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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. Disclaimer: WSLC Reports Today  links to all stories of interest to organized labor; some positive and some negative. The intention is to inform.  The creation of a link does not constitute an endorsement of that story's content.

Reports for Sept. 30-Oct. 4, 2002

Previous weeks' news: Sept. 23-27 -- Sept. 16-20 -- Sept. 9-13

FRIDAY, October 4 -- Please call, picket on behalf of locked-out ILWU workers
Today's port lockout news:  The following editorial boards today call for Bush to intervene in lockout: the Seattle P-I, the News-Tribune and the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin -- Call and urge the opposite
— In today's Everett Herald -- Dockworker dispute may slow Boeing assembly lines
— In today's News-Tribune -- Deal made to load ship for anxious Alaskans
— In yesterday's Columbian -- Police clear port entrance after short-lived blockade
— In today's L.A. Times -- Shutdown is intensifying rift between ILWU and IAM
...plus -- Changes in trade, shipping make port lockout an event of global scale
President Bender's latest column re: R-51 -- Transportation: A Critical Choice for Voters
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- R-51 better, cheaper than doing nothing (editorial endorsement)
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Boeing, Air Force close to deal on leasing 767s
...plus -- Report for Teamsters says corruption is no longer an issue
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- I-790 seeks to put police, firefighters on pension board (Vote YES)
...plus -- Foes, backers battle to explain Referendum 53 (Vote YES)
...plus -- I-776 car-tab measure a statewide vote to repeal local voter-approved taxes (Vote NO)
— In today's News-Tribune -- Teamsters, waste officials meet today with mediator
...plus -- Wal-Mart pluses outweigh the minuses -- Editorial: About 325 new jobs would be created. Granted, most of them won't pay a lot. But as a recent News-Tribune story pointed out, Lakewood has a significant population of low-income residents. (Let's KEEP 'em that way!)
— In today's Seattle Times -- Unexpected hole in Seattle schools budget totals millions
...plus -- Why teachers strike and districts sweat -- Op-ed: Washington's system of financing its schools is crumbling... and political compromises made a generation ago no longer make any sense.
— In yesterday's Aberdeen World -- Grays Harbor County may be next hit by layoffs
— In today's Eastside Journal -- Politicians contemplate slimmer I-405 plan
— In today's Everett Herald -- Inmate limit proposal may result in jail layoffs (IBT 763)
— In today's N.Y. Times -- U.S. payrolls show surprise drop in September
— In today's Washington Post -- Dems focusing on coming 401(k) jolt to shift attention to economy
...plus -- Conversion to federal airport screening displaces thousands, many of them immigrants
— From the American Prospect -- In the name of security: Bush declares war on unions -- By federalizing the workforce, the government in effect busted recently organized unions for airport baggage screeners. And when those jobs become part of Bush's proposed Department of Homeland Security, that union-free status might become permanent. "You can fly the airplane and carry a rifle in the airport as a member of the National Guard without being a citizen," says one laid-off screener, who is not a U.S. citizen. "But you can't check the bags of the passengers."

THURSDAY, October 3 -- ILWU seeks to mitigate damage, disruption caused by PMA lockout
Today's port lockout news: (Don't forget to join the pickets!)
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Federal mediators are called in on dock talks
— In today's Seattle Times -- Technology lag is key to longshore dispute
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Industry asks Bush to end port shutdown; talks resuming -- "We implore you to take whatever steps are necessary to reopen the nation's West Coast ports," reads letter from import-export corporations. Problem is... they sent it to Bush, when it should have gone to the PMA.
In other news Thursday:
— In today's Olympian -- State forgives political parties for campaign finance violations -- Of course, unions didn't merit the same courtesy. Last fall, 54 elected officials, including Gov. Locke, were forced to forfeit some $37,000 in contributions from two unions after the PDC enforced the same law for which it now retroactively absolves the parties from compliance.
...plus -- Meanwhile, NEA could face prosecution over spending on ballot initiatives in 2000
— In today's Seattle P-I -- State gas-tax proposal is sputtering in the polls
...plus -- "Job security" a term with broad meaning (Virgin column)
— In today's Seattle Times -- Referendum 51 could hold the key for Locke (Balter column)
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Passage of I-776 would tie up ideas (editorial)
...plus -- Mayor Powers eliminates two top city positions: Budget director and chief labor negotiator
— In today's Tri-City Herald -- Benton Franklin Head Start strikers continue picket
— In today's Yakima Herald -- City workers' union proposal goes to Prosser council
— In yesterday's Columbian -- Contrary to Zarelli's claim, no other legislators report jobless benefits
— In today's Oregonian -- Sizemore says he plans to fight on, file more initiatives -- After losing $2.5 million verdict for fraud and racketeering, he insists his trial "was far too complicated for a jury."
At AFLCIO.org -- Sweeney: Bush bails on hearings about his Social Security privatization proposals
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Teamsters have cleaner union, study finds
— In today's Washington Post -- Gore urges Bush to stop ignoring economy, pursue "correction"
— In today's Wall Street Journal -- CEOs are down on economy (Economy is down on CEOs)

WEDNESDAY, October 2 -- ILWU walks out of mediation when PMA brings armed guards
Today's port lockout news: (Don't forget to join the pickets!)
— In today's Seattle Times -- Both sides pressed to end port dispute
— In today's L.A. Times -- Enmity escalates in port talks over armed guards at mediation
— In today's N.Y. Times -- With few port jobs at issue, economic stakes are vast -- Many businesses find this confrontation especially maddening because the tens of billions of dollars in damage that the port shutdown can do to the nation's economy is so much greater than the amount of money separating the two sides. By some estimates, it would cost the employers about $20 million a year if the few hundred disputed jobs ended up union rather than nonunion. "It's pretty silly," said Robin Lanier, executive director of the West Coast Waterfront Coalition of businesses that rely on the ports. "If they're just disputing 200, 300 jobs, to shut the whole economy down over that sounds extreme."
In other news Wednesday:
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Governor, Gorton stump at ferry dock for gas tax
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- Gas tax: Pay now or pay later?
— In today's Seattle Times -- R-51: A crucial down payment (op-ed)
...plus -- GOP trepidation kills Social Security privatization (Dionne column)
— In today's News-Tribune -- Tacoma wields budget ax: Police, fire, libraries, services to take hit
...plus -- GOP in U.S. Senate want more time to study jobless benefit extension
— In yesterday's Aberdeen Daily World -- Grays Harbor PUD, IBEW negotiating 32 layoffs
— In today's Salem (Ore.) S-J -- In-home care among targets of spending cuts
At AFLCIO.org -- Sweeney: With Calif. win, UFW proves spirit, mission of Chavez alive today
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Farm workers in California cheered by mediation law
...plus -- Local television stations become the new arbiter of political fair play
— In today's Washington Post -- Homeland Security bill is stalled, prospects dim for passage in 2002

TUESDAY, October 1 -- State minimum wage will be $7.01 an hour starting Jan. 1
...plus -- More Labor-Neighbor walks added; more volunteers needed
Today's port lockout news:  (Don't forget to join the pickets!)
— In today's Seattle Times -- Lockout idles waterfront; mediator to step in
...plus -- Ports are closed, hurting everybody -- The Times editorial board/corporate apologists says the public doesn't care whether this is a lockout or strike. Thousands of longshore workers being denied their jobs care, and anybody who supports fellow working people cares. Only the Times, with its not-too-subtle red-baiting (Harry Bridges was a radical and nearly deported!) and its ironic class-envy (look how much these workers make!) doesn't care about the distinction. P-I, anyone? 
— In today's News-Tribune -- ILWU will handle Alaska cargo
...plus -- Federal role may be needed to end lockout -- Editorial: If the lockout continues much longer, federal officials... would have no choice but to reopen the docks and mediate the labor dispute.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Dock fight pits jobs against technology
— In today's Everett Herald -- As lockout costs mount, local ILWU leaders call for pickets
— In yesterday's Columbian -- Vancouver dock workers join labor dispute
— In today's N.Y. Times -- West Coast dock walkout felt all the way to Wall Street
...plus -- Labor lockout at West's ports roils business
— In today's L.A. Times -- Taft-Hartley Act is ultimate weapon -- "Observers" say that if the president invokes his power to call for an 80-day cooling-off period and end the shutdown, he is likely to reap political as well as economic benefits. Says one: "I think the White House sees this as ... an opportunity for Bush to look Reaganesque." (I may now vomit.)
In other news Tuesday:
— In today's Olympian -- State minimum wage will rise 11 cents
...plus -- Theft charges against Sen. Zarelli unlikely -- "I don't want to talk about this issue any more. It's getting far too much politicized," says the politician who has voted that unemployment benefits like the ones he received while working as a legislator should be denied to domestic violence victims and workers locked out of their jobs. How's that for political?
— In today's Tri-City Herald -- Benton Franklin Head Start workers strike
...plus -- FFTF advocates plan to sue feds to halt decommissioning
— In today's News-Tribune -- Pierce County garbage haulers on the job -- for now
...plus -- Put the price tag on state initiatives (editorial)
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Four East Side parks closed by budget cuts
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Safety benefits of R-51 stressed; troopers say it will save lives
...plus -- China to build regional jetliner, may challenge Boeing 717
— In yesterday's Wenatchee World -- Families seek help after loss of Medicaid coverage
— In today's Yakima Herald -- Toppenish teachers to bargain another day
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- Jobless benefits extension sought in Congress
— In today's L.A. Times -- A big win for farm workers as governor signs bills mandating mediation

MONDAY, September 30 -- Join locked-out ILWU workers on the picket lines
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Ports locked again; employers impose indefinite worker lockout
...and on Sunday -- R-51 is vital to start on transportation backlog (editorial endorsement)
— In today's News-Tribune -- Ports shut down again; shippers demand a deal
...plus -- R-51 and its critics: Hatred of cars, taxes keep roads choked (editorial endorsement)
...plus -- Schools a budget wildcard; talk grows of putting I-728, I-732 back on ballot with new taxes
— In Sunday's Seattle Times -- Yes to R-51 -- for roads, our future (editorial endorsement)
...plus -- Oregon's Eyman, Bill Sizemore, hit with $840,000 bill in teachers unions' lawsuit
... plus today -- Ruling OKs politicking in schools, local public facilities
...plus -- "Democrat" Sen. Tim Sheldon surplusing funds to GOP colleagues
— In today's Yakima Herald -- State's health-care safety net in tatters, and we will all pay (editorial)
— In Sunday's Columbian -- Public disclosure agency seeks info on Zarelli's "private" UI matter
— In the latest P.S. Business Journal -- State's employers decry "workers' comp whammy"
— In today's Everett Herald -- Partisan politics bungle Homeland Security issue (editorial)
At AFLCIO.org -- Workers hand out CEO "pink slips" at corporate accountability rally in D.C. 
— In today's L.A. Times -- 2001 census: Reversing gains, fewer now have coverage for health care
— In today's Washington Post -- Shore up the safety net -- Editorial: Poor people, and especially poor children, don't have the loudest voices in the lobbying clamor as the days remaining in this session dwindle. But their needs are real, and so will be the effect if Congress fails to help.
...plus -- Political pressure has Taiwan's China Airlines buying Boeing planes
— In Sunday's Wichita Eagle -- Boeing's Mo. engineers will try once more to unionize with SPEEA
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Records falling in waning days of soft money campaign contributions
— Saturday from UPI -- Pension reform slouches along in Congress

Previous weeks' news: Sept. 23-27 -- Sept. 16-20 -- Sept. 9-13

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4
Please call, picket on behalf of locked-out ILWU workers

Although there is reason for hope that the West Coast port lockout could end soon -- now that both sides have agreed to federal mediation and talks have resumed -- there is a serious threat that President Bush will intervene in the longshore dispute, invoke the Taft-Hartley 80-day "cooling-off period," and force the members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union back to work in a way that seriously undermines their ability to get a fair contract.

CALL TO ACTION: The ILWU is asking all union members and their supporters in the community to do two things:

1.  CALL ELECTED OFFICIALS and urge them to use their influence to demand that the PMA end the lockout now and that there be no Taft-Hartley intervention in the dispute. Call:

Gov. Gary Locke — 360-902-4111
Sen. Maria Cantwell — 206-220-6400 (Seattle) and 202-224-3441 (DC)
Sen. Patty Murray — 206-553-5545 (Seattle) and 202-224-2621 (DC)
Your U.S. Representative — 1-800-648-3516

2.  PARTICIPATE IN PICKETS at the terminals. Pickets set up at ports up and down the state need support from other union members. In Seattle, for instance, where today (Friday) a considerable number of locked-out ILWU members will be volunteering to help unload another incoming cruise ship to minimize the disruption for its passengers, help is needed to man the picket lines.

There will be picket lines up at all ILWU docks in the Puget Sound and all trade unionists and community supporters are invited and encouraged to show solidarity with the locked-out workers by participating in these pickets. Supporters should either go directly to a terminal, or check in at their local ILWU hall to see where picketers are most needed. 

In Seattle, ILWU Local 19 is at 3440 East Marginal Way S. at Spokane Street under the West Seattle Bridge. In the Tacoma area, the new Local 23 hall is at 1306 Alexander Ave. E. in Fife between Route 99 and Route 509. In Bellingham, Local 7 is at 807 N. State Street. In Everett, Local 32 is at 1016 Hewitt. In Vancouver, Local 4 is at 1205 Ingalls St.

The following statement was released Thursday by AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka:

Since both the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) have agreed to federal mediation on the issue of how new technology is implemented, the PMA should end its lockout today and let the dockworkers go back to work. The mediation process can be successful and fruitful, and should be allowed to work. The PMA should honor the needs of the nation, the economy and the workers by letting ILWU members move the cargo in the ports.

The AFL-CIO is opposed to the implementation of the Taft-Hartley Act in the lockout on the West Coast ports. The Bush Administration should let the two sides continue to talk and should let the bargaining process work.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3
ILWU seeks to mitigate damage, disruption caused by lockout

Despite the Pacific Maritime Association's lockout of longshore workers from West Coast ports, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union continues to make every effort to keep essential military cargo moving, get vital goods shipped to Hawaii and Alaska, and to minimize the inconvenience to passengers on cruise lines.

To thank the union for its efforts, Royal Caribbean Cruises on Wednesday donated $25,000 to the King County Labor Agency on behalf of longshore workers who donated their labor to unload the cruise ship Radiance of the Sea earlier this week. As the ship approached Seattle, the cruise lines' calls to the stevedoring company it uses went unanswered, so they called the ILWU hall in Seattle directly. They got the answer they were hoping for as locked-out union workers sent more than enough volunteers to help unload the ship and assist hundreds of grateful passengers.

Similar efforts are happening up and down the West Coast by the ILWU to mitigate the harm caused by the PMA lockout. Following is a press release distributed Wednesday by the ILWU with more details:

In the face of the illegal and irresponsible lockout of dock workers in 29 West Coast ports by the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers are working military cargo, moving vital goods to Hawaii and Alaska, as well as volunteering services to cruise lines up and down the West Coast.

The commitment to loading military materiel, to assuring the security of the residents of Hawaii and Alaska as well as the safety those who travel on cruise ships out of West Coast ports is a long-standing practice of the union.

“We have offered this assistance up and down the Coast to make sure that the interests of the public are protected,” said James Spinosa, International President of the ILWU.  “Our members are ready and willing to work and we hope that the PMA comes to its senses soon and lets us do our jobs at all the ports.”

Here are some highlights of the work ILWU members are continuing to complete on the West Coast. 

SEATTLE

Late Monday night, the ILWU was contacted by Royal Caribbean Lines with an emergency request to work a cruise ship destined for San Juan.  There were no orders for ILWU member to work the ship due to the lockout, but members of the local agreed to work it anyway in order to assure passenger safety and convenience.

The cruise line was forced to come directly to the union because members of the PMA who normally are responsible for scheduling assistance to cruise lines were enforcing a lockout of ILWU members.  The Royal Caribbean officials said that Stevedore Services of America refused to discuss their crisis with them, which left the company in a very serious crisis.

The cruise company requested 30 ILWU workers, but the local union provided 100 people to make sure the docking and unloading occurred quickly and without incident. The ILWU members are doing the work without any cooperation from the Port of Seattle or SSA. The ILWU members volunteered their services for free, and agreed that any pay or tips we received would go to charity.

ILWU Local 19 members in Seattle have committed to continuing to work any cruise ship that enters the Port of Seattle .

TACOMA

Despite a second lock out by the Pacific Maritime Association, ILWU Local 23 in Tacoma continues its offer to load vessels bound for Alaskan ports.  

Saturday morning, Sept. 28, officers from ILWU Local 23 cooperated with the management of Totem Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE) to ensure that the cargo bound for Alaskan military bases and markets would not be delayed as a result of the lock out. Within 36 hours, the Westward Venture departed for Anchorage , Alaska .

“We recognize that the citizens of Alaska are dependent on this cargo. We loaded perishable food items, mail and consumer goods. We have never failed to deliver these necessities,” said Dick Marzano, ILWU Local 23 Vice President. “During this time of heightened national security, our longshore members are fully aware of the importance of the military cargo that crosses our docks. We will not jeopardize the health and well-being of the people of Alaska or this nation.”

ILWU Local 23 made a similar offer to CSX lines, formerly Sea-Land, a tenant of AP Moller Terminals, in Tacoma . CSX is the second major carrier of domestic and military cargo to Alaska . Maersk Pacific Stevedoring, a foreign-owned shipping company, that employs the longshore workers who work the CSX ships, refused the proposal. ILWU Local 23 continues to make this offer to work the ships.

 “Our members are willing to work under our normal hiring and dispatch methods, but the employer’s action of locking out the ILWU prohibits us from providing for the citizens of Alaska ,” Marzano said.

More than 70 percent of waterborne cargo to Alaska goes through the Port of Tacoma . This includes groceries, construction materials, medical equipment, vehicles and government freight.  In previous labor disputes, members of ILWU Local 23 have handled vital domestic and military cargo.

LOS ANGELES/LONG BEACH

ILWU leaders with Local 13 and Local 63 in Southern California have worked collaboratively with Carnival Cruise Lines to make sure that cruise ships in San Pedro can safely discharge passengers and their cargo.  Despite the PMA lockout of almost 8,000 workers in the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, ILWU members are currently working a Carnival cruise ship known as Ecstasy.

ILWU members who were picketing at the site were dispatched to other sites in order to clear the way for the cruise ship work. With the cooperation of the LAPD, members of the ILWU were able to create a safe zone to help the passengers disembark.

A sign now stands in front of the passenger terminal where ILWU members are working the cruise ship, pointing out that the union is locked out, but that longshore workers are still working with the community to maintain vital services.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2
ILWU walks out of mediation when PMA brings armed guards
"We will not be intimidated," vows ILWU President; FMCS Director criticizes PMA

Following are two press releases distributed Tuesday by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union:

Today (Tuesday) ILWU officers walked out of scheduled talks with the Pacific Maritime Association and Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services head Peter Hurtgen at the FMSC office in Oakland when they arrived this morning and were greeted by gun-toting security guards under the employment of the PMA.

The ILWU officers were asked by Hurtgen to discuss a possible government-mediated solution to the PMA lockout that has closed all seaborne cargo movement on the U.S. West Coast. Both sides had agreed to limit their representatives to five each to make the talks manageable. But the ILWU delegation arrived to find nearly the entire PMA negotiating team in the office along with two security personnel packing weapons.

ILWU International President Jim Spinosa asked Hurtgen if it was government policy to allow employers to bring weapons to mediation talks. Hurtgen replied that he was aware the PMA brought security to the meeting but didn’t realize they were armed.

“This is an outrageous action taken by Miniace and the PMA,” Spinosa said. “This shows how they approach negotiations, hiding behind the government and armed thugs. PMA’s lockout is holding a gun to the head of the American economy and now they move to aim real guns at us. We will not be intimidated by these kinds of tactics and we will never reach an agreement as long as the PMA acts as if it can force a settlement at gun point rather than negotiate.”

----

The Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services, Peter J. Hurtgen, put out a press release this afternoon (Tuesday) criticizing Pacific Maritime Association CEO Joseph Miniace’s bringing armed personnel to a meeting with the ILWU earlier this morning. Hurtgen called the behavior “inappropriate and a breach of bargaining protocol…”

The ILWU walked out of a meeting the FMCS called to discuss with the union and the employer association a possible federal mediation of the contract dispute between them. The employers’ lockout of ILWU longshore workers and their closing down all West Coast ports has spurred the federal government to look for solutions. But when the employers showed up at the meeting with armed thugs, the union walked out, putting further negotiations in question.

“It’s good to see that President Bush’s newly appointed Director of the FMCS realizes the PMA is out of control,” said ILWU International President Jim Spinosa. “Maybe Miniace will regain his senses and start negotiating in good faith.”

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1
State minimum wage will be $7.01 an hour starting Jan. 1

The Washington state minimum wage will increase 11 cents to $7.01 an hour starting Jan. 1, 2003, the state Department of Labor and Industries announced Monday. The state's lowest legal hourly wage is recalculated each September as a result of Initiative 688, filed by WSLC President Rick Bender, supported by the state labor movement and dozens of community organizations, and ultimately approved by voters by a two-to-one margin in 1998.

The initiative set out to take the politics out of the minimum wage issue by requiring an annual cost-of-living adjustment based on changes in the federal Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). For the 12 months ending August 2002, that nationwide index increased 1.6 percent. The new wage applies to workers in both agricultural and non-agricultural jobs; 14- and 15-year-olds may be paid 85 percent of the adult minimum wage.

"It's great news for minimum wage earners every year that they will be getting the cost-of-living raise they deserve," said Bender, "but $7.01 an hour is still poverty wages for thousands of Washington families. Every year, we should congratulate ourselves that the law is working as voters intended, and then rededicate ourselves to the fight for maintaining and creating good family-wage jobs."

Washington was the first state to approve a state minimum wage increase that included annual inflationary adjustments, but the idea has caught on in other states that have since passed -- or are poised to pass -- similar initiatives or legislation.

In Alaska, the current minimum wage of $5.65 an hour will increase to $7.15 on Jan. 1, 2003, and also be adjusted annually for inflation. The legislature there passed the increase this year after the Alaska labor movement prepared a similar initiative. In Oregon, residents will vote this fall on an initiative to increase the minimum wage from $6.50 to $6.90, with an annual cost-of-living adjustment.

Rates for states that have a minimum wage are available at the DOL website. For more information on Washington’s minimum wage, go to the L&I website.

The federal minimum wage remains at a shameful $5.15 an hour. (In states that set rates that differ from federal law, the higher state rate applies.) In Congress, the usual political bickering over the impact of minimum wage increases has allowed the wages of the lowest paid workers in the country to stagnate for five years now.

Although Washington's indexed minimum wage has prevented the state rate from becoming mired in politics, the powerful restaurant and agriculture industries continue to apply pressure to the State Legislature every year to try to exempt their industries' workers from the wage requirement. The labor movement has aggressively opposed these efforts, and so far, attempts to create sub-minimum wages for agriculture workers or workers who earn tips have been unsuccessful.

The WSLC's fight to protect the voter-approved standard extends to every campaign season, including this year's. Candidate-comparison fliers distributed to union members statewide often include the candidates' position on whether minimum wage exemptions should be created. This is an issue that resonates very strongly with working people and often provides a clear distinction between candidates and their priorities.

For more information, visit our minimum wage page. For more information about the federal minimum wage, check out the Economic Policy Institute website.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1
More Labor-Neighbor walks added; more volunteers needed

Union members are urged to volunteer a couple of hours this weekend to participate in important Labor Neighbor household walks, which are now happening in Longview and Auburn to supplement the activities that continue in Bellingham, Spokane, Bellevue and Everett. (What's Labor Neighbor?)

In addition to the neighborhood walks listed below, Labor Neighbor phone banks are up and running in the King County area from 5:30 to 8 p.m. every Monday through Thursday night through Election Day, Nov. 5. Please get more information or RSVP by contacting Phone Bank Coordinator Ahn Nguyen. For phonebanking opportunities in districts outside of King County, please contact the coordinator listed below for that targeted LD.

Unions' ability to inform their members and turn them out to vote in November will determine whether Referendum 51 passes and whether our state retains its worker-friendly majority as the State Legislature grapples with a $2 billion budget deficit. Volunteers will walk in neighborhoods, meet other union members and distribute literature about Ref. 51 and comparing legislative candidates' positions on labor issues.

Here is the schedule for this weekend's Labor Neighbor walks (please RSVP to the LN Coordinator):

NOTE:  If you have volunteers available at times other than those listed on the calendar, please contact the coordinator to make arrangements to train and dispatch at an earlier/later time. We will never turn down a volunteer!!

Labor Neighbor field activities for the 17th, 23rd, 25th and 45th Legislative Districts will start the weekend of October 12th.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
Join locked-out ILWU workers on the picket lines

West Coast longshore workers represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union returned to work Sunday morning after an employer-imposed "cooling-off period" only to be locked out again. The Pacific Maritime Association has now imposed an indefinite lockout of the workers and is desperately attempting to portray their move as a response to a "work slowdown" that one PMA spokesperson cynically characterized as a "strike with pay."

The ILWU reports that the PMA walked out of negotiations Friday afternoon and imposed the cooling-off period/lockout after its CEO, Joseph Miniace, launched into a tirade, attacking the union as an institution and saying he doesn't want to deal with it anymore.

"Miniace showed the same disrespect for the union he has since the beginning of these talks," ILWU International President James Spinosa said. "He is unilaterally taking the action of closing all ports and bears full responsibility for its effects on the American economy."

The PMA implemented the lockout even though the union made expansive proposals for new computer technology the employers have been saying for three years was their top priority. But PMA refuses to guarantee that the remaining jobs and all the new jobs created by the new technology will be ILWU jobs.

Instead, the PMA sought to portray its tantrum-induced lockout as of the workers' own doing. The workers began strictly adhering to safety rules last week in response to increased accidents and deaths -- five workers have died on the job in the past six months -- as freight volume has actually increased dramatically during recent months.

"PMA's slanderous allegations of slowdowns during the biggest speedup in ILWU history that coincides with a record number of on-the-job deaths is literally adding insult to injury and making any progress toward a contract more difficult," Spinosa said. "Still the ILWU is prepared to go back to the table and seek a negotiated settlement."

CALL TO ACTION: There will be picket lines up at all ILWU docks in the Puget Sound and all trade unionists and community supporters are invited and encouraged to show solidarity with the locked-out workers by participating in these pickets. Supporters should either go directly to a terminal, or check in at their local ILWU hall to see where picketers are most needed. 

In Seattle, ILWU Local 19 is at 3440 East Marginal Way S. at Spokane Street under the West Seattle Bridge. In the Tacoma area, the new Local 23 hall is at 1306 Alexander Ave. E. in Fife between Route 99 and Route 509. In Bellingham, Local 7 is at 807 N. State Street. In Everett, Local 32 is at 1016 Hewitt. In Vancouver, Local 4 is at 1205 Ingalls St.

Remember: An injury to one is an injury to all.

For updates on the lockout and ILWU negotiations, check out the union's website at www.ilwu.org.