NEXT UPDATE — Tuesday, Dec. 10 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 December 4-6, 2002

Previous weeks' news: Nov. 18-22 -- Nov. 11-15 -- Nov. 4-8

FRIDAY, Dec. 6 -- WSLC affiliates elect new Executive Board to 4-year terms
...plus President Bender's latest column -- Scrooge Alive and Well This Holiday Season

CALL TO ACTION -- Tell PACCAR in Bellevue: End Peterbilt lockout in Tennessee
— New in The Nation -- Lighting labor's fire (by Barbara Ehrenreich)
— In today's Seattle Times -- United Chapter 11 filing could spur changes to industry -- When it's over, labor unions will have less clout and consumers will enjoy fewer perks, analysts say.
...plus -- Costco government and the income tax -- Op-ed: Politicians need to have more courage.
— In today's Everett Herald -- United Airlines' fate has huge implications for Boeing
— In today's Olympian -- Eyman scales back initiative on vote requirement for taxes
— In yesterday's Aberdeen Daily World -- Union (IBU), towboat outfit working under truce
— In yesterday's Yakima H-R -- WEA, teachers should skip threatened say of disruption (editorial)
— In today's USA Today -- No bonuses for jobless, hungry (op-ed)
— In today's Washington Post -- The rightward press -- MUST-READ Dionne column: It took conservatives a lot of hard and steady work to push the media rightward. It dishonors that work to continue to presume that -- except for a few liberal columnists -- there is any such thing as the big liberal media. The media world now includes (1) talk radio, (2) cable television and (3) the traditional news sources (newspapers, newsmagazines and the old broadcast networks). Two of these three major institutions tilt well to the right, and the third is under constant pressure to avoid even the pale hint of liberalism. What it adds up to is a media heavily biased toward conservative politics and conservative politicians. Kudos to the right. Now, what will the rest of us do about the new bias?

THURSDAY, Dec. 5 -- King County Library workers vote to join County & City Employees
— In today's Eastside Journal -- King County Library workers vote to unionize
— In today's News Tribune -- DOA or not, case for state income tax remains convincing (editorial)
— In today's Seattle Times -- With or without income tax, most states mired in money woes
...plus -- State library revival -- Editorial: Hints from the OFM suggest another budget hit is on the way. That's too bad, considering the library's new mission and impressive overhaul.
— In today's Olympian -- Panel finds millions "laying there" -- JLARC floats idea of "consolidating" homes for developmentally disabled and logging nearby state-owned property.
— In today's South County Journal -- Clients give DSHS a "D" in customer service
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Boeing engineers in Wichita OK contract
...plus -- Driver pleads guilty to running down, killing DOT worker
— In the new Stranger -- Swedish massage: Hospital stymies domestic partner benefits
— In today's Everett Herald -- Appeal spurs recount (GOP selects precincts to recount in 1st & 38th)
...plus -- Broken L&I needs fixing before businesses pays more (from the EFF op-ed factory)
— In today's Salem S-J -- Split Oregon Senate opts against "Washington system" of sharing power
At AFLCIO.org -- Investors urge Fidelity to come clean, allow disclosure of proxy votes
— In yesterday's Newsday -- SEIU meets with Bush administration about smallpox vaccinations
— In today's Washington Post -- Smallpox vaccination reactions jolt experts
...plus -- Thinking about smallpox -- Editorial: The homeland security bill went out of its way to protect the vaccine's manufacturers from any liability for injuries and deaths. No provisions were made, however, to compensate anyone injured by the vaccine, or the families of those who die from it.
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Loan denied, United Airline's struggle for survival turns urgent
...plus -- Daily frustrations grow for United's workers
...and yesterday -- Hey, Lucky Duckies! -- Krugman column: Key conservative ideologues have declared their support for tax increases, but only for people with low incomes, because these "lucky duckies" (The Wall Street Journal's term) might not be feeling a proper hatred for the government.

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 4 -- L&I's workers' compensation plan sells out injured workers
— In yesterday's Olympian -- Building industry expects to get hammered by higher L&I rate
...plus -- SPEEA engineers, technical workers ratify 3-year deal with Boeing by 88% vote
— In today's South County Journal -- Boeing, SPEEA hail contract deal
— In today's News Tribune -- Boeing engineers, technical workers to get green Christmas
— In today's Everett Herald -- Engineers in Wichita vote on Boeing contract offer
— In the P.S. Business Journal -- Into the dogfight: Boeing unions mull taking on Airbus
At SEIU199NW.org -- SEIU health workers raise concerns over smallpox vaccination
— In today's Seattle P-I -- State income tax is needed, panel tells Legislature
...and yesterday -- Unfair tax system is a moral issue (op-ed by the Rev. John Boonstra)
— In today's Olympian -- Locke has State Library on the block, Reed fears
— In today's Salem S-J -- Oregon's state workers, fearing PERS changes, retiring in droves
— In yesterday's San Diego U-T -- AFL-CIO's Sweeney, two others resign from ULLICO board
— In today's L.A. Times -- United Airlines is a poor model for employee ownership
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Tensions mount between United Airlines, Machinists
...plus -- Bush to end rule allowing unemployment benefits for new parents
— In today's Washington Post -- A lump of coal from the president -- Broder column: Oddly enough, the same president who says, with a straight face, that a $1 billion federal pay raise would "interfere with...  the war on terrorism" insists the $1.3 trillion tax cut can go forward as if the budget were still in surplus and al Qaeda had never struck.
...plus -- Government for sale... cheap (excerpts of testimony in challenge to campaign finance reform)

Previous weeks' news: Nov. 18-22 -- Nov. 11-15 -- Nov. 4-8

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6
WSLC affiliates elect new Executive Board to 4-year terms

The more than 600 union organizations that comprise the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, have chosen new officers to direct the programs and policies of the state's largest labor organization. 

In election results announced late Thursday, eight new Vice Presidents and 11 incumbent Vice Presidents were elected to serve 4-year terms on the WSLC Executive Board, which meets quarterly to establish policies and programs between the organization's annual conventions. WSLC President Rick Bender and Secretary-Treasurer Alan Link ran unopposed and were re-elected to 4-year terms that commence Jan. 5, 2003.

The following new Vice Presidents have been elected:

• Darrell Chapman, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 191, Everett

• Larry Johnston, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 280, Richland

• Vance Lelli, International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23, Tacoma

• Mark Reavis, Laborers International Union of North America Local 348, Pasco

• Patty Rose, Service Employees International Union Local 6, Tacoma

• Beth Thew, Communications Workers of America Local 7818, Spokane

• Pat Thompson, American Fed'n of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 109, Everett

• Emily Van Bronkhorst, Service Employees International Union Local 1199NW, Renton

The following incumbent Vice Presidents were re-elected:

• Rick Colσn, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 73, Spokane

• Bob Guenther, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 125, Centralia

• Lynda Hart, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, Longview

• Don Houtchens, Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers Local 1-590, Ferndale

• Linda Lanham, International Association of Machinists District 751-F, Seattle

• Sharon McCann, United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1105, Seattle

• Ron McGaha, International Association of Machinists District 751-C, Seattle

• Joe Murphy, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 77, Bremerton

• Dale Palmer, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1439, Yakima

• Mike Phillips, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 452, Vancouver

• Steve Williamson, International Union of Bricklayers Local 1, Seattle

The WSLC represents the interests of more than 430,000 rank-and-file union members across the State of Washington.  A state federation of the AFL-CIO, the WSLC is a voluntary non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and strengthening the rights and conditions of working people and their families.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6
Tell PACCAR in Bellevue: End Peterbilt lockout in Tennessee

Following is an appeal from the locked-out members of United Auto Workers Local 1832 in Tennessee, that includes a CALL TO ACTION for faxes and phone calls TODAY to Bellevue-based PACCAR, and informs of leafleting planned next week at a Seattle-area Peterbilt dealer:

On Sept. 2, executives at Bellevue-based PACCAR, which owns Peterbilt, decided LOCK US OUT OF OUR JOBS.  We were in the middle of contract negotiations. Our previous contract had expired. We offered to keep working while we stayed at the table to reach a new agreement. The company said NO and locked the plant gates. We need your help to end the lockout of UAW Local 1832 at Peterbilt in Madison, Tennessee.

On Friday, December 6th we are calling for a DAY OF ACTION in support of the members of UAW Local 1832.

Call and FAX PACCAR President David Hovind and call Peterbilt plant manager, Joe Scattergood (Click here for prepared fax in MS Word format, or copy-paste-and-personalize from the text below.) Let them know you support the Peterbilt locked-out workers. Tell them to return to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair contract that addresses health care, prescription drugs and pensions. 

David Hovind, PACCAR’S Vice Chairman, phone: 425-468-7400
Joe Scattergood, Peterbilt plant manager, phone: 615-868-0170

PACCAR Fax: 425-468-8216

On Tuesday, Dec. 10th and Thursday, Dec. 12th we are planning a leaflet action from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Peterbilt dealer located at 3801 Airport Way S. (just south of the West Seattle Bridge).  Contact Nick Velluzzi locally at (206) 633-6080 for more information.

For more information on the lockout visit the UAW website: www.uaw.org

To:  David Hovind, President, PACCAR, Inc.
Fax:  (425) 468-8216

We call upon you to end the lockout of the members of UAW Local 1832 who make quality trucks at the Peterbilt factory in Madison, Tennessee.  You locked these workers out when they refused to accept your demands to reduce their standard of living, which include:

• A 300% increase in health care costs;

• A 600% increase in prescription drug costs;

• A decline in real wages;

• A decline in retirement income.

This is not the way to treat hard working, family-oriented people.  We appeal to you to negotiate a contract that is fair to workers and the company.

Signed: _________________
Affiliation: _______________
Address: ________________
Phone: _________________

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5
King Co. Library workers vote to join County & City Employees

The following press release was distributed Wednesday by the Washington State Council of County and City Employees, AFSCME Council 2:

BELLEVUE—550 librarians, library assistants, and technicians with the King County Library system voted on Dec. 3 to join the 16,000 member Washington State Council of County and City Employees.

The final vote was an overwhelming endorsement of union representation — 298-157 — and represented a nearly 88% turnout.  A simple majority is needed to ratify a union election. 

Council President Chris Dugovich, who began his career as a union staff representative in King County over 20 years ago, believes “this is the largest public sector union vote I can recall.  This historic election is a clear sign that the wage and benefit protection afforded by union membership is an important issue to library staff.”

King County Public Libraries is the largest library system in the state, and serve all of King County outside the city of Seattle.  Seattle’s librarians are already members of the County and City Employees Union, which is affiliated with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents nearly 1.3 million public sector employees nationwide.

“We look forward to working with library staff, management, and the community to continue excellent library services in King County,” said Dugovich.  “In tough times like these, our public libraries are a critical resource for readers of all ages.”

For more information, contact Chris Dugovich at (425) 303-8818.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4
L&I's workers' compensation plan sells out injured workers

The Washington State Labor Council today blasted the Department of Labor and Industries for its proposal to cut workers' compensation benefits in order to reduce employers' premium increases, saying the state isn't showing the same level of concern about condition of injured workers as it is about the health of businesses.

In order to mitigate a proposed 40.5% rate increase on employers, L&I announced last week a plan to adopt a 29% increase that includes legislative proposals to, in their words, "improve the performance" and reduce the "complexity" of the system. Those proposals would make it much harder to qualify for benefits (in the case of workers suffering job-related hearing loss) and to change the way benefits are calculated so that many injured workers get less.

"Injured workers did not cause the workers' compensation system's revenue shortfall, Governor Locke, L&I Director Gary Moore and business associations did," said Rick Bender, President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. "When the fund was in good shape, the state, under pressure from the business associations, issued dividend checks to employers costing hundreds of millions. Now that it is short of revenue, their answer is to screw injured workers and cut benefits. That just isn't right."

L&I brags that as recently as 1999 and 2000, it issued workers' compensation dividends to employers totaling some $400 million. Over the past eight years, some $1.8 billion in rate reductions and deferred rates were granted. Investment earnings from stock market gains were cited as enabling the rebates and reductions.

"Obviously, the case can be made that if we had been more fiscally prudent during the 'good times,' we wouldn't be in this fix," Bender said. "Although it may not solve our current problem, it's important to remember what led to this. Some in the business community would have us believe that benefits are the problem. Benefits are not the problem. We are ranked as one of the lowest-cost states in the country. Business groups sure didn't complain when they kept getting dividend checks and rate cuts.

"Nobody wants to see sudden, dramatic rate increases," Bender added, "but there are other more responsible, more humane alternatives available than limiting benefits. We offered two proposals that would stop the state from continuing to dig the hole we find ourselves in. One is a 1-year moratorium on refunds. The other is to change the definition of a 'standard premium' so that workers' contributions are not used to calculate rebates to employers."  

For more information on the WSLC's proposed alternatives and additional details about labor's position on the health of the state's workers' compensation system, visit our Legislative Issues page.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4
SPEEA workers ratify 3-year deal with Boeing by 88% vote

The following news release was distributed late Monday night by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001, AFL-CIO:

Engineers and technical workers at The Boeing Company have approved new three-year contracts with The Boeing Company. The contracts will take effect immediately and cover 17,476 employees who are members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001, AFL-CIO.

The votes involved two separate contracts. The first contract - for the Professional Bargaining Unit - covers 10,558 engineers. The second contract - for the Technical Bargaining Unit - covers 6,918 technical workers. While most of the employees work at Puget Sound Boeing facilities, the contracts include some workers at Boeing facilities in Spokane , Portland , California , Florida and Utah . In addition to voting to accept or reject the contracts, SPEEA members voted to grant strike authorization to the SPEEA Negotiation Teams in the event of contract rejections.

The union's Tellers Committee started counting ballots from the mail-in voting at noon , Monday (Dec. 2). When the process was complete, the Professional contract, covering engineers, passed by a count of 6,150 to 821, or 88 percent. The Technical workers contract was approved by a count of 4,400 to 590 or 88 percent.

"This is an accomplishment for SPEEA members," said Charles Bofferding, executive director of SPEEA. "During very difficult times, SPEEA members stood firm for what they needed and believed was right. While they did not get everything they sought, this contract shows they achieved the majority of their goals."

Under terms of the now ratified agreements, Boeing employees covered by the two Puget Sound contracts will receive a one-time 6 percent lump sum payment (bonus). Employees should receive the bonus before Boeing breaks for the holidays Dec. 24.

The new contracts provide guaranteed wage increases and create pools for selective salary increases. The Professional contract guarantees raises of 1.5 percent each year out of the 4 percent that is set aside in a pool for salary adjustments.

Employees covered by the Technical contract guarantees raises of 2 percent each year percent each year out of the 4 percent that is set aside in a pool for salary adjustments.

The contracts also provide employees company-paid short-term disability coverage. There is also increased funding for the joint Ed Wells Initiative career training and enhancement program.

Boeing managed to secure increased monthly medical premiums for the company's traditional medical plan.  However, SPEEA members still have the lowest premiums of any represented employee group at Boeing. One lower cost option and a no-cost health care option remain available for SPEEA-represented employees.

A professional and "problem-solving" atmosphere existed at the negotiating table since the opening of Main Table talks on Oct. 29. This was in stark contrast to three years ago when negotiations for the same contracts resulted in a 40-day strike.

"We went into these negotiations focusing on problem solving that would benefit all stake holders," Bofferding said. "If our members and the Company can follow through with that process, we have seen a fundamental change in the way the union and Boeing negotiate contracts."

A bargaining unit of 1,300 engineers in Wichita, Kansas votes on a new three-year contract with Boeing at an all-member meeting Thursday (Dec. 4). The Wichita contract expires at midnight , December 5.

SPEEA represents 22,285 technical employees at The Boeing Company in Washington, Kansas, Oregon, Texas, California, Florida and Utah.