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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 August 2-6, 2004

Previous weeks' news: July 28-30 -- July 19-23 -- July 12-16

FRIDAY, August 6 -- AFL-CIO President John Sweeney to speak at WSLC convention 
...plus -- WSLC Women's Committee seeks donations for silent auction
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Grocery talks go into overtime -- Negotiators planned to work late into the night yesterday on a new contract, in one of the more hopeful signs of progress in the contentious talks.
— In today's News Tribune -- Grocery negotiations go stale -- Frustrated by the tenor and secrecy of the negotiations, the Tacoma local representing 7,000 grocery workers withdrew from the talks this week.
At AFLCIO.org -- Bush attacks overtime pay and the 40-hour workweek -- again
— In today's L.A. Times -- President pushes "flextime" -- Not satisfied with his overtime pay take-away, Bush says Congress should end the 40-hour workweek, calling his idea "flextime." (As in, bend over.)
Local news: — In yesterday's Columbian -- Accord averts walkout at Clark Public Utilities (IBEW 125)
— In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing workers consider buying Wichita plant
— In today's Everett Herald -- 10-plane 777, 7E7 deal approved by Air New Zealand
— In today's Olympian -- State Employee Credit Union information stolen
— In today's Yakima H-R -- Immigration raid rumors prompt query by Sen. Cantwell
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Spend energy, money on issues we can win (letter by PAW's Andrea de Majewski)
Election news: — In today's Bremerton Sun -- Sen. Murray dusts off tennis shoes for another run (AP)
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Gregoire offers way to spur economy -- Says our state needs one-stop permitting, review of L&I, and to get rid of some business tax exemptions that no longer make sense.
— In today's Washington Post -- Anti-Kerry ad condemned by McCain -- Senator repudiates a new TV ad accusing Kerry of lying about his Vietnam War record and calls on Bush to do the same. (He hasn't.)
...plus -- English, a battleground state -- Bush: "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
— Today at USWA.org -- Unhappy workers should take Prozac, says Bush campaign spokeswoman
National news: — This morning from Reuters -- Job growth meager, markets stunned
— In today's Seattle Times -- Wal-Mart seeks to settle suit on hiring of illegal workers to clean stores (AP)
— In today's N.Y. Times -- In Minnesota's iron range, a rare victory for labor
...plus -- Ex-Halliburton workers allege widespread, systemic accounting fraud -- Enron-like fraud, far beyond what was previously reported by SEC, occurred during Dick Cheney's tenure as CEO.
— Today from AP -- Labor disputes loom over Republican National Convention in NYC

THURSDAY, August 5 -- UFCW 367 to break away, seek separate grocery contract
— In today's L.A. Times -- Cost of California dispute hangs over grocers -- Safeway CEO Steve Burd used to contend that UFCW's contract demands would have cost his company $130 million over its 3-year term. In the last 9 months, then, the strike looks to have cost his company more than twice that.
— In today's Rocky Mountain News -- UFCW prepares for Colorado grocery strike, TV ad push if talks fail
Workers' comp initiative: — In the PSBJ -- Business, labor push separate workers' comp measures
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Workers' comp initiatives a plenty -- Virgin column: A likely scenario -- a hot time in Olympia come January, and a phone-book-thick voters pamphlet come November 2005.
Other local news: — In today's Oregonian -- Marathon talks avert strike by Clark utility workers (IBEW)
— In today's Everett Herald -- Boeing wants state to do more -- Touting the successful "collaboration" between business and government last year, Boeing wants more unemployment insurance "reform," cheaper workers' comp, better transportation and lower health care costs. But no plan is offered.
— In today's Seattle Times -- Hanford worker suffers radiation exposure -- Accident just days after a federal report criticized oversight of the cleanup and warned that workers didn't have adequate safety gear.
...plus -- Workers' comp dispute stalls ferry food-service plan -- L&I can't provide Jones Act coverage and the Washington State Ferries refuses to help, so despite a deal with union, still no food service.
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Private ferries offer lessons in customer service (editorial)
— In yesterday's Daily News -- Demand for boxes has Longview Fibre humming; 30 workers called back
— In today's News Tribune -- Pierce County corrections officers union rejects "help" at jail
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Don't turn getting an education into business (letter by WFT's Sandra Schroeder)
Election news: — In today's Seattle P-I -- Sims tax plan: Income tax "yes," business tax "no" -- Latest Elway Poll on governor's race: Sims polls at 15%, Gregoire 26%, Rossi 35%. The margin of error: 5%.
— In the Seattle Weekly -- Dino buys big time -- GOP's Rossi plans primary ad blitz despite no opposition.
...plus -- Pork-pillow politics -- Sen. Patty Murray has worked hard on Capitol Hill for port security funding, and her husband's Seattle employer SSA (Stevedoring Services of America) has benefited.
— In today's News Tribune -- Business leaders back Kerry ...plus... Business leaders back Bush
— In today's Chronicle -- Three straight days of anti-Kerry editorial diatribes from Centralia's liberal media!
Today at AFLCIO.org:  New data show many working families' incomes declining
Other national news: — In today's N.Y. Times -- Why higher learning gets the ax -- If higher education is so important to the economy, why are state governments cutting back on it?
...plus -- Using trade pacts to stem loss of TV, film jobs to Canada -- With the Teamsters leading the fight, a group is demanding that the Bush administration take action against Canadian film subsidies.
— In today's S.F. Chronicle -- Migrants trade poverty for danger; wages in Iraq simply too good to pass up
— In today's Everett Herald -- Expect to pick up tab for American companies soon -- Column: Taxpayers can expect another massive corporate bailout soon: this time of defined-benefit pension plans. The so-called conservatives running Washington won't admit it, but this would be another step toward the nationalization of the American retirement. Wouldn't it have been easier to just regulate the guys?

WEDNESDAY, August 4 -- WSLC files initiative to reform workers' compensation system
— In yesterday's Columbian -- Clark PUD contract accord eludes negotiators -- IBEW 125 members threaten to strike. They want wages in line with those paid by Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp, while management contends the base wage compares favorably to utilities in Washington.
— In today's Tri-City Herald -- DOE seeks improved Hanford safety after close calls
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- Canadian firm plans lumber-products facility in Sumas with up to 80 jobs
— In today's Seattle Times -- County can't proceed with Brightwater plant until studying fault line
— In today's (Longview) Daily News -- Nootka, Alcoa have 23 days to hammer out details of smelter deal
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Eyman's gambling initiative makes fall ballot (AP) -- WSLC opposes I-892.
Other national news: — In today's Bellingham Herald -- OSHA must disclose injury rates (AP)
— In today's Seattle Times -- WTO slices through discord (analysis) -- Even though it may not save the World Trade Organization and its aims, last week's Geneva accord may be the last hope for developing countries to have a global trade voice.  
— In today's Washington Post -- Consumer spending drops as income stalls

TUESDAY, August 3 -- Assistance needed in 6-month Ocean Shores grocery strike
— In today's Everett Herald -- Grocery negotiations positive; talks center on health care costs -- "We just have to hope for the best and plan for the worst," says UFCW 1105 President Sharon McCann.
— In today's Sacramento Bee -- Grocers, union to keep talking; Northern California contract extended
Also today -- Thurston-Lewis-Mason CLC plans first-ever endorsement conference Aug. 21
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Drivers for four concrete companies OK contracts (Teamsters 174) 
— In today's Yakima H-R -- Snokist holds new round of labor talks -- Company will return to the bargaining table with the WCIW this week for the first time since May. The parties have been trying for more than a year to work out a first contract at the cannery, which processes pears, cherries and other fruit.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Seattle Times plans to cut customer service jobs -- Newspaper wants to cut 45 positions from its unionized customer-service staff by outsourcing jobs to a "U.S.-based" company.
— In today's Wichita Eagle -- Boeing looks to sky for 11,000 workers -- Boeing is hanging banners and hiring sky-typing teams to get out the word: It's hiring. Engineers with security clearances sought.
— In today's Olympian -- Education initiative increasing sales tax (I-884) wins place on ballot
— In yesterday's Walla Walla U-B -- Now is the time to overhaul health care -- Editorial: The number of medical bills going unpaid is increasing... yet another signal the health-care system is nearly broken.
— In today's King County Journal -- Inmate labor can help cities and taxpayers (editorial)
Other national news: — In today's L.A. Times -- Study cites social costs of Wal-Mart -- Its workers draw $86 million a year in subsidies in California, researchers say. "In effect, Wal-Mart is shifting part of its labor costs onto the public... Wal-Mart's long-term impact on compensation in the retail industry has the potential to place a significant strain on the... already heavily burdened social safety net."
— In today's News Tribune -- Union OK'd at Quebec Wal-Mart (AP) -- If ruling stands, it will be the retail giant's first unionized store. Wal-Mart vows a fight.
— At Bloomberg.com -- Study: 9 million U.S. workers have lost company health coverage since 2001
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Judge orders OSHA to disclose safety records -- Agency must disclose for the first time the company names and the worker injury rates of workplaces with the worst safety records.
...plus -- Labor leaders plan to rally against Bush on Sept. 1 outside Republican National Convention

MONDAY, August 2
DON'T FORGET -- Candlelight vigil for grocery workers TONIGHT in Seattle
At SEIU925.org -- 400 pickets at UWMC, Harborview, Northgate send message to management
— In Sunday's Spokesman-Review -- Labor issue a pain for Washington Dental Service
— In the P.S. Business Journal -- Union rules at issue in SeaTac lawsuit -- Should a small coffee kiosk be allowed to operate at Sea-Tac Airport if its 10 employees aren't union members? In an action that alleges violations of antitrust, labor and consumer-protection laws, a vendor claims that the structure of labor arrangements at the airport "unreasonably restrains trade and is contrary to the law."
— In Sunday's Olympian -- Workers anxious as jobs shipped overseas -- A recent tally by the Office of Financial Management showed that the value of roughly 150 state agency and university contracts that included some work done offshore totaled close to $50 million over the past three years.
...plus -- Encouraging agencies to contract out work adds new factor -- Under new labor rules taking effect next year for Washington state government, agencies will be encouraged to look at their in-house operations to see whether they can save money by giving the work to private enterprise.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Good reasons to privatize higher ed (op-ed)
— In Labor Notes -- Puget Sound grocery workers locked in contract battle
— In today's Seattle Times -- Blunt Boeing CEO bullish on company's prospects -- Stonecipher: "The morale of the commercial-airplane people is terrific right now."
— Today at BusinessWeek online -- 7E7: A place the could change the game (commentary)
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Efficiency studies could mean civilian job losses -- Civilian employees could perform their functions for less than the private sector by eliminating 200 Navy jobs, studies say.
— In today's King County Journal -- Making jails work -- Inmates statewide do millions of dollars worth of labor, but officials stress that they aren't stealing jobs from others in the private or public sector.
— In Saturday's Daily News -- Port Westward construction could bring 1,000 jobs starting this spring
Election news: — In Saturday's Seattle P-I -- No strong challengers for congressional incumbents
..plus today -- Candidates for governor talk big on economy, but impact is debatable
— In today's News Tribune -- U.S. Senate seat a must have for both parties
Other national news: — In today's Bellingham Herald -- "They can't outsource the port" (AP) -- More than 20,000 expected to apply for 3,000 high-paying dock jobs in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
— At CounterPunch.org -- A new model for the labor movement? Behind the UNITE HERE merger 
— Today at BusinessWeek online -- Europe's workers bite the bullet -- They've made wage and benefits concessions -- but that may not keep jobs from moving abroad.

Previous weeks' news: July 28-30 -- July 19-23 -- July 12-16

FRIDAY, AUGUST 6
AFL-CIO President Sweeney to speak at WSLC convention

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney will address the Washington State Labor Council's 2004 Constitutional Convention set for Monday through Thursday, Aug. 23-26 at the Tacoma Sheraton Hotel.

Other confirmed speakers include Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA); Clayola Brown, vice president of the newly formed UNITE-HERE union; Carl Mack, president of the Seattle-King County branch of the NAACP; gubernatorial candidates Christine Gregoire and Ron Sims; and several U.S. representatives and state legislative leaders. Other special guest speakers may be announced shortly.

The agenda also includes panels of distinguished experts on offshore outsourcing and workers' compensation, and special speakers on health care and Social Security. Workshop topics include union organizing, economic development resources, communicating with members on health care issues, Trade Act, drugfree workplaces and much more.

As always, entertainment will include the annual COPE barbecue, karaoke and auction, the convention reception, banquet (with Sen. Murray as guest speaker) and dance, and this year will feature a screening of the film, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."

But most importantly, it is at the annual convention that delegates representing WSLC-affiliated unions debate resolutions that establish the organization's positions or policies on issues, candidates and programs. This year, delegates may also consider resolutions to change to the WSLC Constitution. Additional election endorsements will be considered to supplement those already made at the WSLC's COPE Convention in May.

Affiliated unions received a convention call with delegate registration and credential forms months ago. For more registration information or other convention questions, contact Karen White at (206) 281-8901.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 6
WSLC Women's Committee seeks donations for silent auction

The Women’s Committee of the Washington State Labor Council will, once again, hold a silent auction at the WSLC annual convention to raise money for their scholarship program. This year's auction will take place in conjunction with the convention banquet on Wednesday night, Aug. 25.

Sale items are needed for the auction. Last year the response was enthusiastic and every single item was sold to a happy convention delegate.  But, like before, the committee needs YOUR donation. Sporting event tickets, posters, t-shirts, cruises, condominium time, artwork and personal services are just a few ideas. 

Please send, deliver or mail your contribution(s) to:

Kairie Pierce, staff
WSLC Women's Committee
906 Columbia St. S.W., #330
Olympia, WA  98501

or

WSLC Women's Committee
314 First Ave. West
Seattle, WA  98119

If you have questions or need further details, contact Kairie Pierce at (360) 943-0608 or kpierce@wslc.org.

Thanks for your continuing support!

THURSDAY, AUGUST 5
UFCW 367 to break away, seek separate grocery contract

The following news brief appears in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

Leaders of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 367 decided to pursue a separate contract with Seattle-area grocery chains Monday night, breaking away from a collective effort that has been under way for months.

"We do not believe that the current process will ultimately produce a contract that we can recommend," President Teresa Iverson said in a recorded message to union members yesterday. It was not clear how or when the Tacoma-based local would open talks with the chains.

A collection of six locals has been struggling to reach an agreement with Safeway Inc., Albertsons Inc., QFC and Fred Meyer since April. Negotiators were still talking last night.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4
WSLC files initiative to reform workers' compensation system

The Washington State Labor Council on Tuesday filed an Initiative to the Legislature with the Secretary of State to reform the state workers' compensation system. The measure articulates the changes necessary to make the workers' compensation system more fair for injured workers.

"We're tired of the blame-the-victims mentality in Olympia, especially among certain business lobbying groups who want to shred the safety net for injured workers," said Rick Bender, President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO.  "Nobody wants to get injured on the job and lose their livelihood -- and sometimes their career.  Yet many lobbyists and policymakers treat the system like it's some kind of welfare program or simply an employer cost that must be cut.  We're tired of the interests of injured workers and their families being ignored."

The initiative, which has yet to be assigned a number, will seek the following reforms of the workers' compensation system run by the state Department of Labor and Industries:

• Institute whistleblower protections for workers who report system abuses, such as employers who discourage reporting of injuries or encourage misreporting;
• Protect injured workers' choice of medical provider;
• Require employer-provided health benefits to continue while injured workers are off the job (with the workers continuing to pay their share of the health premiums or costs);
• Reform of the Retrospective Rating Program to send full rebate checks directly to participating employers (closing a loophole that allows business associations to finance their political and lobbying activities by skimming from their members' rebates) and targeting those rebates to employers with good safety records;
• Eliminate the workers' share of the premiums (Washington is currently the only state in the nation where workers pay a portion -- 25 percent -- of the workers’ compensation premiums);
• Allow vocational rehabilitation benefits for up to two years for injured workers who will never be able to return to their former jobs so they have an opportunity to complete retraining programs (voc-rehab benefits currently have a one-year limit); and
• Limit attorneys' fees for representatives of injured workers and employers.

Independent analyses consistently rank Washington's workers' compensation system as one of the cheapest in the nation for employers.  But the past two years' premium rate increases -- despite frozen or lowered rates in the preceding eight consecutive years -- have led to calls to cut benefits. Even with recent premium increases, Washington still ranks in the lowest one-third of states in terms of employer costs.

Meanwhile, recommendations from previous independent performance audits on how to make the workers' compensation system more fair for injured workers have been ignored by the state legislature.

"What's worse, the system is being exploited by some of the very business lobbying groups that now demand benefit cuts," Bender said. "They are skimming millions of dollars every year from employers' rebate checks to fund partisan political activities and finance their own initiatives that cut benefits for injured workers' families. It's sickening that a program to promote safe workplaces by offering rebates to responsible employers has been perverted into a cash cow for corporate lobbyists."

If the necessary signatures are collected by the end of the year, the initiative will go before the legislature in the 2005 session. If the Legislature rejects or refuses to consider the measure, it would appear on the November 2005 ballot for voters to decide. If the legislature passes an amended version, both the original proposal and the amended version would appear on the ballot.

Meanwhile, the WSLC and other advocates for injured workers will file a formal challenge today of the ballot title and summary of Initiative 333, a workers' compensation initiative recently filed by the Building Industry Association of Washington. 

The proposed ballot title is misleading -- using phrases like "making substantial revisions" and "modifying" benefits -- to disguise the dramatic benefit cuts that would result for workers injured on the job. Likewise, the measure's summary contains factual errors and misrepresents benefit cuts with language like "the term 'wages' would be redefined" and "adjusting benefits."

"That ballot language is horribly misleading," Bender said. "It is critical that it be fixed to reflect the true meaning of the initiative because the workers' compensation system is such a complex subject and many people know nothing about it. Voters would read that proposed language and think it won't harm injured workers, when in truth, it could be devastating for families whose primary breadwinner has been injured at work and can't collect a paycheck."

Negotiations to seek compromises between business and labor over proposed changes to the workers' compensation system failed earlier this year when the business community withdrew from the governor’s mediated negotiations. (See our June 9 posting -- Labor disappointed with breakdown in workers' comp talks.)

TUESDAY, AUGUST 3
Assistance needed in 6-month Ocean Shores grocery strike

The following letter was written by Mike McGuire, the Ocean Shores IGA Picket Captain for UFCW Local 367. Please consider making a contribution (any amount helps) to the Ocean Shores Strike Hardship Fund, c/o UFCW Local 367, 6403 Lakewood Drive W., Tacoma, WA, 98467.

July 29, 2004

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

On February 13, after a strike vote of 20 to nothing, 14 people began walking the picket lines of Ocean Shores IGA (grocery store). Today, after 168 days these same people have held the picket line in now what has become the longest grocery strike in the History of the United States. This is a first contract, asking only for the area standards, asking only for the same contract and the same benefits that all the other grocery stores in the area receive. Nothing less, nothing more.

Now we need your help. We are tired, hungry and most of all, broke. Fourteen families without a pay check for six months. Fourteen families that have put it all on the line to stop one man, one store, from trying to break the area Union. Fourteen families that have said, “Enough is enough, you can take no more away from us. We will fight!” Fight not only for us, but for the future – for the future of all the Unions, for the future of our great Nation.

Now we ask of you to send us your money. Be it $100, $500 or $5,000, we need your help. Please dig deep into your pockets and send what you can to help support the fight of these fourteen families. Please make your checks out to the Ocean Shores IGA Hardship Fund and mail to UFCW Local 367, 6403 Lakewood Dr. W., Tacoma, WA, 98467.

Thank You and God Bless.

Sincerely: Patsy, Mike, Heidi, Rhonda, Sheila, Stephanie, Cathy, Ed, Steve, Julie, Becky, Linda, Ruben and Ann.

P.S.  If you find yourselves planning a trip to Ocean Shores in the near future, please stop by our picket lines and say "Hi," stand with us for an hour, have a cup of coffee with us. We need all the encouragement we can get!

See our Feb. 26 posting for background information on the IGA strike. Also see IGA strike in its fourth month in the June 1 edition of the (Aberdeen) Daily World.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 3
Thurston-Lewis-Mason CLC plans endorsement conference

Dear Union Brothers and Sisters,

The stakes are high this year!

With that in mind, the Thurston-Lewis-Mason Central Labor Council, in coordination with Washington Federation of State Employees Local 443, has scheduled an Endorsement Conference for candidates for local offices in Thurston, Lewis and Mason Counties. The event will take place on Saturday, August 21st at the Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester.

• 5-7 p.m. — Meet and Greet: No Host Bar, Hors d’Oeuvres

• 5-7 p.m. — Labor for Labor Silent Auction

• 6-7 p.m. — Keynote speaker TBA

• 7 p.m. — Endorsements

RSVP deadline is August 10. Please respond to WSLC (360) 943-0608 x4.  Fax your sign up sheets to (360) 754-3574 or email to sjohnston@wslc.org.

We are making a concerted effort to turn out as many Union Members as we can to make these endorsements meaningful and involve more people in the political process. This is a unique opportunity for your members to meet the candidates, ask them probing questions and provide input.

It is vital that Union Members become more active this year.  It would help if someone from your organization could function as a liaison to the CLC for this event.  Please send names, phone number and email address to Cathi Bailey at (360) 402-1532 or cb443@qwest.net, of anybody who would be interested in acting in this capacity.

We are also going to have a LABOR for LABOR silent auction to raise funds the CLC’s GOTV efforts.  We are soliciting services or items provided by Union Members for the auction.  Suggested services might be appliance installation, fishing instruction, landscaping, automobile repair or evaluation, plumbing or electrical work, or ???  Please contact Bridget Flory at (360) 446-2185 if you have a service to offer or an item to donate to this auction.

Finally, we are asking for a donation to the CLC to cover the costs. Please post the attached flyer prominently and make sure your members are aware of this event. If you would like someone to come to your local meeting or worksite please contact Bridget or Cathi. We will make every effort to accommodate every request.

In Solidarity,

Bridget Flory
Co-Chair WFSE Local 443 Political Action Committee

Cathi Bailey
Political Action Chair, TLM Central Labor Council