UPDATED more or less DAILY -- M-F by 9 a.m. (Pacific)

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 June 2-4, 2004

Previous weeks' news: May 24-27 --  May 17-21 -- May 10-13

FRIDAY, June 4 -- Deaconess Medical Center RNs vote to form union with SEIU
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Deaconess nurses vote to unionize -- “We're going to help rebuild the foundation here," says nurse Joan Palm. "We think it's exciting.”
...plus -- Apprenticeship, the "other 4-year degree," a good option (Bender column)
— In today's Yakima H-R -- State losing asparagus housing industry -- As expected, Dayton's Seneca plant announces its closure. And as expected, Sen. Mike Hewitt (R-Walla Walla) seizes the political day to blame the state minimum wage. He also scores quotes in today's Tri-City and Walla Walla papers.  Alan Schreiber, Asparagus Commission executive director, on the other hand, cites U.S. subsidies of Peruvian asparagus, part of the War on Drugs™, to discourage cocaine production.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Boeing may pull back on Russian investments -- Russia not competitive due to high taxes. ("They suck," says Mr. Kravchenko, the Russian Mulally. Boeing threatens to outsource Russian engineering and IT jobs offshore to America, where corporations pay almost no taxes.
— In today's Seattle Times -- Rumsfeld denies U.S. Senators documents on Boeing tanker deal
— In today's Seattle P-I -- "Advisory" vote on regional transportation package weighed
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Sen. Bob Oke faces blood cancer
— In today's News Tribune -- Tacoma Housing Authority appeals L&I safety fines on Salishan project
At AFLCIO.org -- Momentum builds in Congress to allow consumers to buy drugs abroad 
— In today's Washington Post -- Would GOP go to India for votes? -- The media in India reports that the Republican National Committee has outsourced its fundraising and voter canvassing call centers to that country. The RNC denies this. (But why? Don't they agree with President Bush that outsourcing is "good"? They should be proud of their efforts to cut costs and improve campaign shareholder value.)
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- Census report: It pays to be a man (AP)
— In today's L.A. Times -- Surprising opposition to effort to organize guards -- A building owner who backed janitors doesn't want security workers in the same union (SEIU).
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Some conservative donors, unhappy with big-spending Bush, won't pony up

THURSDAY, June 3 -- It's time to fight back!  Volunteer in June to take America back!
...plus -- AWB seeks federal money to mitigate self-imposed UI tax hikes
— In today's Spokesman Review -- Deaconess nurses take union vote today -- Effort to organize registered nurses failed last year, 252-266, but NLRB ordered a new vote due to hospital's illegal interference.
— In today's Everett Herald -- Boeing union locals share tips -- SPEEA union representatives, facing a possible strike in Wichita, Kan., come to Everett looking to compare notes on handling a walkout.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Hanford contractor is criticized, but not charged, over worker safety issues
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Watchdog group disappointed with DOE's Hanford report (AP)
— In today's Tri-City Herald -- DOE still using politics to get its way on tanks -- Editorial: The DOE's sneaky campaign to reclassify Hanford's tank wastes just keeps looking more and more suspicious.
— In today's Seattle Times -- Labor dispute takes bite out of Albertsons' profit (AP)
...plus -- Get the soup in ferry galleys -- Editorial: Disagreements between the new ferry food contractor and the union representing galley workers (IBU) might keep the galleys dark. That's not acceptable.
...plus -- Boeing wins ethnic-bias case alleging pay and job discrimination
— In today's News Tribune -- More good news on 7E7 -- Editorial: The Boeing 7E7 has quickly gone from a high-stakes gamble to one of the hottest airplanes in the commercial jetliner market.
— In today's Everett Herald -- Tapes reveal Enron energy manipulation, jokes about cheating "Grandma"
— In today's King County Journal -- Make Enron repay the billions it took from us (editorial)
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- PSNS workload to lighten; shipyard looks to reduce overtime
— In today's Yakima H-R -- Firefighters go west -- City department now responding to emergency calls both inside and outside the West Valley annexation area; 12 hired to staff new station.
— In today's Olympian -- Olympia teacher cuts not as bad as feared; expects to cut 40, not 96
— In yesterday's Daily News -- Paltry teacher salaries figure into schools' math, science failures (editorial)
— In yesterday's Oregonian -- Bush says unions valuable -- in other nations (Letter to the Editor) 
Other national news: 
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Crossing the border into the middle class -- Thanks to a booming economy and an unusual collaboration between labor and industry, in Las Vegas -- unlike most U.S. cities -- busboys, dishwashers and janitors can easily gain a foothold in the middle class.
...plus -- Local 226, "the Culinary," makes Las Vegas the land of the living wage
...plus -- Fiscal shenanigans -- Editorial: Bush appears to be running for re-election as a tax cutter without discussing what federal programs will be sacrificed to make up for the lost revenue. That can't be allowed to happen. Voters have the right to see the whole picture, including the downside.
— In today's L.A. Times -- Studios give writers "final offer;" guild president calls it "unacceptable"

WEDNESDAY, June 2 -- Nominate your Union Sisters for 2004 Elsie Schraeder Award
— In yesterday's Daily World -- Ocean Shores IGA strike in 4th month -- With only one full-fledged grocery store in town, shoppers must choose to either cross the picket line or drive 25 miles into Aberdeen. (Daily World only posts abbreviated stories online. For background info, see our Feb. 26 posting.)
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Region may land call center for cruise line -- Spokane Valley a finalist for 1,400-job call center paying "more than minimum wage, with benefits." Local official laments the death last session of a bill granting a sales-tax exemption for plant construction. State politicians have signed a letter saying they are "committed to taking that issue up in the next session." They include Locke, candidates Gregoire, Sims and Rossi, and majority/minority leaders of both houses.
...plus -- Sick nuclear workers to keep waiting; GAO says DOE not helping workers fast enough
— In today's Washington Post -- Debate intensifies on nuclear waste; Cantwell blasts Bush policy
— In yesterday's Bremerton Sun -- Union (IBU) challenges private passenger-only ferry operators 
...plus today -- IBU ferry protest is unjustified (editorial)
— In today's News Tribune -- Contrary to political cant, government does create jobs (column)
...plus -- Boeing will pay $824,800 in fines for 1998-2002 production-line problems
— In today's Seattle Times -- Hot interest in Mideast for stretch version of 7E7
— In today's Everett Herald -- Air New Zealand, Boeing announce 7E7, 777 order
— In Saturday's Seattle P-I -- Kenworth to expand Renton plant workforce; plans to hire 250
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- BPA deal could help Intalco; smelter still running at one-third capacity
— In the P.S. Business Journal -- Education would help state's business climate (Sen. Berkey op-ed)
— In today's Oregonian -- Safeway off-limits to petitions; judge says they're not "public space"
At AFLCIO.org -- Working women's top concerns: Jobs and health care
— In today's Pittsburgh P-G -- Ask a Working Woman, get an earful
— Today from Reuters -- Albertson's profit plunges, blames strike
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Continued tax cuts don't bode well for programs -- Krugman: Leaked memo directs federal agencies to prepare for post-election cuts in programs Bush has been touting on the campaign trail, including nutrition for women, infants and children; Head Start; and homeland security.
— In Monday's Washington Post -- From Bush, unprecedented negativity -- Scholars say the ferocious Bush assault on Kerry this spring has been extraordinary, both for the volume of attacks and for liberties the president has taken with the facts... The volume of negative charges is unprecedented.
— In today's S.F. Chronicle -- Law requiring health benefits faces big guns -- Repeal-initiative's biggest funder is McDonald's; it "jeopardizes our ability to provide employment opportunities in this state."

Previous weeks' news: May 24-27 --  May 17-21 -- May 10-13

FRIDAY,  JUNE 4
Deaconess Medical Center RNs vote to form union with SEIU

The following press release was distributed Thursday night by the Service Employees International Union District 1199NW: 

DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER RNS VOTE TO FORM UNION
Nurses Gain Voice for Staffing, Funding Solutions for Hospital Care

SPOKANE -- In an election held on Thursday, 625 registered nurses at Empire Health System’s Deaconess Medical Center voted 312-194 to form a union.

“This has been a long time coming -- it’s fantastic that Deaconess nurses now have a voice. We want to build a partnership with our administration to ensure that patients get quality care here,” said Kim Serat, a RN in the pediatric intensive care unit.

By voting to form a union, Deaconess RNs have united with 250 colleagues in technical job classifications at their hospital and 250 with nurses and technicians who work at EHS’s Valley Hospital and Medical Center. About 180 employees at Deaconess and Valley who work for ARAMARK are also bargaining their first contract.

“SEIU members are ready to work together with Empire Health to talk to elected officials about stepping up support for community hospitals like Deaconess. Hospitals on their own can’t pay the costs of providing care for the growing numbers of uninsured patients,” said Diane Sosne, a registered nurse who is president of SEIU 1199NW.

Empire caregivers from the units that previously formed a union with Service Employees International Union District 1199NW continue to negotiate with Empire for their first union contract.

Results for an election held by Deaconess RNs in April 2003 were inclusive and later set aside when the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Deaconess administrators had improperly interfered with the election.

SEIU 1199NW is Washington’s largest union of nurses and hospital employees, including more than 18,000 caregivers working in facilities around the state.

For more information, contact Carter Wright, Communication Director for SEIU 1199NW.

THURSDAY,  JUNE 3
It's time to fight back! 
VOLUNTEER in June to take America back

ATTENTION ALL UNION MEMBERS!  President Bush has already spent more than $120 million of his massive campaign war chest trying to mislead America about his record and to attack the credentials of Sen. John Kerry, a war hero and a leader for working families' priorities. Political historians say Bush's re-election campaign is unprecedented for its negativity and distortion of the truth... and it's only June.

And it's also why YOUR HELP is needed in June.

The Washington State Labor Council and state federations of the AFL-CIO in other "battleground states" are rolling out a massive Labor 2004 campaign which seeks to emulate the success of the WSLC's Labor Neighbor efforts of recent years. Union volunteers will go door-to-door talking with fellow union voters about America’s priorities, Bush’s failed record, and the plans of John Kerry, the AFL-CIO-endorsed candidate for president, to create good jobs and make health care affordable for all.

In Washington, these Labor Neighbor walks will be held for three weekends -- June 12-13, June 19-20 and June 26-27 -- in King, Pierce, Snohomish and Thurston counties. Four-hour shifts, which begin with 30-minute training sessions, will be held on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from noon to 4 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.  In King County, there will also be weekday shifts on an RSVP basis.

TAKE ACTION: Union members are urged to sign up online at www.wslc.org/cope/volunteer.htm -- or call one of the following Labor Neighbor coordinators -- to volunteer for at least one 4-hour shift during June:

KING COUNTY -- Karen Deal and Raechelle Turner, (206) 441-2647 or (206) 718-2022

PIERCE COUNTY -- Randy Loomans, (206) 669-4023; Dan Sexton, (888) 943-2420 (pager)

SNOHOMISH COUNTY -- Christopher Glenn, (425) 775-0264

THURSTON COUNTY -- Jeff Johnson, (360) 259-7327

You'll be assigned to a staging area in your county. After a brief training session the day(s) you volunteer, you and a partner will get a list of union members in a certain neighborhood, and you'll visit their homes to distribute handouts and tell the truth about Bush and Kerry.

The WSLC has challenged every union organization in Washington state to turn out 3% of their members for Labor Neighbor activities in 2004. Your efforts in June can help your Union meet that 3% Challenge. For more information about June activities, email volunteer@wslc.org or call State Field Director Raechelle Turner at (206) 441-2647 or (206) 718-2022.

George Bush has the money and the negative ads. But John Kerry has the people and the power of a positive message for creating jobs, making health care affordable, protecting overtime pay and more. Help take back America!  Volunteer NOW!

Also, now you can check out the AFL-CIO's special Flash movie about the importance of volunteering in June. Just click on www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/politics/volunteer_flash.cfm

And please forward this message to your union friends, family and co-workers. Thank you.

THURSDAY,  JUNE 3
AWB seeks federal money to avoid self-imposed UI tax hike

News Release Redux™ -- a service of Washington State Labor Council Online® -- reprints an actual press release in its entirety and allows you to literally "read between the lines" some perspective and balance (added in red). The following news release was issued last week by the Association of Washington Business:

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A.W.B. Encouraging Congress to Send Unemployment Tax Money Back to States to Avoid 2005 Rate Increase THAT A.W.B. IMPOSED ON WASHINGTON EMPLOYERS

Writes Gov. Locke asking that federal money be applied to lowering UI Rates
and covering our... assets... as opposed to mitigating any of benefit cuts

OLYMPIA -- In letters to Washington’s Congressional Delegation, the Association of Washington Business (AWB) is asking Congress to transfer $9 billion in Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) revenue to the state unemployment trust funds.

Under the plan, if Congress and President Bush approve, each state will receive a share of the $9 billion in proportion to the amount of FUTA taxes paid by its employers. This plan is being pushed by states -- particularly Texas, California and Michigan -- with UI Trust Funds that are flat broke.  These funds were run dry by the extraordinary number of workers -- especially those that make decent wages -- who've lost their jobs and "maxed out" their benefits looking for new ones.

AWB President Don Brunell also asked Gov. Gary Locke to then direct Washington’s Employment Security Department (ESD) to apply the entire amount toward reducing unemployment premiums for Washington employers. The key word here is "entire." The AWB knows that the volatile new pay-as-you-go UI tax structure they fought for -- and won -- during 2003's last-minute 7E7-bid legislative frenzy is about to impose a second straight INCREASE in employer rates.  They want ALL federal unemployment money to mitigate those tax increases WHICH THEY FOUGHT FOR, as opposed to spending one red cent to mitigate the dramatic UI benefit and eligibility cuts they also got.

“On average, Washington employers saw their taxes rise by about 14 percent in 2004, and that was on top of an average 15 percent increase in 2003,” Brunell said. That 14% increase in 2004 was entirely avoidable.  Labor presented a legislative alternative that would have saved Boeing the same amount of money and guaranteed NO RATE INCREASE in 2004.  It was rejected by the AWB and other business lobbying groups because it didn't cut benefits enough, and didn't impose the volatile new tax system that's about to raise rates AGAIN in 2005.

“Those rate hikes on top of double-digit rate increases for workers’ comp (actually a 9% increase in 2003, which was less than the AWB-imposed 14% UI tax hike), health insurance and liability coverage have strained our ability to compete with states and foreign nations which have lower costs. Today, costs matter when it comes to saving jobs and keeping operations in our state.”

Although the exact amount varies widely among individual employers based on several criteria including how often they lay off workers, employers in Washington saw their taxes per employee increase from an average of $527 in 2003 to an average of $600 in 2004, according to ESD.  Again, this was an avoidable rate increase that Boeing, the AWB and other business lobbying groups chose to impose upon Washington's employers in 2003.  Further, these "average" UI rates are deliberately exaggerated by the AWB, skewed by the higher rates paid by Boeing and other big companies that have laid-off thousands of workers, and therefore must pay more.  The majority of employers in Washington state pay about $150 in UI taxes per employee per year.

Brunell added that AWB information shows employers in nearly all states are paying significantly higher state unemployment insurance taxes in 2003 and 2004, with additional large tax increases likely in 2005.  This national trend is directly attributable to the millions of jobs lost during President Bush's tenure.

“These payroll tax increases can be eliminated or substantially reduced if Congress approves the proposal, preferably by the end of June. States typically use the balance at that time to determine their SUI (state unemployment insurance) tax rates for the following year and we want Gov. Locke to direct ESD to apply the federal funds to lower rates for 2005,” Brunell said.  "We want the governor to commit every dollar to us before anybody else -- like advocates for the unemployed, for retraining programs and for struggling rural communities -- even know the money's there."

Washington was one of the most expensive states for unemployment insurance in the nation. In fact, Boeing Commercial Airplane Co. President Alan "We Suck" Mulally told the Legislature in 2002 that Washington had the highest cost system of any of the 26 states where Boeing had operations.  High UI rates are also caused by high layoff rates.  Boeing employment in Washington is now 53,600, down 58% from its peak of 127,000 in 1998.  And the company says employment will fall further -- even as production rebounds -- pegging "future state" employment at 45,000. (For a little perspective, that's about the same number of jobs as our state universities offer.)  Increases in employment are "not what we do now," says Mulally.

For example in 2003, the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy (WashACE), a think tank funded by AWB and a couple other business groups like AWB (so basically... it's AWB), found that Washington’s average cost per employee is second highest in the country behind Alaska. The figures were based on first quarter 2003 data. Alaska led the nation at $676 followed by Washington at $556. Oregon was fourth at $450, Idaho seventh at $331 and California was 22nd at $182. The national average is $177. Again, the majority of Washington businesses pay about $150.

Using that same data, for a good reason, Washington ranked fourth highest in unemployment benefit payments and ranked highest in the duration of payment of unemployment benefits. (Part of that is due to Washington’s 30 weeks of unemployment compared to the national average of 26 weeks.) Washington’s benefit payments average $320 per week. Only Massachusetts, New Jersey and Minnesota ranked ahead of Washington while the national average is $254. Oregon ranked 15th at $275, Idaho ranked 28th at $234, and California was 47th at $192. The good reason this data is used is because it predates the benefit cuts imposed since that time.  Washington no longer allows 30 weeks on benefits, across the board benefit cuts have been imposed -- cutting weekly benefits between $50 and $200 a week -- and fewer workers even qualify to receive benefits now.  

And let's not forget that good UI benefits are not a bad thing during a recession.  Every $1 in benefits creates $2.15 of consumer spending, according to the Labor Department, and therefore stimulates local economies in struggling areas (much like Bush's tax cuts might have... if any of them had trickled down to people who work for a living.)  If the AWB was really looking out for its member businesses, it would be advocating for extended UI benefits for the long-term unemployed rather than trying to buy down their self-imposed tax increase.

Escalating UI tax rates and Boeing’s threat to build its new 7E7 elsewhere led to some major unemployment insurance reforms passed by the 2003 Legislature. Those reforms divided labor unions. The Boeing machinists, engineers and technician unions (two unions) supported the reforms while the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, (representing some 550 unions statewide) vehemently opposed them. 

“Hopefully, the UI reforms will take us from the top of the list of most costly states for unemployment insurance to the upper tier of states,” Dick Davis, president of the Washington Research Council, a 3-person think tank funded by business special interests like Boeing, added. “Anything the state can do to lower unemployment costs will make us more competitive.”

Brunell concluded that is the very reason Congress should send money back to Washington and the governor should direct his Employment Security Department to apply the funds directly to lowering rates in 2005.

AWB hopes President Bush and Congress will act before the end of June so ESD can figure the federal money into its calculations for next year. That way, when Washington employers hear their UI tax rates are going up yet again in 2005, they won't call AWB asking why the "reform" it brags about is costing them so much money.

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For the record, the Washington State Labor Council does not object to more Reed Act distributions to the states, as described in the AWB's news release, but how that money is used should be determined by the Employment Security Department, labor and business... not by the AWB.

WEDNESDAY,  JUNE 2
Nominate your Union Sisters for 2004 Elsie Schraeder Award

In 1996, the Women’s Committee of the Washington State Labor Council instituted the Elsie Schraeder Award for Outstanding Achievement in Labor, and presented the first award at our Constitutional Convention. The committee plans on presenting the award again this year at our convention in Tacoma, so affiliated unions are urged to submit nominees for the 2004 award by the June 20 deadline. (Download flier and/or nomination form.)

The Elsie Schraeder Award is given for the advancement of women in leadership roles and/or for activism on behalf of women within the labor movement.  Nominees for this award must meet at least three of the following criteria:

A.   Served a minimum of two (2) years in a leadership/ activism with their local union;

B.   Performed an outstanding service, which commands recognition, within the labor community;

C.   Served in a leadership role on the passage of legislation benefiting organized labor and/or the community;

D.   Took a leadership role in advanced critical issues such as worker safety, minimum wage, comparable worth, human services/needs, environmental health, prevailing wage

E.   Participated in educational projects either through their local union or through some other labor organization

F.   Served as a leader in organizing either through their local union or through some other labor organization.  

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL NOMINATIONS NO LATER THAN JUNE 20, 2004. If you have questions or require further information, please contact Kairie Pierce, Women’s Committee Staff Liaison, at (360) 943-0608 or by e-mail at kpierce@wslc.org.