Also today:  ■  SPEEA members ratify Boeing contract for Puget Sound units
■  In today’s Everett Herald -- SPEEA approves Boeing contract -- The union said 89.5 percent of engineers and 84.1 percent of technical workers approved the contracts, which cover about 12,100 engineers and 5,700 technical workers that SPEEA represents around Puget Sound.
■  More coverage in the News Tribune, Seattle P-I and from AP, which the Times belatedly picked up this morning 
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- Boeing beefs up lead over Airbus
■  In today’s Everett Herald -- Big order, big month for Boeing -- Cathay Pacific order for twelve 777s is a blow to Airbus, and it could snowball into more deals in the Asia-Pacific region.

Local news:  ■  In today’s Everett Herald -- Kimberly-Clark, union deadlock -- Officials from the Association of Western Pulp & Paper Workers say an unfair labor practices strike is possible at the Everett plant, and the company says it has plans to keep the mill running if a strike occurs.
■  In today’s Yakima H-R -- Yakima postmark could be in jeopardy -- Olympia, the state capital, will lose sole custody of its postmark next year, having to share it with Tacoma under a USPS plan. Some fear the same is in store for Yakima, which could lose its postal identity to Pasco.
■  In today’s Spokesman-Review-- Manager blows whistle on DSHS child-welfare division -- First in a speech to a legislative committee last month, and then in an e-mail that has bounced across the agency, program manager Bob Partlow labeled the state's oversight of its child welfare system "dysfunctional" and "disheartening," and described its management as "schizophrenic."
■  In yesterday’s Longview Daily News -- State should bolster mental health budget (editorial)
■  In today’s Tri-City Herald -- Housing needs of farm workers debated -- Local commissioners, Latino leaders and others discuss where more permanent housing would be useful and what attracts farm workers to live in campgrounds, even those without restrooms or showers.
■  In today’s News Tribune -- Construction trades meeting teaches how to become an apprentice
■  In today’s Yakima H-R -- Movie focuses on Wal-Mart -- Teamsters Local 760 will host a free screening Saturday morning of the documentary "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" at the UpTown Plaza in Yakima. (If you haven't seen it yet... click here to find a screening.)
■  In the PS Business Journal -- Olympia's Capital Medical Center changes hands in $260 million deal 
■  In today’s King County Journal -- County job growth will continue to outpace nation, some guy says

D.C. graft update:  ■  From AP -- Some Republicans returning Cunningham money... But not ours! Reps. Dave Reichert and Cathy McMorris aren't on the list of those returning contributions from the disgraced bribe-taking California congressman. They each received $1,000 from his American Prosperity PAC in 2004. GOP loser Nethercutt also took $5,000 from Cunningham's PAC.
■  Yesterday at HorsesAss.org -- What's up, Doc? -- Indicted House GOP leader Tom Delay elevated Rep. "Doc" Hastings to Chair the House Ethics Committee exactly for his well-earned reputation of doing nothing in Congress… and he hasn’t disappointed the Republican leadership. Under his control the Committee has sat in gridlock as scandal has erupted around them.
■  In the Wash. Post -- Business as usual: Corrupt (Kinsley op-ed) -- A D.C. career's moral arc used to have four parts: idealism, pragmatism, ambition and corruption. That's still true today, only faster.

Local political news:  ■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- State Sen. Thibaudeau not about to move on (Connelly column) -- Rep. Ed Murray has delivered repeated hints to 43rd District Sen. Pat Thibaudeau: Move on over, or I'll move on over you. Thibaudeau served notice Thursday. She's not moving.
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- State Senate: Block or deal? (editorial) -- Sen. Mike Hewitt of Walla Walla says he has the Republican caucus vote for Senate minority leader all but locked up. We trust Hewitt will resist taking an obstructionist role and instead work on meeting the state's pressing needs -- even if it means cooperating with those Western Washington Democrats.

National news:  ■  At AFLCIO.org -- Dec. 10 events nationwide: Grinches, caroling, candlelight vigils -- Check out the local events: D-10 actions next week will call for freedom to form unions.
■  In today’s LA Times -- Union's latest idea: Organize a contest -- SEIU competition seeks common-sense solutions to national problems. Learn more at SinceSlicedBread.com.
■  In today’s NY Times -- Bush administration plans new checks for illegal workers, their employers
■  In today’s Washington Post -- GOP official urges caution on immigrants -- RNC boss wants his party to oppose rising anti-immigrant sentiments in the debate over border security and illegal immigration, suggesting that the GOP risks being on the wrong side of history and electoral politics alike if it embraces an exclusionary message.
■  In today’s LA Times -- Health plan costs come under fire -- California's Insurance Commissioner  grills insurance company executives about why premiums have soared 60% in four years.

THURSDAY, DEC. 1  ■  D-10 actions next week will call for freedom to form unions
■  Today at AFLCIO.org -- Federal employees gain ground against unfair Bush rules -- Administration efforts to remove federal workers' union voice at work are on hold at DoD and Homeland Security.

Local news:  ■  In today’s Seattle Times -- Study paints dire picture at Hanford -- Mismanagement and other problems with the Hanford cleanup means it could cost as much as 67% more than first estimated and take four years longer than promised, says to a closely-guarded federal report.
■  In today’s Yakima H-R -- Union wants dairy's lenders to back contract negotiations -- United Farm Workers members will hand out informational leaflets today at Bank of the West in Yakima and Sunnyside in support of a labor movement at Columbia River Dairy near Boardman, Ore.
■  In today’s Yakima H-R -- Postal review raises concerns in Yakima -- The USPS will study the efficiency of outgoing mail processing operations, which postal unions warn could lead to consolidation, reduced service, reassignment of employees and possibly layoffs.
■  In today’s Olympian -- Audit blasts Basic Health Plan -- The health plan for the state's working poor has flaws and can't show how well its participants are cared for, says a preliminary audit.
■  In today’s News Tribune -- NASCAR speedway unveils tax plan -- The International Speedway Corp. wants Washington state to cover more than half the cost.
■  In today’s Kitsap Sun -- NASCAR track financing plan faces skeptical lawmakers -- Racetrack backers say sales tax revenues would pay off bonds, but legislators worry they'll be on the hook.
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- Families struggle despite job growth (op-ed) -- Recent news reports announcing continued job growth and lower unemployment rates for Washington ring hollow for the one in four working families in our state struggling to keep their heads above water.

Boeing news:  ■  In today’s News Tribune -- SPEEA tally -- The Boeing Co. will know tonight whether its 18,000 union engineers and technical workers in the Puget Sound area have accepted a new three-year contract offer.
■  Today from AP -- Cathay Pacific orders 12 777-300ERs
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- After 7 years of legal haggling, Boeing racial-bias trial begins today

Political news:  ■  In today’s News Tribune -- Overlooked car tab fee prompts fresh debate -- The fees kick in Jan. 1 and are stirring a political fight of their own. Initiative profiteer Tim Eyman’s latest proposal is aimed at getting voters to repeal the fees next year. (File under: Here we go again.)
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- Property-rights proposal threatens farmland, environment (op-ed) -- We cannot afford to pay developers and landowners to obey our land-use laws. 
■  In yesterday's Columbian -- Growth: We all pay (editorial) -- The next time someone says growth pays for itself with property taxes and therefore isn't a drag on the pocketbook of the general population, be aware that you're not getting the whole story.
■  In today’s Spokesman-Review -- Poll shows slight gain for West, but 58% still want mayor recalled
■  Today from AP -- McGavick picks up Rossi backing -- Not exactly "man bites dog," is it? In this state, the Republican Party bosses decide who can run for what, not rank-and-file Republicans.

National news:  ■  In today’s Seattle Times -- Unions and immigrants (Harrop column) -- "I don't see how it's going to help Houston from a business standpoint," said a lawyer who tried to stop janitors from organizing with SEIU. "It has the potential of raising the cost of doing business." It most certainly does, and isn't that too bad. Judging from all those new mansions dotting the countryside, it looks like there's plenty of money to go around -- certainly enough to pay the toilet cleaners a living wage. And if parting with a few extra dollars means some people can't afford six marble baths, well, they will have to make do with five.
■  In today’s LA Times -- Appeals court allows UFCW's antitrust suit against grocers to proceed
■  In today’s NY Times -- Lawmakers seek inquiry on pensions -- Two congressmen want the research arm of Congress to investigate whether the agencies that enforce pension law have failed to police the consultants and money managers who help decide how money is invested.

Last Throes news:  ■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- Thanksgiving Day deaths cap sad month in Iraq
■  In today’s LA Times -- Bush promises U.S. exit linked to Iraq readiness -- He describes a strategy for "complete victory" that avoids a timetable but calls for force reductions as progress is made.
■  In today’s Washington Post -- An offering of detail on Iraq, but no substance (news analysis)
■  In today’s NY Times -- Plan: We win (editorial) -- Bush's speech was almost entirely a rehash of the same tired argument that everything's going just fine, offering the usual false choice between sticking to his policy and beating a hasty and cowardly retreat... A president who seems less in touch with reality than Richard Nixon was during the Vietnam War needs to get out more.
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- Iraq War: Mission replayed (editorial) -- Bush promises to "stay the course," but we still don't know when, how or if Iraqis will be left alone to determine their own course.

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 30  ■  Support pickets TODAY, this week at Ballard's Sunset Bowl

Local news:  ■  In today’s Tri-City Herald -- Kennewick sees potential for rescuing Welch's plant
■  In today’s Kitsap Sun -- Passenger ferry task force settles on three options -- The legislature will be asked to finance an independent cost analysis of each alternative before it issues a final report.
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- Ferries as transit (editorial) -- Why does a marine community such as Seattle -- especially one plagued by traffic congestion and prohibitively high housing costs -- have so much trouble embracing the concept of passenger ferries? It's in the region's best interest to subsidize fast and frequent passenger ferry service across Puget Sound.
■  In the Aberdeen Daily World -- Westport Shipyard poised to expand -- It plans to add 100 new jobs in Hoquiam next year and nearly double the space of its facility at the Port of Grays Harbor... The company has been advertising for current job openings, but says it hasn’t found a lot of takers.
■  In the Walla Walla U-B -- U.S. government must fully fund nuclear cleanup (editorial) --  The governor and attorney general have threatened legal action against the federal government if it doesn't meet its financial (and moral) obligation to clean up Hanford.
■  In today’s Spokesman-Review -- Kaiser Aluminum creditors OK bankruptcy plan -- The company may now emerge from its nearly 4-year bankruptcy endeavor. Its reorganization included handing its pensions over to the feds, eliminating retiree health insurance, and new USWA contracts.
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- Do some King Co. Sheriff's deputies work too much? -- Some work so much overtime, they double their salaries, pulling in six figures. The sheriff may seek OT limits.

Boeing news:  ■  In today’s Everett Herald -- The year is winding down, but Boeing isn't (Corliss column) -- On Thursday, the union engineers and technical workers will announce the outcome of the vote-by-mail election on their proposed new contracts. Union officials recommended that members approve the proposed contracts and expect them to be ratified by a wide margin.
■  In today’s Everett Herald -- Everett has shot at Rolls Royce jet-engine plant -- The company plans a new American factory, and next week will ask fewer than 10 states to submit proposals.
■  Today from AP -- Weyerhaeuser unit that employs 1,000 will be sold -- The mills up for sale are in Eugene and Albany, Ore.; Bennettsville, S.C.; Malvern, Ark.; Simsboro, La., and Ireland.

Political news:  ■  In today’s King Co. Journal -- Finkbeiner steps down as state Senate GOP leader -- Citing personal and business obligations, he will give up leadership position but keep his seat. A successor could be chosen as soon as next Monday, when the Republican Caucus meets.
■  In today’s Yakima H-R -- GOP faces Senate shakeup -- Sen. Mike Hewitt of Walla Walla says he wants to replace Sen. Finkbeiner and believes he has enough support from his colleagues to win. Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, took himself out of the contest Tuesday.
■  In today’s King Co. Journal -- Sims call for voting perjury investigation -- Republican activist may have committed perjury when she challenged the registrations of about 1,900 voters, but King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng (GOP) said he won't file charges.

National news:  ■  In today’s Seattle Times -- Paging Walter Reuther (Dionne column) -- For 60 years New Dealers and social democrats, liberals and progressives insisted that few would embrace capitalism's innovations if the system's tendency toward creative destruction (like that happening today in the U.S. auto industry) was not balanced by public innovations to spread the bounty and protect millions from being injured by change. It's a compelling story. Walter Reuther knew it well. Too bad it isn't told very often anymore.
■  In today’s NY Times -- Seeking distance, Republicans denounce ex-Rep. "Duke" Cunningham
■  In today’s NY Times -- The Duke shames the Capitol (editorial) -- It was prosecutors tipped off by a San Diego newspaper -- not Congressional ethics monitors -- who followed the rent-a-lawmaker trail. The House's ethics process has been shamefully locked into immobility for the past year while scandals have arisen as predictably as the new moon. Where is Congress's resolve to show the public that it can police itself? (A good question for Ethics Chairman "Doc" Hastings.)

TUESDAY, NOV. 29  ■  Celebrate this week's 6th anniversary of the Seattle WTO protests by visiting the archives of WSLC Reports Today and reading our firsthand accounts of how peaceful labor-led protests redefined the debate on international trade. Remembering the truth refute the history revisionists who portray "riots" and focus on property damage by a handful of anarchist kids. Also, check out the Univ. of Washington's excellent WTO History Project.

Local news:  ■  In today’s Tri-City Herald -- Abandoning Kennewick shameful for Welch's (editorial) -- Welch's is leaving Kennewick, giving the brush-off to a city that has supported the company for decades; 165 people will lose their jobs in the process. The 151 of those workers in the union will receive a puny severance package. Frankly, Welch's, we deserved better from you.
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- Regional colleges meet everyone's needs (Mike Sells op-ed) -- Policymakers seeking to make higher education more affordable, responsive and accessible need look no further than University Centers on our community college campuses where baccalaureate institutions are meeting the needs of students and the economy efficiently and effectively.
■  In today’s News Tribune -- Film rallies anti-Wal-Mart set -- People trying to keep the retailer out of Yelm gather to watch documentary. If you haven't seen it yet... click here to find a screening.
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- Aground: State's passenger ferries (editorial) -- As a task force makes its  recommendations on how the state should handle service, it's hard not to be cynical.
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- Most GOP voter challenges tossed -- Republicans didn't meet the high standards of proof needed to strip voting rights. Many believe they ended up angering voters and costing their candidates votes. But Boss Vance says it was "exactly the result we hoped for."
■  In the Aberdeen Daily World -- ILWU 23, auxiliary award scholarships 

News from the other Washington:
■  In today’s Wash. Post -- GOP congressman admits taking bribes, resigns, faces jail, cries
■  In today's Wash. Post -- Brazen conspiracy (editorial) -- The guilty plea by Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham reveals the most brazen bribery conspiracy in modern congressional history.
■  In today’s Wash. Post -- A growing weariness about money in politics -- After years of big-dollar dealings, lobbyists and lawmakers face a wave of prosecutions and an uprising at the ballot box.

National news:  ■  At AFLCIO.org -- Treasury Dept. sells out American workers, manufacturers again 
■  Today from AP -- U.S. criticized over China currency report -- Advocates of a get-tough economic policy with China say they will lobby Congress to overrule the Bush administration's failure to brand China as a currency manipulator and impose economic sanctions. 
■  In today’s LA Times -- Bush links immigration reform, guest worker plans -- He promises to step up efforts to close the border to illegal immigrants, but insists that the crackdown be accompanied by a guest worker program open to the millions who are already in the country illegally.
■  In today’s NY Times -- A victory for education (editorial) -- A federal judge took the right action when he dismissed a transparent attempt by the NEA to sabotage the No Child Left Behind act.
■  In today’s Wash. Post -- Delphi extends unions' deadline for talks on cuts
■  In today’s Wash. Post -- Labor's lost story (Dionne column) -- For 60 years New Dealers and social democrats, liberals and progressives insisted that few would embrace capitalism's innovations if the system's tendency toward creative destruction (like that happening today in the U.S. auto industry) was not balanced by public innovations to spread the bounty and protect millions from being injured by change. It's a compelling story. Walter Reuther knew it well. Too bad it isn't told very often anymore.

MONDAY, NOV. 28  ■  Organizers: We need your stories -- As part of the national mobilization for Dec. 10 activities on the freedom to have a union voice, we are looking for individual stories of workers who were intimidated or harassed by their employers for their efforts to form unions. Learn more.

Local news:  ■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- Fircrest too valuable to close (op-ed) -- As the P-I's recent series demonstrates, the fight to free the disabled has come full circle ("Public protection, private abuse"). In the never-ending mission of the state Division of Developmental Disabilities to close Fircrest School and free all the disabled to live in the community, oops, we realize that some people don't fit in. The nature of their disability presents challenging behaviors that cannot be managed by the $9-an-hour workers who soon realize that their job is much more than they signed on for and has no future.
■  In Real Change -- Feeling the squeeze -- "Middleman" subcontractors hired by the Port of Seattle or the airlines are putting the squeeze on workers. So SEIU is advocating that the Port set wage minimums in order to stop a bidding race to the bottom among airport contractors.
■  From AP -- Gregoire hopes to save Weyerhaeuser pulp mill in Cosmopolis
■  Today from AP -- A push for accountability in Olympia -- This year, a newly inaugurated Gregoire and Democratic majorities in the Legislature decided to make accountability a signature issue.
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- Passenger-ferry task force has more questions than answers
■  In today’s Seattle Times -- Wal-Mart's low-road model (Peirce column) -- The low-road approach may not be so clever after all: Costco's profit per employee is $13,647; Wal-Mart's, $11,039. Paying good wages and benefits, says Costco CEO, "is not altruistic; this is good business."

Puget Sound news:  ■  In today's Tri-City Herald -- BP lobbies to end Puget Sound tanker ban
■  In today's Washington Post -- Puget Sound bill ignites Hill battle -- In Washington, no one has howled louder about Alaska GOP Sen. (and shameless BP errand boy) Ted Stevens's bill -- and has more to gain from voter awareness of the noise she is making -- than Sen. Maria Cantwell.

Oregon news:  ■  In the Portland Business Journal -- Change at top at Oregon AFL-CIO -- New president expects a slew of anti-union initiatives in 2006, but also believes labor will offer a few of their own.
■  In today’s Salem S-J -- Oregon State Hospital's staff level deemed unsafe; group threatens to sue 
■  In today’s Salem S-J -- Immigration showdown set in Woodburn -- Farmworker advocates will gather Saturday for the Mexican government's last mobile consulate of the year in Oregon.
■  In the Portland Business Journal -- Union organizing increases, maybe even at your office -- This "Special to the Journal," offering advice on "what to do if you become a target," is by a partner in a Portland/Seattle-based law firm that's part of the multi-billion union avoidance industry.

National news:  ■  In today’s NY Times -- Janitors' drive in Texas gives unions hope -- Union organizers (SEIU) have obtained what they say is majority support in one of the biggest unionization drives in the South in decades, collecting the signatures of thousands of Houston janitors.
■  Today at the Working Life blog -- Victory in Houston -- What's interesting about the victory -- other than 5,000 new members in the hard-to-organize South -- is the way the victory was pulled off.
■  In today’s Washington Post -- Unions fight proposed 20-day limit to challenge voided contracts -- AFGE President John Gage calls the Defense Department's time limit "a bum's rush" and "unfair," adding: "They are busting the unions with this. Collective bargaining will mean nothing."
■  Today at NYUNews.com -- In 3rd week of grad student strike, some classes back on campus 
■  In NY Newsday -- Labor organizers picket NYC Starbucks -- Also see www.StarbucksUnion.org.
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- Engineers nervous about future -- Engineers nationally are worried about job security and fearful that the country may be losing its technological lead over foreign rivals.

Last Throes update:  ■  In Sunday's News Tribune -- Explosion kills two Fort Lewis soldiers -- They were the third and fourth from Fort Lewis to die in less than two weeks. (That's 2,108 and counting...)
■  In Sunday’s Kitsap Sun -- Rep. Dicks reverses, calls Iraq War a mistake -- The longtime defense hawk echoes the sentiments of Rep. Murtha, and favors a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops.
■  In the Seattle Times -- Democrats find their voice on a policy for Iraq (Broder column) -- It has taken a long time, but the Democrats finally have come close to defining a sensible common ground.
■  From Reuters -- Sen. Warner to Bush: Explain Iraq -- The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee urged Bush to go before the American public to explain his plan for the war.
■  In today’s Olympian -- As Cheney attacks Iraq critics, poll numbers continue to fall off