Supreme Court election:
▪  In today's Tri-City Herald -- Susan Owens for Supreme Court (editorial) -- Incumbent Justice Susan Owens has something challenger Stephen Johnson does not: Experience as a judge.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Supreme Court candidates' views easy to tell apart -- Republican State Sen. Stephen Johnson has one of the lowest pro-union voting records in the Legislature, according to the Washington State Labor Council's scorecard. (Union members: Download a leaflet comparing WSLC-endorsed Justice Susan Owens and Stephen Johnson.) 
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Imagine selecting judges without big money's stain (McKay column) -- The state Supreme Court already contains one justice elected with BIAW money, Jim Johnson. Now the BIAW is pouring thousands more into the campaign of Republican Sen. Stephen Johnson. Other organizations and industries put money into these races, from labor unions to software designers. But none remotely approached the big bucks of the BIAW and its supporters.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Money surging through campaigns -- They were the single biggest spender in record-setting state Supreme Court campaigns, but BIAW Boss McCabe sez: "We're pikers."

Senate debate:
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- McGavick's barbs draw little return fire; Cantwell touts her record
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Cantwell, McGavick joust -- Cantwell on CEO Mike!: "Do you want to send somebody to Washington who's willing to cut thousands of employees off his own payroll and take a cash bonus as a reward for that? I want better fiscal responsibility and accountability."
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- Senate hopefuls spar -- Mike! on Social Security: Privatize it and ask wealthy recipients to voluntarily return their checks. (Maybe they'll return their tax refunds, too!)
▪  Today from AP -- Cantwell, McGavick face off in debate -- The debate was briefly halted when a cameraman fainted and slumped to the floor. He was fine later. (Insert joke here.)

Other political news:
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Vote "No" on I-920 (editorial) -- Any tax that shifts the state's unbalanced tax burden away from low- and middle-income workers, as the estate tax does, actually makes the system fairer. Repealing it would make the system less fair. Vote "no" on Initiative 920.
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- Debate over I-920 reveals morality of estate tax (Burbank column) -- The sense of society, of our commonwealth, that we shared immediately after 9/11 has vanished. Now it's OK to be greedy and endorse greed. And that is what Initiative 920 is all about.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Why this farm kid's voting "No" on I-933 (Rev. Paul Benz op-ed)
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Republicans on defensive in races for Legislature -- Senate Democrats are seeking a "solid majority" and House Democrats are seeking an "institutional majority."
▪  In Tri-City Herald blog -- GOP Sen. Honeyford chafes at Yakima H-R endorsement of Villanueva 
▪  In today's NY Times -- Alarm bells sound for Republicans in polls results from Ohio

Local news:
▪  At the Olympian blog -- Rep. Sam Hunt on nonunion state worker raises -- “The people that are looking for a free ride on everything that (the unions) lobbied for, I’m not sure they deserve it.”
▪  In the Longview Daily News -- Michael Lynch, who closed Reynolds plant, behind bars in Illinois -- One of the most hated men to ever set foot in Cowlitz County is in prison for criminal contempt.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Washington employers are still adding jobs, but at a slower rate
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- New 747 to battle Airbus jumbo -- Boeing's plan to stretch its signature jet by seven feet and 17 seats will help it compete with the A380, analysts say.
▪  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Vaagen Lumber buys Usk sawmill
▪  Related breaking news at HometownLocator.com -- There is a town called Usk in Washington 

Globalization news:
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- The world may be flat, but wage gap is not (editorial) -- China's wage gap is one of the biggest in the world, outpacing the U.S. and Russia. One wonders how high the global economy can climb, given the growing valley between the "haves" and "have nots."
▪  Corporate America plans to find out... In the NY Times -- China drafts law to boost unions, end labor abuse -- China is planning to adopt a new law that seeks to crack down on sweatshops and protect workers’ rights by giving labor unions real power for the first time. The move, which underscores the government’s growing concern about the widening income gap and threats of social unrest, is setting off a battle with American and other foreign corporations that have lobbied against it by hinting that they may build fewer factories there.

National news:
▪  In today's NY Times -- NYC labor leader Brian McLaughlin accused of taking $2.2 million
▪  In today's News Tribune -- Almost 95% of FedEx pilots approve new 4-year contract
▪  In today's NY Times -- A lesson from Europe on health care -- Strangely, we talk about medical spending as if it were nothing more than a drag on the economy, rather than an investment in the most important thing of all.

Stay the Course/Last Throes update:
▪  In today's NY Times -- 10 American soldiers killed Tuesday in Iraq; October's U.S. death toll: 68 
▪  The WSLC's affiliated unions have called for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq.  Between 43,937 and 48,783 Iraqi civilians -- roughly the populations of the cities of Olympia or Pasco -- have been killed since the invasion.  Of the 2,772 U.S. troops that have been killed there so far, 2,635 have died since President Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" and an end to major combat operations in Iraq on May 1, 2003, and 2,306 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.

Copyright © 2006   Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO