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WSLC
Reports Today
Updated DAILY...
Almost Every Day™ by 9 a.m.
Links are functional at date of posting, but sometimes expire. Some links require free registration. WSLC Reports Today links to stories of interest to organized labor; some positive, some negative. The intention is to inform.
TUESDAY,
SEPT. 5
▪
Rally
against Korea-U.S. trade deal Wednesday in Seattle
-- The
AFL-CIO, the Washington State Labor Council, the Martin Luther King Jr.
County Labor Council and organizations representing working families in
Korea will conduct a rally and march beginning at 12:30
p.m. on Wednesday at Westlake Center in downtown Seattle. Be there! Supreme
Court news:
▪
Download and share the
Guide to Judicial Candidates Labor
Day news: Local
news: Political
news: Immigration
news: National
news:
▪
In the Seattle Times -- The
Seattle round of Korea trade talks (editorial) --
Organized labor plans a protest at Westlake
Center at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. We recall the AFL-CIO's anti-WTO march of
1999, which was peaceful and law-abiding, and expect the same.
▪
In the Everett Herald -- Chambers,
Alexander should remain on State Supreme Court (editorial)
-- Two of this year's three state Supreme Court races
will be decided in the Sept. 19 primary. In those contests, we recommend
voters retain incumbents Gerry Alexander and Tom Chambers.
▪
In the News Tribune -- For
state Supreme Court: Alexander, Chambers and Owens (editorial)
▪
In today's Seattle Times -- Retain
incumbents Alexander, Chambers and Owens (editorial)
▪ In
today's Seattle Times -- Chambers,
Alexander for State Supreme Court (editorial)
▪
In the Kitsap Sun -- Vote
carefully in State Supreme Court elections (editorial)
-- Our editorial board is endorsing Chief Justice
Gerry Alexander and Justice Tom Chambers for re-election.
▪
In today's Seattle Times -- Is
high court dominated by "activist judges"? -- "It's so
easy to just pick five or six cases that have an emotional tug for some
people," says Alexander. "It's easy for people to say it's an
activist court. Usually, those are people who had a ruling not go their
way."
▪
In today's Seattle P-I -- Change
Wal-Mart, Change America tour makes Seattle its last stop
▪
In Monday's Seattle P-I -- Insidious
anti-labor bias hurts workers (Connelly column) --
In the new Gilded Age, union officials get labeled as "bosses,"
while executives who slash corporate payrolls or dump employee pension plans
get celebrated as "cost cutters" and "downsizers."
▪
In today's Olympian -- Cantwell
offers visions for nation's workforce -- U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell
touched on a number of issues important to union interests during her Labor
Day appearance at a picnic sponsored by the Thurston-Mason-Lewis Central
Labor Council.
▪
In today's News Tribune -- Politics,
barbecue mix -- Never in short supply were opportunities to honor
America’s workers, get involved in state and federal politics and learn
more about local initiatives. It was all part of the 2nd annual
Tacoma-Pierce County Labor Day Picnic.
▪
In today's Seattle P-I -- Unions
still face hard times -- "I think labor needs to consciously and
forcefully rebrand itself," says SPEEA's Charles Bofferding at the
Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council's annual Labor Day picnic in
Seattle.
▪
In the Columbian -- Labor
Day every day -- Local union leaders discuss past, present and future.
▪
At AFL-CIO Now -- Labor
Day wrap-up
▪
In the NY Times -- Pockets
half-empty or half-full? -- What seems clear is that the United States
has fallen into a new period of wage stagnation that has begun to darken the
public mood.
▪
In The Olympian -- State
contract costs $90 million -- The proposed contract offers a 3.2% raise
next year and a 2% raise in 2008 for all 30,000 general government workers
it covers. For another 7,400 employees, it would mean substantially more pay
by bringing scores of state jobs to within 75% of salaries of similar
positions in the private sector. And for long-term workers who have reached
the top of their salary scale, a new pay step will be added, meaning a 2.5%
raise.
▪
In The Olympian -- "Secret"
union bargaining is unfair (editorial) --
Keeping details of the negotiated agreement secret is a step backward -- for
the union and for Gov. Gregoire's negotiators.
▪
In the PSBJ -- A
nudge helps settle concrete workers' strike -- Government officials
urged Teamsters leader Dan Scott to use his influence to break the stalemate
and urge a compromise.
▪
In the Spokesman-Review -- Nursing
homes accept union -- Workers at eight nursing homes in Washington have
unionized during the past month, and management didn't fight the efforts.
The deal is that SEIU will lend its political clout to nursing homes' fight
for higher Medicaid reimbursements. In return, nursing homes will let
workers organize.
▪ At KUOW.org -- Union
workers (SEIU 925) picket University of Washington over salaries
▪
In today's Seattle P-I -- Dodson,
in 43rd, touts education credentials -- Lynne Dodson is a teacher, a
union leader and one of six Democrats running for Seattle's open seat in the
state House.
▪
In today's NY Times -- In
search of accurate vote totals (editorial) --
It’s hard to believe that nearly six years after the Florida disaster,
states still haven’t mastered counting votes accurately. Yet there are
growing signs the country is moving into another presidential election cycle
in disarray.
▪
In today's Oregonian -- Protesters
in Portland call for immigration reform
▪
Today from AP -- Immigrant
rights rallies have produced no surge in voter registration
▪
In today's NY Times -- GOP
sets aside work on immigration -- With elections approaching,
Congressional Republicans have all but abandoned a broad overhaul of
immigration laws and instead will concentrate on national security issues
they believe play to their political strength.
▪
In the P.S. Business Journal -- New
immigration rules could force mass firings -- Even if Congress fails to
pass immigration reform legislation, new regulations and public pressure may
make it harder for employers to keep hiring illegal immigrants.
▪
From AP -- Tribes
fight for exemption from labor statutes -- A
potentially precedent-setting legal fight contending that tribes are exempt
from federal labor laws could open the door for unions to organize an
estimated 250,000 workers -- dealers, servers, cooks -- at 400-plus tribal
casinos.
▪
In today's Washington Post -- Congress'
agenda includes federal pay raise, personnel issues
▪
In today's LA Times -- Pensions
going by wayside despite new law
▪
In today's Washington Post -- Number
of uninsured children rises -- For the first time since 1998, the number
of children younger than 18 without health coverage ticked upward last year.
TUESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 5, 2006
Rally against Korea-U.S.
trade deal
The AFL-CIO, the Washington State Labor Council, the Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council and organizations representing working families in Korea will conduct a rally and march beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Westlake Center in downtown Seattle. A march will then proceed to the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. Download, post and distribute a rally leaflet, and attend this important rally.
This week, trade negotiators from the United States and Korea are holding the final round of negotiations in Seattle for the Korea-U.S. (KORUS) Free Trade Agreement. By all indications, it will be little more than a carbon copy of other failed trade agreements like NAFTA, which provide weak or no protections for workers' rights and the environment, and undermine public services while creating strong protections for multinational corporate investment and profits.
Without KORUS, South Korea is already the United States' seventh largest trading partner and the largest economy with which we have negotiated a trade agreement since NAFTA. In 2005, the U.S. ran a $16 billion trade deficit with South Korea, with imports including vehicles, telecommunications equipment, electrical machinery, computers and steel. In fact, prefabricated steel is being imported from South Korea for the construction of the second Tacoma Narrows bridge because it was cheaper than buying from companies here in America and Washington state.
Why? Because union and worker rights are not protected in Korea.
Especially problematic is the newly established Kaesong industrial zone in North Korea -- reminiscent of the Maquiladora zone established in Mexican, but worse. Not only are North Korean workers denied all freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, they also lack any right to free speech or dissent. According to press reports, businesses in the Kaesong zone pay $57.50 per worker per month, and the workers only receive a fraction of that, with the North Korean government -- a nation that poses an active nuclear threat to the United States and other free nations -- keeping the rest. It is a situation that borders on indentured servitude.
There is no reason to believe that Bush administration negotiators will take worker and environmental considerations any more seriously with the KORUS than they have with other failed trade agreements they have negotiated. Instead, KORUS will simply protect corporate rights and profits, making it easier for companies to take advantage of Korea's lax environmental standards and worker abuse, like in the Kaesong zone, and manufacture cheaper goods that kill more and more good jobs here in the United States.
CALL TO ACTION: Enough is enough! It's time we send the Bush administration and trade negotiators a message: No more "free trade" agreements that ignore the PEOPLE! Make plans to come to Seattle on Wednesday and stand beside representatives of Korean workers who share our opposition to KORUS. Bring your co-workers, bring your family, bring your union signs and banners.
The last time these free traders came to Seattle, we were able to deliver a message the still echoes throughout the world. But we had a year to plan for that demonstration, this time we have only a couple weeks. Please do everything you can to encourage people to attend this important rally on Sept. 6.
Learn more about the KORUS at the AFL-CIO website.
TUESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 5, 2006
Download and share the
Guide to Judicial Candidates
Far-right, anti-labor and anti-environment special interests have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to convince voters to support their hand-picked candidates for Washington's State Supreme Court. They have mobilized a base of ultra-conservative activists to persuade their colleagues, friends and family members to vote for a special interest slate of candidates.
The state's progressive, moderate and independent voters must get the word out that our courts are under attack. And that means sharing information about these important races so voters can make good choices in the upcoming judicial races.
Citizens to Uphold the Constitution has produced a Guide to Judicial Candidates sponsored by Washington State Democrats, Washington State Labor Council, Washington Education Association, Washington Conservation Voters and NARAL Pro-Choice Washington.
Judicial races will be decided in the September 19 Primary Election, and absentee voters are already casting their ballots. So please download and share the Guide to Judicial Candidates with as many of your contacts as possible right away.
The Washington State Labor Council also offers a one-page leaflet for distribution to union members, which identifies labor's endorsed candidates for State Supreme Court and explains why they earned that endorsement. Download it here.
If you have news items regarding unions or workplace issues in Washington state that you would like to see posted here, please submit them via e-mail to David Groves or via fax to 206-285-5805.
Copyright © 2006 Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO