Also today:  ▪  AFL-CIO enters partnership to serve low-wage, immigrant workers (AFLCIO.org)
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- AFL-CIO to work with day laborers -- "It's surprising to see the depths of support (for day laborers from) the labor movement," said Hilary Stern, executive director of the Seattle-based CASA Latina. "There's a lot of hope that this alliance is going to raise the standards of all the workers by strengthening those workers who are the most vulnerable."
▪  In today's NY Times -- AFL-CIO forms pact with day laborers -- The AFL-CIO partnership with the National Day Labor Organizing Network, the largest U.S. organization of day laborers, will seek to improve wages and conditions for tens of thousands of laborers and other immigrant workers.
▪  In today's La Opinión -- Alianza histórica de jornaleros y AFL-CIO -- Se intenta mejorar las condiciones de los trabajadores.

Local news:
▪  In today's Yakima H-R -- Feds rule laid-off Yakima mill workers ineligible for retraining money
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- Brightwater boring set to begin today -- Also, a judge will decide today whether to allow an another attempt to block construction of the sewage treatment plant.
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- Fixing crumbling freeways is first priority (op-ed by DOT's Doug MacDonald)
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Getting health insurance to all children -- A campaign kicks off to get Washington's 115,000 uninsured children covered before school starts.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Right on the border of irony (editorial) -- A union official reports that border agents were ordered to make a 3-hour backup at Blaine disappear before members of two congressional homeland security subcommittees arrived Monday to inspect operations. "They were told to clear it, and they did," he says. "It's called, 'Hi, how are you? Have a nice day'."

Must-read column:
▪  In yesterday's Seattle Times -- The new American dream: Serf City, here we come (Harrop column) -- It's not news that American executives have put ordinary workers' benefits on a diet while they go for a fourth helping. What makes this redistribution of corporate wealth special is its brazen and unblushing quality... It's painful to observe a growing serf mentality among ordinary Americans. Working folk seem afraid to complain about greedy executives or tax cuts for the rich, lest some big-money politician accuse them of waging "class warfare"... Workers should understand that this doesn't have to be. The rules of this unfair game are made in Washington, D.C.  And until they change the rule makers, nothing will get better for them.

Political news:
▪  In The Stranger -- Defeating I-933 -- The only way this fall's outcome will be any different in Washington is if opposition campaigners learn the lesson from the loss in Oregon: When two-thirds of the population is against them from the start, they're going to have to spin to win.
▪  In The Stranger -- Political science -- Catering to religious conservatives, Republican Mike!™ McGavick supports teaching "intelligent design" in public schools.
▪  In today's Wash. Post -- Democratic leaders welcome Lamont; Lieberman shuns calls to drop out
▪  In today's Wash. Post -- Voter anger that cuts both ways (Broder column) -- Opposition to Iraq policy is building -- and so is dissatisfaction with a Washington that seems to be drowning in partisanship and incapable of breaking its gridlock on immigration, energy or health care. The protests are coming from both the right and left, but the greatest frustration is among the broad swath of centrist voters who feel they have no voice... Incumbents of neither party can feel safe.

Local news:
▪  In today's Yakima H-R -- Feds rule laid-off Yakima mill workers ineligible for retraining money
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- Brightwater boring set to begin today -- Also, a judge will decide today whether to allow an another attempt to block construction of the sewage treatment plant.
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- Fixing crumbing freeways is first priority (op-ed by DOT's Doug MacDonald)
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Getting health insurance to all children -- A campaign kicks off to get Washington's 115,000 uninsured children covered before school starts.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Right on the border of irony (editorial) -- A union official reports that border agents were ordered to make a 3-hour backup at Blaine disappear before members of two congressional homeland security subcommittees arrived Monday to inspect operations. "They were told to clear it, and they did," he says. "It's called, 'Hi, how are you? Have a nice day'."

National news:
▪  In today's Philadelphia Inquirer -- Nurse-supervisor cases bear major issue for unions -- For some employees, their union status hinges on an NLRB decision that will define the word "supervisor."
▪  In today's Cincinnati Enquirer -- Wal-Mart critics roll into town -- Politicians, labor unions, worker and women groups protest Wal-Mart’s wages and health insurance plan with the “2006 Change Wal-Mart, Change America” bus tour. (Follow its progress at www.WakeUpWalMart.com.)
▪  In today's Indianapolis Star -- Teamsters organize UPS Freight in Indianapolis -- It's the first time the union has organized a UPS Freight terminal, and Teamsters officials hope to negotiate a contract lucrative enough to encourage workers at other UPS Freight sites to join the union.
▪  Today from AP -- Northwest Airlines strike looms -- A federal judge is expected to rule Monday on whether to bar the airline's flight attendants from a planned strike that could disrupt flights.
▪  In today's Wash. Post -- Wal-Mart to allow unions in China -- It breaks its long-standing practice of resisting organizing efforts at its stores. Says one critic: "Wal-Mart's applying a complete double standard here. Why are they comfortable with it in one country and fighting it in another?"
▪  In today's Wash. Post -- Armor for federal whistleblowers -- Three House members back a Senate amendment reinforcing the rights of federal employees who disclose waste, fraud and abuse.