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 September 17-21, 2001

News from previous weeks:  September 10-14 -- September 4-7 -- August 27-30  

FRIDAY, September 21 -- Starbucks anti-union campaign hits a new low
— In today's News-Tribune -- Boeing added to airlines bailout bill
— In today's SCJ -- Mulally: Boeing's Renton plant will not be shut down
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Boeing layoffs will likely hit suppliers first
...plus -- Skycaps' future is in doubt at SeaTac, across the country
— In today's Seattle Times -- Justices toss out Eyman tax initiative (again)
— In today's Washington Post -- No time for partisan leaders (Dionne column: A Wall Street Journal editorial on Wednesday urged Bush to advance his whole conservative domestic agenda now because "the bloody attacks have created a unique political moment when Americans of all stars and stripes are uniting behind their president."  Drill for oil in the Arctic, the Journal insisted, speed up the tax cut... and even insist on pushing through confirmation of conservative judges. What do judges have to do with this war? Nothing, but the Journal's editorial writers see political opportunity: "Democrats in the Senate will hesitate to carry out borkings that clearly undercut Mr. Bush's leadership." The Journal's editorial page has a history of speaking for important forces in the conservative movement. You can be sure that it is not alone in giving Bush this advice.)

THURSDAY, September 20 -- BOEING NEWS
Today at www.iam751.org -- Union action taken to mitigate layoffs
Today at www.speea.org -- Response to layoff announcement
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Now starts the effort to soften Boeing layoffs
...plus -- Rescue package for airlines would aid Boeing too
— In today's SCJ -- Where will Boeing cut? Do the math
— In today's Seattle Times -- Cuts could trigger "short, sharp" recession
...plus -- Layoffs to set in motion union severance packages
— In today's Olympian -- American, United to lay off 40,000
OTHER NEWS
— In today's Yakima Herald -- Washington Beef workers (UFCW) strike
— In yesterday's Wenatchee World -- PUD-Alcoa plan may be a bust
— In today's Salem (Ore.) S-J -- Marion county workers (SEIU) vote to strike
— In today's Washington Post -- Chinese working overtime to sew U.S. flags
...plus -- Attacks shift balance of power, alliances among interest groups  (The new alliance between business and labor is unlike any since the prosperous days of the 1960s, when corporate America and the large industrial unions sought to share the growing economic bounty with a minimum of strife.)

WEDNESDAY, September 19 -- IAM's Blondin: We can't let terrorists shut down industry
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Boeing to lay off 20,000 to 30,000
— In today's Olympian -- Boeing cuts likely to hit South Sound hard
— In today's Eastside Journal -- Locke: Workers are first responsibility
— Today at WSJ -- U.S. prepares to help airline industry (Will Boeing be included?)
Dead heat in the 21st:  Sullivan* 5,152; Wilson 5,045 (* WSLC-endorsed) Latest results
— In today's Seattle Times -- SeaTac security screener sent home after speaking out (Huntleigh USA, which has aggressively opposed union organizing drives at the airport, forces a worker to turn in her security badge after she spoke publicly about poor training and working conditions.  For more information from the SEIU about what can be done, visit www.flysafernow.com.)
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Mayor Schell formally concedes defeat
...plus -- Layoffs haven't hurt salaries of tech CEOs
— In today's Salem (Ore.) S-J -- Pictsweet Mushroom plant to close this fall
— In today's Oregonian -- Flight attendants deal with anxiety
— In today's Washington Post -- For Rep. Norm Dicks, increasing influence
— In today's N.Y. Times -- What to do  (Krugman column suggests short-term surge in federal government spending, but don't compound the problem with a capital gains tax cut.  The Washington Post agrees in today's editorial: No hitchikers.)

TUESDAY, September 18 -- Rally for Starbucks roasting plant workers Wednesday
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Stand up and be counted... VOTE TODAY!  (editorial)
— In today's Everett Herald -- Late mail-in votes may delay count
...plus -- Sultan police officers (IBT) take pay cut to keep jobs
— In today's News-Tribune -- Airline job layoffs surge to 26,000
...plus -- Major pension funds stay in stock market
...plus -- Maritime unions will support Bush military plans
— In today's Seattle Times -- Bellevue firefighters' pay to exceed regional average
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Paying the price  (Krugman column: "We've known for many years that America was a target of terrorists.  And every expert warned that the most likely terrorist plots would involve commercial airlines.  Yet airports throughout the United States rely on security personnel who are paid about $6 an hour, less than they could earn serving fast food.")
— In today's Washington Post -- Bush visits mosque to forestall hate crimes
— In today's Seattle Times -- Violence against Muslims continues locally
— Friday at WSLC.org -- Don't allow racism to add shame to our grief

MONDAY, September 17 -- Tomorrow, we vote in defiance
...plus -- Beware Hoglund's "Vote Union" mail in 38th; labor volunteers needed
— In Saturday's Spokesman-Review -- Kaiser says restart not economical
— In today's News-Tribune -- Author: Americans need more vacation time
— In Sunday's Seattle Times -- Quick end to GOP convention; no candidate nominated
— Today from MSNBC.com -- Airlines circling for financial landing  (Some of the nation’s biggest airlines are contracting in size and service to cope with an expected decline in air travel...  Continental announced Saturday it is cutting its long-term flight schedule by 20 percent and will furlough 12,000 employees, or more than 20 percent of its payroll.)
— AP Bulletin:  IMF, World Bank cancel annual meetings in D.C.

News from previous weeks:  September 10-14 -- September 4-7 -- August 27-30  

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
Starbucks anti-union campaign hits new low
Union supporter stranded Sept. 11 disciplined for missing work

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
IAM's Blondin: We can't let terrorists shut down industry

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
Rally for Starbucks roasting plant workers Wednesday

Starbucks’ Grinding Labor

By Doug Nielson

“Starbucks is a lot like working for Disney. Disneyland may be ‘the greatest place on earth’ to visit, but I was in [IOUE] local 501 in Los Angeles, and Disneyland wasn’t the greatest place on earth to work.”

—Jeff Alexander, five-year veteran of Starbucks’ roasting plant in Kent, WA

Back in 1999 when Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, heard that the maintenance workers in one of his two US roasting plants were likely to vote in a union, he drove the 15 miles from corporate headquarters to Kent, Washington for a private meeting with the 22 workers. He didn’t offer to remedy any of the workers’ complaints, but he did give reassurances of his blue collar roots and offered stories from his book, Pour Your Heart Into It. Apparently Howard’s father broke his leg while working as a diaper truck driver and since he didn’t have any health insurance (with the presumably nonunion diaper company), Howard’s family suffered.

Howard reiterated as he has done many times before that because of his early experiences with poverty, even his part-time workers would always have health insurance. He didn’t offer to reverse the recently instituted health benefit cuts or remedy the company’s arbitrary and unfair wage and promotion practices. Most importantly he didn’t address the workers demand for a fixed benefit retirement plan.

Jeff Alexander remembers looking out the window after the talk and wondering what percentage of Howard’s $14 million salary he had spent on the brand new Jaguar parked near his own aging Suburban.

The way Schultz arrived at the decision to begin providing health benefits to part-time employees in May 1991 is instructive of Starbucks overall business strategy. Schultz realized that with recruitment and training costs running at $3,000 for each new employee—Starbucks gives new employees 24 hours of training in the fine points of coffee beans, brewing and customer service—he could save a lot of money by paying half that amount per employee for healthcare insurance. Two-thirds of his work force were part-time workers. The result of this policy was as Thompson and Strickland point out in their book, Strategic Management: “Whereas most national retailers and fast-food chains had turnover rates for store employees ranging from 150 to 400 percent a year, the turnover rates for Starbucks’ baristas ran about 65 percent.”

Starbucks gained a lot of praise for offering healthcare benefits to workers working more that 20 hours a week, including even an invitation to the Clinton White House in April 1994. Health Insurance for part-timers is so rare in this country that it merits a commendation for “business ethics” from a U.S. President. The health insurance policy had the additional benefit of allowing Starbucks to recruit a more educated class of barista. Without the largely minority and immigrant employees of, say, a McDonalds, Shultz was able to maintain the upscale white middle-class ambiance he preferred for his gourmet coffee stores.

After the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) won the union recognition vote on Nov. 14, 1999, Starbucks launched a vigorous anti-union campaign. Surveillance cameras were installed in the lunchroom and at the entrances to the plant. Union supporters have been suspended without pay for such petty offenses as swearing. They have had unsubstantiated safety complaints filed against them and have been denied promotions. Maintenance workers who quit have not been replaced, so that the original 22 are now down to 18.

Don Goodson’s case provides a good example of the current atmosphere in the plant. He was hired 5 months ago on the recommendation of a worker who had been persuaded to file for a union decertification vote. Management focused their attention on Don as the key person needed to vote the union out. But Don’s mind was made up in favor of the union after management told him the union was proposing a retirement plan. “Workers need a pension plan. Right now we’re just gambling on the stock market to take care of us in our old age. That’s not a risk I’d like to take,” he reasoned. After the decertification failed, Starbucks charged Don with making derogatory remarks to another worker; despite witness accounts to the contrary, he was moved to the graveyard shift.

Waiting for a contract

After voting in the union nearly two years ago and going through many negotiation sessions, the maintenance workers at the Kent roasting facility are still waiting for a comprehensive contract offer from Starbucks. Starbucks has offered to give a retirement benefit in exchange for a wage freeze, no improvement in health benefit costs, revoking the Bean Stock, revoking the Stock Incentive Plan (SIP) and other miscellaneous small perks, but has refused to put a dollar figure on the exchange.

The union is also asking for a standardized wage scale, and promotion practices based on experience and demonstrable skills. Right now, for example, wages in the department range from $15 to $24/hour, with new hires often brought in near the top of the wage scale because of a current high market demand for their skills. People who have been with the company for years and are highly skilled and knowledgeable about the plant are often denied opportunities for advancement. Each worker is forced to negotiate individually with a constant stream of new supervisors and managers—who seem like mere trainees for higher corporate positions in Starbucks’ rapidly expanding empire.

The company reported on July 26 that it is on track to open 1,200 new stores in fiscal year 2001, with 825 in the United States and 375 abroad. Revenue climbed 20% in the third quarter compared to last year’s third quarter results and is expected to climb an additional 25% in the 2002 fiscal year.

After five years of working at Starbucks, Jeff Alexander is looking forward to being able to cash out his first installment of “bean stock” (this is Starbucks’ term for stock in the company that employees receive every year equivalent to 14% of their salary). He may get $5,000 but would prefer to have money in a retirement fund. It is not widely known that employees don’t actually get to own this bean stock. They are only allowed to hold it for a minimum of five years. At the time of redemption, they are allowed to keep any difference between the original price and the current price.

It could be argued that this benefit actually costs Starbucks nothing since the workers will only get a benefit if the stock price goes up. If the price stays even or goes down they will not receive a dime. This is an even more risky plan for saving than the common 401K retirement plans. The union would normally expect a $2.50/hour employer contribution to their pension fund but are willing to settle for $0.50/hr from Starbucks just to get an initial contract.

Many of the employees, particularly the 180 in the packaging and distribution departments who earn from $9 to $11 an hour, are forced to redeem as much Bean Stock as they can every year just to meet their family’s basic necessities. For those who can afford it, Starbucks also offers the SIP, which allows employees to purchase Starbucks stock at a 15% discount if they hold on to it for at least two years.

Union town

The IUOE members are proud of one small victory achieved in the process of trying to negotiate a union contract. What sparked the current union drive in the first place was a cut in healthcare benefits. Consequently, early in the negotiations, management suggested they might be willing to increase the company’s share of the health insurance premiums from 75% to 90%. In the end this improvement was granted to the entire plant with the exception of unionized workers.

The attempt by Starbucks to torpedo support for the union among the technicians and mechanics in the maintenance department actually backfired and instead raised support for the union among the 180 low skilled workers in the packaging and distribution departments. These are primarily minority workers including immigrants from at least 7 different nations. Many had been paying up to $160 a month for health insurance for their families.

Seattle has traditionally been a union town and before Howard Schultz and his group of investors bought out Starbucks back in 1987, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union had organized it. Schultz managed to get his coffee bars decertified within 4 months of taking over, but it took another 5 years to de-unionize the roasting and warehouse facilities.

After breaking the UFCW barista’s local, Schultz began to see the wisdom of one of their key demands: healthcare benefits for part-time workers. As Jan Pelroy, IUOE Local 286 business manager explains, “Schultz is a type of person who goes through life having epiphanies.” The union is hoping to induce a new epiphany in Howard, or simply modify an old one. Not only should Howard’s father have had health care insurance but he also should have had a pension. It may be hard for Howard to understand this but not everyone can depend on a rich son like himself to support them in their old age.

This time around, the maintenance workers are up against a powerful multinational corporation with deep pockets, the best lawyers money can buy, and a local media that prefers to write stories about such things as Howard’s recent fulfillment of a boyish fantasy with his purchase of the Seattle Supersonics basketball team (no word yet on Howard’s attitude toward the NBA basketball players union).

Jeff sums up management’s strategy, as one of “stall and persecute.” “If they can get rid of us by decertification, then the story they will tell is not that they squashed the union but that the workers didn’t want a union. The ‘partners’ [Starbucks’ term for their employees] didn’t feel the need.” Howard Schultz is fond of referring to Starbucks as “a company with a soul.” Considering its union-busting history, Jeff sees it as the soul of “a dog that’s killed chickens. Once they’ve killed, it’s hard to stop them from doing it again.”

The stakes are high for the 18 workers involved in this battle. They have received considerable outside support from sources such as Jobs With Justice, Global Exchange, the Washington State Labor Council, the King County Labor Council, the Organic Consumers Association (who are fighting Starbucks’ use of Bovine Growth Hormone in their milk), and the Canadian Auto Workers (who have organized 12 Starbucks outlets in British Columbia). They have even received support from the Australian Public Finance Workers Union who demonstrated against Starbucks at the Australian Olympics.

Starbucks and its shady business practices are spreading like a cancer across the globe. There may not be much we can do about that—but our movement which was born here in Seattle can make sure the wherever Starbucks goes, unions will follow with a different kind of globalization in mind—a globalization of resistance and dignity. If Kent’s workers win, we all win.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
Tomorrow, we vote in defiance

The following editorial appears in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer.  The WSLC echoes this sentiment and urges union members and their families to get to the polls tomorrow (Tuesday):

The cover of one weekly Seattle newspaper carries a small headline: "We still have to vote Tuesday."

To cast one's ballot in a free and open exercise of representative democracy hardly feels like a chore -- especially when Washington's Primary Election Day comes exactly one week after the horrific assaults on freedom in New York and Washington, D.C.

Those who thought they might begin to topple this icon of democracy with Tuesday's dastardly deeds need to be shown just how wrong they were. We recognize voting as a right, a privilege, an obligation. Tomorrow we should recognize it as a joy, and as an affirmative, unmistakable act of defiance.

There are precious few places on this planet where the consent of the governed is a prerequisite. Sure we routinely re-elect incumbents. Sure our politics are dominated by the two major parties and it's hard for third-party or alternative candidates to get into office. And sure we're inappropriately swayed by campaign contributions and media campaigns that are more sound bite than substance. But at least we decide.

No gaggle of generals dictates who will serve in office.

No cabal of bearded clerics decides for us.

Neither the question of who votes nor who is allowed to run for office is predetermined by accident of class, race or caste.

We are not herded to the polling places by armed soldiers to ensure high but meaningless voter turnouts.

Some of us never miss an election. Some of us have never voted. As voters we're a crazy quilt of zeal and sloth, advocacy and ambiguity, evangelism and apathy. But we're free. Free to vote when we please and for whom we please. And if the names on the ballot aren't good enough we can write in the name of someone we think is better.

If ever the whole world were watching us in the United States, it's right now. The world is watching to see how we'll respond, where we'll strike militarily, diplomatically and economically.

And in our small corner of the nation there will be something for the world to watch too. Yes, we're merely making primary decisions on who will serve in local offices and how much to tax ourselves for schools and other local services. But even seemingly small acts can cast large shadows. So tomorrow the world can watch Washington's voters, individual American citizens exercising the freedom that is so rare on so much of the globe: openly choosing who will govern them.

By all means, say your prayers, wave your flags and light your candles. But to send friends and foes the boldest, clearest message of all -- Vote.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
Beware Hoglund's deceptive "Vote Union" mail in 38th
Volunteers needed for phonebanking, doorbelling

The following memorandum was distributed Monday to unions affiliated with the Snohomish County Labor Council, AFL-CIO:

To: All Local Affiliates

From: Mike Sells, Secretary-Treasurer, Snohomish County Labor Council, AFL-CIO

The flyer arrived at homes in the 38th Legislative District on Friday.  It said "Vote Union, Vote Hoglund." Republican candidate Erv Hoglund in the 38th District decided on his own to claim the union vote based on his membership in the Airline Pilots Association. He even says he would go nose to nose with anyone who would question his commitment to working families. Odd, since he has declined so far to fill out a Labor Council questionnaire and appear before the SCLC COPE Screening Committee. During the 98 election he avoided two questionnaires sent out to him, also.

Apparently, he has decided to avoid talking with unions about their recommendation process. Nor does he even set down in his flyer, in specific terms, where he stands on working family issues like prevailing wages for construction workers, minimum wage, collective bargaining for state employees, home health care, the rising costs of health care, transportation and education funding.

If Mr. Hoglund is the pro-union candidate he claims to be, he will meet with those organizations that represent union members and explain his positions to see if he can get their support. To date he has not done that. Representative Jean Berkey has responded, and she has received our recommendation in the 38th.

We do note that this is the first time we have seen a union bug on one Mr. Hoglund flyers. Two previous mailers that we received this year have no evidence of union printing. A cynical attempt at manipulation, or an honest statement of a desire to represent the interests of working people within the Republican Party? You can be the judge. 

One thing we do know, it is a direct challenge to unions to communicate with their members. (That is why our Labor/Neighbor program in the 21st is so important.)  If we don't,  all of us can expect to pay the price of continued legislative gridlock that blocks the  movement of issues that help working families. Nor, can we expect to wait until the last minute to do that communication.

We have information regarding who we have endorsed and why we endorsed them in the 38th that you can send out. Or, draft a letter to your own members in the 38th District. Members are most likely to respond favorably to their own union's leadership. If you need help drafting something, we can do that.

Most importantly, we need help with our phone banking this evening to get out the vote. The phoning will be here at the Labor Temple in Everett. If you or anyone in your membership can help, get in contact with us at 425-259-7922.

Finally, for those of you out of the 38th District who would like a copy of the flyer faxed out, please let us know. We will get it to you.

Mike Sells, Secretary-Treasurer
Snohomish County Labor Council, AFL-CIO

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.

Copyright © 2001  Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO