Local news:  ■  Threemile Canyon Farms' workers demand end to sexual discrimination (UFW Get Active campaign) -- "I don’t want women at the farm, I don't like women working here, they're only good for the bed." That’s what Threemile co-owner A.J. Bos reportedly told their workers shortly after they settled a sexual discrimination lawsuit, paying about $200,000 and pledging to hire females. Since the settlement, they have failed to hire any women workers.
■  Today from AP -- Women farmworkers sue Oregon's largest dairy, alleging discrimination
■  In today's Tri-City Herald -- Eastern Washington business owners discuss priorities -- More tax exemptions, lower minimum wage, less regulations, and a paaar-tridge in a pear treeee.
■  In today's Olympian -- Gregoire seeks welfare changes -- Parents on welfare will continue to get help paying for child care, but they will lose all of their financial support if they refuse to get a job.
■  In today's News Tribune -- Think globally, write locally -- Do thoughts of McDonald’s being more powerful than small nation-states keep you up at night? Do you ponder how your business can get a piece of the globalization pie? Do you use the word “globalization” even if you can’t define it? A Tacoma professor and a Gig Harbor business owner tackle these questions in new books.

Corporate hubris:  ■  In today's SF Chronicle -- Probe: Halliburton workers got Dick-ed -- A DOL investigation finds three violations of the law, two of which happened during VP Dick Cheney's tenure as CEO, including charging some costs of executive pension and bonus plans to the workers' pension fund. (Cheney got a $20 million bonus when he resigned to run for VP in 2000.)
■  A related story today from AP -- Pension plans face closer scrutiny  (just in time)
■  And a related story in today's LA Times -- Bill targets CEO compensation  (just in time)
■  Today from AP -- BP threatens Washington state, America -- London-based oil company BP has threatened a 10% production cut at its Cherry Point refinery near Bellingham if a federal law restricting tanker traffic in Puget Sound is not repealed.
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Right wing starts to reap the whirlwind (Connelly column) -- Evil deeds backfire. Alaska's vengeful GOP Senator-for-life Ted Stevens has introduced a bill to roll back federal protection of Puget Sound. His bid to oil our waters may only put a tailwind behind the re-election of Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, and give her the title, "Defender of the Sound."

National news:  ■  At AFLCIO.org -- Wal-Mart: Shoppers' bargain, workers' hell -- A pair of new reports and a just-released documentary hammer home how Wal-Mart’s everyday low wages -- and nearly always unaffordable health care benefits -- harm workers, lower community living standards, and set negative precedents for other large U.S. corporations.
■  In today's SF Chronicle -- Paperwork is 21% of health costs -- If you extrapolate the California  study's results nationally, about $230 billion a year is being spent on insurance administration.
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Together, we can fix health care (op-ed) -- It's time we mobilize Americans so politicians will finally act on our nation's health. Come to CodeBlueNow!'s Town Hall meeting in Seattle Dec. 5, with speakers from RAND and the National Coalition on Health Care.
■  In today's NY Times -- House leaders postpone vote on budget bill -- The nixed vote is a striking display of post-election discord and political anxiety running through Republican Party ranks.
■  Today from AP -- Poll: Most Americans doubt President Bush's honesty -- Almost six in 10 also say the Bush administration doesn't have high ethical standards. (Six in 10 Americans are right.)

THURSDAY, NOV. 10  ■  At AFLCIO.org -- Bush has "head in the sand" on China trade -- Bush says the record U.S. trade imbalance with China is merely “bothersome.”  But a new bipartisan report is more blunt in its assessment: “the trends in the U.S.-China relationship have negative implications for the long-term economic and security interests of the United States.”
■  Today from AP -- U.S. trade deficit hits all-time high and China's trade surplus shatters record

More "free" trade news:  ■  In The Hill -- CAFTA 15 cash in -- Business interests are making good on their promise to reward 15 House Democrats who backed CAFTA. In the three months since it passed the House by two votes, business groups have held more than a dozen fundraisers for members of the so-called “CAFTA 15,” including our own Rep. Norm Dicks.
■  Today from AP -- Barriers in trade talks still stand -- "The best we can hope for (at next month's talks) is to avoid a Seattle-Cancun style of meltdown, which would be devastating," says analyst.
■  At House of Labor blog -- "Free trade" is not about freedom -- Advocates for trade deals accuse critics of opposing "free trade"--yet the deals they advocate are all about accepting child slavery and denial of freedom by workers to form unions as acceptable parts of the global economy.

Also today: ■  Marcia Williams memorial celebration is Saturday in Tacoma

Election redux:  ■  In today's News Tribune -- A banner election for good government (editorial) -- The cynics lost this year. Most voters in Tuesday’s election shunned the anti-government, anti-tax sentiment that has pervaded Washington state elections in recent years.
■  In today's Seattle Times -- Peeved takes a holiday (Balter column) -- Few really like or trust government. But a growing practicality suggests you can overdo the whole government-bashing routine. You can lambaste and punish public institutions until you end up punishing yourself.
■  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Spokane voters back basic services -- Sixty percent of all city voters said "yes" to the measure that will raise property taxes by 32 cents on every $1,000 of assessed valuation to pay for basic services such as police, fire, libraries, parks and streets.
■  Today from AP -- Gas tax foes admit defeat; blame Katrina, rockslide, other things that happen
■  In today's Everett Herald -- Now DOT must live up to vote of confidence (editorial)
■  In today's Seattle Times -- Gas tax stays but don't expect big projects soon -- The central Puget Sound region will eventually have to come up with extra cash for its multibillion-dollar projects.
■  In today's Everett Herald -- Democrats look forward to majority on Snohomish County Council
■  In yesterday's Aberdeen Daily World -- Rep. Dean Takko given solid mandate from 19th District
■  In today's Seattle Times -- GOP not dropping voter challenges -- Says Boss Vance: "We think this elections 'gotcha' stuff has been working out real well for us." (OK, maybe he didn't say that.)

Left Coast election redux:  ■  In today's SF Chronicle -- The power of labor united (editorial) -- The national story of the election was how California's public-employee unions demonstrated that labor, if sufficiently unified and motivated, remains a powerful force in American politics.
■  In today's Oregonian -- Oregon looks to neighbors' ballot defeats -- Votes in California and Washington could decide how political wars will be waged in Oregon.
■  In today's LA Times -- Reluctant warrior bests governor -- A soft-spoken Bay Area teacher of the year recruited for the union's TV ads helped deal Schwarzenegger a devastating setback.
■  In today's LA Times -- Agenda of state's businesses dealt a blow at ballot box -- A move toward the political center could be bad news for business, which is counting on Schwarzenegger to block attempts to raise the minimum wage, hike workers' compensation insurance benefits or pass other legislation that business leaders believe is bad for the state's corporate climate.
■  Today from AP -- Republicans blame Schwarzenegger -- GOP co-horts say the across-the-board collapse of his ballot propositions came down to this: They were ideas with narrow appeal, further damaged by a flat-footed campaign and an unpopular messenger, the governor himself.
■  And the Headline of the Day Award goes to... The Oregonian -- Girly men 4, Arnold 0 (editorial)

Local news:  ■  In today's News Tribune -- Peninsula Light employees (IBEW 483) OK contract -- Workers at Gig Harbor utility rejected the same contract in September, but the strike vote failed.
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Swedish says its final offer to union (SEIU 1199NW) is on table
■  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Kaiser lands major contract with Airbus -- Kaiser Aluminum has signed a new supply contract with Airbus that stands to boost production at the Trentwood mill. The deal follows Kaiser's announcement of a $75 million capital investment project at the mill.
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Community colleges and skilled workers (op-ed by Speaker Chopp and Rep. Kenney) -- Other states and nations are investing heavily in education because they know we're in a global race for the best jobs. This is a race our state can win. Among the most effective ways to do that is to ensure the health and growth of our community and technical colleges.
■  In today's Everett Herald -- $6 billion Boeing jet deal signed with Air Canada
■  This morning from AP -- Boeing jet completes 12,586-mile flight 
■  In today's Olympian -- Squabble erupts over Olympia-Tacoma postmark -- "Does anybody have a joint postmark?" asks APWU leader. "I haven't heard of such as thing. It's just ridiculous." More.
■  Today from AP -- Amid skyrocketing demand, Kaiser Aluminum to expand its Trentwood mill
■  In today's PS Business Journal -- Port of Tacoma paying $12.5 million to end Weyerhaeuser lease

National news:  ■  In today's Washington Post -- GOP to strike Arctic drilling from House bill
■  In today's NY Times -- Amtrak fires its president in dispute over future
■  In today's NY Times -- A disgraceful signal at Amtrak (editorial) -- The Bush administration long ago threatened to disassemble Amtrak. Wednesday it began at the executive suite.
■  In today's NY Times -- Graduate teaching assistants go on strike against NYU
■  In today's NY Times -- Lobbyist Abramoff sought $9 million from African nation for Bush meeting

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 9  ■  Celebrate a successful election with the WSLC this Thursday!
-- The Washington State Labor Council's annual luncheon at Catholic Seaman's Club in downtown Seattle begins at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, with lunch served at noon. All union members, leaders, supporters, public officials, and fans of Father Tony's soda bread are invited to attend.

"IT'S ALL GOOD" -- 2005 election results (as of this morning):
■  Initiative 912 (Gas Tax Repeal) -- Yes 47.1%, No 52.9% -- Voters have chosen to retain the gas tax (even as oil companies gouge them with high prices) and support an $8.5 billion investment in our transportation infrastructure. This is a watershed vote for good jobs and our state's economy, an outcome that political pundits didn't think was possible just weeks ago. And don't fret. With a 64,000-vote lead, the estimated 500,000 ballots remaining to count would have to break more than 56% in favor of I-912 to change the result. With more than half of the remaining votes due from counties that opposed I-912 -- including 200,000 from King County where I-912 was opposed by nearly a 2-to-1 margin -- that ain't gonna happen. Put a fork in I-912... it's done.
■  Initiative 330 (Medical Malpractice Caps) -- Yes 45.9%, No 54.1% -- This is another major victory. Voters saw through a deceptive, negative campaign waged by the insurance industry and the Washington State Medical Ass'n, which demonized nurses' unions for daring to oppose I-330.
■  Initiative 901 (Clean Indoor Air Act) -- Yes 62.5%, No 37.5% -- This outcome is less of a surprise, but is another significant victory for Washington workers. I-901 bans indoor smoking in public places and the workplace, finally protecting ALL workers from toxic secondhand smoke.
■  19th LD special election -- Takko 61.4%, Courtney 33.8% -- With a 93% WSLC Voting Record, Rep. Dean Takko (D-Longview) earned labor's endorsement to retain this House seat.
■  California's Prop. 75 (Paycheck Deception) -- Yes 46.5%, No 53.5% -- Californians rejected Gov. Schwarzenegger's brazenly partisan attempt to silence the political voice of public employees.

Election news:  ■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Urban strongholds successfully keep gas tax -- WSLC President Rick Bender says, after voters soundly defeated a gas tax increase in 2002, the I-912 outcome represents a landslide of support for transportation.
■  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Spokane voters approve tax increase for public safety
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Sims handily wins 3rd full term as King County Executive
■  In today's Everett Herald -- Democrats in charge of Snohomish Co. Council after Somers victory
■  In today's Seattle Times -- Seattle Monorail dream appears to reach the end of the line 

National election news:  ■  At AFLCIO.org -- Working families win in elections across the nation
■  In today's LA Times -- Voters reject Arnold's bid to remake government -- In a sharp repudiation of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Californians rejected all four of his ballot proposals Tuesday in an election that shattered his image as an agent of the popular will.
■  In today's LA Times -- Gubernatorial wins in New Jersey, Virginia lift hopes of Democrats
■  In today's NY Times -- Stinging defeats for Republicans come at a sensitive time
■  In today's NY Times -- Evolution outpolls intelligent design -- All 8 members of the Pennsylvania school board that introduced intelligent design as an alternative to evolution are swept from office.

Boeing news:  ■  In today's Everett Herald -- SPEEA wants Boeing incentives (Corliss column) -- You don't have to be a fly on the wall to know that one of the topics under discussion behind closed doors is Boeing's Employee Incentive Program and SPEEA's desire to be part of it.
■  In today's News Tribune -- Boeing blames IAM work stoppage for 250 layoffs in Wichita
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- The longest flight -- Boeing's new 777-200LR will attempt to fly from Hong Kong to London creating a new world record for the longest commercial jetliner flight.

Other local news:  ■  In today's Bellingham Herald -- Cole's love for work made grocery chain flourish -- Jack Byron Cole, one of Bellingham's leading businessmen dies, at age 92.
■  In today's Tri-City Herald -- Supreme Court rules in favor of Tyson meat packers in Pasco
■  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Wal-Mart shoppers need to speak up (column) -- Wal-Mart lives and dies by the poor. It should alter its business model accordingly. Paying workers livable wages, and offering solid benefits, would be a sort of cosmic payback for reaping profits off the poor.
■  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Spokane's Ridpath Hotel plans staff reductions; 70 face layoff
■  In today's News Tribune -- Tacoma may eliminate 41 jobs at City Hall with all-cuts budget
■  In today's Salem (Ore.) S-J -- Boise Cascade jobs to stay in Salem

National news:  ■  At AFLCIO.org -- "Everybody has to be an organizer"
■  In today's NY Times -- The windfall profit tax (editorial) -- To be effective, a windfall tax should be part of a strategy to reduce oil dependence, which in turn would depend on reducing consumption.
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Bush aide doesn't rule out presidential pardon for Libby
■  In today's LA Times -- Feds sue Fox News over workplace sexual harassment -- Can we see a show of hands from everybody who's surprised? Anyone? Bueller?

ELECTION DAY, NOV. 8  ■ VOTE! -- Mail your ballots today
or, if it is still possible in your county, vote at the polls by 8 p.m. (but bring some ID.  For county-specific details, visit vote.wa.gov.
■  In the Seattle Times -- Count on close election monitoring
■  In today's KCJ -- Officials concerned about voter intimidation -- Republican Party challenges of voter registrations may have intimidated many of the challenged voters and King County's top elections official fears that thousands of them will not vote today.
■  In today's Tri-City Herald -- I-912 to lose to landslide? (blog) -- Sunday's rock slide that closed I-90 occurred at a site where the DOT plans to reconfigure the highway. The transportation package (jeopardized by I-912) includes $388 million to shore up a 5-mile stretch of roadway there.

Local news:  ■  Olympia APWU opposes moving cancellation operations to Tacoma
■  Today from AP -- U.S. Supreme Court backs workers in wage case -- In a case originating at Pasco's Tyson Foods plant, the court unanimously rules that companies must pay plant workers for the time it takes to change into safety gear and walk to their work stations.
■  In today's Spokesman-Review -- City, union reach deal -- Leaders of Spokane's largest labor union (AFSCME 270) have reached a tentative agreement with city officials to delay wage increases and to pay more for health coverage as a way to ease ongoing budget problems.
■  In today's News Tribune -- Tacoma employees prepare for layoffs in new city budget
■  In Monday's Tri-City Herald -- Hanford budget leaves Doc with new battle (editorial) -- We can't help but be disappointed by Hastings' inability to prevent funding for Hanford from getting slashed.
■  In today's Seattle Times -- State hoping to lure new Rolls-Royce plant -- The jet engine maker has plans to open a factory in the United States. Gregoire made a pitch for state to the firm's COO.
■  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Kaiser Aluminum seeks county funds -- The company is asking Spokane County to help finance a $3.6 million tunnel to improve access to the Mead property.

Slain mental health worker:  ■  In today's Kitsap Sun -- Marty Smith fondly remembered -- He loved motorcycles. He was a jokester; a caring father and husband. On the job, Marty Smith, 46, of Poulsbo, was a passionate social worker, who died doing performing the work he loved.
■  In today's Seattle Times -- Mental health workers rattled by killing of crisis responder
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Limit safety risks for government workers (editorial) -- Law-enforcement officers are not the only government employees who face the threat of violence on the job. The stabbing death last week of a Kitsap Mental Health Services worker is a grim reminder.

National news:  ■  In today's Wash. Post -- Labor keeps up its guard in effort to change workplace rules -- Ten unions, representing more than 350,000 Defense civil service employees, asked a federal court to block a regulation that would allow top Pentagon officials to override union contracts and to streamline the process for hearing employee appeals of major disciplinary action.
■  In today's Wash. Post -- Delphi unions to work together -- All six unions representing Delphi workers and retirees are forming a coalition to protest proposed wage and benefits cuts at the auto supplier, a sign that the company might face a strike if it presses demands for cutbacks.
■  From AP -- Wal-Mart execs knew of illegal workers, U.S. says -- Senior execs knew cleaning contractors were hiring illegal immigrants, many of whom were housed in crowded conditions.
■  In today's NY Times -- Workers are pressing Gillette over conditions at packaging plant -- Workers are complaining that Gillette has gone too far in relying on temporary workers, a practice that they say is fostering poverty, destabilizing families and undercutting communities.
■  In the USA Today -- Outsourcing gets closer to home with CAFTA -- Touting themselves as the "new Asia," organizations across Latin America are talking about the benefits of "nearsourcing."
■  In today's NY Times -- Best hope for fiscal sanity (editorial) -- The fate of the tax bill moving through the Senate depends on Sen. Olympia Snowe, a rare Republican voice for fiscal responsibility.

Last Throes update:  ■  In today's Washington Post -- Four U.S. soldiers die in suicide attack
■  In today's NY Times -- President Bush's walkabout (editorial) -- After Bush's disastrous visit to Latin America, it's unnerving to realize that his presidency still has more than three years to run.
■  Today from Reuters -- Bush: We do not torture
■  32 years ago from Reuters -- Nixon: I am not a crook

MONDAY, NOV. 7  ■ Coming events -- Election Day, MLK Jr. CLC's "Meet the Winners' food-bank fundraiser, WSLC Seamen's Club Luncheon, and the D-10 right-to-organize events.

Election news:  ■  In Sunday's Seattle P-I -- Enough, now vote No on I-912 (editorial) -- Do you want to send state government a fanciful message or will you vote to tax yourself for safe roads, bridges and ferries?
■  Today from AP -- Gas prices have dropped 23 cents in past 2 weeks
■  In the PS Business Journal -- Costly choice (editorial) -- The gas tax isn't perfect. But the cost of striking it down -- in terms of political drift, in terms of human safety -- is far too dear to allow.
■  In Sunday's News Tribune -- What I-912 is about: Killing road projects (editorial) -- I-912’s sponsors have no Plan B. They dream of building highways without environmental mitigation or labor contracts, but they have no real-world alternatives. For the most part, the projects killed by I-912 just won’t get done, not in the foreseeable future. And ordinary drivers, the people who need the roads to get to work, will wind up paying the price.
■  In Sunday's News Tribune -- I-330, I-336 could end up before Legislature

Vote suppression news:  ■  In the Seattle P-I -- GOP challenges voting rights of hundreds -- County sends 1,774 voters certified letters saying Republicans are challenging their right to vote. Boss Vance admits hundreds of them are mistakes, but says "the overwhelming majority... are valid."
■  At HorsesAss.org -- Did GOP leader commit perjury? -- On each of the 1,944 voter challenges, King County GOP leader Lori Sotelo declared “under penalty of perjury” that she has “personal knowledge and belief that this person is not qualified to vote.” But the party admits she had no such knowledge and she just signed them all, even though many of them were mistakes.

Next election news:  ■  In the PSBJ -- State's new estate tax faces challenge by old foe in 2006
■  From AP -- McGavick mounts campaign against party's obstacles -- Cantwell's challenger cites Hurricane Katrina response and the federal deficit, and says, "When D.C. gets off the rails, we send new people back there." (Uh, isn't his party already in charge back there?)
■  In Sunday's Seattle Times -- McGavick is worth a look (editorial) --  We don't have to make up our minds yet, but already, Mike McGavick is a candidate worth watching. (Yeah. Watch Mike advocate for privatizing UW and WSU, and firing public employees for no reason.)

Local news:  ■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Boeing retirees told not to switch to Medicare drug plan -- About 100,000 Boeing retirees (and many others) warned they could lose medical insurance.
■  In Saturday's Tri-City Herald -- La Clinica CFO put on paid leave -- Action follows nearly a year of battling problems involving employee morale, board leadership and management vacancies.
■  In Saturday's Bellingham Herald -- Union official (IBT 231) critical of Whatcom surplus timing -- Weeks after approving a new contract, the county reveals it has a surplus of $15.8 million.
■  In the PSBJ -- Firefighters don't hold grudge against Eyman -- The initiative profiteer falls off his bike in front of Mukilteo fire station and breaks his collarbone. Fire fighters help him anyway.
■  In today's Oregonian -- Freightliner suspends 37 workers (IAM 1005), alleges computer misuse

National news:  ■  Today at AFLCIO.org -- "Labor laws no longer protect workers' rights" -- Both both Reagan- and Clinton-appointed members of the NLRB agree, American workers’ freedom to form unions is under attack by employers -- and the nation’s labor laws are not protecting them.
■  In today's LA Times -- Albertson's may find itself going to pieces when sold -- A buyer would be likely to keep only part of the assets, selling or shutting the rest, analysts say.
■  Today from AP -- Tentative deal means some Philly transit resumes 
■  In today's NY Times -- Congress's sham budget savings (editorial) -- The $54 billion plan headed for a floor vote this week amounts to budget cuts for the poor and environmental licentiousness.
■  In today's NY Times -- This time Schwarzenegger may not get Hollywood ending -- His four ballot measures are trailing in the polls, and his re-election prospects appear to be dimming.
■  In today's LA Times -- AFTRA to relocate headquarters from N.Y. to L.A.

Last Throes update:  ■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Iraq War: Finding the exit (editorial) -- A resolution with bipartisan support in the U.S. House would demand that Bush at least lay out a road map, if not a timetable, for what the war in Iraq should accomplish and when. Painful as it may be for some, this harsh examination of our foreign policy -- and of ourselves -- is healthy and long overdue.
■  In today's LA Times -- Anti-war sermon brings warning from IRS -- One of SoCal's largest and most liberal churches is at risk of losing its tax-exempt status because of an antiwar sermon two days before the 2004 election. (Stick to railing against abortion and gay marriage, please.)