UPDATED Monday through Thursday by 9 a.m.

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.

THURSDAY, DEC. 8  ■  Restore the freedom to form unions! -- Please contact Congress and urge support for federal labor law reform and opposition to Bush administration efforts to take away federal employees' union voice at work.

Previous weeks' news:  Nov. 28-Dec. 2 -- Nov. 21-23 -- Nov. 14-18

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2005
Contact Congress: Restore the freedom to form unions!

The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO is urging all union members and supporters of the freedom of association to contact their congressional representatives. We are urging support of federal labor law reform to restore the freedom to form unions and opposition to Bush administration efforts to take away federal employees' union voice at work.

United States law says you have the right to join a union.  In fact, the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted Dec. 10, 1948, specifically states that the freedom to form a union is one of the basic human rights to be protected, along with the freedom of speech, assembly and religion.

But that law -- that human right -- is not being enforced in 21st Century America.  The National Labor Relations Act says Americans have the freedom to choose unions and to make that decision free from intimidation, harassment and coercion by their employers.  However, that law is toothless and is routinely broken by employers, often with impunity.

Nearly all private-sector employers fight their employees’ efforts to form unions, according to a Cornell University study. A quarter of them even illegally fire workers who stand up for a union. Even when workers manage to win their union, they never get a contract in one out of every three cases.

On Saturday, Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, events organized by the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions are being held throughout the world to demand the restoration of the right to form unions.  In America, we are urging support for the Employee Free Choice Act in Congress.  And here in Washington, we are urging all of our U.S. Representatives to endorse the EFCA.

The EFCA would require employers to recognize the union after a majority of workers sign cards authorizing representation, provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes, and establish stronger penalties for violation of the rights of workers seeking to form unions.

"The right to organize is a fundamental right of workers in this country," said Rep. Adam Smith (D-9th). "It was the stepping stone to other such basic rights as overtime pay, benefits, livable wages, safe working conditions, and the 40-hour work week. Since the 1930s however, the system has been grossly diluted and manipulated in favor of the employer. The Employee Free Choice Act provides much needed reforms to (today's) flawed labor law."

Washington state's entire delegation of congressional Democrats have already co-sponsored the EFCA. With 204 co-sponsors in the House, only 14 more are needed to force the Republican leadership to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. So on Dec. 10, we'll be asking Republican Reps. Dave Reichert, Cathy McMorris, and Doc Hastings to support the EFCA. (Two of their Republican colleagues from Pennsylvania announced this week that they will co-sponsor the EFCA!)

In addition, we are urging all of our members of Congress to oppose the Bush administration's attempts to dismantle civil service protections, removing federal workers' union voice at work.  

Since Sept. 11, 2001 -- despite the heroism of hundreds of union fire fighters and other first responders who perished in the line of duty that day -- the Bush administration has declared unions to be an impediment to national security.  More than 200,000 federal workers have been stripped of their right to have a voice at work.  The Bush administration’s goal is to strip ALL U.S. civil service employees of this right.

The National Security Personnel System (NSPS) is the latest attempt to throw out federal civil service rules, in this case at the Department of Defense. Twice the Bush administration has imposed similar changes at the Department of Homeland Security, and twice their efforts have been ruled to be illegal by a federal judge.  Despite this, plans proceed to impose the NSPS.

So in addition to urging their support of the Employee Free Choice Act, we are asking all of Washington's members of Congress to oppose Bush administration NSPS efforts that would take away federal workers' union voice at work.

TAKE ACTION:  Please take a few minutes today or this weekend to call the local office of your U.S. Representatives at the phone numbers listed above. It is our hope that personal phone calls from constituents will have a greater effect than mass e-mails.

Urge them to support the Employee Free Choice Act to restore the freedom to form unions (if your representative is a Democrat, it is important to thank them for co-sponsoring the EFCA), and also to oppose implementation of the National Security Personnel System.

If you get a voice mail system, just leave your name, address and message, and hopefully, you will receive a response in the mail.

Also, you can download a two-page (front-and-back) flier on these issues -- the same one that will be distributed at leafleting/caroling events in Rep. Dave Reichert's district on Saturday, Dec. 10.  If you are interested in helping leaflet for an hour or two in Bellevue, Puyallup or Auburn on Saturday, click here for details on where to go. These events are being coordinated by the American Federation of Government Employees, Washington State Jobs with Justice, and the WSLC.

Thank you for your participation in these important efforts. Now, make that phone call!

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2005
Cowlitz Tribal Council approves Project Labor Agreement

The following press release was distributed this week by the Cowlitz Indian Tribe:

VANCOUVER, WA -- The Cowlitz Tribal Council has approved a Project Labor Agreement for construction work on its proposed casino resort at the La Center I-5 interchange. The agreement between the Columbia-Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council and the general contractor will guarantee the workers who build the Cowlitz Casino Resort will be paid a family wage and receive benefits, including health care.

"The Cowlitz Tribe is proud to be able to pay fair wages to the workers who will build our casino and resort," says Cowlitz Tribal Chairman John Barnett. "This agreement shows that we deal fairly with the community, and that we will pay a good day's wage for a good day's work. The Cowlitz Tribe wants to achieve economic self-sufficiency while at the same time providing jobs and treating our workers fairly."

Full build-out construction of the Cowlitz Casino Resort is expected to create 4,011 jobs with an average annual wage of $46,200 and a total annual payroll of $185.3 million.

"Pledging to use union labor to build their facility is a show of good faith by the Cowlitz Tribe," says John Mohlis, President of the Columbia-Pacific Building Trades Council. "Job creation is one of the most important issues in the area right now, and the lack of health care for people working full-time jobs is a tragedy. With this agreement, the Cowlitz Tribe makes it clear that they will treat their workers with dignity and pay fair wages and benefits."

The Cowlitz Indian Tribe, which gained federal recognition in 2000, is currently engaged in the federal environmental review process for the proposed casino resort. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement is expected to be released for public comment within the next couple of months.

The proposed Cowlitz Casino Resort would include a gaming floor, restaurant and retail facilities, convention and entertainment venues, 250-room hotel, Tribal cultural center and governmental offices, parking structure, and RV park.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2005
D-10: What's happening locally

It's D-10 Week, and volunteers participating in Saturday's caroling/leafleting events in Puyallup, Auburn and Bellevue have held a successful "political caroling rehearsal"... but it's not too late for union members and their supporters to volunteer to leaflet at events this Saturday.

Saturday, Dec. 10 is International Human Rights Day and events are planned around the globe to call for a restoration of workers' freedom to form unions. Following are the D-10 events and actions organized by the American Federation of Government Employees, Washington State Jobs with Justice, and the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and other labor organizations:

Friday, Dec. 9 at 6 p.m. -- BELLINGHAM -- Speakers, meal and music at the Garden Street Family Center, 1231 N Garden St. This is a free event.

Saturday, Dec. 10 -- PUYALLUP -- Leafleting and caroling at the South Hill Mall. Free food and holiday party beforehand at the Best Western Hotel, 620 South Hill Park Drive, Puyallup, beginning at noon.

Saturday, Dec. 10 -- KING COUNTY -- Leafleting, Caroling, Musical Skits and Theatrics around Rep. Dave Reichert's district.

• Meet at 11:30 a.m. in AUBURN at the UFCW Local 81 Hall, 960 E. Main St. (day-of contact: Jeff Johnson at 360-259-7327). 
• Also, meet at 11:30 a.m. in BELLEVUE at Fenwick Hall of the First Congregational Church of Bellevue, 725 108th Ave. NE (day-of contact: Robby Stern at 206-391-6998).

 For more information in advance of the actions, please contact the Seattle office of Jobs with Justice at 206-441-4969 or wsjwj@igc.org. 

***** On Thursday (TOMORROW), the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO will be distributing an electronic Call to Action to our e-mail lists, and asking union leaders and activists to distribute it to members through their electronic networks. It will ask union members to send e-mails and make phone calls to their congressional representatives calling for labor law reform and an end to the attacks on federal employees' rights. *****

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2005
D-10 rehearsal tonight in Seattle

It's D-10 Week, and volunteers participating in Saturday's caroling/leafleting events in Puyallup, Auburn and Bellevue are invited to a "political caroling rehearsal" TONIGHT (Tuesday, Dec. 6) at 6 p.m. at the Washington State Labor Council's Seattle office, 314 1st Ave. West.

Saturday, Dec. 10 is International Human Rights Day and events are planned around the globe to call for a restoration of workers' freedom to form unions. Following are the D-10 events and actions organized by the American Federation of Government Employees, Washington State Jobs with Justice, and the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and other labor organizations:

Friday, Dec. 9 at 6 p.m. -- BELLINGHAM -- Speakers, meal and music at the Garden Street Family Center, 1231 N Garden St. This is a free event.

Saturday, Dec. 10 -- PUYALLUP -- Leafleting and caroling at the South Hill Mall. Free food and holiday party beforehand at the Best Western Hotel, 620 South Hill Park Drive, Puyallup, beginning at noon.

Saturday, Dec. 10 -- KING COUNTY -- Leafleting, Caroling, Musical Skits and Theatrics around Rep. Dave Reichert's district.

• Meet at 11:30 a.m. in AUBURN at the UFCW Local 81 Hall, 960 E. Main St. (day-of contact: Jeff Johnson at 360-259-7327). 
• Also, meet at 11:30 a.m. in BELLEVUE at Fenwick Hall of the First Congregational Church of Bellevue, 725 108th Ave. NE (day-of contact: Robby Stern at 206-391-6998).

 For more information in advance of the actions, please contact the Seattle office of Jobs with Justice at 206-441-4969 or wsjwj@igc.org. 

***** On Thursday, the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO will be distributing an electronic Call to Action to our e-mail lists, and asking union leaders and activists to distribute it to members through their electronic networks. It will ask union members to send e-mails and make phone calls to their congressional representatives calling for labor law reform and an end to the attacks on federal employees' rights. *****

BACKGROUND -- Many outside the labor movement don't even realize that federal law guarantees their right to choose to unionize free from harassment, intimidation or coercion by their employer. In fact, employer interference and "union-avoidance consultants" have become so routine that many American workers would probably expect to be harassed or fired for supporting unionization.

Well, it's time to take our rights back. This is America. We have freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of association, and yes, the freedom to form unions. Americans don't check their rights at the workplace door. That's why the AFL-CIO and its affiliated international unions are working to educate the public about their rights and the need to reform our weak federal labor laws to restore our workplace freedom. In Washington state, we are also working to call attention to the Bush administration's efforts to revoke federal employees' right to have a union voice at work and the negative impact that is having not just on those workers, but on our national security.

Visit our D-10 page for background information.

So.... can we count you in, on D-10?  If you haven't already signed up, it's not too late to volunteer!  Please fill out our online volunteer form and you'll get a call from Washington State Jobs with Justice about where and when you can help. Thank you.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2005
Do-nothing Doc: Ethics chair Hastings NOT doing heckuva job

The House Ethics Committee, the panel chaired by Washington's own Rep. Richard "Doc" Hastings (R-4th) that is responsible for upholding the chamber's ethics code, has been virtually moribund for the past year despite a wave of federal investigations into close and potentially illegal relationships between lawmakers and lobbyists, the Washington Post reports today.

Even other Republicans, like Sen. John McCain, now question why it is that a San Diego newspaper exposed the latest bribery scandal involving Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham while Hastings' ethics panel sits idle. But the Washington state media have largely given the state's most nationally prominent Republican a pass for his inactivity and lack of leadership.

Hastings was House majority leader Tom DeLay's handpicked successor to the ethics committee's former chair Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.), who was ousted early this year after his committee dared to twice admonish DeLay for his ethical lapses.  Since that time, the Post reports, Hastings' committee has not opened a new case or launched an investigation. Instead, it has spent months just hiring a new chief of staff (who is still is not in place), and has yet to even hire a full complement of investigators.

Last month, following DeLay's criminal indictment in Texas on charges Hastings' committee has failed to even investigate, the Yakima Herald-Republic posed a rare question to Hastings about whether his committee planned its own investigation of DeLay. Clearly, a substantive question on his role as a national leader was unexpected, because Hastings -- no talking points in sight -- announced that DeLay was the victim of a "political vendetta," adding that "we don't have the resources" to conduct an investigation of DeLay.

Hastings' ill-conceived response and subsequent backtracking "clarification" of what he meant earned him some follow-up criticism, including from the New York Times, which weighed in on Hastings' comments -- and inactivity as ethics chairman:

The House Ethics Committee is a stunning still-life study in Capitol casuistry and partisan standoff... Chairman "Doc" Hastings, a Republican from Washington, made that clear last week when he stoutly defended the innocence of Tom DeLay, his political mentor, while insisting his committee would continue to shy from its own inquiry. "We don't have the resources," Hastings told The Yakima Herald-Republic, even though the committee received a 40 percent budget increase this year.

You would think that local journalists would be all over Hastings regarding subsequent ethical scandals involving Cunningham, lobbyist Jack Abramoff and others, especially given the fact that he appears unprepared to comment on any of it.  But you'd be wrong.

Local bloggers, if not the state's newspapers, continue to take Hastings to the woodshed over his moribund ethics committee. Last week at HorsesAss.org -- David Goldstein's blog that broke the national post-Katrina story about former FEMA Director Mike Brown's padded resume and inexperience in anything other than Arabian Horses -- asked "What's up, Doc?":

No doubt Delay elevated Rep. Doc Hastings (WA-4) 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.

One can easily imagine the right-wing talk radio-generated outrage that would be inspired by a congressional Democrat in Hastings' idle shoes.  

Instead, given the lack of media criticism regarding his role in an ongoing national scandal that continues to erode American's faith in government, Washington voters and Hastings' constituents can only assume that, like the former FEMA director, Hastings must be "doing a heckuva job."