WSLC Reports Today -- September 26, 2006

Sept. 26, 2006

THE PAST WEEK:
MONDAY
Thursday, Sept. 21
Wednesday, Sept. 20
Tuesday, Sept. 19

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. 26 ▪ McGavick's Social Security privatization leads to benefit cuts
▪ In The (Vancouver) Columbian -- Candidates' Social Security talk is just talk (Rick Bender column) -- Republican Senate hopeful Mike McGavick, GOP Reps. Dave Reichert and Cathy McMorris, and other candidates who support diverting some portion of Social Security taxes into private accounts can't explain how it is possible without cutting benefits, raising taxes, or both.
▪ In today's Seattle Times -- McGavick at Safeco: A big turnaround and an issue of candor -- Safeco employees say they were blindsided by mass layoffs because then-CEO McGavick raised hopes they would be avoided. Some employees believe he took drastic steps to improve profitability -- laying off thousands of workers, just as he had previously done as CEO of a Chicago insurance company -- so he could run for public office on a winning record... Now, on the campaign trail, McGavick says he would address the record federal deficit the same way he fixed Safeco, by making "tough choices." But then he promises not to raise taxes.

Political news:
▪ Today from AP -- Supreme Court jumps into WA dispute over labor union fees -- The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed today to decide whether public employee unions must get special permission before spending some workers' dues on political causes.
▪ Today at Postman on Politics -- The BIAW's post-primary poll -- Asking how people feel about SEIU, among other things, is how the BIAW hopes to learn from its failed $1 million campaign for John Groen... BIAW Boss Tom McCabe laments that "we've got a sisterhood in this state" that favors female candidates, including his next target, Supreme Court Justice Susan Owens.
▪ At Evergreen Politics -- New poll has Burner, Reichert in statistical dead heat
▪ In today's Seattle Times -- Street concedes to Pederson in hotly contested 43rd LD House race
▪ In yesterday's Columbian -- Pat Campbell credits Internet campaign for surprise win in 17th LD

Local news:
▪ In Monday's Olympian -- Tentative deals OK'd for nearly all state employee unions -- The contracts all include a 3.2% raise next year, 2% in 2008, and a new pay step for long-term workers.
▪ In today's Seattle Times -- Consider tolls, not higher tax, for viaduct, Gregoire says -- She says she hasn't decided whether she favors another elevated structure or with a more expensive tunnel, but vows to announce that decision before the Legislature convenes in January.
▪ In today's Seattle Times -- Keep Seattle's waterfront working (op-ed by Seattle port commissioners)
▪ In the Aberdeen Daily World -- Living on borrowed time its whole life -- The Cosmopolis pulp mill was always the black sheep of Weyerhaeuser’s Pulp & Paper Division. But in the end, the mill proved to be a sacrificial lamb to a forest products company that was looking in new directions.

Boeing tanker bid, Take 2:
▪ In today's Seattle Times -- 777 to be Boeing's alternative proposal for Air Force tanker -- The Air Force wants a tanker that can double as a troop carrier and supply plane, and the proposed 777 tanker would have a much larger capacity for fuel, troops or cargo than either the currently offered 767 tanker or a rival offer based on the Airbus A330... If Boeing wins the tanker competition, be it with a 777 or a 767, the basic airplane will be produced in Everett.
▪ In today's Seattle P-I -- Air Force backs off subsidy issue -- The Air Force says it expects to pick a winner in its air-refueling tanker competition by mid-2007, but it unexpectedly dropped a requirement that bidding companies provide details about government subsidies they receive.
▪ But AP apparently didn't get that memo -- Subsidy dispute to be tanker factor -- To win a lucrative military contract, Boeing and Airbus will have to address complaints of government subsidies.
▪ And, oh yeah, in today's News Tribune -- FedEx announces it will buy nearly 90 757-200s

Health Care news:
▪ At AFLCIO.org -- AFL-CIO applauds citizen group's demand for action on health care
▪ In today's NY Times -- Panel urges basic coverage on health care -- The Citizens’ Health Care Working Group, a 14-member federal advisory panel, says Congress should take immediate steps to guarantee that all Americans have access to affordable health care by 2012. President Bush has 45 days to comment on the panel's recommendations and offer a report to Congress. Five Congressional committees are then supposed to hold hearings on the proposals.
▪ Today from AP -- Health insurance premiums rising at twice the inflation rate
▪ In today's Oregonian -- No relief in sight for health care costs -- Yet health care reform barely has a pulse on the November ballot. Most politicians aren't talking about it, and those who do are proposing incremental rather than sweeping change.
▪ In today's LA Times -- Employers chip away at retiree health benefits -- Just as they are cutting back on pensions, employers are increasingly targeting health benefits as a way to save money, saddling older people with costs that companies used to accept as a routine part of business.

Immigration news:
▪ In today's Seattle Times -- Broad immigration reform, not fences (editorial) -- Immigration reform is urgent, but not so urgent the U.S. Senate should abandon its responsible approach.
▪ In today's NY Times -- Immigration reform, in pieces (editorial) -- GOP leaders want you to think they are hard at work overhauling the broken system. But don’t be fooled by the noise and dust.
▪ In today's Spokesman-Review -- Border fence is just politics (op-ed) -- By linking terrorists and smugglers with people seeking work, politicians are exploiting people's fears.

Other national news:
▪ Today from AP -- Survey says America down in competitiveness -- The World Economic Forum says America's business environment has deteriorated. Why? Because workers make too much money? No. Because environmental regulations are too strict? No. Competitiveness is down because of the (Republican-controlled) government's budget deficit, its disappointing response to Hurricane Katrina, and its rampant corruption. Also cited is America's massive trade deficit (accelerated by free-trade policies of the Republican-controlled federal government). The U.S. ranks below Singapore in the World Economic Forum's competitiveness rankings.
▪ Today from Reuters -- Jordan "dismayed" by AFL-CIO, textile group case

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2006
McGavick's Social Security privatization leads to benefit cuts

The following Letter to the Editor -- which appears in today's edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligenger -- makes the same point as Washington State Labor Council President Rick Bender's latest column -- which appears in today's edition of the Vancouver Columbian: that candidates like Republican Mike McGavick, who support partial privatization of the Social Security system, deliberately avoid explaining how it would be possible without raising taxes or cutting benefits.

McGavick plan removes money from the system
In your Thursday article, "Democrats waste no time smacking Mike McGavick," McGavick said that under his Social Security plan, younger workers would be able to choose from three investment models. One of the models is the current system, another is a moderately invested model and the third is a heavily invested model.
Like the president's plan for privatization, McGavick's plan would divert funds from the system, which means the system will run out of money even sooner than is now predicted. But, then to make matters even worse, McGavick wants the government, not individuals, to manage their private accounts. What a lose-lose proposition; not only is money is diverted money from Social Security, the account owners don't even get to manage their accounts.

If McGavick really wants to help make the Social Security system more solvent, he should come up with a plan for putting back the money that Congress has borrowed from the Social Security trust fund. We're now just two senatorial terms from the time when we will need to start taking money out of the trust fund, which is empty but for a bunch of worthless IOUs. If Congress, as usual, waits until the last minute to take action, they will either have to cut benefits or raise taxes.

And, since neither a war nor a mind-boggling federal debt can make Republicans raise taxes, it's a sure bet that a Republican Congress will choose to cut Social Security benefits.

Jack Edwards
Richland

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.