The Employee Free Choice Act Will Guarantee Employee Free Choice Through Democratic Majority Sign-Up Procedures.

• The Employee Free Choice Act: Facilitating Initial Labor Agreements Through Mediation and Arbitration. 

• Read about how workers across the United States struggle for a voice at work.

• See how majority sign-up works for workers.

• Learn more about Voice@Work, the campaign to restore workers’ freedom to form unions. 

TUESDAY, APRIL 19
Call your legislators TODAY about transportation funding

TUESDAY, APRIL 19
House concurs on EHB 2255; U.I. bill heads to Gregoire's desk

TUESDAY, APRIL 19
CEOs pushing privatization pay little in Social Security taxes

MONDAY, APRIL 18
"Baccalaureate degree is not the measure of a successful life"

More math could come at expense of valuable job skills
By Rick Bender

The state Higher Education Coordinating Board has been reviewing freshman admission standards to Washington's public four-year colleges and universities. Later this spring, it will take to public debate a proposed solution.

The plan reputedly would save the state "millions of dollars" in remedial instruction: additional math and science courses, plus "in each year of high school take at least three college preparatory classes that last an entire year."

No one wants to waste taxpayer money on remedial education, but is this really the reason? Or is the ultimate objective to push everyone into a single path by restricting the number of electives, one of which is career and technical education (CTE)?

A baccalaureate degree is not the definitive measure of a successful life. Other factors play a role, job satisfaction being just one. Why be an engineer if you prefer working as a construction equipment operator, which takes less than four years of postsecondary training?

And sub-baccalaureate training is where many of the jobs are. Now - and into the foreseeable future -- as many jobs require one to two years of postsecondary training as require a bachelors or graduate degree. And these are well-paying jobs. For example, a games programmer, who only needs one year of postsecondary education, starts at around $70,000 a year. A journey-level trades worker, after a year, earns $20 an hour. A registered nurse, after graduating from a community college, quickly makes more than $40,000 a year.

Moreover, today's CTE programs have changed dramatically. No longer are they "your father's vocational education." They couple skills like math and science with English and reading. They allow students to apply their book knowledge to a real-life situation, offering classes like early childhood education, health-care occupations, electro-digital technologies, and business/marketing.

As a result, according to a 1998 University of Michigan study, high-risk students are 8-10 times less likely to drop out in the 11th and 12th grades if they enroll in a vocational program rather than a general program. (Given that our dropout rate is more than 30 percent, this is an important fact to consider.) That same study found that vocational students are less likely than general-track students to fail a course or be absent. In short, CTE is invaluable to all students, whether or not they are college-bound.

So, let's slow down and think of the consequences of the proposed admission requirements. Currently, any high school student can choose to take more math and science. If their career goal lies in medicine, engineering or information technology, it would be prudent for them to do so every year of high school. But does it make sense for a future machinist or humanities major to take pre-calculus in high school in order to keep open the chance of entering a four-year institution in this state? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to take classes that are relevant to their interests their final year?

Under this proposal, students would have fewer options. They would be required to take math or science their senior year, no matter what their future goals or ambitions were unless they had already completed a pre-calculus course.

These new proposed admission standards would increase the chasm between those going to college and those not attending. Currently it is possible for a student to prepare for both a four-year college and a career based on sub-baccalaureate training at the same time. The proposed new standards would make this much more difficult, as students would be forced at a much earlier age to make a decision about their future. Not every young person can make that decision at 12 or 13. And do we want them to? Moreover, these new admission standards would make it harder for young people to change their minds and perhaps opt for a four-year education their final year.

In order to make room for more math and science, schools would reduce the number of electives offered, including CTE. Students who now attend vocational skills centers for three periods a day would be forced to do something else if they want the doors to four-year colleges to remain open.

So let's think about what higher admission requirements really mean to the problems of remedial education. Let's think about all of the ramifications, and investigate all of the possible solutions. For example, wouldn't a better (and less expensive) answer to more years of math and science be a quarter of refresher math to those students who will need it for college admission in their senior year? That way they would still have the ability to take electives that would fit their goals and keep them interested in staying in school.

Rick Bender is president of the Washington State Labor Council and a member of the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board.

MONDAY, APRIL 18
Support the transportation package in Olympia TOMORROW

If you can't make it Tuesday, come Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.  Legislators must not go home without passing a transportation package!