THURSDAY, MAY 4  ■  Legislators, candidates sign Fair Share statement of support -- The WSLC is asking all state legislators and candidates for legislature to sign a letter of support for the Fair Share Health Care Coalition. More than 50 have done so, and the list grows every day.

Cover the Uninsured Week news:
■  Today at AFL-CIO Now -- Celebrate Cover the Uninsured Week: Stop a bill that cuts benefits
■  In today's Seattle Times -- Make quality care with dignity a reality for all Americans (op-ed) -- As a doctor, this grim situation saddens me and offends my vow to help and heal.  As a citizen, taxpayer and employer, it enrages me.  It is time for our state and national leaders to stop bickering about who is to blame for rising health-care costs, set aside the political posturing and finally make health-care coverage a top priority.
■  For more information, please visit: www.covertheuninsured.org  

Solidarity Forever news:
■  In today's Boston Globe -- Change to Win Coalition looks to squeeze AFL-CIO -- CTW asks its affiliates that have signed Solidarity Charters with AFL-CIO state federations and CLCs to suspend their payments until the AFL-CIO allows the United Farm Workers to sign Charters.
■  Today at AFL-CIO Now -- State, local labor leaders call for "Unity on the Ground" -- More than 125 state and local labor leaders urge presidents of CTW unions to drop a plan that threatens to harm labor unity in states and communities. (Rather than sign the national "open letter" described in this posting, WSLC President Rick Bender sent a personal letter last week to all CTW-affiliated unions that have signed Charters with the WSLC urging them to stay active in the council.)

Boeing news:
■  In today's King County Journal -- Boeing orders and hiring grow -- The company gets firm orders for 101 next-generation 737s and adds more than 200 Puget Sound area workers in the past month.
■  In today's Everett Herald -- Boeing bullish on its cargo jets -- Company execs say they're confident they'll capture the overwhelming majority of the $155 billion market over the next 20 years.
■  In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing suit to enrich lawyers -- A shareholder suit over the procurement scandals has yielded a proposed payment of nearly $12 million for their lawyers, but little else.
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Boeing CEO sees progress in plane subsidies dispute

Political news:
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Legislative races get costlier -- The cost of running a successful legislative campaign has more than doubled in the past decade; state Senate bids average nearly $150,000.
■  In the Stranger -- Democratic quagmire -- Exciting the liberal base in Seattle may turn off swing voters in places like Buckley, voters who Dems like Darcy Burner need to take back the House.
■  At the Horses Ass blog -- Rep. Ross Hunter fighting lymphoma, but "feeling fine"

Local news:
■  In yesterday's Columbian -- Another career path (editorial) -- The emergence of information technology as a career has contributed to the notion that a college diploma is not a "must" for everyone who is bright and can afford one. But more typical and eye-opening to local students and their parents might be the paid apprenticeship programs averaging $10 per hour to learn a trade that might pay them three times that while college-student peers are paying to get college educations.
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- 16 teachers, other to get laid off by Seattle School District
■  In today's Oregonian -- Public-private project exempted from Oregon prevailing wage rules -- A judge rules that the prevailing wage law doesn't apply to private contractors who get public help.

National news:
■  Today from AP -- Bush makes case for extending capital gains, dividend tax cuts -- The 71% of taxpayers who make less than $50,000 a year save on average just $10 each from these tax cuts, says one study. Wealthy investors, on the other hand, clean up. Meanwhile, borrow-and-spend Republicans who run the U.S. government ran up $760 billion in unpaid bills in 2005. That's $156,000 of debt for every man, woman and child in America. In one year.
■  In today's LA Times -- Immigration rallies fuel resolve of port truckers -- Many drivers take heart as they push for better compensation and shorter working hours.
■  In today's NY Times -- The letter about dying down below (editorial) -- The Sago Mine disaster should be examined as thoroughly and openly as a plane crash; its lessons promulgated industrywide.
■  In today's Wash. Post -- Bill would prohibit raises for subpar federal workers -- Senator proposes tightening up the government's performance-appraisal system and deny pay raises to some.
■  Today in Newsday -- A union vote at JetBlue? Baggage handlers consider joining IAM 

One of the 2006 legislative priorities of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO -- as well as many other unions, businesses, and community, religious and health care organizations -- was the Fair Share Health Care bill, which aimed to stop the "race to the bottom" on health benefits. Though it failed to pass, it received significant public support and prompted a remarkable debate about the health care crisis and employers’ responsibility to participate in the solution. Ultimately, Gov. Chris Gregoire pledged to work on developing a revised version of the bill, and Speaker Frank Chopp, who blocked the bill from getting a vote, now also says he will work on this issue.

But the diverse Fair Share Health Care Coalition (see a list of endorsers) also met with success. Progress was achieved on its other three proposals: establishing a new Small Employer Health Insurance Partnership Program, increasing Basic Health Plan slots for low-income working adults and increasing Children’s Health Program slots to work toward the goal of covering all children in this state.

To continue to build momentum for the Fair Share Health Care Coalition as we head into this fall's election and then the 2007 legislative session, the WSLC is asking all legislators and candidates for state legislature to sign a letter of support for the Fair Share Health Care Coalition.  That way, unions and their rank-and-file members who support Fair Share and consider the health care crisis to be a priority issue can know which candidates support the Coalition's priorities.

At the WSLC COPE Convention on May 13, where delegates representing affiliated unions statewide will vote on election endorsements, the WSLC will circulate and prominently display the Fair Share letter of support and the list of candidates who have signed it. Following is the statement and the list of more than 50 legislators and candidates who have signed it:

STATEMENT OF SUPPORT
Washington Fair Share Health Care Coalition

If elected or reelected in 2006, I will support the following in the 2007 legislative session in order to secure health care coverage for more Washington residents:

1. Establish a minimum standard for health-care coverage expenditure among the state’s largest companies, those with more than 5,000 employees. The large companies that do not meet this minimum standard of employee health coverage would pay a fee used to cover uninsured working adults in Washington State.
   

2. Provide funding to expand the small business program created by the 2006 legislature. This program provides subsidies to employees (under 200% of the federal poverty level) of Washington’s small employers who are willing to pay 40% of the cost of health care premiums for coverage substantially similar to the Basic Health Plan.
   

3. Add significantly more enrollment slots to the state’s Basic Health Plan for low-income working and unemployed adults.
   

4. Provide the funding necessary to meet the goal of having every child in Washington State covered by health insurance.

Here is the list of legislators and candidates who have signed the statement, as of May 3, 2006: