Local news:
▪  In today's Olympian -- State workers vote on a contract -- WFSE union members are voting on a new two-year contract. WFSE leaders say a "no" vote is tantamount to calling for a strike.
▪  In the Seattle P-I -- Seattle-area guards (SEIU 6) are the first in Washington state to unionize (brief... scroll down)
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Port of Seattle wants to spend $1 billion over 10 years on growth

Political news:
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- More invalid ballots come in -- In the most recent count, 19% of voters in Snohomish County failed to mark a party affiliation, so their partisan votes won't count.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Follow directions (editorial) -- Some voters are erring intentionally (by not indicating party affiliation on their ballots), in a futile protest over the loss of the blanket primary. A citizen's right to vote may include the freedom to throw that vote away, but it seems a shame.
▪  In today's Olympian -- Special-interest money targets (labor-endorsed) Justice Gerry Alexander
▪  In today's Olympian -- BIAW, other PACs face inquiry over campaign finance "shell game" -- BIAW creates groups to avoid identifying its $512,000 sponsorship of attack ads.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- State Supreme Court races spark fundraising arms race -- Three separate PACs have spent more than $1.1 million to support BIAW attorney John Groen and unseat Chief Justice Gerry Alexander.
▪  In today's Washington Post -- In Rhode Island, a GOP model for voter turnout -- It was a potent demonstration of how money and manpower can transform a race for Republicans even in an unfavorable political environment -- and a preview of the strategy that national party officials say they plan to replicate in races across the nation.
▪  Today from AP -- McGavick calls for drug testing for parents on welfare -- In an unrelated story, Washington D.C. police call for breathalyzers for insurance industry lobbyists on their streets.

Port Security news:
▪  In today's News Tribune -- Senate should endorse good port security bill (editorial) -- The U.S. Senate has a chance today to set aside partisan maneuvering and protect the nation’s ports from terrorist attacks by approving a port security bill long championed by Sen. Patty Murray.
▪  In today's NY Times -- Port security won't bankrupt us (editorial) -- In opposing the port security bill, Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff warns darkly about the dangers of trying to protect the country from “every conceivable threat” -- an idea no one has ever espoused. The issue's always been the need to set priorities, and in that respect, his department has become a laughingstock.

Other national news:
▪  In today's LA Times -- San Francisco hotel workers make deal -- Tentative UNITE HERE contract with 13 hotels would run through August 2009, and offer better wages, pensions and health care.
▪  In the LA Times -- California's minimum wage gets a raise; will increase to $8 by 2008 
▪  In today's LA Times -- Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoes Fair Share legislation in California
▪  In today's NY Times -- Chicago big-box wage ordinance unravels; council fails to override veto
▪  In today's Houston Chronicle -- Union leaders fume over Texas prison labor plan
▪  Today from AP -- Ford may expedite layoffs, plant closures in restructuring
▪  Today from AP -- Detroit teachers vote to end two-week strike, paving way for schools to open
▪  In today's Washington Post -- Social Security lays out funding consequences -- Agency tells Congress: In crease funding or we'll be forced to send our employees home without pay.
▪  In today's LA Times -- On eve of immigration vote, GOP on both sides of (700-mile) fence
▪  In today's NY Times -- Interior Department official assails agency for ethics slide
▪  In today's Washington Post -- A crucial choice (editorial) -- Having finally been forced to take responsibility for writing law to govern the war on terrorism, Congress will now decide whether it simply means to sign off on the Bush administration's past abuses (the torturing of terrorism suspects), or reaffirm fundamental American values.

Last Throes update:
▪  Today from AP -- 2 more U.S. soldiers among 17 dead in Iraq bombings
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Trail of bodies around Baghdad -- Authorities find at least 65 bodies dumped throughout Baghdad in an explosion of violence that cast doubt on Bush administration's claims that the city is on its way to being pacified.
▪  Delegates from WSLC-affiliated unions have voted to call for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq.  Between 41,931 and 46,613 Iraqi civilians -- or roughly the populations of the cities of Olympia or Pasco -- have been killed since the U.S. invaded.  Of the 2,670 U.S. troops that have been killed there so far, 2,533 have died since President George W. Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" and an end to major combat operations in Iraq on May 1, 2003. (2,203 have died since Saddam's capture.)  More than five years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is still at large.

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.

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