NEXT UPDATE -- Wednesday, July 28 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 July 19-23, 2004

Previous weeks' news: July 12-16 -- July 6-9 -- June 28-30

FRIDAY, July 23 -- Volunteer for Labor Neighbor this weekend... and beyond!
...plus -- Washington's Sandra Schroeder elected AFT vice president
— In today's Olympian -- SEIU says security guards need a better deal (AP)
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Unionized security guards better able to tackle terror threats, study says
Boeing news: — In today's King County Journal -- Boeing mulls more outsourcing at Auburn plant
— In today's Everett Herald -- 777 assembly line moved inside Everett plant to make room for the 7E7
— In today's N.Y. Times -- At air show, echoes of Boeing's new assertiveness in duel with Airbus
— At BusinessWeek.com -- Time to end Boeing-Airbus dogfight -- Commentary: Endless bickering over who's violating a 1992 agreement over government aid means a new, more transparent deal needed.
Other local news: — In today's Tri-City Herald -- DOE releases Hanford contract proposal -- Unlike an earlier draft, existing workers' retirement benefits are protected in latest proposal.
— In today's Seattle Times -- King County eyes tax boost for local road projects
— In today's News Tribune -- Audit rips Tacoma's Human Resources Dept. -- City's labor relations policy is "disjointed" and that there is no long-range strategy for negotiating with the 28 bargaining units.
— In today's Columbia Basin Herald -- Grant Co. deficit to run $2M; hiring freeze, other "changes" imminent
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Microsoft plans to hire 3,000 in area
— In yesterday's Walla Walla U-B -- 5-cent fiasco is cheap lesson for government -- Editorial: Woman hounded by Employment Security over 5-cent overpayment reveals a culture of government fostering unbending, power-crazed decisions that must be changed. Common sense must be promoted.
Election news: — In yesterday's Columbian --  Sims pushes plan to reform taxes
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- GOP state legislative candidate charged with wire fraud
— Today at BusinessWeek.com -- Talking business (and international trade) with John Kerry
— In today's L.A. Times -- Bush, Kerry are neck and neck in national survey
Other national news:  Congress recesses without blocking Bush's OT pay take-away
— In today's Washington Post -- House panel approves 3.5% raise for civilians -- Proposed raise for federal civilian employees is more than double the pay increase sought by President Bush.
...plus -- Boston pickets may spur Democrats to boycott convention festivities
— In today's Boston Globe -- National union leaders call for Boston police compromise -- As Democratic National Convention nears, police still plan to picket despite arbitrator's award of 14.5% raise.
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Who's getting the new jobs? -- Herbert column: With slow job growth, we need to discuss how to deal with immigration and the displacement of previously employed workers.

THURSDAY, July 22 -- Group Health caregivers extend contract to August 6
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Group Health gets strike reprieve (brief)
Also today -- SEIU calls UW's "McJob" contract proposal "a serious step backward"
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Boeing work force in Renton, Everett will be "gradually" increased
— In today's Seattle Times -- State losing out on 500 7E7 jobs -- Dallas-based contractor Voight says other states are offering more incentives and that Washington workers make too much money.
— In today's King County Journal -- Area business leaders optimistic about local economy -- Majority say Seattle and environs are a good place to do business; more tax breaks a higher priority than traffic. 
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Ken Saucier, leader of Seattle police guild, killed in car wreck
...plus -- Monorail-killing measure advances -- The initiative is opposed by the King Co. Labor Council.
— In today's Everett Herald -- Deputies killed in Everett Massacre honored -- Sheriff awards descendants of two men deputized in 1916 labor conflict the Washington State Law Enforcement Medal of Honor.
Election news: — In today's Seattle P-I -- Gregoire, Sims widely split
— In today's News Tribune -- Can a candidate who wants a state income tax become governor?
— In today's Tri-City Herald -- Sims' flip-flop on I-297 (re: Hanford waste) troubling, maybe telling (editorial)
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Eyman solicits for salary, says tax work will go on despite I-864 failure
— In today's Washington Post -- Kerry has 2-to-1 advantage over Bush among Latino voters
Today at AFLCIO.org -- U.S. House leaders stall vote to protect workers' overtime pay
— In today's N.Y. Times -- White House blocks extension of tax cuts -- Why would George Tax-Cuts-Fix-  Everything Bush oppose this?  Because these cuts, including the child tax credit, were targeted to middle-class Americans, so many Democrats (including Sen. Kerry) were expected to vote for it. Bush didn't want his Kerry-wants-higher-taxes campaign theme diluted, so he nixed the cuts.
...plus -- More jobs, worse work -- Op-ed: It was only a matter of time before the globalization of work affected the U.S. labor market. The character and quality of American job creation is changing before our very eyes. Which poses the most important question of all: what are we going to do about it?
— A related story in today's Washington Post -- Greenspan says workers' lack of skills lowers wages
— In today's Spokesman-Review - Housing costs outstripping incomes of many (AP)

WEDNESDAY, July 21 -- Labor Neighbor back in gear this weekend... so VOLUNTEER!
...plus -- Rally Thursday in Seattle: Better wages, benefits for security officers
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- $7 billion order for Airbus is a blow to Boeing (AP)
— In yesterday's Daily News -- Contract talks for Rainier teachers will continue
Election News: — In today's Seattle Times -- Judith Billings will run to get school job back -- The former Superintendent of Public Instruction (1989-96) will take on incumbent Terry Bergeson.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Costco, Wal-Mart duel in political arena -- Wal-Mart gives more money to Republicans than any other U.S. company, while the Issaquah-based Costco supports Democrats.
— In the USAToday -- Weak jobs picture in crucial states like Ohio, Michigan may hurt Bush
— In today's Washington Post -- Democrats outraising Republicans in 2004; but GOP still has overall lead
At AFLCIO.org -- Seniors board Rx Express to buy affordable medication in Canada
— In today's Washington Post -- Looking to Canada, not candidates, for prescription drugs
Other national news: — In today's Tri-City Herald -- Democrats offer plan to stem job outsourcing
— In today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch -- National business-labor coalition urges universal health care
— In today's L.A. Times -- Grand Jury steps up inquiry into Halliburton ties with Iran -- The oil services firm may have violated federal sanctions by operating in Iran while VP Cheney was running the company.
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Two union carpenters killed as truck hits pickets in Long Island
...plus -- Delta pilots offer 23% wage cut to help airline avoid bankruptcy
— In today's Washington Post -- Bush's retreat on immigration reform -- Meyerson column: Every year the government deports American teenagers -- who have gone to school here and are on their way to productive careers -- to Latin American and Caribbean nations they may not have seen since infancy. A popular bipartisan bill to address the problem, like other immigration reform proposals, has fallen prey to President Bush's reluctance to do anything that might rouse the ire of the nativist right.

TUESDAY, July 20 -- Union-built Washington Dental Service now a union buster?
— In today's Seattle Times -- Governors consider business's No. 1 problem: Health-care costs
...plus -- Hanford's tanks of trouble -- Editorial: NIOSH is the third agency to affirm tank-farm workers may have been exposed to toxic vapors at health-compromising levels... Congress should put someone else in charge of monitoring worker safety at Hanford and other nuclear sites.
— In the Spokane Journal of Business -- Prison labor edict stirs debate
— In today's News Tribune -- Costs, service levels should drive city's ambulance decision -- Editorial: The council should not be swayed by labor lobbying for AMR, the only bidder with a unionized work force.
— In today's Billings Gazette -- Striking Stillwater Mine workers approve new contract
Boeing news: — In today's Bellingham Herald -- Boeing gets $3 billion deal for 777-300ERs (AP)
— In today's Seattle P-I -- A bit more work on 7E7 at Everett ...plus Tension grows between Boeing, Airbus
...plus -- Fat or stupid? A low-flying debate -- Editorial: You're fat. Yeah? You're stupid. So goes the discourse between Boeing and Airbus, in only somewhat more elevated and less direct fashion.
— In today's Seattle Times -- It's time to clear the air on the Boeing tanker deal (op-ed)
Other national news: — In the P.S. Business Journal -- Federal minimum wage hike waits in the wings
— In Workday Minnesota -- Unions, radical right clash over card-check organizing
— Today from AP -- Labor's unified front cracks in Boston police dispute -- As convention approaches, some say national union pressure led to motion to resolve the two-year dispute through arbitration.
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Retirement wave creates shortage of air traffic controllers -- The retirements are coming in the next few years because most current controllers were hired in 1982 as replacements for the 11,350 fired by President Reagan for going on strike, and they are approaching retirement age.
...plus -- Fiscal sanity at bay -- Editorial: For all the late-blooming talk of fiscal responsibility from Republican moderates, an election year cave-in is shaping up in the Senate as the White House pushes for a fast renewal of some of the "temporary" tax breaks set to expire this year.
|— In today's L.A. Times -- Bush, CIA at odds over Iran -- The president's interest in a possible 9/11 link goes against the agency leader's assessment. They also disagree over intelligence reforms.

MONDAY, July 19 -- Nader hasn't always walked the talk on his staff's right-to-unionize
— In today's Washington Post -- Republicans helping Nader to help themselves
Local news: — In Saturday's Seattle Times -- Boeing will hire up to 3,000 -- After slashing more than 27,000 local jobs in three years, Boeing is putting its pink slips away and will add up to 3,000 workers in the Puget Sound area by the end of the year. Roughly 600 to 700 of the jobs will go to previously laid-off production workers. Most of the rest will go to engineering and technical workers, including both recalled employees and new hires with specialized skills.
...plus on Sunday -- Boeing tanker deal gets funding help from House speaker
...plus Saturday -- Issues divide leaders, galvanize demonstrators at governors' meeting
— In today's Olympian -- State legislature may play fiscal role in potential NASCAR track
....plus on Saturday -- Stagehands consider union (IATSE) at Washington Center for Performing Arts
— In today's News tribune -- Private ambulance services vie for Tacoma's business
— In Saturday's Centralia Chronicle -- Obstacles to Cardinal plant show state business unfriendly (editorial)
— In Sunday's Longview Daily News -- Mediator called in for Rainier teacher talks
— In today's Yakima H-R -- Life of a power lineman
— In the P.S. Business Journal -- New labor regs "clarify" white-collar pay standards (our quotes) -- Op-ed fails to mention Washington is among 18 states with their OT rules superceding Bush's takeaway.
At AFLCIO.org -- Bush's NLRB strips graduate employees of right to join unions
— In today's L.A. Times -- Bush agenda on slow track -- With Democrats united and the GOP divided, the White House faces a congressional logjam. Election-year politics are a key factor, experts say.
— In today's N.Y. Times -- An emerging catastrophe -- Herbert column: The staggering level of joblessness among black men mocks the very idea of stable communities.

Previous weeks' news: July 12-16 -- July 6-9 -- June 28-30

FRIDAY, JULY 23
Congress recesses without blocking Bush's OT pay take-away

FRIDAY, JULY 23
Washington's Sandra Schroeder elected AFT vice president

Sandra Schroeder, President of AFT Washington, was elected vice president of the American Federation of Teachers’ (AFT) Executive Council, the governing body that sets policy for AFT.  Schroeder (shray-der) will chair the Higher Education Policy and Program Committee.  

Schroeder, the first in the Pacific Northwest to become a national Vice President of AFT, said, “I am honored to get this leadership position with AFT and look forward to working on education policies and issues that affect our members at a national level.”

The AFT represents 1.3 million pre-K through 12th grade teachers, paraprofessionals and other school support employees, higher education faculty, nurses and other healthcare workers, and state and local government employees. AFT Washington is an affiliate of AFT and represents 4,500 members including faculty in four-year, community and technical colleges, and classified employees and pre-K-12 classified and paraprofessional employees in Washington state.

THURSDAY, JULY 22
Group Health caregivers extend contract to August 6

THURSDAY, JULY 22
SEIU calls UW "McJob" proposal "a serious step backward"

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21
Labor Neighbor back in gear this weekend... so VOLUNTEER!

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21
Rally Thursday in Seattle: Better wages for security officers

TUESDAY, JULY 20
Union-built Washington Dental Service now a union buster?

MONDAY, JULY 19
Nader hasn't always walked the talk on staff's right-to-unionize

Following are excerpts from a story that appeared in the June edition of The National Journal:

Ralph Nader isn't anti-business -- he is himself a businessman, a successful entrepreneur who over the decades built an empire of nonprofit corporations that sell things, earn money, pay their bills, and grow. Like many founders, Nader has a great talent for marketing, and he's helped create some well-regarded brands -- Public Citizen and Congress Watch, for example.

...

During his presidential run in 2000, Nader laid out his view that union organizing is an important friction point between citizens and mega-corporations: "Employing union-busting consultants and motivated by an anything-goes, anti-union animus, employers regularly confront union-organizing campaigns with threats to close plants; harassment, intimidation, and firings of key union supporters; captive meetings; supervisor one-on-one meetings with fearful employees; threatening literature; use of surveillance  technologies; and much more."

Nader also said, "Although it is illegal for employers to fire workers for supporting a union, approximately one in 10 union supporters in union-organizing drives are, in fact, fired."

As it turns out, Nader as a nonprofit entrepreneur has had his own experience with union organizing -- from the employer's side.  In one case, unhappy workers at Public Citizen were persuaded to drop their drive to hold a vote on affiliating with the United Auto Workers, and an in-house union was created that over the years won important benefits and worker protections for employees. But in another case, labor-management relations weren't so smooth.

Amid a dispute with the staff of one of his flagship publications in 1984 over its editorial content and a bid by staff members to form a union, Nader responded with the same kind of tactics that he has elsewhere condemned: He fired the staff, changed the locks at the office, unsuccessfully tried to have one employee arrested, and hired permanent replacements.  When the fired workers appealed the action to federal authorities, Nader filed a countersuit.  Applying a legal tactic that employers commonly use to resist union-organizing efforts, Nader claimed that the fired workers were trying to appropriate his business.  Nader spurned efforts by other progressives to mediate the fight, and he refused an offer to settle the litigation by simply signing a declaration that his workers thenceforth would have the right to organize.

"I was shocked by how Ralph acted," said John Cavanagh, director of the Institute for Policy Studies, who tried to mediate the dispute. "He seemed unable to see how this conflicted with his ideals." Cavanagh, who says he likes and respects Nader and supported his 2000 presidential run, said he was particularly surprised that Nader refused a dialogue on the dispute: "That's not the way progressives are supposed to act."

...

Through campaign spokesman Kevin Zeese, Nader declined to comment at length on the 20-year-old conflict. According to what Zeese said that Nader told him, Nader recalls the incident as a professional dispute with the magazine's staff.  Nader said the staff had defied his instructions and that the unionization effort was a ploy after the decision had already been made to fire the workers. Zeese said that Nader has always supported the right of his employees to organize.

But that's not what Nader said at the time. In a June 1984 article in The Washington Post, Nader said his employees and others at nonprofit organizations don't have a need to organize. "I don't think there is a role for unions in small nonprofit 'cause' organizations any more than ... within a monastery or within a union" itself, he said. "People shouldn't be in public-interest groups unless they believe in it and are ready to work for it." Early on in his career, Nader said, "I worked weekend after weekend after weekend... Now people come here and say they want to fight polluters and unresponsive agencies, but not after 5 o'clock and not on weekends."

Many employers, especially those who build small companies from the ground up, feel the same way about their businesses. But U.S. labor law is clear -- two or more employees can file a letter with National Labor Relations Board noting their intention to try to form a union, and, in theory, they are immediately protected from firing and other retaliatory actions while the case is pending. In practice, however, years of litigation await workers who pursue these cases, even when management doesn't pursue a countersuit.

...

At the same time in 1984, a better-known corner of the Nader empire was considering a similar vote on unionization. Public Citizen employees were unhappy with the lack of benefits and with the demands that managers placed on them. There was discussion of a referendum on affiliating with an outside union, according to Paul Levy, who is still an attorney with the group. Echoing Cavanagh and Nader's own arguments in The Post, Levy said the top managers of Public Citizen told the staff in 1984 that they had no need for a union, because the organization was run differently from a business. "They seemed to think that they were immune from labor-management conflict," Levy said. In the end, managers persuaded the staff to form an in-house union that didn't push as hard for pay raises and benefits, Levy said, but seemed to satisfy most workers.

Until recently, that is. Earlier this year, Public Citizen workers narrowly voted to affiliate with the Service Employees International Union. Levy said that employees at some of the faster-growing parts of Public Citizen, including Global Trade Watch, had become unhappy with their managers.