Also Tuesday...  ▪  Workers at Seattle's Westin Hotel plan huge picket -- Union activists and community supporters are invited to attend a large informational picket line Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Local news:
▪  In today's Yakima H-R -- Random drug testing controversial for unions -- As the city of Yakima and its police union tussle over drug testing as part of a new contract, administrators want firefighters and emergency dispatchers to agree to the same random screening.
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- Three steps to a 787 position -- Want to help build a Dreamliner? The application process starts at a state-run resource center located near Everett’s Boeing plant.
▪  In today's Salem (Ore.) S-J -- SEIU leader Andy Stern wants shake-up of union -- Employer-paid health coverage is a relic of the past, and so are traditional pension plans, Stern says. 

Maria vs. Mike!™ news:
▪  In the Seattle P-I -- Re-elect Cantwell (editorial) -- Cantwell has a sure sense of families' economic stresses from favor-the-rich policies and the environmental threats from corporate favoritism. (Cantwell's also been endorsed by the Olympian, Columbian, News Tribune and Tri-City Herald.)
▪  In the Seattle Times, plus the Times-owned Yakima H-R and Walla Walla U-B -- McGavick for Senate (editorial) -- Critics will note that McGavick supports the elimination of the federal estate tax, a cause for which The Seattle Times (and its dog-shootin' publisher) has campaigned many years.
▪  In the News Tribune -- GOP not buying ad time for McGavick -- Two Republican campaign committees aren’t running television ads supporting Mike!™ in the final weeks of the election, which some analysts see as a concession that he can’t beat Democratic U.S. Maria Cantwell.

Other Congressional election news:
▪  In the Seattle P-I -- Burner is better (editorial) -- Reichert has been on the wrong side of votes regarding minimum wage, tax cuts, Tom DeLay's ethics and, most recently, detention and trial of foreign detainees. From how to balance the federal budget (and how urgent it is to do so) to how crucial it is to reduce human contributions to global climate change to Congress' role in Iraq war policy, Burner has the better grasp of the issues and the greater passion to deal with them.
▪  At the Times' Postman on Politics -- 5th District Congressional race heats up -- "It's a closer race than I first imagined," says Rep. Cathy McMorris, not realizing a reporter was listening.
▪  In today's LA Times -- The battlefield widens for Republican seats in Congress -- Republican seats at risk have nearly tripled since January, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Then, 18 GOP seats were endangered; now, 48 are considered in play.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Obama has one eye on White House -- Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)  says he is considering a run for president in 2008, backing off previous statements that he wouldn't.

Initiative news:
▪  In today's Bellingham Herald -- Land-use Initiative 933 is a potential nightmare (editorial) -- No one should support I-933. not even the many citizens who are frustrated by government regulation.
▪  In the PS Business Journal -- Farm Bureau fights for I-933 as allies stand aside 
▪  In today's News Tribune -- I-920 would kill a useful, progressive tax (editorial) -- Making the state's tax system less progressive and making it harder to pay for education doesn't make sense.

State Legislature news:
▪  Today from AP -- State Senate Democrats hungry to pad majority in swing districts -- A few GOP losses increasing the Democrats' 26-23 State Senate majority would drain the feisty minority's main source of power: the ability to hinder the Democratic agenda.
▪  In today's Yakima H-R -- Rumor mill has Sen. Deccio retiring -- Rep. Jim Clements (R-Selah) is rumored to be interested in succeeding the 85-year-old Republican state senator if he retires.

National news:
▪  Today from AP -- AFL-CIO files international complaint over NLRB decision on "supervisors" -- The protest to the United Nations' International Labor Organization "will demonstrate how far outside the mainstream of accepted international law the U.S. is moving," says the AFL-CIO.
▪  At AFL-CIO Now -- CWA report: Call center workers in India, U.S. face same problems 

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