One month after the terrorist attacks that have changed all of our lives forever, the list of victims continues to grow as the news from Washington state and D.C. is the same: Workers are getting screwed.

Relief for laid-off workers killed:  Last night, Republicans in the U.S. Senate filibustered and killed an amendment to the airline security bill that would have offered some relief to some 150,000 laid-off aviation industry workers, including thousands of local Boeing workers.  It had enough votes to pass, but 44 Republicans wouldn't allow a vote.  Instead, for the second time since the Sept. 11 attack, they promised they would deal with the unsavory issue of economically devastated families at some date to be named later.

"The clock is ticking, and these workers facing layoffs cannot wait," said Sen. Patty Murray in an eloquent speech on the Senate floor pleading with her colleagues to grant the worker aid.

"We are sending a terrible message that it is more important to care about corporations and shareholders than workers," said Sen. Maria Cantwell.  

"It is especially shameful that the White House, which lobbied furiously against relief, and 44 Republican United States Senators would undermine majority support and turn our nation’s back on aviation workers whose jobs and livelihoods were directly destroyed by the attacks," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney in a statement last night.

This even as airlines are cashing their checks from the $15 billion bailout Congress managed to grant almost immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks.  Note: Since the bailout was approved, NONE of the airlines have revised their original layoff estimates and many are refusing to pay severance packages.

Shed a tear for Boeing:  Today, nearly 10,000 workers for Boeing commercial airplane division are finding out they will lose their jobs Dec. 14, just days before they would have been paid for the year-end break that compensates them for holidays they already worked in 2001.

"We figured that it would cost the company something like $20 million to keep all 10,000 workers on the payroll until the first of the year," said Bill Dugovich, spokesman for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, which has set up a fund that they hope will pay its laid-off members through the holidays. "That's less than 1 percent of profit they made last year. It's less than the $22 million the company spent to fight our organizing campaign in Wichita," he said.

The Chicago-based company refused to consider offers by the International Association of Machinists District 751 and SPEEA to mitigate the layoff damage through voluntary leaves, hour reduction, early retirement, and reconsidering contracts for outsourced work.

A Boeing spokesperson said the company agonized over the decision saying, "You have to remember this isn't Boeing's doing. These layoffs were necessitated by the events of Sept. 11."  Meanwhile, Boeing Vice Chairman Harry Stonecipher told reporters just yesterday the company has not seen a single order cancellation since Sept. 11, only delays in delivery dates.

Boeing expects to lay off up to another 20,000 workers by 2003.

What's next:  Today, the Republican chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means plans to "mark-up" and pass from committee the "Economic Security and Recovery Act of 2001."

The measure contains most of President Bush's "economic stimulus" proposal to accelerate the tax cuts passed last year that heavily favored the wealthy, to create permanent new tax breaks for corporations, and, according to some reports, to repeal of the alternative minimum tax that is designed to prevent corporations from exploiting tax law loopholes to avoid paying any tax at all.

In other words, yet another congressional proposal "to serve working people last and least at the table of economic recovery," reads the AFL-CIO web page devoted to informing union members about this package and what they can do to make sure workers aren't left out in the cold -- again.  Please visit this site, read, and ACT NOW.

For those of you in Washington's 8th Congressional District (and elsewhere in the state, for that matter), calls to Rep. Jennifer Dunn on the economic stimulus package are of particular importance because she is considered a "swing vote" in consideration of the Cardin amendment, which would extend unemployment benefits for the hundreds of thousands of workers now being laid off.  Call Rep. Dunn now at (206) 275-3438, and tell her to SUPPORT the Cardin amendment.

The House Ways and Means Committee, split largely along party lines, late Tuesday night approved a measure to give President Bush Fast Track trade negotiating authority, but the legislation faces an uncertain fate when it moves to the House floor as early as next week.

The panel voted 26-13 for the mainly Republican-backed H.R. 3005 to approve Fast Track, withheld by Congress since it last expired in 1994, which allows the president can negotiate trade agreements that Congress can approve or reject but cannot amend.  The AFL-CIO is aggressively opposed to this measure and encourages union members to continue calling their congressional representatives to urge their opposition to H.R. 3005. Click here for more information.

Here is an assessment of the committee vote from Michael Dolan of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch:

In a remarkably partisan split, the Ways and Means committee voted on Rep. Thomas' Fast Track bill (H.R. 3005) last night (10/9/01) after four hours of nasty, bitter partisan rancor. The Ways and Means committee is stacked with 7 more Republicans than Democrats on it, so it was inevitable that the bill would be vote out of committee whenever Chairman Thomas called a vote.

What was REMARKABLE is that only two Democrats on the committee voted for the bill. Those two Dems are Tanner (TN) and Jefferson (LO) who had already supported the original Crane Fast Track bill. Every single other Democrat - including those who always vote against us on trade - such as Reps. Rangel, Levin., Matsui and McDermott - all opposed the Thomas bill. Indeed - there has never been such strong opposition to a trade vote on what is normally a very free-trade friendly committee. Given the stacked committee, this outcome is about as good as we could have gotten on a Fast Track with bright partisan lines drawn and lots of personal insult and divisiveness to boot.

The bad news though is that now that the bill is out of committee, it can be brought to the floor at any time.  After the mark up, Chairman Thomas said it would be next week. (We do not believe that, but we have to be ready.) Other GOP House leaders have said it will be "in the next few weeks."

Do not despair: remember that Fast Track in 1997 was cleared out of committee and they had scheduled a floor vote and were about to start the floor debate when they announced that the bill was being pulled. So, it is not cataclysmic that the bill is out of committee, it is just horrible...

But, that committee vote is NOT any sort of an indication that Thomas' bill could pass on the floor! In fact, if we do our work - they will NEVER CALL A VOTE. That is our goal: if we deny them with the certainly that they have the votes they will NOT call a vote. Then Congress will recess in the first week of November without doing Fast Track and we will have won. On the other hand, as soon as they think that they have the votes, they will have a vote!!!

When could we see a floor vote on Fast Track?

A mark-up clears the way for a possible floor vote of a bill. As we have said all along, the Republicans will not schedule this for a vote unless they think that it has a chance of actually passing. So far the GOP have not been able to attract many Dems to support the Thomas bill and such a partisan mark-up certainly does not help their cause. The GOP plan is to try to pass the bill with 200 GOP and just a few Democrats. We need to lock down the GOP who are with us and make sure there are enough Democrats to make up the difference from the GOP we have. The GOP leaders and some in the Bush Administration are on a desperate mission though and have already started twisting arms and try to cut deals in order to have their way. Over the next few days and possible weeks, all undecided Members will be under tremendous pressure, and even Members who were opposed to Fast Track will be pressured to change their votes.

The AFL-CIO has made available a toll-free number to contact your U.S. Representative at 1-800-393-1082 (just enter your zip code and you'll be connected to their D.C. office to leave a message) or you can send an e-mail to urge your members of Congress to defeat Fast Track.

Here is some local congressional delegation contact information for Washington residents (the above e-mail link will simply send a form letter on your behalf).  Please note that several representatives urge constituents to use the Write Your Representative service rather than providing direct email addresses.  Feel free also to "CC:" your messages to Sen. Patty Murray (at senator_murray@murray.senate.gov) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (at maria_cantwell@cantwell.senate.gov).

Jay Inslee (D-1st) at (425) 640-0233, jay.inslee@mail.house.gov
Rick Larsen (D-2nd) at (425) 252-3188, www.house.gov/writerep/ 
Brian Baird (D-3rd) at (360) 695-6292, brian.baird@mail.house.gov
Doc Hastings (R-4th) at (509) 543-9396, www.house.gov/writerep/
George Nethercutt, Jr. (R-5th) at (509) 353-2374, www.house.gov/writerep/
Norm Dicks (D-6th) at 1-800-947-6676, www.house.gov/writerep/
Jim McDermott (D-7th) at (206) 553-7170, www.house.gov/writerep/
Jennifer Dunn (R-8th) at (206) 275-3438, www.house.gov/writerep/
Adam Smith (D-9th) at (253) 593-6600, adam.smith@mail.house.gov

The Washington Living Wage Movement invites all to attend "Advancing the Movement for the Powers that Ought to Be," a discussion on working families and political accountability, featuring noted national commentator and author Jim Hightower on Monday, Oct. 15 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Seattle Labor Temple in Hall 1.

Hightower will also speak a Washington Citizen Action breakfast from 7 to 9 a.m. Tuesday at The Seneca Space, Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave. in Seattle.  Tickets are $50 and proceeds will go to WCA, a grassroots consumer advocacy organization with more than 50,000 members statewide, working on a range of issues to promote greater economic justice in our state and the country.  Visit the WCA website for more information.

All are welcome to Monday's Labor Temple discussion, but please RSVP to Michael Ramos at livingwagemovement@thewac.org or by calling him at 206-625-9790 x12.  The Washington Living Wage Movement is a partnership of the Washington Association of Churches, Washington Citizen Action, and the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO.  For more information, visit the organization's website.

Described as "America's #1 Populist," Hightower is a nationally syndicated radio commentator and author of If God Had Meant Us to Vote, He Would Have Given Us Candidates.  The Texan was a keynote speaker (and a hit) at the Washington State Labor Council's 2000 Convention in Tacoma.  For more information about Hightower, visit his website.

A vote on legislation to grant President Bush "Fast Track" trade negotiating authority is likely to be voted upon today in the House Ways and Means Committee, and could be up for a floor vote any time after that.  So it is important that we call our U.S. Representatives NOW to express opposition, especially as proponents attempt to wrap the flag around the issue and press this legislation during a particularly inappropriate time.  Here's more courtesy of AFLCIO.org (all links will take you to their website):

Learn More Learn more about making the global economy work for working families. Download a “Stop Fast Track Now” flier. Get involved in the campaign to post workers’ rights information around the world.

The fight over Fast Track legislation is heating up and working families can make a difference by calling their congressional representatives at 1-800-393-1082 and telling them “Fast Track is the Wrong Track!”

Even at this time of national unity—just a couple of weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks—House Republicans are pushing this controversial legislation. The House Ways and Means Committee will vote on a revived Fast Track bill (H.R. 3005) Oct. 9 and the full U.S. House of Representatives may act soon after.

Supporters of the revived bill claim they have added workers’ rights and environmental provisions to the legislation, but those additions are little more than window dressing because they do not require any enforceable workers’ rights or environmental standards in trade agreements.

The committee had been scheduled to act Oct. 5, but congressional observers said the bill’s sponsors realized the so-called compromise had not drawn much additional support and their attempt to paint Fast Track as a patriotic response to the terrorist attacks was backfiring.

The postponement “is an indication of just how weak the support for this bill is, and just how divisive Fast Track is. At a time when Americans are facing a national crisis following the Sept. 11 attacks, we need more unity, not less. And so it is deeply disturbing that supporters of Fast Track trade legislation see this moment as a golden opportunity to push through an agenda that had no chance of passage prior to Sept. 11,” AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka said at an Oct. 5 press conference of a coalition of groups opposed to Fast Track.

Joining Trumka were representatives from UAW, Teamsters, Steelworkers and several environmental, faith, agriculture, business, consumer and women’s groups all of whom condemned the attempt to tie Fast Track to patriotism and as a response to terrorism.

“Trying to claim that fast track is anti-terrorism weapon gives opportunism a bad name,” said Kevin Kearns, president of the U.S. Business and Industry Council, an association of small and mid-sized manufacturers opposing the trade measure.

In addition to the lack of strong workers’ rights and environmental protections, Fast Track trade negotiating authority still prohibits Congress from amending or improving trade agreements negotiated by the president.

Fast Track is supported strongly by multinational corporations searching the globe for cheap labor and for lowered global standards for workers’ rights, public health, consumer protection and the environment. The AFL-CIO’s Campaign for Global Fairness—a coalition of workers in local unions, college students, workers’ rights advocates, environmentalists, people of faith and community activists—strongly opposes Fast Track.

Call 1-800-393-1082 or send an e-mail to urge your members of Congress to defeat Fast Track.

Here is some local congressional delegation contact information for Washington residents (the above e-mail link will simply send a form letter on your behalf).  Please note that several representatives urge constituents to use the Write Your Representative service rather than providing direct email addresses.  Feel free also to "CC:" your messages to Sen. Patty Murray (at senator_murray@murray.senate.gov) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (at maria_cantwell@cantwell.senate.gov).

Jay Inslee (D-1st) at (425) 640-0233, jay.inslee@mail.house.gov
Rick Larsen (D-2nd) at (425) 252-3188, www.house.gov/writerep/ 
Brian Baird (D-3rd) at (360) 695-6292, brian.baird@mail.house.gov
Doc Hastings (R-4th) at (509) 543-9396, www.house.gov/writerep/
George Nethercutt, Jr. (R-5th) at (509) 353-2374, www.house.gov/writerep/
Norm Dicks (D-6th) at 1-800-947-6676, www.house.gov/writerep/
Jim McDermott (D-7th) at (206) 553-7170, www.house.gov/writerep/
Jennifer Dunn (R-8th) at (206) 275-3438, www.house.gov/writerep/
Adam Smith (D-9th) at (253) 593-6600, adam.smith@mail.house.gov

The following editorial appeared in Sunday's Seattle P-I in opposition to Initiative 747, which the Washington State Labor Council also opposes (see our Political Education page for more information):

Initiative 747 is yet another attempt to abandon the way we govern ourselves by changing the way we decide how much government will spend.

The measure on the Nov. 6 ballot would rob local officials in particular of the ability to make reasoned, responsible spending choices, leaving them with the unreasonable choice between cutting public services and abdicating their fiscal duties to the voters.

I-747 would limit to 1 percent the yearly growth in how much the state Legislature and each local government can collect in property taxes. The average growth rate among local governments is now about 3 percent -- hardly the "skyrocketing" property tax hikes I-747's proponents claim.

One percent likely won't be enough to keep up with inflation, leading eventually to a net loss in services provided, unless voters approve higher increases.

So what's wrong with going to the voters?

Representative democracy is a long-valued system of governance in this state. We elect people to balance the needs and priorities of our communities, then give them a reasonable amount of money to work with; we don't expect them to come running to us on every financial decision.

But the siren's song of a property tax break may be enough to coax voters into eroding representative democracy.

It's important to understand what I-747 won't do.

It won't limit increases in the assessed value of properties. It won't limit tax increases on individual properties to 1 percent a year. It won't cut current property tax revenues to state or local governments.

So how big is this tax break? The state Office of Financial Management estimates that in the first year I-747 would lower the tax increase on a $150,000 property by $23. After five years, the annual savings would compound to $126.

That same $23 -- not even enough to take a family of four to the movies -- could instead produce nearly $29 million for local governments across the state. And that $126 -- maybe enough to rent three DVDs a month ---- would amount to more than $360 million for local government.

State law already limits the growth in property tax revenue to inflation unless and until local elected officials can document a "substantial need" and approve the increase by a two-thirds majority. Under existing law, the growth rate can be no more than 6 percent without a vote of the people.

The dark clouds gathering on the economic near horizon hardly offer an argument for stifling state and local government spending. Our neighbors are going to need help. If there ever were a good time to turn our backs on them to hoard our own money, this is not it.

Initiative 747's 1 percent limit is unreasonable. So is forcing local government to ask the public's permission to merely keep up with inflation.