THURSDAY, JUNE 8  ■  Come to Hotel Workers Rising kickoff rally June 15 in Seattle -- This is our first opportunity to show solidarity with hotel workers fighting as part of a national movement to lift themselves and their non-union brothers and sisters above the poverty line.

Take Action!  ■  Stop China's repression of human rights -- Today, the AFL-CIO is taking action to protect America’s jobs and stop the unconscionable abuse of workers by the Chinese government. We need you to help by sending a message to Congress and President Bush.
■  Today from AP -- AFL-CIO seeks trade case against China -- The AFL-CIO is petitioning the Bush administration to impose sanctions on China for violating international labor standards.

"But They Came Out of Mrs. Walton!" news:
■  From United for a Fair Economy -- Senate will try to kill estate tax TODAY -- At a cost of $1 trillion in the first 10 years, the Senate is expected to vote TODAY on repealing the estate tax. This after Congress approved $70 billion in tax cuts targeted to wealthy Americans last month. What did YOU get? $156,000 of debt for every man, woman and child in America. That's what your federal government racked up in 2005 -- in just one year.  For a family, it's like a new $750,000 mortgage -- and no house.  Today, as the Senate decides whether to hand $1 trillion more to the richest 0.27% of Americans, U.S. bonds -- once the safest investment in the world -- are moving toward "junk" status. Welcome to fiscal conservatism, Republican-style. TAKE ACTION: Call your Senators at 1-800-459-1887; tell them to vote NO on repealing or reducing the estate tax.
■  Meanwhile, in today's Seattle P-I -- Congress drops funding for increased port security -- Says Sen. Murray: "We are not going to have the money we need for screening machines, customs inspectors, Coast Guard inspectors, radiation monitors, gates, fences and more. The administration keeps talking a good game, but words do not provide security."

Local news:  ■  Ironworkers Local 86 receives City of Tacoma's volunteerism award
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Do tax breaks, incentives really matter? (Virgin column) -- In economic development circles, the conflicting emotions can be summarized as: Maybe they're not the most efficient way to encourage development, and maybe they don't matter as much as everyone thinks -- but we'll stop offering them when everyone else does.
■  In today's LA Times -- Boeing may boost 787 production (brief) -- The company could decide this summer whether it will double production capacity of the fast-selling new Dreamliner.
■  In today's Bellingham Herald -- Aluminum jobs will go way of affordable power (editorial) -- It appears that life will never return to what was once normal at the Alcoa Intalco Works smelter.
■  In today's Olympian -- Forecasters predict use of state services -- Welfare use dropping, nursing home use is steady after a long decline, and the prison population is growing fast.

Political news:
■  In today's Seattle Times -- One less pain on the ballot (editorial) -- Voters in Washington state did themselves a favor by declining to sign R-65 and avoiding the rancor associated with gay rights.
■  In today's Everett Herald -- R-65's demise: One less distraction for this fall's election (editorial)
■  In yesterday's Longview Daily News -- Republican Party tries to toss aside a challenger to Baird
■  In today's Seattle Times -- U.S. Senate candidates need to massage their messages (Balter column) -- Mike McGavick should think before he talks. And Maria Cantwell should re-think her position on one of the most disastrous episodes in American foreign policy: the Iraq war.
■  In today's Salem S-J -- School employees back Kulongoski -- The governor has snared another prized endorsement from a public-employees union that snubbed him in the May primary.
■  In today's NY Times -- Narrow victory by GOP signals fall problems -- The victory that Republicans squeezed out in a high-profile race to fill a House vacancy eased party anxieties but signaled future difficulties as they confront tougher challenges in increasingly contested districts this fall.

National news:
■  In Fortune magazine -- Cingular bucks anti-union trend -- The nation's largest wireless carrier has taken a cooperative approach, working out a "neutrality agreement" with the CWA. Each side agreed not to disparage the other, and workers were permitted to form unions at their job sites if a majority signed cards indicating that they wanted to do so. No name calling, no bitter battles, no distractions for the job at hand -- which is, after all, providing quality wireless phone service.
■  Today at AFLCIO.org -- Sweeney blasts GOP over vow to prioritize Social Security privatization -- A powerful House Republican spills the beans that he plans to make it his top 2007 priority.
■  In today's NY Times -- Steelworkers union, Sierra Club unite -- USW and the nation's largest environmental group form national Blue/Green Alliance to push for stronger environmental and worker protections in trade agreements, for ratification of the Kyoto Treaty to limit greenhouse gases that scientists say contribute to global warming, and to push for higher fuel efficiency standards for cars. The United Automobile Workers has often fought tougher fuel standards.
■  Today from Bloomberg -- Albertson's plans to close 100 stores -- None are in Washington state.
■  In today's NY Times -- Study sees in crease in illegal Hispanic workers in New Orleans -- Study: About a quarter of the construction workers rebuilding New Orleans are illegal immigrants, who are getting lower pay, less medical care and less safety equipment than legal workers.
■  In today's NY Times -- Bill to nullify FAA-imposed contract fails (brief) -- The bill would have sent the disputed air traffic controllers contract to binding arbitration. The vote was 271-148, but failed to muster the two-thirds majority needed for passage. A 9-vote wing would have reversed the outcome. Washington GOP Reps. Cathy McMorris and Doc Hastings voted against it.

Last Throes update:
■  Today from AP -- Al-Qaida leader al-Zarqawi killed in Iraq by U.S. air strike -- Bush immediately calls a press conference to bask in the glow of the death of this scumbag terrorist. The number of American soldiers killed in Iraq since Bush's press conference announcing the handover of the Iraqi government to Iraqis: 1,614.  The number of American soldiers killed in Iraq since Bush's press conference announcing the capture of Saddam Hussein: 2,015.  The number of American soldiers killed in Iraq since Bush's "Mission Accomplished" press conference: 2,343.  The total number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq: 2,480.  The Iraqi body count: 38,254 to 42,646.