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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.

Reports for December 6-10, 2004

Previous weeks' news: Dec. 1-3 -- Nov. 15-19 -- Nov. 8-12

FRIDAY, Dec. 10 -- Dems' suit is about real people whose votes were mistakenly rejected
Volunteers needed this weekend to help canvass for voters who were mistakenly disqualified.
— At Vote.WA.gov -- Get the latest county-by-county results in the manual recount
— In today's Seattle Times -- New votes emerge in recount -- In Whatcom County, for example, election workers found seven unopened, uncounted ballots that had been accidentally put in a wrong pile.
— In today's Bremerton Sun -- Kitsap helps boost Rossi's lead; Republican gains 11 votes
Other local news: — In today's Tri-City Herald -- La Clinica staff votes for union representation (OPEIU 8)
— In today's King County Journal -- State unemployment tax rates to drop, and so will benefits
— In today's Olympian -- Education activist and teachers' union leader Gary Brown dies
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Some Seattle schools may close; 12-20 may shut down to stem red ink
...plus -- 11th hour move by Wal-Mart to skirt moratorium upsets Tumwater council
— In today's Seattle Times -- Seattle Fire Chief opposes union-backed crew-size initiative
— Today from AP -- Airbus owners approve launch of A350 to rival Boeing 7E7
— In yesterday's News Tribune -- Cathay Pacific puts four 777s on hold after engine parts fall off
National news: — In today's LA Times -- Bush rejects tax hike for Social Security -- Stance appears to rule out two key proposals for fixing the system. Borrowing for partial privatization is now more likely.
— In today's NY Times -- Borrow speculate and hope -- Krugman: The Bush administration's Social Security proposal will rely on borrowing trillions, putting the money in the stock market and hoping.
— In today's Washington Post -- Safeway to open on Christmas Day; union angry at decision
...plus -- Washington D.C. hotels, Unite Here union report progress in contract talks
...plus -- Germany's new reality -- During much of Germany's postwar economic boom, as prosperity mounted and car sales multiplied, workers at the Opel automobile factory here became accustomed to getting their way: six weeks of vacation, a 35-hour week and some of the highest factory wages on earth. Whatever was left of that era ended on Thursday.

THURSDAY, Dec. 9 -- Picket against Wackenhut Security suspension today at noon
Also today -- Another UPDATE on where volunteers are needed for hand recount
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Tedious recount begins; Rossi's lead boosted by 3 in Mason Co.
— In today's Olympian -- Campaigns' accusations add drama as hand recount begins
— In today's Seattle Times -- Gregoire: I had no role in Democrats' lawsuit
...plus -- Closures on table as Seattle Public Schools faces bankruptcy
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Sales soar in aerospace industry, but employment at lowest level in 50 years
— Today from AP -- South Carolina chips in $116 million in incentives for 7E7 plant
— In today's Yakima H-R -- Growing for Wal-Mart -- Company exec tries to reassure agriculture community that Wal-Mart's aggressive negotiation of low prices won't put suppliers out of business.
— In yesterday's Columbian -- Carlson adjourns -- Outgoing Sen. Don Carlson cultivated independents and Democrats by presenting himself as a moderate Republican willing to give a little to get a little.
— In today's NY Times -- Teamsters offer plan to reshape labor's future -- The Teamsters heat up the debate over reshaping the labor movement by proposing to slash the AFL-CIO's budget and finance a 4-year campaign of political and union organizing in swing states to help elect a pro-labor president.
— In today's Detroit News -- Hoffa's demand: Fix AFL-CIO -- Teamsters call on the federation to give half of its funding back to the local unions to beef up organizing and political efforts.
— In today's LA Times -- Bay area grocery boycott planned -- California Labor Federation members will ask shoppers to stay away from Safeway, Kroger and Albertsons if contract talks fail.
...plus -- Safeway to feel effects of past strike in 2005 -- Company lowers earnings expectations again; blaming strike that has now cost many times more than the union's original proposal. Learn more.
— In today's Oregonian -- Social Security debate about money, policy -- President Bush's proposal for partial privatization of accounts won't make the system solvent.
— In today's Washington Post -- Unite Here, hotels in D.C. have made little progress in talks
...plus -- IBM tries to reassure workers after milestone China deal
...plus -- Minnesota's health care gamble -- Broder column: No one is immune from the problem of runaway costs in the dysfunctional U.S. health care system -- not individual families, not businesses, and certainly not state and federal governments. The universality of the problem is what makes an experiment being launched in Minnesota this month an important national story.

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 8 -- UPDATE on where volunteers are needed for recount
— In today's Seattle Times -- Rejected ballots take center stage in Democrats' lawsuit
— Newspapers editorializing today against the Dems' suit: Everett Herald, Seattle P-I and News Tribune
— In today's Everett Herald -- Snohomish County avoids paper recount -- State and county election officials agree touch-screen ballots don't need to be printed and recounted.
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Pay grows for some despite budget cuts* -- Unions win higher wages for city workers who survive layoffs. (* Paid online subscription required, e-mail us for this "sample" story.)
— In yesterday's Columbian -- Clark County health agency lays off six employees
— In yesterday's Daily News -- Oregon's state workers picket over wages on first day of contract talks
— Today from AP -- State agrees to extend stay of Hanford measure
— In today's Tri-City Herald -- Another Wal-Mart casualty: Othello losing Akins grocery store
— In today's Olympian -- Wal-Mart outmaneuvers Tumwater's zoning tactic; files before moratorium
— In The Onion -- Wal-Mart announces massive rollback on employee wages -- CEO: "What we might lose in terms of shrinkage of our work force, we'll make back almost immediately. That's what's so great about being a part of so many communities across the country. Once we get a location up and running, people find out they can't afford not to work for us!"
— In today's Newsday -- GCIU to merge with Teamsters
— At AFLCIO.org --  On Dec. 10, Int'l Human Rights Day, workers highlight the freedom to form unions

TUESDAY, Dec. 7 -- VOLUNTEER to help oversee hand recount in governor's race -- The WSLC urges all union organizations to release staff and recruit volunteers to oversee the count, despite the following story suggesting some counties may end up eliminating this observer role.
— In today's Seattle Times -- Party faithful to tally ballots -- King County and other places are hiring party loyalists to count the votes -- effectively collapsing the roles of counter and observer into a single person -- in the hand recount scheduled to begin tomorrow.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Governor's race could wind up in court -- Justices could decide by Friday whether to intervene to ensure counties review ballots previously declared invalid. Meanwhile, after spending weeks opposing a hand recount and urging Gregoire to concede, Rossi's spokeswoman says, "Dino doesn't oppose a statewide hand recount, as long as it is done fairly and legitimately."
— In today's Seattle Times -- Keep governor's count out of twilight zone (editorial opposing Democrats' suit)
...plus -- Snohomish wants to use computer tapes, not paper, in recount -- Snohomish County used electronic voting machines and says printing paper records makes little sense.
"We suck"™ business-climate update: In today's Spokesman-Review -- State business climate has break in the clouds * -- Washington ranks 8th among all states for its pro-business policies, and best among all Western states except for Wyoming, according to a new study by a company that specializes in site selection. (* Paid online subscription required, e-mail us if you'd like this "sample" story.)
"Seattle Way" update: In the P-I/Times -- Officials back viaduct tunnel and Initiative filed to block tunnel
— In today's UW Daily -- "Temp" title permanent for some university employees
— In today's Yakima H-R -- New budget chops jobs in Sunnyside
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Sen. McCain wants Defense to act in Boeing case, turn over internal e-mails
— Today from AP -- U.S., EU talks at impasse on Boeing, Airbus subsidies; case headed to WTO
National news: — In today's NY Times -- Inventing a crisis -- Krugman column: Privatizing Social Security with personal investment accounts won't do anything to strengthen the system's finances. If anything, it will make things worse. But the politics of privatization depend on convincing the public that the system is in imminent danger of collapse, and that we must destroy it in order to save it.
— In today's LA Times -- Janitors, grocers agree to settlement -- Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons will pay $22.4 million to end a suit by workers who say they were underpaid.
...plus -- China cancels meeting on worker rights with AFL-CIO's Sweeney, other labor leaders
— In today's Seattle Times -- Tables turn on activist public pension funds -- After Enron, these funds had corporate America on the run. But now, the funds are on the defensive. Corporate lobbying groups are pushing hard to halt what they consider to be the funds' unwarranted meddling in business affairs.
— In today's NY Times -- Overriding Gov. Pataki's veto, NY state minimum wage will rise to $7.15

MONDAY, Dec. 6 -- VOLUNTEER to help oversee hand recount in governor's race
...plus -- Investigation finds mistakes with machine count in Skagit Co. -- The WSLC supports the statewide manual recount and urges all union organizations to identify members and paid staff who can help oversee the recount starting Wednesday. Click here for more info.
— In the Skagit Valley Herald -- Errors in Skagit vote count point to statewide problem 
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Dems right on recount -- Editorial: A word to the wise in both parties, however. When this recount is done, it's done. The winner will be the legitimate governor and it will be time to get on with the business of governance.
— Sunday from AP -- Gregoire, Rossi slog through eerie "transition that never was"
Also today -- Nominations sought for WSLC standing committees
— In today's News Tribune -- Construction workers' safety net full of holes -- News tribune investigation points to four key reasons national and state death tolls show no sign of abating.
...plus -- Hispanic workers face higher fatality rate
— In today's Olympian -- Civil service reform to test new leaders -- The new governor and state legislature will inherit a system in transition to a "performance-based culture."
...plus -- Union's contract means changes for 32 state agencies
— Saturday from AP -- Airbus parent suggests splitting the tanker deal with Boeing
— In today's Oregonian -- Company-shopping, Oregon style -- This story about Oregon Gov. Kulongoski's efforts to recruit companies to his state begs the question: How effective would similar efforts be from would-be Gov. Rossi, who campaigned on the theme that Washington is a bad place to do business.
National news: — In the NH Union-Leader -- America's labor movement is in trouble (op-ed by Cornell's Hurd)
— In the NY Times -- Between union leader (Sweeney) and protege (Stern), debate over labor's direction
— In today's LA Times -- Unite Here may try to avoid hotel strike -- Instead of striking for two-year deals, members may work without contracts until 2006 -- getting what they want, they hope, by default.
— In the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin -- Social Security must remain a safety net -- Editorial: Bush's plan for younger workers to invest some of their Social Security contributions would be a mistake. 
— Today from AP -- The latest in outsourcing: Medical scans read by overseas doctors
— In today's NY Times -- The disparate consensus on health care for all -- Among health care experts there is a surprising consensus that the U.S. must inevitably adopt some kind of universal coverage.

Previous weeks' news: Dec. 1-3 -- Nov. 15-19 -- Nov. 8-12

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10
Suit is about real people whose votes were mistakenly rejected

The Washington State Democrats have been demonized by conservative pundits and newspaper editorial boards for filing the lawsuit to allow further review of disqualified ballots. The criticism is inspired by a combination of impatience for a final outcome in the governor's race and a sense that Democrats are trying to "steal the election" by trying to add more votes to the count in a governor's race where just 42 votes out of nearly 3 million separate the candidates.

When the State Supreme Court considers the suit on Monday, hopefully it will set aside such emotional considerations and consider the law. This suit is not about trying to "steal an election," it's about real people in Washington whose vote in the 2004 general election has not been counted because of mistakes or neglect by state or county officials. The court must decide either to allow county auditors to correct these mistakes, or to side with Republican intervenors in the suit who argue that the “administrative burden” on the government to get it right outweighs the fundamental right to vote.

If the Democrats prevail, the only additional votes that will be counted are those of people whose vote should have counted in the first place. No one whose vote was disqualified for legitimate reasons will get special treatment; their votes will still not count. Only those who the government admits it made a mistake in disqualifying them will get their votes counted.

In many cases, the election was so important to these people that they went to extraordinary lengths to vote. Here are a few of the lawsuit petitioners' stories:

• Donald Henning and his wife drove more than 300 miles to vote, from Clallam County to Goldendale. They had been told by the Clallam County auditor that the state Department of Motor Vehicles had not transferred their registration to Clallam and that, if they wanted to cast a ballot, they had to vote at their address in Goldendale. They drove the distance and did so, but were required to vote by provisional ballot. They have now learned their votes did not count because Klickitat County incorrectly claims they asked to be stricken from the voter rolls.
  

• Ronald Suyematsu failed to receive his absentee ballot from King County Elections as requested, so he went to his polling place and voted by provisional ballot. Well before the original count was certified, he determined from the King County website that his vote had not been counted. He called King County repeatedly for an explanation. Finally, after weeks of calling and talking to various King County staff, he was finally told his vote was not counted because a clerical worker accidentally coded his ballot as being unregistered.
  

• Rick Leavitt made sure he voted, despite being confined to a nursing home with advanced multiple sclerosis. Unbeknownst to him, because he did not receive any notice, his vote was not counted because a clerical worker decided his signature did not match his registration. Using a public list, the Gregoire campaign was able to locate him and complete the required records in the presence of a nurse. Because of his degenerative nerve disease he can only mark an "x" for his signature. His corrected forms were returned to King County elections officials, but not in time to meet the Nov. 16 deadline King County imposed. Election officials refused to count his vote, apparently because it felt it would be an “administrative burden” to do so.
  

• Dr. Gregory V. Roeben learned that his absentee ballot would not be counted unless he verified his signature by 4 p.m. on November 16. Unfortunately, he received that notice from King County when he returned to his home on the evening of Nov. 16, after the deadline had passed. This occurred despite the fact that Dr. Roeben had identically signed absentee ballots in elections as recently as the September primary.

These are just a few of the stories of disenfranchised voters identified by the Democrats. There are likely many more unknown Washington residents whose votes were not counted because of similar stories of administrative mistakes and arbitrary deadlines. Many of them have no idea their vote didn't count.

If the Democrats prevail in this suit, it will not grant them an unfair advantage. Both parties would still have the opportunity to help identify disenfranchised voters whose votes should've counted and help them fax the problem.

So, what's the hurry? In the history of the United States, there has never been a gubernatorial election this close. Why don't we make sure we get the outcome right?

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9
Picket against Wackenhut Security suspension today at noon

The following press release was distributed Wednesday afternoon by Service Employees International Union Local 6:

Security Officers, Religious Leaders to Protest Unfair Suspension
of Wackenhut Security Officer at Sound Transit

Suspended Officer Was Leading Effort To Improve Security
at Sound Transit and Citywide

Security Officers, religious leaders, and community supporters will picket Wackenhut security operations at Sound Transit headquarters at noon on Thursday, December 9. (Picket Wackenhut at Union Station, 401 S. Jackson.)  They will protest the unfair suspension without pay last Monday of long-time Wackenhut Security Officer Franklin Bullock, who has been outspoken in support of raising security standards at Sound Transit and citywide.  Unfair Labor Practice charges have been filed on behalf of Mr. Bullock with the National Labor Relations Board.

"It's a shame to do this to a hardworking, conscientious security officer so close to the holidays" said Michael Ramos of the Church Council of Greater Seattle. "If they're punishing him for standing up for what he believes in, that's just plain wrong." Wackenhut has not shown Mr. Bullock the charges against him.

The suspended officer, Franklin Bullock, has worked as a private security officer for 20 years and is a vocal and prominent leader in support of higher standards for private security. Since September he has been speaking with security officers throughout the greater Seattle area about the need to reduce turnover, and improve training and working conditions in the private security industry. "I believe Wackenhut suspended me because of my efforts to improve standards for security by forming a union," said Mr. Bullock., "I believe I have been singled out."

"Wackenhut needs to put Franklin back to work and give him his back pay" said Sergio Salinas, president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 6.  "Wackenhut should listen to its employees who want to improve security - not suspend them without pay."

In August, Wackenhut security officers from Sound Transit testified in front of the Sound Transit Board that Wackenhut did not provide adequate leave time and that health insurance coverage offered by Wackenhut has not affordable.  The workers told the Board their difficult working conditions had negatively affected their job performance.

In August, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels wrote to the Sound Transit Board expressing his concerns over Wackenhut's labor relations practices, saying they raise "questions about the work environment within Wackenhut and possible impacts on the quality and reliability of security services."  King County Executive Ron Sims and other prominent Sound Transit Board members also took stands in support of the officers.

For more information, visit www.seiu6.org or call 206-448-7348.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9
UPDATE on where volunteers are needed for election recount

* Paid staffers can be released by union organizations to help monitor the recount (click here for details).

MONDAY, DECEMBER 6
Investigation finds mistakes with machine count in Skagit Co.

The following press release was distributed by the Washington State Democrats on Sunday:

Investigation Finds At Least 36 Mistakes With Machine Count in Skagit County
Manufacturer admits 1 mistake likely for every 2,500 ballots

SEATTLE -- As Washington state gears up for a hand count to determine who won the governor’s race, a newspaper’s investigation has determined that “the machines used by Skagit County to tally votes made at least 36 mistakes in the count for the governor's race.”

Optical scan machines like those used in Skagit County are used in 25 counties throughout the state.

The machines’ manufacturer acknowledged to the County Elections Supervisor that “the machines have an error rate of about one for every 10,000 ovals it must read.” The paper further reported that, with four ovals in the governor’s race, that works out to one mistake for every 2,500 ballots.

The investigation by the Skagit Valley Herald made several other troubling discoveries:

1. During the recount, the machines came up with different numbers in two-thirds of the precincts.

2. More ballots were counted the second time than the first time in 57 precincts.

3. According to the elections supervisor, “Errors occurred when the machines either counted a ballot twice in the first count, or missed counting a ballot in the second count.” As a result, “each a candidate got one less vote in the second count than in the first. It happened 13 times to Rossi and 19 times to Gregoire.”

4. In four cases, there was a drop in the number of ballots counted in a precinct – yet the vote totals didn’t change.

“Right now, the Governor-Elect’s office stands empty because of all the mistakes in the machine count. With a hand count, we will finally know who won the governor’s race, and provide legitimacy for the next four years,” concluded Paul Berendt, Chair of the Washington State Democrats.

Counties that use optical scan machines include: Adams, Chelan, Columbia, Cowlitz, Douglas, Ferry, Garfield, Grant, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Klickitat, Pend Oreille, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Spokane, Wahkiakum, Walla Walla, Whitman, Skamania, Snohomish and Yakima.

For more information, read the Skagit Valley Herald's Errors in Skagit vote count point to statewide problem or contact Washington State Democrats Communications Director Kristin Brost at 206-852-2046.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 6
Nominations sought for WSLC standing committees