Previous weeks' news: Nov. 7-11 -- Nov. 1-4 -- Oct. 24-28 

When it comes to finding living wage work, the numbers just don’t add up. For every 12 people looking for work, there is only one available job paying an adequate wage to support a family of three, according to Searching for Work That Pays: The 2005 Northwest Job Gap Study by the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations.

The study calculates the earnings needed to meet basic needs such as food, housing, transportation, health care, and the ability to save for emergencies, depending on household size. A livable wage for a single person in Washington is $10.77 per hour, rising to $22.35 an hour for a single parent with two children. For a household of two working adults and two children, the living wage is a combined $28.32 per hour. 

Families who do not work such wages are often forced to make tough choices.

“Despite how much I work, I have trouble paying bills, particularly rent and utilities,” said Sue Coffman, a Washington Community Action member who is featured in the report. “I’m especially worried about heating my home this winter. Prices keep going up.”

The trend toward low-wage service industry work is one reason for the insufficient number of living wage jobs. Another culprit is rising costs, such as health care and housing, that have caused the living wage to increase by more than seven percent since 2002.

For many families in low-wage work, health coverage is the first tradeoff. “Being young and in good health is the only health insurance I have,” said Richard Vega, another member of Washington Community Action featured in the report. “If I get injured, I just work through the pain and hope it doesn’t become a serious.”

He is not alone. Private health insurance is far out of reach for many working families. Just over 60 percent of people in Washington have health insurance through their employers, but fewer and fewer businesses are offering this benefit. Even for those lucky enough to have health insurance through work, rising co-pays and deductibles prevent many from receiving the care they need.

As winter approaches, another concern is that families may be slammed by skyrocketing energy bills. With predictions of home heating cost increases of 30 to 50 percent, the living wage numbers in the Northwest Job Gap study may underestimate people’s financial needs.

“We need the legislature to focus on maintaining jobs that pay living wages and offer benefits,” said  Shawn Cantrell, Executive Director of Washington Community Action. “In the meantime, we need support for programs that help families stay healthy, such as Medicaid and energy assistance. Our decision-makers must take action to help Washington ’s working families.”

The following memorandum from Rick S. Bender, President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, is being distributed today to the elected officers of all AFL-CIO and Change to Win Coalition unions in Washington state:

MEMORANDUM

From:    Rick S. Bender, President
To:        All local unions and councils in Washington state
Date:     Thursday, November 17

The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, is very pleased that the national AFL-CIO and the Change to Win Coalition have reached an agreement on Solidarity Charters, which allow recently disaffiliated CTW union locals to rejoin state federations and central labor councils.  AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says the federation will begin approving these Solidarity Charters effective immediately.

I urge all of our Brothers and Sisters at CTW unions to apply for the Solidarity Charters so we can restore and strengthen the WSLC as we head into the important 2006 legislation session and election season.  In recent months, I have remained in close communication with the leadership of Washington state’s CTW unions and many of them have continued to express their interest in rejoining the WSLC.  I urge each CTW union to review the Solidarity Charter proposal (see below) and apply as soon as possible, so that together we can rebuild and improve the WSLC, making our state federation an even more effective advocate for Washington ’s working families. 

I also urge all CTW local unions that were not previously affiliated -- or fully affiliated -- with the WSLC to consider the comments of their international union leaders who, without exception, have expressed support for the importance and effectiveness of the AFL-CIO’s state and local labor bodies. We invite you to join with us and would eagerly welcome your active participation in Washington ’s united labor movement.

If you have any questions regarding Solidarity Charters and how they work, please visit our web site (more detail below) or call our Seattle office at (206) 281-8901 or 1-800-542-0904. We look forward to hearing from you.

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Following are some clarifications from the national AFL-CIO in response to an inquiry by the WSLC:

• All Change to Win unions that have disaffiliated from the AFL-CIO, including local unions affiliated with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, are eligible to apply for Solidarity Charters.

• A new Solidarity Charter application form is posted at the AFL-CIO website.

• The AFL-CIO anticipates that Charter approvals will occur very quickly, within a few days of receipt of the applications.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2005
SPEEA reaches tentative agreement with Boeing

The following news release was distributed Tuesday afternoon by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, IFPTE Local 2001:

Negotiating teams for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, IFPTE Local 2001, concluded negotiations today with The Boeing Company with an agreement its negotiation teams strongly recommend members approve.

The offer for new three-year contracts lock in wage increases, places engineers and technical employees into Boeing’s employee incentive plan (EIP) and restores full medical coverage.

Last minute negotiations secured a commitment from Boeing to extend early retiree medical for new hires to Jan. 1, 2007 and work jointly with SPEEA to create methods to provide new employees a means to pay for future medical expenses when they retire early. After receiving the new Letter of Understanding outlining the commitment, the SPEEA Negotiation Teams recommend members vote “yes” to ratify the contract.

“The relationships we formed allowed us to come through this with a great contract,” said Charles Bofferding, SPEEA executive director.

The union is preparing voting packages to mail to members early next week. Members have until 5 p.m., Dec. 1, to cast and return their ballots. Results of the votes will be announced before the contract expires on Dec. 1. In addition to voting to accept or reject the contract, ballots will include a vote to grant SPEEA negotiation teams strike authorization power. The contract vote and strike authorization is decided by a simple majority.

SPEEA started main table talks with Boeing on Nov. 1 to negotiate new contracts for 12,096 engineers in the Professional Unit and 5,672 technical workers in the Technical Unit. The employees work at Boeing facilities throughout the Puget Sound region, Oregon, Utah and California. The two contracts expire Dec. 1. A third SPEEA bargaining unit in Wichita, Kansas opened main table talks Nov. 8 for a contract covering 785 engineers. The Wichita contract expires Dec. 5.

The offer for the Professional unit creates salary increase pools of 7 percent, which includes a 0.5 percent promotional fund and a 1.5 percent guaranteed wage increase. The offer for Technical employees creates salary increase pools of 4 percent, which includes a 0.5 percent promotional fund and a guaranteed wage increase of 2 percent. The offers restore many elements of the medical plans. For the first time, SPEEA-represented employees would be included in the Boeing Employee Incentive Plan. Represented-employees would receive their first annual EIP check in February.

 “I’m pleased the company was able to agree and include us in the EIP,” said Tom McCarty, chair of the SPEEA’s Puget Sound Professional Negotiation Team. “It’s the right thing to do and demonstrates that the contributions of all the employees at Boeing are vital to the success of the company.”

Top issues for SPEEA-represented employees included securing wage increases, maintaining good medical coverage, increasing employment security, enrollment in Boeing’s Employee Incentive Plan (EIP) and improving retirement benefits. As negotiations neared conclusion, the early retiree medical portion of the retirement benefits tipped the scales.

Early retiree medical coverage provides medical coverage for qualified employees retiring between age 55 and 65 when Medicare coverage begins.

“We obtained all the top issues our members wanted,” said Sharon Moats, chair of the SPEEA’s Puget Sound Technical Negotiation Team. “Getting into the EIP, holding medical costs and upgrading our retirement are all huge issues for our members.”

Contract negotiations in 2002 for the Puget Sound bargaining units were productive, with 88 percent of the voting members approving the agreements. During the 1999 negotiations, SPEEA-represented employees voted down two offers from Boeing before holding a 40-day strike.

SPEEA represents 22,200 engineers, technical and professional employees in Washington, Kansas, Oregon, Utah and California. The union, which is affiliated with the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), also represents workers at Spirit AeroSystems, Inc., in Wichita, Triumph Composite Systems, Inc., in Spokane, Wash., and at BAE Systems, Inc., in Irving, Texas.

For more information, visit www.speea.org or contact Bill Dugovich, SPEEA Communications Director, at 206-433-0991.

 

If you have news items regarding unions or workplace issues in Washington state that you would like to see posted here, please submit them via e-mail to David Groves or via fax to 206-285-5805.

Copyright © 2005   Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO