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. 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 November 10-14, 2003

Previous weeks' news: Nov. 3-7 -- Oct. 27-31 -- Oct. 20-24

FRIDAY, Nov. 14 -- THE TIME HAS COME FOR CHANGE
Get involved in Voice@Work to restore the freedom to join unions
— A related story in today's Bremerton Sun -- "Midnight overhaul" a dark time for defense workers -- Congress just passed a defense bill with a late amendment stripping civilian defense workers of their right to collective bargaining and union pay and job security provisions. Of this outrage, the Sun understates: "This heavy-handed overhaul... seems bound to do more harm than good." Learn more.
— Another related story in today's News Tribune -- Judges, union take case to Supreme Court (AP) -- Judges in this state are arguing they shouldn't have to collectively bargain with court employees.

— In today's Seattle P-I -- Japanese will get key 7E7 work
...plus -- Boeing unions say outsourcing will mean lost jobs, technology -- "That 777 was probably the last American plane. The company doesn't even view it (the 7E7) as an American-made product."
...plus -- Health insurance costs at Boeing to rise 15% in 2004 -- Does America suck?
— In yesterday's Daily News -- Longview Fine Paper closing for good; 119 more jobs lost
...plus -- Layoffs will "strain" retraining funds at Lower Columbia College
— In today's Olympian -- SEIU 1199NW members OK contract at Providence St. Peter Hospital
— In today's Seattle Times -- Sen. Murray ships $236 million in transportation funding back home
...plus -- Creating a road map for health-care reform (op-ed by Ron Sims)
— In today's Salem S-J -- Oregon state managers to get bonus, benefit to match union workers'
— In today's S.F. Chronicle -- Arnold's workers' comp overhaul -- By championing a plan backed by businesses and insurers, Arnold Schwarzenegger launches a direct assault on California's Democratic-controlled Legislature and two of its most generous backers: unions and trial lawyers.
— In today's N.Y. Times -- The Trojan horse -- Krugman column: A prescription drug bill is a perfect vehicle for smuggling in provisions that sound as if they have something to do with improving Medicare, yet are actually designed to undermine it.
— In today's L.A. Times -- Labor group targets women; urges boycott of strike-affected grocers
...plus -- Congress derails new rules promoting shift away from traditional pensions
— Today from Reuters -- U.S. employers mad at blow to cash-balance pension plan
— In today's Washington Post --  Pension tension -- Editorial: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. isn't about to go bust, but its projected deficit numbers are chilling. The General Accounting Office recently placed the PBGC on its list of "high risk" programs, those in need of "urgent attention." Attention must be paid, and reform should make matters better, not worse.

THURSDAY, Nov. 13 -- EMERGENCY!  Overtime pay betrayal in Congress!
...plus -- Historic legislation introduced to restore right to join unions
— In yesterday's Daily News -- Lynch to USWA: Let's restart Longview smelter
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Another smelter (Longview), another sad story (Caldwell column)
— In the P.S. Business Journal -- Longview losing 119 jobs in Weyerhaeuser mill closure
— In today's News Tribune -- Tanker, China deals give Boeing a lot to cheer
— In today's King County Journal -- Boeing's contracting out "standards" under study -- Rumors about further job cuts are reaching a crescendo as Boeing implements what it says is a 6-month study of having a third-party supplier handle the delivery of standard small parts to assembly workers.
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Federal civil service overhaul draws fire for wiping out bargaining rights
— In today's Olympian -- Providence St. Peter Hospital averts one-day strike with tentative labor pact
...plus -- GOP rushes to fill Sen. West's seat (AP)
— In today's Peninsula Daily News -- Apprentice carpenter killed at sheriff's annex project site
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- State's job retraining fund is nearly gone (AP)
— In today's Seattle Times -- King County road budget revamp needed because of I-776
— In today's Seattle P-I -- WaMu's Killinger tactful in economic assessment of state (Virgin column)
— In today's Salem S-J -- Oregon's state pension fund is improving
— In today's Oregonian -- Most of new nurse hires in U.S. are older, foreign-born
— Today at AFLCIO.org -- Employee Free Choice Act: Restoring the freedom to join unions
— In today's L.A. Times -- For many firms, jobless recovery is a good thing -- American employers are in no hurry to resume hiring as increased productivity cuts their need for workers.
..plus -- Grocers' strike losses mount; pickets have nearby merchants, landlords also suffering
— In USATODAY -- Rural areas labor to save jobs, but training and tax breaks can go only so far
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Tentative pact offers drug benefits to the elderly
...plus -- For Gephardt, Congress role is both platform and hurdle
...plus -- AFSCME, SEIU plan big push for Dean
— Today at BusinessWeek Online -- Health care is making labor sick -- Is the U.S. system of employer-based health care starting to buckle under the return of double-digit medical inflation?

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 12 -- Rep. Dunn’s jobless benefits extension bill won’t help Washington
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- WestFarm-Darigold workers in Lynden end 23-day walkout
— In today's Olympian -- Gregoire tops race for cash -- Rossi who, like Gregoire, faces a 4-month fundraising blackout if he stays in the legislature, says he'll decide by "the first week of December."
...plus -- Tax structure discussion is warranted -- Editorial: Last year's Washington State Tax Structure Study Committee conclusion that a state income tax would be in the best interest of Washington residents should have sparked a statewide dialogue, but instead it fell on deaf ears.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Boeing to sign $2.4 billion deal with China for 30 737s
— In today's Seattle Times -- Money for job retraining in short supply in state
...plus -- Study says workers' pain costs businesses billions (Vote NO on Initiat... oh.)
...plus -- Bush steel tariffs wrong for everyone (editorial)
— In yesterday's Daily News -- Alcoa: We're not to blame for Longview smelter's failure
— In today's L.A. Times -- Grocers claim workers coerced into staying on picket lines
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Failed pensions: A painful lesson in assumptions
...plus -- Old loyalist, new face divide backing of unions -- AFSCME's impending Dean endorsement, along with SEIU's, will represent a signal moment for organized labor, pointing to uncomfortable fault lines inside the movement. The split is also a problem for AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, who has faced recriminations from industrial unions over his inability to line up the necessary support of two-thirds of his federation behind Gephardt for organized labor's coveted endorsement.
— In today's Washington Post -- Howard Dean's unlikely road to a major boost from labor
...plus -- Government outgrows cap set by Bush -- Confounding pledges by the president and the Republican Congress to rein in government growth, federal discretionary spending has jumped 12.5% in the last fiscal year, capping a two-year bulge that saw the government grow by more than 27%.
— In the new Onion -- Congress raises executive minimum-wage to $565.15 an hour -- "Our lifestyles are expensive to maintain," Boeing senior vice-president of international relations Tom Pickering said. "Since 1993, the average cost of maintaining a household of six, including a butler, a cook, a maid, a driver, and a groundskeeper, has increased by 14 percent. All this, even after we work our fingers to the bone for hundreds of hours a year, painstakingly assembling our benefits packages. It shouldn't have to be this hard."

TUESDAY, Nov. 11 -- Bender: Tax benefits should promote U.S. manufacturing jobs
— In today's King County Journal -- Rossi says he needs $5 million to be elected governor
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Rossi touts himself as "agent for change" in bid for governor (AP)
...plus a related story -- Domestic violence bill is a right step -- This editorial touts U.S. Sen. Patty Murray's efforts to remove financial barriers for those seeking to escape abusers.  It also recalls Sen. Dino "Social Conscience" Rossi's vote against granting unemployment benefits to domestic violence victims forced to quit their jobs to flee their attackers (at an annual estimated cost of just $144,000).
...plus -- Taxes will top 2004 election menu (Virgin column)
— In today's Seattle Times -- Texas governor files suit to keep cover on state's 7E7 package
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Area hospitals back in black after cutting costs (read: wages)
— In today's News Tribune -- Housecleaning still needed at Western State Hospital -- Editorial: Barrette Green, a one-man epidemic of sexual harassment, is out of a job. But this case isn't about one abusive employee. It is about a state institution dominated by its largest union, a union looking out for one of its officers instead of protecting the rank-and-file members he was abusing.
...plus -- Rx for Medicare: Add cost controls to drug benefit (editorial)
At AFLCIO.org -- Labor leaders' statement in opposition to nomination of Justice Brown
— In yesterday's N.Y. Times -- A manufactured crisis on judges -- Editorial: Lost amid the grandstanding about a "crisis" in judicial nominations are the facts: 168 Bush nominees have been confirmed and only four rejected, a far better percentage than for President Bill Clinton, who saw 60 of his judicial candidates blocked by the Republican-controlled Senate.
...plus today -- Wal-Mart faces class-action suit for racketeering
...plus -- Tariffs on steel are illegal, says WTO, clearing way for sanctions against U.S.
...plus -- Support the troops -- Krugman column: Clearly the Bush administration has pursued a "starve the beast" strategy to defund government and force service cuts. But this Veterans' Day, the big squeeze on spending may be alienating a surprising group: the nation's soldiers.
— In today's L.A. Times -- No word from contract talks between grocers, union

MONDAY, Nov. 10 -- What are we doing right? What are we doing wrong?
— In Sunday's Daily News -- Workers at Longview Aluminum smelter call for 90 more days
...plus -- Smelter closed for good, it's time to move on ("tough love" editorial)
— In today's Everett Herald -- Unemployment tax hike hits when its hurts the most -- This 14% hike would have been avoided under labor's UI proposal. But with the business lobbyists' "reform" enacted in the session's final hours, employers face this increase and most will face ANOTHER hike in 2005.
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Former Boeing boosters becoming Boeing bashers (AP)
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Scaled-back tanker deal is better than none (editorial)
— In today's Seattle Times -- Get smart, states: subsidize education before industry (Peirce column)
...plus on Sunday -- Builders' lobby on a roll with ergonomics win
— In the P.S. Business Journal -- BIAW questions Locke's, state's pro-ergonomics tactics
...plus -- Vote shows job concerns -- Editorial: Voters sent a signal that smacks of protecting jobs and improving the climate in which jobs are created or safeguarded.
— In today's News Tribune --  Tacoma, police might be close on elusive contract agreement
...plus -- Kitsap-Seattle foot ferries may take private route (AP)
— In today's Oregonian -- Initiative sponsors try new strategies under signature-gathering restrictions
— In today's N.Y. Times -- States pay for jobs, but it doesn't always pay off -- Many governments are stepping up corporate subsidies, escalating a bidding war for a shrunken pool of jobs in America despite the worst budget squeeze in years. But taxpayers are often left holding an empty bag.
— In today's Washington Post -- A working solution -- Editorial: More than a third of the Senate has co-sponsored it, and a good number of House members have too. Business leaders really want it; so do trade union leaders. Surprisingly, on an extremely divided Capitol Hill, the bill that appears to be gaining support affects one of the country's most controversial issues: immigration reform.
— In today's L.A. Times -- Nine illegal immigrants arrested in raids sue Wal-Mart 
...plus -- Grocers, union leaders to meet with mediator
...plus -- Guilt pangs, no name tag and a ton of bananas (Reporter spends two days as a scab.) 

Previous weeks' news: Nov. 3-7 -- Oct. 27-31 -- Oct. 20-24

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14
The time has come for change
Get involved in Voice@Work, help restore the freedom to join unions

The law says you have the right to join a union.  The law also says you have the right to make that decision free from intimidation, harassment and coercion from your employer.

Those laws are not being enforced in America.  The National Labor Relations Board, which was set up to protect workers' right to organize unions, is now manipulated to throw obstacles into the paths of those seeking to join together and bargain collectively.  Unscrupulous employers and the multi-billion dollar union-avoidance consulting industry routinely fire, harass and intimidate workers who express interest in joining unions.  And they do so with impunity.

The time has come for change.

After years of dwindling membership and trying to organize workers on this unlevel playing field, the American labor movement is launching an historic multi-year campaign called Voice@Work to restore the freedom of U.S. workers to join unions. The importance of this campaign cannot be overstated. The AFL-CIO, its affiliated international unions, and its state and local federations -- including the Washington State Labor Council -- have made growing unions their No. 1 priority and are committed to the success of Voice@Work.

Yesterday, historic legislation called the Employee Free Choice Act was introduced in Congress.  This bill is intended to articulate the kind of labor law reform that will ultimately be necessary level the playing field for American workers.  But this campaign will involve much, much more than passing (or not passing in the case of this anti-union Congress) more laws to protect our rights.  It will involve taking those rights back on our own.

CALL TO ACTION: Soon, you will be learning much more about the Voice@Work campaign at this website. But in the meantime, there are three important events happening in Seattle that are part of Washington state's launch of Voice@Work. You are asked to MARK YOUR CALENDARS and participate in one or more of these events -- and to recruit other members of your union and your community to join you.  They are:

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2 -- A Workers' Rights Board Hearing, where members of Congress and the State Legislature, and religious and community leaders, will hear testimony from workers who have been denied their legal right to join unions.  This event will be from 7 to 9 p.m. at the University Baptist Church, 4554 12th Ave. N.E., in Seattle's University.  It is being coordinated by Washington State Jobs with Justice; for more information, call Mia Baxter at (206) 441-4969.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10 -- A Workers Rights Are Human Rights Rally from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Jackson Federal Building, 2nd & Marion in downtown Seattle.  (This is a major event; you'll be hearing a lot more from us and others in the coming days on promoting turnout.)  There will be music, theater and speakers.

December 10 is a national day of Voice@Work action in cities throughout the U.S.  That day marks the anniversary of the United Nations' adoption in 1948 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes international labor rights to join unions that are binding in many countries, but not the United States.  According to a recent Human Rights Watch report: "Legal obstacles tilt the playing field so steeply against workers' freedom of association that the United States is in violation of international human rights standards for workers."

The Dec. 10 rally is co-sponsored by the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO; King County Labor Council, AFL-CIO; Pierce County Labor Council, AFL-CIO; International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers; and many other labor organizations.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 8 -- A Voice@Work Training Session on the evidence that Americans would like to join unions, that unions are good for democracy and American society, that workers are being denied the right to join unions, and what we are going to do about it.  This inspiring, powerful interactive workshop has been given to thousands of union leaders, staffers and rank-and-file members across the country.  This session will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Seattle Labor Temple, 2800 1st Ave.  Space is limited.  If you are interested in attending, contact Verlene Wilder of the King County Labor Council at (206) 441-7102.

Again, please mark your calendars and make plans to attend these events, especially the Dec. 10 rally in downtown Seattle. More detailed information and fliers will be available -- and posted here -- in the coming weeks.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13
EMERGENCY! Overtime pay betrayal in Congress!

Even though both houses of Congress responded to your appeals by voting to block President Bush's overtime pay cuts, the president is refusing to withdraw his pay cuts and says he will veto final legislation protecting overtime pay. Back-room maneuvering by the Bush administration and House Republican leaders has made it increasingly likely that the overtime pay protections we won will not make it out of Congress this year. Bush's Labor Department could put the overtime pay cuts into effect as soon as January.

We still have a final chance to stop President Bush from taking away overtime pay from some 8 million workers if we make our voices heard. As many people as possible need to contact their senators and U.S. representative and tell them not to come home for the holidays without acting to protect overtime pay. Go to www.unionvoice.org/campaign/otlastchance/ or keep reading for more information.

How did this outrageous betrayal happen? After both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed measures to block President Bush's overtime pay take-away, a hand-picked committee of members of both of these bodies met behind closed doors to hammer out differences between the two versions of the overtime pay protections.

House Republican leaders -- working with President Bush's lobbyists -- stacked the committee with legislators who support Bush's overtime pay take-away. So despite congressional votes to block President Bush's overtime pay take-away, millions of America's workers are likely to lose it soon.

Please take one minute right now to send a message to your senators and representative by clicking on the link below. Tell them not to come home for the holidays without acting to protect overtime pay. www.unionvoice.org/campaign/otlastchance/

It is increasingly clear that President Bush will not withdraw his overtime pay take-away. That is why it is so important that as many people as possible get involved before it is too late. Please don't forget to spread the word. After you take action, forward this message or part of it to as many people as possible; or go to www.unionvoice.org/campaign/otlastchance/forward/ to send a message to up to 10 of your friends, family members and co-workers.

The sweeping changes in America's work life President Bush is pushing will hurt millions of working families. Paychecks will be smaller. Work hours will be longer. Job quality will be worse. This is a sad moment in U.S. history--President Bush is taking America back nearly 70 years.

Please take action and then spread the word. Thanks for all you do.

For more information, visit the AFL-CIO's Overtime Pay web page. 

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13
Historic legislation introduced to restore right to join unions

The following press release was distributed this morning by the AFL-CIO.  For more information, visit Employee Free Choice Act: Restoring the freedom to join unions at its website.

WASHINGTON, November 13 -- Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA) joined workers, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, CWA President Morton Bahr and Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Executive Director Wade Henderson on Capitol Hill today to announce the "Employee Free Choice Act," historic bipartisan legislation to strengthen workers' rights in America.

The proposed legislation, sponsored by Kennedy and Miller, ensures that when a majority of employees in a workplace decide to form a union, they can do so without the debilitating obstacles employers now use to block their workers' free choice.  Half a million of America's workers formed unions last year, and tens of millions more say they would like to have a union.  With a union, working people win basic rights, like a say in their job, safety and security.  When a greater percentage of working people in a community join together in unions, studies show, there are more good middle class jobs, more economic stability and higher levels of civic participation.  Unions raise wages in a community even for non-union workers in unionized industries.

Yet workers are routinely denied their choice to have a union because employers harass, coerce, intimidate -- and even terminate -- their employees to keep them from exercising their freedom to form a union.

"Labor unions have led the fight for better wages and working conditions for millions of workers in our country.  But too many workers who want to form a union are unable to do so.  America's workers deserve better," said Senator Edward Kennedy.  "That is why I am pleased to introduce the Employee Free Choice Act."

"Behind the closed doors of the workplaces of America, workers face incredible - - often ruthless - - opposition when they try to come together in a union," said John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO. "This legislation is fundamental and much-needed backing for workers who want to have a real voice on the job."

According to Cornell University research, one quarter of private sector employers fire at least one worker during a union organizing campaign, and 90 percent of employers actively exert pressure to keep workers from forming a union.  Under current law, an employer can refuse to respect the clear wish of workers to form a union, and insist on the deeply problematic National Labor Relations Board election procedure.

When employers violate workers' freedom to form unions, they hurt the entire community.  When fewer workers have a union the standard of living for everyone falls, wages, health care coverage and pensions decline and the gap between the rich and poor grows.

At today's conference, Tennessee worker Regena Phillips spoke about being fired by Freds Manufacturing for trying to form a union.

The proposed legislation ensures that, when a majority of employees in a workplace choose to form a union, their wishes must be respected by their employer.  It also ensures that a contract will be negotiated in a timely fashion after workers succeed in forming a union. The proposed act also brings in stronger penalties for violations of the workers' rights when they attempt to form a union or negotiate their first contract.

Fines, mandatory injunctions, and reimbursement for salaries lost all give employers the message that the law will not tolerate abuse of workers' rights.

These measures will provide much-needed relief for the struggles of workers engaged in the act of forming a union for the protection of their interests, a right granted them in 1935, and further recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

On December 10, International Human Rights Day, tens of thousands of workers and their allies all across the country will stand up together to assert that workers' rights are human rights, and to call on their elected officials to join with Senator Kennedy and
Representative Miller in supporting and co-sponsoring the "Employee Free Choice Act."  The December 10 events are just the beginning of a nationwide campaign to restore workers' freedom to form unions.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12
Dunn’s jobless benefits extension bill won’t help Washington

A Congressional Quarterly headline just declared the “GOP wants to play Santa on jobless benefits this year.”  But the bill to reauthorize extended unemployment insurance (UI) benefits championed by House Republican leaders -- and sponsored by Washington state’s own Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-8th) -- would mean nothing but coal in the stockings for Washington and Oregon.

Both states face major cuts in UI benefits next year unless Congress moves to fix the formula by which states qualify.  More than 30,000 people in the Pacific Northwest could lose extended UI benefits next year, according to the National Employment Law Project (NELP), because the trigger formula for states to qualify requires increasing unemployment rates and the jobless rates in Washington and Oregon -- though still among the highest in the nation -- have plateaued out.

As next year’s critical elections loom, House Republicans are eager to avoid the political embarrassment of allowing the extended benefits program to lapse as they did briefly last year. They plan to move quickly to reauthorize the program before the Senate does.

Touting H.R. 3270, her bill to extend the UI program, Rep. Dunn said, "This unemployment extension will help the tens of thousands of our friends and neighbors across the state who have been laid off through no fault of their own -- providing extra economic help when it is most needed."

But H.R. 3270, Dunn’s bill that could come to a vote as soon as next week, simply extends the program without fixing it.  Under Dunn’s bill, of the five states that currently qualify for the extended federal benefits -- Washington, Oregon, Michigan, North Carolina and Alaska -- only Alaska would remain qualified next year, according to the NELP.

By contrast, Washington's Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell are leading the effort to forge a compromise with Senate Republicans to reauthorize extended UI benefits but at the same time fix the formula to allow states with the highest unemployment rates to remain qualified.

In this “jobless economic recovery,” the nature of unemployment has changed.  It is taking laid-off people longer to find new jobs than any time in the history.  Fully 75% of people who have qualified for the UI extension program have been unable to find a job before those benefits expired.  That’s an all-time record.

The 30,000 Northwest families who stand to lose benefits next year would be devastated if they lose UI benefits, but so would the local communities hardest hit by layoffs and unemployment where these benefits are immediately spent.  Every dollar in unemployment benefits are estimated to create $2.15 in community economic activity.

CALL TO ACTION:  Contact U.S. Rep. Jennifer Dunn at (202) 225-7761 or (206) 275-3438, or visit her e-mail page at www.house.gov/dunn/pr/contacts.htm.  Tell Dunn to fix the trigger mechanism to make sure the highest unemployment states like Washington and Oregon continue to qualify for desperately needed assistance.

The National Employment Law Project report explaining why high unemployment states like Washington and Oregon are about to lose extended UI benefits is available online at www.nelp.org/docUploads/TEUC%2DX%2Epdf.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11
Bender: Tax benefits should promote U.S. manufacturing jobs

Washington State Labor Council President Rick Bender has sent the following letter to members of Washington state's congressional delegation:

Dear Representative:

As the House Ways and Means Committee considers H.R. 2896, the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, strongly believes the legislation should be crafted to benefit America’s manufacturers and their workers. While we support a carefully crafted tax benefit for domestic production that is adjusted for worldwide production, the Washington State Labor Council strongly opposes the expansion of foreign tax benefits included in the base text and Chairman’s Substitute Amendment to H.R. 2896.

Thirty-seven straight months of manufacturing job loss -- more than 2.6 million jobs destroyed -- demonstrate the crisis in this sector is deep, prolonged, and requires immediate attention. Manufacturing job loss accounts for a staggering 97% of total U.S. job loss since March 2001. Unless these trends are reversed, American’s working families -- and the nation’s economy -- will continue to suffer serious, long-term damage.

Manufacturing has historically been a major generator of good, high-skilled, well-paid jobs, with strong links to jobs in non-manufacturing sectors, and it remains a mainstay of local and state economies throughout the nation. Because productivity growth (and, therefore, the potential for non-inflationary wage gains) has traditionally been greater in manufacturing than in services, the decline of manufacturing jobs affects not only workers in that sector, but also contributes to the stagnation of all workers’ wages. Moreover, the massive scale of manufacturing plant closings and job layoffs is contributing directly to the serious fiscal crises afflicting virtually every state in the nation.

Replacing the FSC/ETI with incentives to create and support U.S.-based manufacturing jobs is vital for the health of the industry and our entire economy. The Washington State Labor Council supports a tax benefit for the production of goods within the United States, adjusted for the percentage of a company’s worldwide production that takes place domestically. We support H.R. 1769, bipartisan legislation that would do just that, as well as a substitute amendment that Rep. Rangel plans to offer to H.R. 2896. 

The Washington State Labor Council strongly opposes the expansion of foreign tax benefits included in H.R. 2896. Our existing tax system already places American-based manufacturers at a terrible disadvantage compared to multinational firms that generate most production offshore. Those tax policies also urgently need to be fixed -- not expanded! We will oppose any addition to the legislation that would allow foreign investment income to be repatriated into the United States at a substantially lower rate, benefiting multinational corporations that have invested significant resources offshore instead of in the U.S. 

The domestic manufacturing tax benefit proposed in H.R. 1769 and Rep. Rangel’s amendment will improve our tax policy, but we believe Congress should also make other significant policy changes. America’s manufacturing workers are the most productive in the world. But they operate under enormous competitive disadvantages resulting from several factors in addition to tax policy, such as unfair trade agreements, an overvalued dollar and foreign currency manipulation, inadequate investment incentives, health care costs not borne by overseas producers, and foreign government subsidies. Unless these problems are addressed soon, American manufacturing capacity and jobs may end up permanently lagging. And our economic strength may be permanently weakened. U.S. productivity and wages gains have been largely driven by the performance of our manufacturing sector. 

We at the Washington State Labor Council urge Congress to start by passing a manufacturing tax benefit with a domestic/foreign adjustor as proposed by Rep. Rangel. We also urge you to make that only the first step of a more comprehensive effort to revitalize American manufacturing and eliminate incentives in the tax code to shift production abroad. 

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Rick S. Bender
President, Washington State Labor Council

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10
What are we doing right? What are we doing wrong?

Here's your chance to offer some anonymous, constructive feedback to the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO.  By filling out the form below, you can send us a message about what you REALLY think.

What are your opinions about the WSLC's effectiveness as an advocate for working families in Washington state?  What issues do you think we focus on too much, or not enough?  What services that we provide do you especially value, or wish we did a better job providing?  What do you like and dislike about this website?

Answer these or any other questions and feel free to be as painfully honest as you choose. (All we ask is that you indicate whether or not you are a union member.) Your feedback will be shared with WSLC staff and officers for their consideration.  Thank you.