WSLC Reports Today -- August 13-17, 2001

WSLC Reports Today logo UPDATED DAILY M-F by 9 a.m. Pacific

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.

Reports for August 13-17, 2001

News from previous weeks: August 6-10 -- July 30-Aug. 3 -- July 16-20

FRIDAY, August 17 -- WSLC Convention next week in Wenatchee
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Nickels collects two big backers (including KCLC)
...plus -- U.S. lumber duties spur Weyerhaeuser to idle Canada mills
— In today's Seattle Times -- Labor, Democrats endorse Nickels
...plus -- Deputies union (IBT 763), county bicker over job cuts
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- State missing shot at transportation money
— In today's News-Tribune -- Who pays for school wage hikes?
— In today's Everett Herald -- Job training program (ANEW) sets up at Edmonds CC
— In today's L.A. Times -- Boeing to slash more jobs at Long Beach
— In today's Washington Post -- Decisions on Social Security loom
...plus -- Bush says he won't tap Social Security (even though he already has)
...and finally -- For a flexible minimum wage (Column in support of Bush plan to let state's "opt out" by Richard Berman, the traveling minimum wage opposer who predicted economic ruin for our state if we approved I-688 back in 1998. He is listed as "executive director of the Employment Policies Institute," but is actually a leading lobbyist for the National Restaurant Association.)

THURSDAY, August 16 -- Bush raids Social Security to balance books
— In yesterday's Spokesman-Review -- Kaiser says Trentwood not for sale
...plus -- Laid-off Northwest Alloys workers in Addy to get help
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- One-house Legislature won't work (editorial)
— In yesterday's News-Tribune -- Social Security privatization is for Wall Street, not us (column)
— In today's Salem S-J -- Union goes after Pictsweet lenders
— In today's Olympian -- G-8 summit fallout hits Port of Portland
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Mexico City meeting next on WTO agenda
— In today's L.A. Times -- Mexico is still waiting for human rights probe
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Giuliani-style candidate (Sidran) emerges in Seattle

WEDNESDAY, August 15 -- Workplace fatalities down, but not among Hispanics
New at AFLCIO.org -- Fight for the rights of immigrants heats up
— In today's Vancouver (B.C.) Sun -- Full-scale trade war feared over U.S. lumber tariffs
— In today's UW Daily -- No closer to a contract, TAs still holding grades (slow link)
— In the new PSBJ -- Everett Herald drivers (IBT 763) authorize strike
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Black leader: A bigger share of jobs, or else
...plus -- Federal mediator joins Shuttle Express talks (CWA)
— In today's Salem S-J -- Salem to set wage rules for contractors
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- America's nurses are at the end of their patience (column)
— In today's Olympian -- House must change plan for ties (editorial)
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- Mexican trucking rules make no sense (editorial)
— In today's L.A. Times -- NAFTA may deliver blow to Mexican truckers
...plus -- Nissan workers in Tennessee file for UAW election
— In today's Washington Post -- In Alaska, logging ban and local hopes collide

TUESDAY, August 14 -- Workforce leadership conference Oct. 11-12 in Walla Walla
— In today's Yakima Herald -- We must guard rights, safety of farm workers (editorial)
— In today's Washington Post -- Federal judge rules Bush's PLA ban illegal
— In today's SCJ -- SPEEA boosts efforts to increase membership
— In today's Seattle Times -- Why the Northwest must defend BPA (oped)
— In today's Oregonian -- Unions recoup come Capital Consultants losses
— In today's L.A. Times -- Trade activists plan IMF protests in D.C.

MONDAY, August 13 -- Dunn warns of "scare," but joins in Social Security one
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Ballard a thorn to Democrats, a hero back home The misunderstood Co-Speaker, beloved for his honesty, brags that he and his colleagues saved the state from allowing only "highly paid union workers" to repair the Capitol building (read the truth) and blocked a bill granting extra unemployment benefits to domestic violence victims (read the truth).
— In Sunday's Seattle Times -- House vote to increase gas-tax was doomed to fail
...plus -- Kaiser in quandary as value of its kilowatts melts down
— In Saturday's Everett Herald -- Canadian lumber tariff imposed
— In today's Vancouver (B.C.) Sun -- Premier takes lumber case to U.S. governors
— In today's Yakima Herald -- For migrant workers, issues remain the same
— In today's Washington Post -- For N.C. tobacco farmers, guest workers a success
...plus -- GOP takes big lead in raising money
— In today's N.Y. Times -- States dismayed about federal patients' rights bill
— In Saturday's L.A. Times -- Hoffa says Alaska drilling issue not creating rift with Dems
— And in August's Scientific American (of all places) -- Labor rights of Americans lag behind those of other nations

News from previous weeks: August 6-10 -- July 30-Aug. 3 -- July 16-20

FRIDAY, AUGUST 17
WSLC Convention next week in Wenatchee

AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson will deliver the keynote address at the 2001 Washington State Labor Council Convention, expected to draw some 500 union delegates from around the state beginning Thursday, Aug. 23 at the WestCoast Hotel and Convention Center in Wenatchee. "Organizing: Si Se Puede, Yes We Can!" is the convention theme as the three-day event features speakers and panels focus on organizing new union members, transportation and energy issues.

Other notable speakers include U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, who will address the convention banquet on Friday night; and U.S. Rep. Brian Baird (D-3rd), who will address the morning session on Friday. Also speaking will be new Department of Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald; Director of Trade and Economic Development Martha Choe; and Bonneville Power Administration Acting Administrator Stephen Wright, who will join Choe, IBEW 77 Business Manager Dave Timothy and WSLC Secretary Treasurer Al Link in a panel discussion on energy issues. MacDonald and State Rep. Mike Cooper, a member of the Fire Fighters union and Vice Chair of the House Transportation Committee, will participate in a transportation panel discussion.

Another convention highlight will be a screening of "Bread and Roses," the new motion picture based on the SEIU's Justice for Janitors campaign which got "Two Thumbs Up"®™© from Ebert and Roeper®™© of Ebert and Roeper At The Movies®™©. (Three thumbs, if you count Robby Stern's).

"Si Se Puede," which translates to "Yes, We Can" or "Yes, It Can Be Done," has increasingly become the rallying cry of workers attempting to organize unions, not only with the United Farmworkers of America, but also with the SEIU, Teamsters, OPEIU, various building trades and many other unions. Organizing new workers into the New Labor Movement is a continuing priority at the AFL-CIO, and the WSLC wants to do everything it can to promote organizing -- through community coalition building, the sharing of strategies, improved communication between unions, or whatever it takes to help the labor movement grow.

As always, WSLC President Rick Bender will give the opening address and preside as delegates debate and vote on dozens of proposals that establish the organization's positions or policies on issues, candidates and programs. Other important workplace issues discussed in both general sessions or workshops include critical incident response preparedness, violence in the workplace prevention, ergonomics training, workers compensation, organizing new members and political action.

For more information, contact Communications Director Karen Keiser or Publications Director David Groves at 1-800-542-0904.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 16
Bush raids Social Security to balance books

On August 28, the Congressional Budget Office will release new figures showing that the Bush-proposed and Congress-approved tax cut is already eating into the Social Security Trust Fund, although both parties had pledged to use the Trust Fund strictly for debt reduction.

In anticipation of the criticism soon to come, last night the Bush Administration changed the accounting rules for Social Security to create the appearance that the promise was kept. White House spin doctors are trying to argue that their fancy bookkeeping does not amount to a raid of the Social Security Trust Fund, even though it makes $4.3 billion that was in the trust fund available for government spending.

Below is today's Associated Press report on this development, which didn't make the editors' cut in Seattle, where both papers were more focused on some water-skiing squirrels (no joke). Also below is a letter sent yesterday to President Bush on the subject from Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri and other Democrats:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration is making an accounting change involving Social Security that would free $4.3 billion for Congress to use for spending or cutting taxes, officials said Wednesday.

The increase could be critical as the White House and its Republican allies in Congress try to fend off Democratic charges that President Bush's tax cuts have drained too much of the surplus to meet government spending priorities.

Even with the change, the revised surplus projections for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 will certainly be much lower than the administration or Congressional Budget Office had projected earlier this year. The tax cut and slowing economy could send CBO's forecast in May of a $275 billion surplus, including Social Security, plummeting to roughly $160 billion.

The new $4.3 billion on the side of the budget pie that lawmakers use for tax cuts or spending would be shifted from the politically sensitive Social Security section of the budget. Republicans, especially in the House, have staked much politically on preventing Social Security from being tapped for government spending.

Also Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri and other Democrats sent Bush a letter claiming that the upcoming budget revisions will clearly demonstrate the threat to Social Security and Medicare.

``We face the very real prospect that your tax cut, coupled with an economy that is slowing significantly, will have exhausted all of the surplus in the near term and leave no way to fund other functions of government without tapping into Medicare and Social Security,'' they wrote.

Administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the accounting change more correctly describes the revenue in payroll taxes -- those dedicated to Social Security and Medicare -- coming into the Treasury.

``Little errors could mean a lot,'' said one official. ``There's a general consensus that the Social Security surplus should be used for debt reduction.''

Democrats described the change as an unprecedented accounting gimmick designed to mask the impact of Bush's 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut on the budget.

``Obviously, they're scratching around,'' said John Podesta, former White House chief of staff under President Clinton. ``They need money for their priorities.''

The officials said the accounting changes involve properly crediting to Social Security the payroll tax revenues for 1998, 1999 and 2000, which effectively reduces the trust fund's surplus in 2001 by $5.6 billion.

The administration is making one other change involving the Postal Service, which is usually lumped in with Social Security for budget purposes. The change would separate the Postal Service account, which is running a $1.3 billion deficit this year and comes out of the spending side of the ledger.

Combining the two changes, the result would be a fiscal 2001 surplus excluding Social Security that is $4.3 billion larger than it would have been otherwise. It also makes the Social Security surplus appear somewhat smaller than it would have been.

The White House Office of Management and Budget plans next week to include the revisions in its new budget outlook for 2001, showing the impact of $38 billion in tax cut checks and lower tax revenue due to the sluggish economy.

The CBO outlook, which are the figures Congress must actually live by, is also expected to issued new projections before the end of August.

Here is the letter to the president from Democratic congressional leaders:

August 15, 2001

The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

As you know, you took office at a time of great possibility for our nation. In the years leading to your election, America had pursued policies that allowed for unprecedented fiscal and economic success. Through tough decisions, fiscal discipline, and smart investments in a strong military as well as the education, skills, and health of the American people, we were able to turn record deficits into record surpluses and build the longest economic expansion in this nation's history. In fact, we were able to reach a point where -- if you take away Social Security and Medicare surpluses -- the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected a surplus of $2.7 trillion over the next 10 years.

That projection indicated we were approaching a time of incredible opportunity -- that we would be able to provide a significant reduction in taxes, address the nation's major unmet priorities, protect Social Security and Medicare, and maintain a cushion against the possibility that the economic and budget projections were too optimistic.

You recognized this possibility in your budget message to the Congress. As you said in a letter to us, your economic plan would "give our economy a timely second wind . . . [and] confront great challenges from which Government has too long flinched."

You also wrote that "my budget strengthens and reforms education; preserves and protects Medicare and Social Security; strengthens and modernizes our military; improves health care; and protects our environment. Importantly, this budget creates an unprecedented $1 trillion reserve for additional needs and contingencies."

Although we believed your budget proposed a tax cut that was far larger than we thought was prudent and pointed out that your "$1 trillion reserve" included the Medicare trust fund surplus, you asserted that your tax cut would not hinder our ability to protect Social Security and Medicare and deal with other high priority needs. Your argument that we could, indeed, do all of these things, carried the day for your economic plan. Unfortunately, to date at least, your plan has not provided the anticipated vital second wind to our economy. Moreover, it has tied our hands when it comes to meeting each of the priorities outlined in your budget letter. The tax cut you passed costs, with interest, at least $1.7 trillion over the next decade.

Just over six months into your term in office, nearly two-thirds of the non-Social Security, non-Medicare surplus projected for the next 10 years has been wiped out -- and that has happened before a single one of next year's appropriations bills has been signed into law.

By month's end, we will receive new estimates of our short- and long-term economic and fiscal status that most analysts anticipate will reduce the non-Social Security, non-Medicare surplus still further. If the projections from CBO and your Administration's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) turn out as expected, we face the very real prospect that your tax cut, coupled with an economy that has been slowing significantly, will have exhausted all of the surplus in the near term and leave no way to fund other functions of government without tapping into Medicare and Social Security trust funds.

This fundamental change in our fiscal situation is as dramatic as it is disturbing. Given the significance of this development, and the circumstances which produced it, we ask for your immediate attention and engagement on this most serious matter. We look forward to receiving OMB's review of our economic and fiscal situation later this month. An honest assessment of the nation's fiscal health in that review is an important first step to address the problems we face.

We do not want to see the fiscal policy of the last 10 years unravel further. When we receive the new estimates, we, like the rest of America, will be looking to you for your ideas on how you intend to keep your commitments to protect Social Security and Medicare as well as invest in important national priorities such as defense, education, and health care in the face of our changed fiscal situation. And we, like the rest of America, stand ready to work with you to do so.

Sincerely,

Richard A. Gephardt
Tom Daschle
John Spratt
Kent Conrad

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15
Workplace fatalities down, but not among Hispanics

The following statement regarding the latest statistics on workplace fatalities was released Tuesday by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney:

The overall decline in workplace fatalities reported today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is good news for many, but not all, American workers. In 2000, 5,915 fatal work injuries were reported, the fewest since the fatality census began in 1992.

But today=s report raises great concern about safety and health protections for Hispanic workers. In 2000 the number of workplace fatalities among Hispanic workers increased to 815 from 725 in 1999 - a 12 percent increase - and fatalities among Hispanic construction workers increased by 24 percent. For all other groups, the numbers of fatalities were down. Equally troubling is the fact that the number of workplace fatalities among Hispanic workers has increased by 60 percent since 1992.

Hispanic workers make up a large, growing and important part of the workforce. Far too often they work in dangerous jobs, with little or no protection from hazards or abuse by employers. The AFL-CIO calls upon the Secretary of Labor to conduct a full review of this disturbing increase in workplace fatalities among Hispanic workers and to step up government oversight and enforcement efforts to protect these workers, and all workers, from injury or death on the job.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 14
Workforce leadership conference Oct. 11-12 in Walla Walla

The connection between economic development and workforce development is the theme of Washington State's workforce leadership conference, "Connecting the Dots for Economic Vitality: Workforce Strategies 2001," scheduled for October 11-12 at the historic Marcus Whitman Hotel in Walla Walla.

The Washington State Labor Council, Association of Washington Business and the State Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board are cosponsoring the conference, which will look at ways to improve the vitality and health of our communities by improving the skills of the workforce.

We know that tomorrow's economy will require a workforce with new and ever-changing skills, but many people don't have the skills they need to fully participate in that economy. The most effective way to prepare our state's workforce is to strengthen partnerships among students, workers, educators, employers, unions and government. That's what this conference is about.

Registration materials are available at www.wtb.wa.gov/confernc.html or by calling (360) 586-3322. Registration deadline is September 24. The program promises to be lively and substantive. You'll come away from the conference with some concrete ideas on how you, as a labor leader, can play a powerful role in preparing the workers in your community and Washington State to participate fully in Washington's prosperous economy.

MONDAY, AUGUST 13
Dunn warns of "scare," but joins in Social Security one

In an effort to see whether The Seattle Times was refusing to print letters from people associated with the Washington State Labor Council, your faithful webmaster sent the following letter as a private citizen last Friday in response to an opinion column by U.S. Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-8th). I'm happy to report the newspaper apparently is not just picking on the WSLC because this letter didn't make the cut either:

Dear Editor:

I read with amusement U.S. Rep. Jennifer Dunn’s Aug.10 column warning us to "beware the scare" from those who believe President Bush’s tax cuts have put the federal government back into a precarious fiscal situation.

Because at the same time, Dunn and her Republican colleagues are trying to "scare" us into privatizing Social Security by suggesting the program’s trust fund is worthless -- "just a bunch of paper" is a common refrain -- because it is invested in U.S. Government Bonds.

Those bonds are the IOUs the government has been putting in the trust fund for years as it takes out and spends the billions of dollars in surplus Social Security funds. Those IOUs will come due once the baby boomers start retiring and payroll taxes don’t cover benefit costs.

But now President Bush’s Social Security Commission, stacked with nothing but privatization advocates, must create public alarm over the solvency of the beloved program. Their chosen strategy is to claim the program will go belly up a couple of decades faster than currently projected because the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government is not really behind these bonds. Why not? Because there's no plan in place for how we will repay them, with interest.

In other words, the citizens of this country sent our Social Security withholdings into some giant black hole because we invested them in our government rather than in, say, Canadian bonds or Enron stock.

Which brings us back to Dunn’s tax-relief mumbo jumbo.

Time will soon tell whether Bush, Dunn and Co. will defy all their campaign rhetoric and once again break open the Social Security/Medicare "lockbox," this time spending the programs’ surplus money to cover the rebate checks we all just got.

As for me, I’ll be spending our family’s $600 on the latest round of fare increases in my ferry commute to work. That ought to jumpstart the local economy.

— David Groves
Bainbridge Island

If you have news items regarding unions or workplace issues in Washington state that you would like to see posted here, please submit them via e-mail to David Groves or via fax to 206-285-5805.