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Links to press stories are functional at the date of posting.  In some cases, free registration is required at newspapers' sites.  Links sometimes "expire" when the source would like to begin charging for old news. WSLC Reports Today  links to all stories of interest to organized labor; some positive, some negative. The intention is to inform.  The creation of a link does not constitute an endorsement of that story's content.

Reports for October 18-22, 2004

Previous weeks' news: Oct. 11-15 -- Oct. 4-8 -- Sept. 27-Oct. 1

FRIDAY, Oct. 22 -- Supreme Court ruling limits campaign contributions by local unions
— In today's Olympian -- State Supreme Court overturns old campaign finance rule (AP) -- Court overturns a decade-old rule allowing local affiliates of statewide and national unions to contribute to individual candidates as separate entities. The ruling won't influence next month's election.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Ruling changes how union campaign giving counts
— In today's Yakima H-R -- Police cite two as frustration mounts at Snokist cannery -- Workers (WCIW) have been on strike for one month over wages, benefits and other issues. Snokist officials say they have made their best contract offer and they plan to hire permanent replacements for the strikers.
...plus -- Apples lead agriculture surge -- Despite 2003's fifth straight increase in annual production, led by a record-breaking $1.15 billion apple crop, grower groups continue to whine about the minimum wage. The 2004 harvest is expected to be substantially larger; prices growers are getting are also higher. So what's wrong with a tiny raise that keeps the value of workers' wages from decreasing? 
— In today's LA Times -- Boeing pension data sought -- It is among six large manufacturing companies that the SEC has requested information about accounting practices for its multibillion-dollar pension.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Upstart business-class carrier to order 40 Boeing 737s and 7E7s
...plus -- Seattle Times to cut 37 (mostly union) customer-service jobs, contract out to Wisconsin
— In today's Salem (Ore.) S-J -- Insurance firm's money flows to disband Oregon's workers' comp system -- Liberty Northwest has spent more than $7 million, shattering state spending records, to pass a ballot measure forcing the dismantling of the state-run SAIF Corp., Liberty's prime competitor in Oregon's workers' compensation market.  Question: Why aren't right-wing anti-government business groups in Washington (like BIAW) clamoring for privatization of our workers' comp system anymore like they used to?  Answer: They love our state-run system! They've turned it into their own personal cash cow with the retro rebate program. They don't want to get rid of it, they just want to control it.
Election news: — In today's Olympian -- Out-of-state TV ads attack Senn again (AP) -- Learn more.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Eastern Washington race has a topsy-turvy quality -- Connelly column: Democrat Don Barbieri is immediate past president of the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- revealing itself as a politically partisan group accountable to no one -- is backing Republican Cathy McMorris, without consulting anyone in Eastern Washington.
— In today's Oregonian -- Gregoire for Governor of Washington -- Editorial: We have particular hope for Gregoire's ability to work on health care. Rossi talks mostly about capping malpractice awards and cutting benefits; Gregoire goes deeper. She's got the potential to collaborate with the insurance industry, doctors, lawyers, medical providers and others to improve issues of access and affordability.
At AFLCIO.org -- Middle-class incomes decline since Bush tax-giveaway to the wealthy
— In today's NY Times -- Voting and counting -- Krugman column: We must acknowledge the possibility that a narrow Bush win rests on the systematic disenfranchisement of minority voters.

THURSDAY, Oct. 21 -- McKenna campaign's corporate sponsors attack Senn -- again
Election news: — In today's Seattle P-I -- Attack ads again target Senn -- Pharmaceutical, tobacco, oil and other corporate special-interests buy $1.3 million in TV ads attacking attorney general candidate.
— In today's Seattle Times -- Bipartisan gas-tax vote comes back to haunt Democrats -- Some of the state's biggest companies, including Weyerhaeuser, Microsoft and Boeing, pushed lawmakers to raise the gas tax by a nickel. Now, Democrats who supported the increase are being attacked for their vote by a political group funded by Weyerhaeuser, Microsoft and Boeing. Republicans who also voted for the gas-tax increase, like Sen. Dino Rossi, are not being targeted by the political group.
— In today's Yakima H-R -- Gregoire, Rossi turn up the heat -- Gregoire questions the ethics of then-Sen. Rossi for entering into real estate deals with BIAW lobbyists while pushing BIAW bills in the State Senate. The BIAW has endorsed Rossi, whose first legislative election win was hailed by BIAW boss Tom McCabe as the BIAW's biggest win of the 1996 election. Once again in 2004, the BIAW is investing heavily in Rossi's campaign -- and using taxpayers' money to do it.
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Christine Gregoire for Governor -- Editorial: Gregoire has political savvy, but as the head of an autonomous department, she wouldn't be bringing any legislative baggage into the governor's office. Rossi said the state's economy was suffering from anti-business regulations, but when asked, he wasn't able to name any existing ones that need to be reformed.
— In today's NY Times -- Robertson: Bush predicted no Iraq toll -- Evangelical broadcaster says Bush serenely assured him just before the Iraq invasion, "Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties."
...plus --  Chiller theater -- Editorial: The Bush campaign grows ever more irresponsible in its effort to scare Americans into believing that voting for John Kerry will bring on another terrorist attack.
Today at AFLCIO.org -- Corporations doubled the number of jobs sent overseas in 3 years
— In today's Seattle Times -- Large companies in state shift to outsourcing, survey says
— In today's LA Times -- Unite Here union set to boycott LA hotels after 6 months of failed negotiations

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 20 -- Safeway still paying dearly for insisting on wage, benefit cuts
Election news: — In today's Seattle Times -- For Rossi, business and politics prove a potent mix -- While a State Senator, Rossi and his partners (one of whom was a BIAW lobbyist) profited on real estate deals. Though Rossi brags no tenant has ever sued him, one describes a mold problem Rossi refused to fix as being so severe that county health officials urged her to move for the sake of her children.
...plus -- Rossi's tale about nephew, state's poor business climate fudges the facts -- "Oh my God, they killed Kenny's business!"  Not.  Learn more about the Rossi campaign myth that "we suck."
— Related stories in today's Seattle P-I -- State outpaces nation at creating jobs -- Washington's economy outpaces the nation in the ability to create jobs, expanding its job base by 2%, compared with the national rate of 1%. Disputing "fuzzy math," Rossi insists, "Make no mistake -- we still suck."
...plus -- State's schools rank 8th in U.S. -- Rossi, covering his ears: "Nyah, nyah... I can't hear you."
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- Mary Kay Becker for Supreme Court (editorial)
— In today's Yakima H-R -- Nuclear waste Initiative 297 should be defeated (editorial)
...plus -- Mo' gambling, mo' problems (editorial opposing I-892)
— In today's Olympian -- Oppose I-892 gambling expansion (editorial)
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Busted in a Buick -- Editorial: Secretary of State Sam Reed has blundered into a bit of 11th-hour political gotcha over the purchase and alleged campaign use of his state vehicle.
— In today's LA Times -- Sinclair retreats on anti-Kerry film -- Facing advertiser defections, a viewer boycott and a plummeting stock price, the broadcaster scraps its plan to air a film attacking Kerry's 1970s-era antiwar activities, and will instead run a "news" special incorporating parts of the movie.
Local news: — In today's Tri-City Herald -- Simplot workers in Pasco vote against unionization
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Boeing needs 7E7 order rush to meet year-end target of 200
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Man saw fire on barge before oil spill -- Today's lesson: "At What Price: Public Sector Privatization and Outsourcing" -- When Jenkins heard about the spill, he called the Crime Stoppers number that authorities hunting for the mystery polluter set up as a tip line. Jenkins said he was dismayed when the person who answered asked him "what river Seattle was on."
National news: — In today's LA Times -- Measure requiring employer health coverage leads in poll -- Prop. 72 would affirm new state law requiring businesses with 50 or more employees to provide health insurance or pay a fee into a state-run plan. It leads 46% to 29%, with 25% still undecided.
— In today's NY Times -- Towns hand out tax breaks, then cry foul as jobs leave -- People in this big-shouldered Illinois town, birthplace of poet Carl Sandburg, say Maytag broke their hearts. After a decade of tax breaks and union concessions to keep the company in a place that has been making refrigerators for more than 50 years, Maytag just closed its factory, terminating 1,600 jobs.
— In today's News Tribune -- Boeing waits in Wichita, tells workers no decision yet on plant sale (AP)

TUESDAY, October 19 -- Washington ranks 9th best for business tax "friendliness"
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- Intalco workers (IAM) accept 4-year contract raising medical premiums
— In today's Everett Herald -- Marysville schools bargaining with union finishes smoothly
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Lockheed urges cancellation of $6 billion in Boeing deals over ethical lapses
— In today's Washington Post -- TSA deal overpaid Boeing by $49 million, report says
— In today's News Tribune -- End of the line for a proud bird -- The lone aircraft inside The Boeing Co.’s vast 4-81 building in Renton is No. 1050, the last 757 that the company will build.
Election News: — In today's Seattle Times -- GOP goes negative on Dave Ross -- Sensing a lost seat, the Republican Party ignores Reichert's promise to run a positive campaign and buys TV ads saying Dave Ross would "empower terrorists." It's a theme consistent with Nethercutt's desperate attempt to link Sen. Murray and Osama bin Laden; a theme that matches a leading Republican Party media consultant's brazen mantra of "what drives votes:" Fear, Desire (read: Greed) and Hope (in that order).
...plus yesterday -- Hanford cleanup efforts show Gregoire's persistent side (Riley column)
— In today's Yakima H-R -- Return Patty Murray to the U.S. Senate (editorial)
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- Vote "No" on gambling, Hanford initiatives (editorial)
— In today's Everett Herald -- Secretary of State Sam Reed's use of state car criticized
At AFLCIO.org -- New report blasts Bush's civil rights record
— Today from the Associated Press -- Unions back Kerry in battleground states
— In today's NY Times -- Poll shows Bush-Kerry tie; concerns cited about both candidates
— In today's SF Chronicle -- Can both worker rights and civil rights win in hotel talks? (Bacon op-ed)
— In today's Everett Herald -- Wal-Mart's labor pains (AP) -- Government certifies Canadian store workers as union and orders sides to negotiate. A spokeswoman for the notoriously anti-union company says, "We just don't feel like the union would add anything to our culture or improve our relationships with our associates," making the common mistake that IT'S NOT UP TO THE COMPANY TO DECIDE WHETHER THEIR EMPLOYEES HAVE A UNION. (Hello... McFly!)
— Today from MSNBC.com -- Schwarzenegger's pro-Bush speech irks wife; no sex for 14 days, he says 

MONDAY, October 18 -- A proven advocate, Senn is labor's pick for Attorney General
— In Saturday’s Tri-City Herald -- Thai farm workers in high demand during harvest -- Man who runs business helping import Thai workers says local workers "don't really want to come to work."
— In Saturday's Seattle P-I -- New Puget Sound business group seeks to help create 100,000 new jobs
Election news: — In today's Bremerton Sun -- Political role reversal (AP) -- Hypocrisy laid bare as GOP touts business experience in governor's race (Rossi has "signed the front side of a check" as a businessman, but "my opponent has worked in state government all her adult life"), but accuse Democrat Don Barbieri of being a heartless capitalist in his race against a career Olympia politician.
— In Sunday's Olympian -- Questions of oversight, results dog charter schools
— In Saturday's Seattle P-I -- Backer of I-892 gambling measure fights loan-sharking charges
— In Sunday's Yakima H-R -- Challenger Matheson says Rep. Hastings puts his party first
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Bush planning "January surprise" on Social Security (AP) -- Bush says one of first items of business in his second term would be "privatizing Social Security," which Kerry (and the Congressional Budget Office) say means benefit cuts of between 25 and 45 percent.
— In today's Washington Post -- Unionists mobilize for work, benefits
...plus -- Cheney absent for Oregon voters -- White House decides to leave VP out of state voter guide.
Endorsements: — In Saturday's Seattle P-I -- Gregoire for Governor (editorial) -- We get a sense of hardwood with Gregoire and with Rossi a sense of veneer -- smooth, attractive, but not as deep.
— In Sunday's Olympian -- Christine Gregoire for Governor (editorial) -- Gregoire brings experience, vision, intensity, common sense and a commitment to the public... Rossi, a commercial real estate agent, lacks the administrative experience necessary to run state government.
— In Sunday's Columbian -- Patty Murray for U.S. Senate (editorial)
— In Sunday's NY Times -- John Kerry for President (editorial) -- Over the last year we have come to know Mr. Kerry as more than just an alternative to the status quo. He has qualities that could be the basis for a great chief executive, not just a modest improvement on the incumbent.
National news: — In Saturday's Wichita (Kan.) Eagle -- Four bidders court Boeing for Wichita plant
— In today's News Tribune -- US Airways gets court approval to cut workers' wages
...plus -- United Airlines wants to trim even more costs from labor
— In today's Seattle Times -- Wealth gap among races widens in recession (AP)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22
Supreme Court ruling limits campaign contributions by locals

The State Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a decade-old rule allowing local affiliates of statewide and international unions to contribute to individual candidates as separate entities with separate contribution limits.

For years, the Public Disclosure Commission's interpretation of 1992's campaign finance reform Initiative 134 has been that if a state council or parent organization "stays out" of a state campaign then its local unions were effectively autonomous -- deciding individually which candidates they would support -- and therefore had separate contribution limits for each local.

The impact of Thursday's ruling is that, in the future, locals within the same international union will be restricted to a single contribution limit when contributing to an endorsed candidate. The ruling won't influence next month's election.

The new campaign finance restriction on unions is based on the flawed assumption that unions are "top down" organizations, where political endorsements and campaign contributions are controlled by state councils or even one individual, and therefore should be restricted to a single contribution limit.

Anyone who has ever served as a delegate representing their union at a Washington State Labor Council political endorsement convention knows better.  When a roll-call vote occurs to determine if a candidate has the two-thirds majority necessary to attain endorsement, it is routine for different union locals from the same international to vote differently.  Sometimes votes are even split within a union local.

Ironically, the new restrictions assuming top-down undemocratic control target labor organizations, which have openly democratic processes for members to vote on which candidates to support.  Meanwhile, business interests -- which spend from 12 to 15 times more on politics than labor unions every election cycle -- have no democratic process among shareholders or governing boards to determine how their political money is spent.

For more information, check out Thursday's ruling online: Robert Edelman v. State of Washington, No. 74152-2. The following story by Associated Press reporter Rebecca Cook does a good job explaining the ruling:

SEATTLE -- The state Supreme Court struck down a 10-year-old campaign finance rule Thursday in a decision that will sharply limit unions' ability to contribute money to political candidates.

"It is a dramatic change," said Doug Ellis, spokesman for the state's Public Disclosure Commission, which oversees campaign finance.

The ruling won't influence the Nov. 2 election, because it doesn't take effect immediately. The losing side, in this case the state, has 20 days to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider.

But the ruling will affect future campaigns. Under the old rules, local units of national and state groups -- such as unions and trade associations -- could each give the maximum amount to a political candidate, as long as their parent organizations didn't get involved.

For example, three locals of the International Union of Operating Engineers -- in Richland, Bothell and Tacoma -- each contributed the maximum amount, $1,350, to Democrat Christine Gregoire's general election campaign for governor this year.

Those donations were legal under the PDC's old rule, but in the future, contributions from locals of the same union will be counted together toward the maximum amount.

The ruling also applies to business groups such as the Building Industry Association and the Realtors association, which have local units that often donate separately to campaigns. But unions will feel the biggest impact by far.

"This ruling is going to make it even harder for organizations supporting working families to have a political voice," said David Groves, spokesman for the Washington State Labor Council. "Already unions are outspent by business. They already have the money advantage, and this decision will give them a bigger advantage."

Bob Edelman, a retired Boeing engineer who filed the lawsuit against the PDC, said he just didn't think the agency's rule was right.

"The large organizations have been getting around it with this loophole," Edelman said. The court's ruling, he said, "will bring us back to a more level playing field."

If union locals cannot contribute independently to candidates, Groves predicted more union money may funnel to independent expenditure campaigns.

"I'll leave it up to people to decide if they think that is a good thing," Groves said.

The Supreme Court's ruling comes from campaign finance rules established when voters approved Initiative 134 in 1992, with the goal of limiting the influence of big-money campaign donors.

The PDC determined that the law was ambiguous on the question of contributions from local units, and wrote the rule to clarify it. The high court ruled the law is clear: If one local unit contributes the maximum amount to a candidate, other local units of the same group can't contribute more.

"We will not strain to find ambiguity where the language of the statute is clear," Justice Charles Johnson wrote for the 6-3 majority.

State Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance called on the PDC to enforce the Supreme Court's ruling immediately and retroactively. He said candidates who accepted the maximum donation from multiple locals of one union should be forced to return those contributions. However, Vance conceded that turn of events would be highly unlikely.

The case is Robert Edelman v. State of Washington, No. 74152-2.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21
McKenna campaign's corporate sponsors attack Senn again
GOP candidate's ability to serve public as attorney general called into question