NEXT UPDATE -- PRIMARY Tuesday, Sept. 14 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 September 7-9, 2004

Previous weeks' news: Aug. 30-Sept. 1 -- Aug. 16-20 -- Aug. 9-13

THURSDAY, Sept. 9 -- HUGE Labor Neighbor push now through Primary -- Please check the updated schedule of union household walks for this weekend and Primary Tuesday. VOLUNTEER to help get the word out to fellow union members about which candidates support our issues.
Union members: Download labor endorsements and VOTE on Tuesday!

Also today at lni.wa.gov -- Small 3.7% increase in workers' comp premiums for 2005 -- But BIAW demands HIGHER employer fees to generate support for their workers' comp deform measure. (Plus... the more employers' pay, the more BIAW can skim from rebates to fund political attack ads.)
— In today's Olympian -- Teams for Locke, state unions spend night in talks; sides hope for deal today
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Keep talking, carefully -- State workers and the governor's office should keep talking. They are making progress in a pioneering effort to negotiate a pay and benefits package.
...plus -- Boeing "stars" in movie about outsourcing -- The West Coast premiere of "American Jobs," a documentary on the state of work and global trade in the United States, is Monday night in Seattle.
...plus -- State ferry system CEO Mike Thorne announces resignation
— In today's Seattle Times -- Oregon labor official opposes measure banning gay marriage (AP)
Election news: — In today's Bremerton Sun -- Kerry keeps 8-point lead in new state poll (AP)
— In today's Olympian -- Primary saps Gregoire's funds -- Her battle against Sims to win the Democratic gubernatorial primary has left her with half the cash as GOP candidate Dino Rossi.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Senn is best-known, most combative candidate -- Deborah Senn has something the other candidates for state attorney general lack -- a Harley. (She also has labor's endorsement.)
— In today's News Tribune -- City releases video of apparent campaign sign dumping -- Vice President of Tacoma firefighters union accused of trashing Pierce County Council candidate's campaign signs.
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Documents suggest Bush got special treatment in Guard -- New memos reveal Colonel was forced by superiors to give an AWOL Lieutenant George W. Bush a favorable review.
...plus -- A disgraceful campaign speech -- Editorial: Vice President Dick Cheney's suggestion that the mere act of voting for his opponent opens the door to a terrorist attack is flat wrong.
— In The Onion -- Hundreds of Republicans injured in rush to discredit Kerry -- Area paramedic says he hasn't seen this many right-wing injuries since the late 1990s, when hundreds of Republicans were hurt climbing on and off the Newt Gingrich bandwagon.
Other national news: — In today's Washington Post -- The price of labor's decline -- Broder column: Observers rarely make the link between the decline of progressive politics and with it the near-demise of liberal legislation, and the steady weakening of organized labor... The country will continue to pay a price -- and not just union families -- until labor regains a place at the economic and political table.
— Business Week cover story -- Can the man save labor? -- Andy Stern wants to radically retool the U.S. labor movement. But first he must win over some powerful union leaders.
— In today's S.F. Chronicle -- Northern California grocery workers, stores meeting; contract ends Saturday
— In today's L.A. Times -- Safeway sees gains in labor pact -- CEO Stephen Burd says new Southern California contract should help "lower the pay gap" between it and non-union rivals such as Wal-Mart.
...plus -- L.A. County hotel workers plan strike vote

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 8 -- On Friday, tell Wash. Dental Service: "Don't brush away rights!"
Scummy political news: — In today's Seattle Times -- PDC tells group running anti-Senn ad to register -- Follow-up to Tuesday's posting: Big Business funds more anonymous political attacks on Dems
— In today's Seattle Times -- BIAW ads blame Gregoire for primary change -- This builders lobbying group funds its negative political ads through a workers' comp loophole allowing it to skim millions every year from rebates intended for employers (BIAW is now lobbying for higher workers' comp fees). Initiative 334 would close that loophole and send the whole rebate directly the employers who earned it.
— In today's News Tribune -- Deceptive, GOP-allied attack ads target Senn, Gregoire -- Editorial: We're not sure which is worse: BIAW's smear against Gregoire or the secretly bankrolled attack on Senn.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Cowardly campaigning -- Editorial: Prominent Republican consultant Bruce Boram, who's responsible for the business-funded anti-Senn campaign, is full of... horsefeathers.
Election news: — In today's Bellingham Herald -- Candidates for governor talk health care (AP) -- Sims touts King County's money-saving health plan. Rossi calls for stripped-down Health Care Lite™ plans.
— In today's L.A. Times -- Vice President Dick Cheney: Vote for us or you might die (or words to that effect)
— In today's Washington Post -- Don't duck the debates -- Editorial: Cheney says this election is "one of the most important, not just in our lives, but in our history." Why then is Bush ducking the debates?
— In today's News Tribune -- Working families far worse today than four years ago (Burbank column)
Non-election news: — In today's Olympian -- State employee union stays visible during benefit talks
— In today's Tri-City Herald -- Sick nuclear workers deserve faster answers (editorial)
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Top PSNS union official Rick Williams out with asbestos illness
— In today's News tribune -- Increase in state timber harvests approved
— In today's Seattle Times -- P-I owner threatened "most expensive fight," says Times owner
— In the P.S. Business Journal -- Local Boeing employment continues to rise
— In today's Everett Herald -- Airlines' troubles may hurt Boeing (Corliss column)
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Delta to cut 7,000 jobs and US Airways pilots union balk at wage, benefit cuts
National news: — In today's News tribune -- Experts say pension defaults not a crisis -- yet (AP)
— In today's Washington Post -- New forecast: Record $422 billion deficit, $2.3 billion in new debt by 2014
— In today's S.F. Chronicle -- Federal mediator called in as S.F. hotel union schedules strike vote

TUESDAY, Sept. 7 -- Big Business funds more anonymous political attacks on Dems
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- State workers reach agreement on health care that "holds the line" (AP)
— In today's Olympian -- State employees make a stand at start of week of labor talks -- About 150 local state workers marched to the Capitol grounds to delver the message, "We'll walk if we have to."
— In the P.S. Business Journal -- Employers get a bargain from state workers' comp system (Bender op-ed)
— In yesterday's Seattle P-I -- BIAW wants HIGHER workers' comp rate increase than projected 4-6% hike
— In yesterday's Bremerton Sun -- Labor Day: The state of the state's unions
— In the P.S. Business Journal -- Boeing to rebuild ranks as it ratchets down 757 line
— In today's News Tribune -- Boeing readies for a messy fight with Airbus
— In today's Everett Herald -- Take a look north for health coverage that works (Zoeckler column)
Election News: — In today's Seattle P-I -- Health care union (SEIU) makes major push into politics
...plus -- Candidates greet and eat at King County Labor Day picnic
— In today's Seattle Times -- Sen. Murray calls jobs, health care key at Labor Day picnic (AP)
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Voter ID problems (again) in Florida -- Editorial: Misapplied voter-identification rules shouldn't prevent people from casting their ballots, as apparently happened in Florida last week.
At AFLCIO.org -- America's workers not better off than three years ago
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Economy takes toll on working families -- Herbert column: What is happening is nothing less than a deterioration in the standard of living in the United States. Despite the statistical growth in the economy, the continued slack in the labor market has resulted in declining real wages for anxious American workers and a marked deterioration in job quality.
— In today's Everett Herald -- U.S. economy still stuck in a "soft patch" (AP)
...also see related story -- Seattle Mariners still stuck in a "soft patch"
— In today's N.Y. Times -- U.S. Airways pilots reject wage and benefit cuts

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
On Friday, tell Wash. Dental Service: "Don't brush away rights!"

For more information, read our July 20 web posting -- Union-built Washington Dental Service now a union buster? -- or call OPEIU Local 8 at 1-800-600-2433.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
Big Business funds more anonymous political attacks on Dems

If you've watched any television in the past week or so, you've probably seen the ads attacking labor-endorsed Attorney General candidate Deborah Senn.  An anonymous group called the Voter Education Committee has spent more than $500,000 on this political attack.  With this single ad, the group has spent more than Senn has raised for her entire campaign.

The group's attorney refuses to file a report with the Public Disclosure Committee, arguing that the ad is issue advocacy, not explicitly advocating for or against a candidate, and therefore it's non-political.

The argument is absurd given that Senn currently does not hold public office so the advocacy has no point other than to oppose her candidacy -- not to mention that the group calls itself the VOTER Education Committee. But let's set that aside for now, other than to say that if the Public Disclosure Commission agrees with this idiotic argument, that agency will be revealed as a ineffective and pointless.

Though the group refuses to reveal its funders and the press refuses to speculate without a PDC report as a source, WSLC Reports Today is under no such Journalism 101 restrictions against speculation.

So here's who is probably paying for the anti-Senn ads: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., PhRMA, Boise Cascade, Microsoft, Philip Morris Co., Physicians Insurance and just about every other insurance company you can think of, because of Senn's record of fighting against their interests on behalf of consumers. If we ever find out who the Voter Education Committee is, WSLC Reports Today bets its URL that it will be corporations like these and their lobbying associations behind it.

These deep-pocketed corporations have in the past coalesced into groups like United for Washington and hired the very same Republican campaign consultant, Bruce Boram, who is behind the new anti-Senn ad. In 2002, the WSLC documented the last-minute hit pieces generated by this group -- in coordination with the State Republican Party -- which included accusing targeted House Democrats of forcing sex predators to move into their districts.

Until now, the MO of this corporate political group was to create an anonymous, pleasant-sounding political action committee called "People for Good Jobs" or "Washingtonians for Honorable Representation," buy a last-minute attack ad or send negative political mail about a Democratic candidate (often when it's too late for the candidate to publicly respond to the attack), and then file the PDC report just days ahead of the election finally revealing who was behind the attack. 

These corporations know that if they actually PUT THEIR NAMES on their political attacks it would be less effective, downright bad PR and could hurt them when they send their lobbyists asking for legislative favors from those lawmakers who survive the attacks. 

Washington has one of the nation’s best campaign disclosure laws designed to discourage such anonymous political attacks. But frankly, it takes more time and energy than the average person can spare to comb through these reports and answer the simple question: Who sent me this? 

But now with this latest anti-Senn ad, the big corporations have taken their scurrilous attacks one step further by refusing to file a public disclosure report, arguing that it's not even political. That's just wrong. These corporations and the millions they spend every election to affect its outcome deserve MORE public scrutiny, not less. 

Rest assured that the anti-Senn ads won't be the last negative political attacks from Mr. Boram and the corporations that finance his services.  Look for similar corporate-funded ads against whoever survives the Democratic gubernatorial primary, and the usual last-minute hit pieces against Democrats in the Washington State Legislature.

Also look for the corporations that fund groups like the Voter Education Committee to send their tassel-toed lobbyists asking for favors to the very same politicians two months later. They think they absolve themselves from responsibility for their group’s dirty political business because they just sign the checks and don’t write the ads.

After all, many of the corporations also cut campaign checks to the targeted lawmakers. Playing both sides of the fence is a long-standing corporate tradition. But those contributions are limited to a few hundred dollars per election, and an unlimited amount of cash can be spent smearing a candidate through the Voter Education Committee.

And just in case someone out there is thinking "everybody does it" (truly, the defense-of-last-resort among scoundrels), that simply isn't true.  When the Washington State Labor Council sends mail or buy advertisements about candidates or initiatives, we clearly identify the WSLC as the source of the information. Plus, those groups that do send anonymous hit pieces, usually do so through the mail and have never before done so on the grand scale of the anti-Senn ads now flooding the television networks.

Everything the Washington State Labor Council mails to union members is accurate and focuses exclusively on labor issues. And most importantly, IT HAS OUR NAME ON IT.

We are prepared to face the music if our advocacy for labor-endorsed challengers angers an incumbent legislator who wins re-election. We accept responsibility for -- and take pride in -- our political advocacy. We are able to agree and disagree in an honest, principled manner. There is no question where labor stands on an issue or which candidates we support.

That’s the way it should be.

Have corporations grown so cynical that they consider these vicious anonymous attacks to be “politics as usual”?  Do they really think they are above campaign disclosure laws, as opposed to poster children for the necessity of such laws? 

And have our elected lawmakers become so forgiving of these dirty, underhanded attacks that this behavior has no consequence?