WSLC Reports Today -- September 19, 2006

Sept. 19, 2006

THE PAST WEEK:
MONDAY
Friday, Sept. 15
Thursday, Sept. 14
Tuesday, Sept. 12

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. 19 ▪ TODAY is the Primary Election... so VOTE! -- You can mail or drop off your ballots today at your polling place. For a list of drop-off locations, visit your county auditor's web page. When you vote, make sure you indicate a party affiliation, or your vote won't count in partisan races! Check out the WSLC Election Endorsements (in HTML or one-page printable PDF) approved by delegates representing WSLC's 500-plus local unions.

Also today: ▪ Make a difference: Help improve community, technical colleges -- Your labor expertise is needed to help your local community and technical college improve its professional/ technical training programs for the benefit of our future workforce. Find out how to volunteer.

Local news: ▪ Job Gap Study finds lack of living-wage jobs in state -- Only 30% of all jobs pay a wage that would enable a family of four to afford health care, childcare, food and housing.
▪ In yesterday's Aberdeen Daily World -- Last boiler shuts down at Weyco's Cosmopolis pulp mill
▪ In yesterday's Aberdeen Daily World -- Life after Weyerhaeuser -- An award that AWPPW Local 211 received from the Washington Labor Council a few weeks ago says, “Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.”... “And we gave it a good fight,” Local 211 President Bill Messenger says.
▪ In yesterday's Aberdeen Daily World -- Union leader Messenger unsure of his own future
▪ In today's News Tribune -- State workers get closer to decision on pay raises -- WFSE officials are counting ballots today to see whether their members will ratify a contract that would give them a 3.2% raise in 2007 and a 2% raise in 2008. They expect a final tally by Thursday.
▪ In today's Seattle P-I -- Hanford workers' medical care comprised, delayed (op-ed) -- Since DOE took over the workers' compensation program from the state Department of Labor and Industries in 2000, the rate of claim denials has tripled. Workers who appeal the denials of their claims often face aggressive DOE legal tactics financed by your tax dollars. Is this how we want to treat workers who take risks in order to leave Washington citizens a cleaner, better state?
▪ In today's Spokesman-Review -- Ridpath Hotel's name will remain the same (but little else) -- The new owner of the formerly unionized hotel (and site of WSLC Conventions), will reduce the employee count from 56 to 16 by outsourcing the laundry, housekeeping and food service.
▪ In today's Olympian -- Thurston County mail is now sent to Tacoma -- APWU's Olympia local claims the Tacoma plant is understaffed and could have difficulties getting the mail out on time.

Immigration news:
▪ In today's Seattle Times -- Low-paid illegal workforce has little impact on prices (Part 3 of a MUST READ 4-part series) -- If illegal workers disappeared from the apple harvest and wages for the remaining legal workers rose by 40% in response -- and that entire wage increase were passed on to consumers -- that still would add less than 3 cents to the retail price of a pound of apples.
▪ In today's NY Times -- Immigration's lost year (editorial) -- The more talk you hear about border security the clearer it will be that hopes for effective immigration reform this year are past saving.
▪ In today's Oakland Tribune -- Day laborers, organized labor unite for workers' rights (op-ed)

Sales-Tax Deduction news:
▪ In yesterday's News Tribune -- Congress' inaction could kill Washington's sales tax break -- The IRS needs to submit this year’s tax forms to its printers by Oct. 15. Congress is set to adjourn in two weeks and there is not even a bill moving forward to again allow the residents of the eight states to deduct what they pay in state and local sales taxes on their federal returns.
▪ In today's Yakima H-R -- It's time for Doc Hastings to push for sales-tax deduction (editorial) -- After nearly 12 years in Congress, he should be able to get attention in the White House and on the Republican side of the aisle in the House. They and the rest of the Washington state congressional delegation must not allow this important measure to slip below the radar.
▪ In today's Spokesman-Review -- Sales-tax trickery (editorial) -- Back in May, when the deduction was removed from a tax-cut package, Frist told Americans not to worry: "I fought hard to return fairness to the tax code by restoring the sales tax deduction, and I look forward to securing its extension." But now, his strategy once again is to force senators to vote for both an estate tax repeal and the sales-tax deduction, or get neither. As a result, millions of tax filers in Washington and seven other states face tax bills next year that will be $500 higher, on average.

Political news:
▪ In today's Seattle Times -- Mining industry shovels to McGavick's bid for Senate -- The mining industry has been a quiet but important player in McGavick's campaign. This week, industry leaders will host their 4th event for him in a year in Washington, D.C. (These are the people who have fought for and received the relaxation of mine safety standards... with devastating results.)
▪ In today's NY Times -- Critics of war spare Sen. Cantwell in close race -- Cantwell, in an interview after attending a Labor Day picnic with union members in Chehalis, said her position on the war had not changed this year but that campaigning had helped her clarify her stance with voters.
▪ In the LA Times -- Rove visit highlights GOP's dilemma -- When Karl Rove came to the Seattle suburbs to headline a fundraiser for freshman Republican Rep. Dave Reichert, the congressman did nothing to publicize the visit, and his challenger drew every bit of attention to it she could.
▪ In today's NY Times -- Judicial politics run amok (editorial) -- To undermine the whole purpose of the court system by allowing special interests to buy judgeships, or at least try to, is the worst system of all. Today’s round of judicial elections in Washington State points to the seriousness of the problem and its threat to judicial integrity, independence and impartiality.
▪ In today's Oregonian -- Labor attorney joins Oregon's high court -- Justices are appointed there.

National news:
▪ In today's Washington Post -- Trade spat snares Air Force tanker bids -- EADS (Airbus) has been attempting to keep the military contract separate from the international dispute; Boeing supporters have argued that the pending WTO case shouldn't be ignored. The Defense Department has sided with Boeing, deciding that companies competing to build the new tanker would be asked about the potential impact the aircraft trade dispute might have on their bid. Sen. John McCain says this decision "needlessly and, in my view, improperly injects into what should be a full and open competition an element of arbitrariness and capriciousness."
▪ From AP -- In Mulally, Ford gets a pro at cutting jobs -- IAM 751 and SPEEA representatives say Mulally managed to maintain goodwill among employees even during the worst of the cuts.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2006
Make a difference: Help improve community, technical colleges

Are you someone who is making a difference? Do you want to be?

Put your “labor expertise” to work at the Community/Technical College near you. Help them improve professional/technical training programs for the benefit of our future workforce. There are opportunities available to get involved at your local college:

· Board of Trustees

· General Advisory Councils

· Worker Retraining Councils

· Program Advisory Committees

· Ad Hoc Advisory Committees

Some of the things you will be asked to do are:

· Evaluate equipment and facilities

· Recommend new technologies

· Develop student performance standards

· Validate academic and occupational competencies

· Facilitate student job shadowing and job placement

· Determine effectiveness of the program

· Provide back-to-industry opportunities for instructors

To get more detailed information about these opportunities to make a difference in a community outside of King County download/print a letter from Kairie Pierce, the WSLC Labor Liaison for Community and Technical Colleges, explaining these opportunities. Or contact Kairie at (360) 943-0608 or kpierce@wslc.org. Or you can go ahead and fill out a questionnaire and fax it to (360) 754-3574.

To get more detailed information about these opportunities make a difference inside of King County contact Joan Weiss at (206) 441-8408 x16 or Jweiss@wc-kclc.org.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2006
Job Gap Study finds lack of living-wage jobs in Washington

The following press release was distributed this morning by the Washington Community Action Network:

Job Gap Study Reveals Lack of Living Wage Jobs
and Persistent Racial Divide
As Election Season Kicks Off, Candidates Must Focus on Bread and Butter Issues

Seattle, WA -- Only 30 percent of all jobs in Washington pay a wage that would enable a family of four to afford basics like health care, childcare, food, and housing. This is one finding of the annual study: 2006 Northwest Job Gap Study: Living Wages in the Current Economy. While people of all races and ethnicities in Washington struggle in low-wage work, people of color are more likely to earn below a living wage.

“I work 5 different jobs at 13 different places,” said a member of Washington CAN! “I’m a single mom and I have two daughters, they both work and study, but life, it’s too hard. My health coverage has just begun thanks to one of the many jobs I have. I’m scared to think what would it happen if I get sick, I wouldn’t have any income to support my family, I don’t get benefits such as sick days, only at one of my jobs -- the one that pays least.”

The study determines the dollar amount a person must earn to be financially stable and self-sufficient. For example, a single adult with one child in Washington must earn $17.54 per hour to meet their basic needs. The fundamentals like food, housing, transportation, health care, childcare and having the ability to save for rainy days are included in these figures.

Overall, there are not enough living wage jobs in Washington. For example, only 43 percent of current jobs offer a salary that would allow a single adult with one child to meet basic needs without assistance.

The racial income gap in Washington is considerable. Native American households are up to 23 percent less likely than non-Hispanic white households to earn a living wage. Latinos are among the least likely to be working in jobs that pay living wages. Of all Latino households in Washington, only 34 percent have an annual income that equals a living wage for a family of three.

Today’s primaries are the kickoff of the election season, and voters demand to know what candidates will do to close gaps in access to health care, quality education, child care, affordable housing, and other basic needs.

“We need to invest in secure, affordable health care for all families and in education for Washington’s current and future workforce,” says Will Pittz, Executive Director of the Washington Community Action Network. “People are feeling squeezed, and want to hear real solutions this election season. Candidates and elected officials should take notice.”

With over 30,000 members, Washington CAN! is the state’s largest grassroots community organization. Washington CAN! works at the local, state, and national levels on issues that directly affect the lives of Washington residents.

For more information, call Washington CAN! at 206-389-0050.

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.