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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. 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 23-27, 2003

Previous weeks' news: June 16-20 -- June 9-13 -- June 2-6

FRIDAY, June 27 -- WSLC Reports for June 2003: "Labor must stand together"
...plus -- SeaTac Airport delays reveal signs of the union-free times
...plus DON'T FORGET today's book reading in Seattle of drug industry exposé
The latest on the Carpenters' AGC strike: Carpenters picket with no sign of talks (Seattle P-I); Contractors say striking carpenters were offered full health coverage (PSBJ); Strike slows local projects (Ellensburg Daily Record)
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Governor signs prescription drug reform into law (AP)
— In today's Olympian -- Locke wields line-item ax while approving budgets -- One veto eliminates language barring demolition of decrepit structures at Fircrest School north of Seattle and other facilities serving the developmentally disabled. "We're going to downsize that puppy to zero within a couple of years," said Sen. Darlene Fairley (D-Lake Forest).
— In today's News Tribune -- Lousy economy could prolong budget crunch
(Also see States' fiscal crisis has grown in past six months in today's Washington Post.)
...plus -- Sen. Murray, our ferry godmother, seeks to quadruple federal funding for boats
— In today's Seattle Times -- Mayor Nickels plans legislation to help retain union janitors
— In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing boss is keen for lean -- Lean. At a time of massive layoffs and transfer of work overseas, Boeing factory workers are sometimes cynical about this management religion, dubbing lean an acronym for "Less Employees Are Needed."
...plus -- Sound Transit bond issue interests high court as it considers I-776
...plus -- Eyman drops Sound Transit initiative, hoping I-776 will kill project
— In today's Everett Herald -- BPA should listen to PUD, stop rate hikes (editorial)
...plus -- South Everett may get county's third Wal-Mart store
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- Retraining programs help former G-P workers into new careers
— In yesterday's Longview Daily News -- Manufacturing sector struggles to stay alive -- Editorial: Smaller, rural states can offer lower overhead costs -- lower taxes and right-to-work rules that keep payroll costs lower... (and) don't have anti-job creation laws, such as Washington's ergonomics laws.
At AFLCIO.org -- Sweeney: Bush-proposed OT pay cuts "unjustified, devastating"
— In today's Seattle P-I -- House, Senate approve Medicare drug bills (AP)
— At Salon.com -- White House won't release Medicare memo -- The administration's Medicare chief Tom Scully threatened to fire his top actuary if he released to Capitol Hill Democrats his calculations on the effects on seniors of Bush's Medicare drug plan. Scully says he'll release it "if I feel like it."
— Today from the AP -- Northwest Airlines seeks union concessions -- Management threatens it won't cut managers' salaries unless unions first agree to cutbacks. (At Alaska Airlines, on the other hand, management is cutting their pay first to "set an example" for rank-and-filers.)
— In today's L.A. Times -- State Senate backs Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride
— In today's Washington Post -- Two challengers between AFGE president and reelection
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Senate panel agrees to increase size of asbestos trust
...plus -- Toward one-party rule -- Krugman: "If you want to play in our revolution," says House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, "you have to live by our rules." Those rules portend the emergence of an unprecedented political machine, one well on track to establishing one-party rule in America. 

THURSDAY, June 26 -- Janitors, faith leaders urge fair contracts in King Co. office buildings
...plus DON'T FORGET tomorrow's book reading drug industry exposé in Seattle
The latest on the Carpenters' AGC strike: Union carpenters walk off jobs (Seattle P-I); Strike brings arena to a halt (Everett Herald); Carpenters strike affects local projects (Bremerton Sun); Picketing halts work on St. Joseph's expansion (Bellingham Herald); Several local projects stall (King County Journal); Carpenters strike over health benefits (Yakima H-R)
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Major legal win for WEA as I-132 law struck down -- The state appeals court ruled that the law requiring political "opt-out" notifications to members "unduly burdens unions."
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- PSNS workers continue to rally for their rights
...plus -- Barrage continues against proposed Poulsbo Wal-Mart
— In today's Everett Herald -- State hush-hush on further lures for Boeing 7E7
— In today's Seattle Times -- "Very high probability" 7E7 will be built, says Boeing's Condit
...plus -- Locke shows some spunk when game's on the line (Balter column)
— In today's Olympian -- State Democratic Party fined a record $250,000
...plus -- Tumwater brewery's future up for debate
At Teamster.org -- Teamsters and UNITE.. unite... in historic Cintas organizing campaign
— At MSNBC.com -- 8 million could lose overtime pay under Bush plan -- Contact the DOL! 
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Very richest's share of income grew even bigger, data show
...plus -- New Medicare drug plan far from cure-all, retirees find
...plus -- Why the tax cuts will not pay off -- Krueger op-ed: A core tenet of supply-side economics is that people will work more if their take-home pay rate rises. Support for this proposition has proved surprisingly difficult to find, however, especially in regard to men.
— In today's Newsday -- AFL-CIO to invest $400 million in pension funds in U.S. apartment initiative
— In today's S.F. Chronicle -- Already unionized, Lusty Lady becomes first worker-owned strip club

WEDNESDAY, June 25 -- Western Washington carpenters strike AGC over health care
...plus -- Oregon dairy workers need your help to end abuse at work
— In today's Oregonian -- Dairy workers go to United Farm Workers union for help
...plus DON'T FORGET today's PSNS rally in Bremerton to protect workplace rights
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Second PSNS rally today in Bremerton
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Alaska Airlines asks unions for $112 million in pay, benefit cuts
...plus -- Talks between unions, Bon Marche end; workers will vote on "latest offer" Sunday, Monday
...plus -- "No easy budget cuts left" for King County -- Business-led task force recommends, among other things, "aggressively controlling employee salary and benefit costs."
...plus -- Black contractors to protest lack of Sound Transit work
— In today's Seattle Times -- Changes expected Monday in BPA's new rates
...plus -- State court grills WEA on school politicking
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- Jobless reforms benefit us all (editorial)
— In today's Everett Herald -- Competing states not optimistic about 7E7 (Corliss column)
— In the new Seattle Weekly -- It's now apparent: Gary Locke switched parties -- Column: Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance still hopes to field a strong candidate against Locke... But why bother? Gary Locke is the best Republican governor Vance is going to get.
— In today's King County Journal -- Workers' compensation benefits to increase
— In today's Peninsula Daily News -- Sequim city council delays final decision on Wal-Mart
— In today's News Tribune -- SeaTac Airport will hire private screeners to ease congestion
...plus -- Teamsters Local 177 raising funds for burned toddler
— In today's Beckley Register-Herald -- 5 Seattle firefighters hailed as heroes in fiery W.Va. crash
At AFLCIO.org -- Seniors would benefit with Senate amendments to Medicare drug plan
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Immigrants feel the pinch of post-9/11 laws
...plus -- Low-income child tax credit must wait, Republicans say
— In today's Washington Post -- Power to the janitors -- Op-ed: If (the power of janitors to protect their benefits) runs counter to everything you know about power in America, you probably have forgotten about unions. At minimum, you have forgotten about unions that organize so many workers in a single sector that those workers can win some real power over the conditions of their work.
...plus -- Baltimore Sun workers accept 4-year contract
— In the Sacramento Bee -- Mexican migrant farm worker gets surprise $42K UFW pension check

TUESDAY, June 24 -- Act now on OT pay: Tell Bush to protect 40-hour workweek
...plus -- DON'T FORGET today's HERE solidarity rally in support of SeaTac hotel workers
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- Intalco jobs still in limbo -- Editorial: Lawmakers, community must continue lobbying BPA to keep smelter's 700 family-wage jobs.
— In today's Seattle Times -- Summer travel surge taxes airport security -- SeaTac Airport lines have stretched past ticket counters. Down the escalators. Across the skybridge. Into the parking garage.
— In today's News Tribune -- Patience runs thin over long lines at airport (AP) -- The TSA announced in May that it would cut 6,000 security screeners from its 55,600-person work force by October. Members of Congress, mostly Republican, limited funds for screeners because of concerns the agency grew too big too fast. (Editor's note: Ideologues who control Congress and the White House consider "small government" and "the efficiency of union avoidance" more important than your security, or your time. Are 90-minute security lines bad for Boeing? Discuss.)
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Deaconess, Valley staffers look to unionize (SEIU 1199NW)
...plus -- Survey: U.S. companies cutting back on employee benefits (File under "Duh.")
— In today's Peninsula Daily News -- Marathon hearing by Wal-Mart foes fills Sequim center
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Business groups hope Texas bucks lure Boeing (AP)
...plus -- Teamsters may seek release of Airborne's ABX Air negotiators
At AFLCIO.org -- Supreme Court upholds affirmative action
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Supreme Court backs affirmative action 5-4
...plus -- Verizon, CWA talks begin with a clash on health care
— In today's Washington Post -- ATF seeks to remove inspectors' union rights
...plus -- Health premiums to jump again next year; "mid-teens" percentage increase expected
...plus -- Bush pushes expanded private role in Medicare (That oughta fix it.)
— In today's Boston Globe -- Gephardt gets fifth union endorsement (IBEW)
— In today's Houston Chronicle -- "Guest worker" plan would make matters worse (op-ed)

MONDAY, June 23 -- Congressional inquiry July 1 in Seattle on federal privatization
...plus -- Truth about unemployment "reform" too late to stop consequences (Bender op-ed)
— In today's Tennessean -- Peterbilt workers OK pact, lockout finally ends at Paccar unit
— In today's Seattle Times -- Congressional delegation unites in effort to win 7E7
...plus  -- Sound Transit awaits congressional blessing to build light-rail line
— In Sunday's Olympian -- Thanks to gas tax, state DOT is hiring
...plus -- Legislative session had losers, too (editorial)
...plus today -- Forum will explore Tumwater brewery site's next role
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Security checks create bottleneck at SeaTac Airport -- A TSA worker who requested anonymity said staffing levels have been scaled back by a third on Sundays and Mondays after screeners threatened a walkout over lack of time off. (Question: Which is the greater threat to Homeland Security, unionization or forced overtime/exhaustion among screeners? Discuss.)
— In today's King County Journal -- Mount Rainier park workers fear for their jobs
...plus -- Armed forces, apprenticeships viable options for many high school grads
— In Sunday's Longview Daily News -- Like you and me: Working poor are new face of homelessness
— In the P.S. Business Journal -- It's a Wal-Mart world, and Boeing isn't immune -- Pascall column: The largest corporation headquartered in Washington state is not Microsoft. It's Costco. The largest employer in Washington state is not Boeing. It's Wal-Mart.
...plus -- TVW elects new president: Cindy Zehnder
— In Sunday's News Tribune -- Nethercutt keeps GOP guessing on Senate run (AP)
At AFLCIO.org -- Half trillion dollar trade deficit fuels joblessness
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Cost of workers' compensation soars across U.S. -- Nationwide, the average cost of workers' compensation insurance has risen 50% in the last three years. But nowhere in the country have prices been rising faster and with more debilitating impact than in California (our 7E7 competition that privatized its workers' comp system several years ago with devastating results).
...plus -- Labor standoff at Baltimore Sun (Tribune Co.) gets serious
— In today's Washington Post -- In election preview, Bush cites cost of repealing his tax cuts
— In Sunday's Boston Globe -- States take lead in illegal immigration debate

Previous weeks' news: June 16-20 -- June 9-13 -- June 2-6

FRIDAY, JUNE 27
SeaTac Airport delays reveal signs of the union-free times

Following is an open letter that was sent by WSLC Online to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray this morning:

Dear Sen. Murray:

 

The glaring omission from today's news reports (and most others about the SeaTac Airport delays this week) is any comment or input from the security screeners themselves. This is the future of government under President Bush's vision of a union-free federal workforce. Only one story of the dozen or so I've read this week on the subject featured comment from a TSA screener, one who requested anonymity, and said staffing levels have been scaled back by a third on Sundays and Mondays after screeners threatened a walkout over lack of time off.

 

Those who would have our federal government run more like a business choose to ignore the fact that most successful businesses learn from their employees about how to make their products better and improve their services. The effect of denying union rights to TSA employees is already manifesting itself as a muzzle on defenseless workers who fear retribution for any constructive criticism they might have.

 

With lines that have stretched across the SeaTac concourse and the length of the skybridge into the parking garage(!), I'd say their input is more important right now that any of the excuses from TSA and Port of Seattle talking heads. I hope you can make your Senate colleagues understand this in your commendable efforts to address this unacceptable situation.

THURSDAY, JUNE 26
Janitors, faith leaders urge fair contracts in King Co. buildings

The following press release was distributed Wednesday by the Service Employees International Union Local 6:

This Thursday, June 26 (today), King County janitors and faith leaders will visit tenants in downtown Seattle and Eastside office buildings to urge them to support affordable health benefits for the janitors who clean their offices.  They will meet at SEIU Local 6 office, 150 Denny Way, Seattle at 12:30 p.m.

Janitors in King County are in negotiations with cleaning contractors, and are pressing the King County real estate industry to continue to maintain affordable health care costs for family health benefits in the next contract so janitors are not forced to give up coverage.  The janitors' contract expires on June 30.

Media is encouraged to join the janitors during their office visits.

For more information, visit www.seiu6.org or contact SEIU 6's Dawn Le at (206) 850-5234.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25
Western Washington carpenters strike AGC over health care

The following press release was distributed today by the Pacific Northwest Council of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America:

Hard Hats will come off and picket signs will go up until an agreement is reached between Union Carpenters and the Western Washington contractors who employ them. Beginning Wednesday morning Union Carpenters will strike job sites across Western and Central Washington. At issue is the cost of maintaining health care coverage.

Negotiations broke down Tuesday between the Carpenters Union and the Associated General Contractors. Like many employee groups across the Nation, the Carpenters health care plan has been struggling with medical inflation and poor return on investments. The Carpenter membership has strongly voiced a desire to maintain health insurance benefits. Since September 2001, Union Carpenters have diverted $1.34 of wage increases to fund the health insurance plan and yet the plan still sustained cuts. The Union proposed maintaining health insurance with no increase in wages. Management's responded with an offer that includes dramatic cuts to Carpenter's health insurance.

A strike authorization vote was held at 18 Local Unions across Western and Central Washington last weekend. There was a great turnout and the membership voted 84% yes to authorize a strike.

The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters is the regional body of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. Over 8,000 Union Carpenters are affected by the agreement being negotiated. The Carpenters and Associated General Contractors have been negotiating since April 10th. Their labor agreement expired May 31st and was extended twice.

For more information, visit www.carpenterspnwrc.org or call Ole Olsen at (206) 248-8003.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25
Oregon dairy workers need your help to end abuse at work

Farm workers at one of the Pacific Northwest's largest dairies have been seeking representation by the United Farm Workers since February, and now they need your help to achieve a UFW contract and end abusive and unsafe working conditions. (See Call to Action below.)

Workers at Threemile Canyon Farms in Eastern Oregon -- with nearly 20,000 head of cattle in its dairies -- have complained about having to work while sick, laboring long hours without getting paid for all their time and dangerous working conditions. The Oregon Occupational Health and Safety
Administration recently cited the dairies for 12 violations, 11 of which were classified as serious.

Sadly, even the cows have not escaped abuse. In another sworn statement, one worker stated, "I saw how they killed the calves with hammers; they hammered the calves' heads until they killed them."  A worker who videotaped this slaughter was subsequently fired. He, along with 68 others, have now initiated legal action against the company.

These dairies were established through generous support from the state of Oregon. Some $30 million in state bonds were used to help the dairies get started on state land three years ago. To date, the Oregon Governor's office and the State Treasurer's office have both strongly encouraged the dairy owners to negotiate with the workers, but to no avail.

CALL TO ACTION: Please call on agri-industrialist R.D. Offutt to sit down and negotiate with the UFW. In addition to being one of the owners of the Threemile Canyon Farms, Offutt farms more than 100,000 acres in 11 states, and owns the largest John Deere Farm Equipment dealership chains in the U.S. He also is co-owner of a potato processing plant in Minnesota, which reportedly produces one-seventh of the world's supply of French fries. CLICK HERE to send an e-mail today.

Workers from the Threemile Canyon Farms dairies are holding a news conference this morning in Portland to talk about the mistreatment, employer threats and the unsafe workplace. They will be joined by UFW representatives and Mexican Consul Martha Ortiz de Rosas, who has repeatedly intervened on their behalf.

The United Farm Workers of America is the largest farmworker union in the United States. The Washington office of the UFW is coordinating this campaign.

TUESDAY, JUNE 24
Act now on OT pay: Tell Bush to protect 40-hour workweek

The following important Call to Action comes from the AFL-CIO's Working Families e-Activist Network:

There are just six days left to act! Overtime pay cuts being pushed by the Bush administration are slated to go into effect for millions of workers as soon as September of this year. These changes would erode the 40-hour workweek and mean that if you receive overtime pay now, you might not in the future.

From now until June 30, the U.S. Department of Labor is accepting public comments on the proposal to cut overtime pay, reduce overtime protections and cut the take-home pay of millions of America's workers. CLICK HERE to easily submit your letter of opposition right now by clicking on the following link.

A new analysis shows millions could lose overtime pay, possibly including firefighters, police officers, nurses, retail clerks, certain medical technicians, military reservists, tech workers and many, many more. Under the Bush plan, you still may be forced to work overtime hours -- but you might not be paid for the extra hours.

Overtime pay makes up about one-fourth of the average weekly earnings of workers who receive it. That is an average pay cut of $161 a week and can add up to thousands of dollars a year. Can you imagine the government cutting the pay of a firefighter by thousands of dollars per year? How much would you lose? These overtime pay cuts are like a giant new tax on working families by a president who, at the same time, works hard to give tax breaks to millionaires.

With a failing economy, millions out of work and staggering health care and prescription drug costs, this is a burden America's workers should NOT have to bear. The overtime rules protect workers from bosses who would impose unbearably long hours if they didn't have to pay extra for overtime work. Many workers would have less predictable work schedules because of the increased demand for overtime work.

We all need to speak out on this issue. The AFL-CIO and all of America's unions are asking our members -- and all working families -- to join the fight to protect overtime pay. 

We already stopped two congressional attacks to destroy the 40-hour workweek. You already may have taken action on that issue, but we need you to act today on this request.

Thanks for speaking out on this important issue.

MONDAY, JUNE 23
Congressional inquiry July 1 in Seattle on federal privatization

Within the next two years more than one million federal jobs may be contracted out to private entities. More than 15,000 federal jobs in Washington state could be converted to private contractor work, affecting agencies such as the Veterans Administration, the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Postal Service, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Park Service (see today's King County Journal story about privatization of Mount Rainier park jobs), and many others.

Please attend a congressional inquiry moderated by U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-7th) entitled "Should Government Go Private? How Will It Affect You?" on Tuesday, July 1 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Seattle Labor Temple, 2800 1st Ave. U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee (D-1st), Rick Larsen (D-2nd) and Adam Smith (D-9th) will also participate.

Preceding the event, members of labor unions and community organizations are also invited to bring their banners for a Solidarity Display in front of the Labor Temple from 4:30 to 5 p.m.

Among the questions that will be explored at the inquiry are: How will privatization impact workers? How will privatization affect your safety, security and privacy? Will a privatized government be economical and efficient?

"Corporations stand poised to have run of the government, replacing federal workers with private sector workers who are often poorly paid, scantly trained and almost always deprived of union representation and collective bargaining rights," said Bobby Harnage, President of the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO.

The inquiry is organized in cooperation with the American Federation of Government Employees. For more information, contact Pat Taylor at (206) 553-7170.

MONDAY, JUNE 23
Bender: Truth about UI "reform" too late to stop consequences

The following op-ed by Washington State Labor Council President Rick Bender appeared in Sunday's edition of the (Tacoma) News Tribune:

TRUTH ABOUT UNEMPLOYMENT "REFORM" TOO LATE TO STOP CONSEQUENCES
by Rick S. Bender, President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO

It should come as no surprise that misleading and just plain false information drove the frenzied 11th-hour scramble to pass Boeing-friendly legislation.

But now that the public has learned what legislators did for Boeing -- and to working people -- in those frantic final hours, now is a good time for a statistical reality check. Of course, having one before working people got shafted on the altar of business competitiveness would have been an even better time.

Corporate lobbyists who wrote the dramatic overhaul of our state's unemployment insurance system waved a government report finding Washington's average unemployment insurance tax was $599 per employee, three times the national average. The press, including The News Tribune, unquestioningly accepted that "fact."

But the simplistic formula used -- taking the rate halfway between the highest and lowest and multiplying it by the maximum taxable wage base ($28,500) -- is misleading and a very poor representation of what Washington employers pay in unemployment insurance taxes. That is, unless you're a corporate lobbyist who wants to gut the system.

An expert from the nonpartisan National Employment Law Project testified that this formula has been refuted by the U.S. Department of Labor and even by national business lobbying groups as a misrepresentation.

In real-world Washington, the vast majority of employers pay far, far less than that "average tax rate." In fact, more than half of all employers are in Rate Class 1, the lowest of 20 rate classes, and pay a maximum annual tax of $134 per employee. That's $11 a month -- and only if the employee makes more than $28,500 a year.

What skews the widely reported "average" is certain big employers and seasonal industries that lay off a lot of people and severely drain the unemployment insurance trust fund. They pay higher taxes in our experience-rated system to cover those costs.

Boeing, for example, says it now pays $772 per employee into the system. Contrary to hysterical belief, that's not because state government hates major employers and wants to drive them to other states. It's largely because Boeing has laid off more than 20,000 people in this state since Sept. 11, 2001.

Which brings us to the Mother of All Talking-Points-Accepted-As-Fact: the claim that Washington has lost 100,000 jobs in the past two years because of business-unfriendly regulations.

Any objective analysis shows that Washington's unemployment rate has been driven by national events and factors. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, hurt Boeing and its dependent employers hard. Even before that tragic day, Boeing had begun outsourcing more and more jobs to take advantage of cheap overseas labor and to land international plane orders.

The phony energy crisis killed Washington's aluminum industry. The dot-com bust harmed our state disproportionately.

And the last time I checked, this country had lost more than 2 million jobs since George W. Bush was president. Does he stand accused of creating a business-unfriendly United States?

So is Washington competitive? If you ask a corporate lobbyist, no amount of tax breaks and deregulation will change the answer.

Organized labor, however, recognizes there are some legitimate competitiveness issues. That's why we proposed alternative unemployment insurance reform that addressed the tax fairness issue and saved employers hundreds of millions by making more reasonable, humane benefit cuts. The governor conceded it would have saved Boeing the same amount of money.

But the corporate lobbyists who have taken the wheel of our state government never took our proposal seriously. Instead, they ended up rewriting the rules for an important part our state's social safety net in the wee hours of the morning at the Boeing House. And the next day it went sailing through the Legislature with almost no debate and disclosure.

Employers got a brand new unemployment insurance tax system that, although it will be much more volatile and unpredictable, is certain to lower their taxes in the long run because of the dramatic benefit cuts. (The dirty little secret you have yet to read about is that Washington employers will face a $173 million unemployment insurance tax increase this fall that would have been avoided in labor's alternative plan.)

Meanwhile, working people who can't find jobs will pay the price for this unemployment insurance "reform" with unconscionable across-the-board benefit cuts. More than 250,000 unemployed workers will see weekly benefit checks cut by $50 to $150.

It's an absolute scandal and an outrage.

Rick Bender is president of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, the largest labor organization in the state.