Legislative news:  ▪  It's time to move it, move it... (WSLC Legislative Update) -- A roundup of important labor-supported bills that need committee action before Monday's cutoff deadline.
Plus...  ▪  Urge House panel to advance Aerospace Incentive Accountability Act
▪  In today's Olympian -- Poll: voters support Family and Medical Leave Insurance -- A new poll shows that 73 percent of Washington voters favor paid-medical-leave legislation. Backers of the legislation cite the results as evidence they have an idea that deserves passage this year in the Democrat-controlled Legislature. "I think 2007 is the year," said Rep. Steve Conway.
▪  In the Daily World -- Should private business use prison labor? -- Sen. Hargrove (D-Hoquiam) is sponsoring a constitutional amendment to allow inmates to work for private companies.
▪  In today's News Tribune -- It's the $9.7 million question -- Taxpayers might spend that much on next year’s presidential primary election, even though the results will be almost entirely ignored.
▪  In today's Kitsap Sun -- Let voters decide on dropping school levy supermajority (editorial)

Boeing news:
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- 767 orders pick up -- The plane has enjoyed a revival of late, picking up as many orders in the first two months of 2007 as it has in the last three years.
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- Airbus won't compete in cargo -- Its decision to halt work on the A380 freighter and focus on its delayed passenger model leaves Boeing in a prime position.
▪  Today from AP -- Airbus unions call for one-day strike to protest job cuts, plant closures

Local news:
▪  Today from AP -- Truckers must get overtime, state Supreme Court rules -- Truckers and other Washington-based workers are entitled to overtime pay if they exceed 40 hours per week, even if much of their time is clocked out of state, the state Supreme Court holds in a 5-4 decision. Former court justice and former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Talmadge, who represented the trucking industry in the case, vows an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
▪  In the Columbian -- 3 of Camas mill's 5 paper machines shut down -- After more than a century as the heart of Camas, Georgia-Pacific restructuring will shrink the local work force from 800 to 500.
▪  In the Columbian -- Local teacher's (WEA) union dues caught in tug of war -- The union objects to a "religious objector's" choice of an international charity, as opposed to a local one.

National news:
▪  In today's NY Times -- Most support U.S. guarantee of health care -- The majority of Americans are willing to pay higher taxes to guarantee that everyone has health insurance, says a new poll.
▪  In today's LA Times -- Which Safeway can workers count on? (op-ed) -- Safeway CEO Steve Burd talks a good game about promoting health care coverage, including employer mandates. But how is one supposed to square Burd's bold positions with the cold reality facing three-quarters of Safeway's hourly workforce in Southern California? At present, the company's healthcare contribution for this group of more than 9,000 employees amounts to zero -- nothing, zip, nada.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Free-trade agreement between U.S. and South Korea is a lie (op-ed) -- Free trade would undermine South Korea's labor laws, cut wages, eliminate jobs and increase the number of temporary workers without benefits or job security.
▪  Today from Bloomberg -- Bill before Congress seeks shareholder say on executives' pay 
▪  In today's NY Times -- The path to citizenship (editorial) -- The White House is slunking away from a central pillar of reform: a path to citizenship that would give illegal immigrants -- those who wait and prove they deserve it -- the chance to participate fully and proudly in the life of this country.

After more than five hours of historic debate, the House of Representatives passed the most important labor law reform legislation in 70 years. 

By a margin of 241–185, the House passed HR 800, the Employee Free Choice Act, which would level the playing field when workers seek to form a union and bargain. Thirteen Republicans joined 228 Democrats in voting for the bill. Two Democrats and 183 Republicans voted against the bill.

Among Washington state's delegation, Democratic Reps. Rick Larsen, Brian Baird, Norm Dicks, Jim McDermott and Adam Smith voted for the bill, while Republican Reps. Dave Reichert and Cathy McMorris Rodgers voted against it. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-1st) missed the vote because of a family emergency back home, and Rep. "Doc" Hastings (R-4th) was also absent.

“I applaud the bipartisan majority in the House who supported the Employee Free Choice Act this afternoon and hope that my colleagues in the Senate move quickly in passing it in their chamber," said Rep. Adam Smith (D-9th). "As I’ve said before, I believe it is one of the most important pieces of legislation we will address in the 110th Congress and I will do everything I can to help advance it to the president’s desk.”

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says the House vote:

…marks a momentous turning point in the growing movement to restore our nation’s middle class. Today, the voices of tens of millions of working people who deserve the right to make a free choice to bargain for a better life have been heard and heeded on Capitol Hill.

Because of today’s vote, the future looks a little brighter to all Americans who have watched corporations celebrate record profits, but have themselves been shut out of the party, left with stagnant wages and facing soaring costs. A union card is the single best ticket into the middle- class and, thanks to the Employee Free Choice Act, working people may finally have the chance to be part of a union.

Communications Workers of America President Larry Cohen, who chairs the AFL-CIO Executive Council Committee on Organizing, said:

Congress today has recognized that collective bargaining is critical in this democracy as it is in every other democracy around the world. Passage today of the Employee Free Choice Act by the House of Representative is a first step towards restoring the core of the preamble of the National Labor Relations Act passed 70 years ago that commits our government to promote collective bargaining in the workplace, not an endless legal battle with management declaring war on their own employees.

In a last-minute, desperate effort to delay passage of the bill, Republicans tried to get the bill recommitted or sent back to committee. Republicans wanted to add a provision that only U.S. citizens be allowed to sign union authorization cards. The House rejected the recommitment by a margin of 225–202.

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) lashed out at the Republicans, calling the recommitment ploy a cynical act. He pointed out that under the current law it’s up to employers to ensure that all their workers are documented. Trying to move that responsibility to unions is just another example of Republican anti-worker sentiment, he said.

This [recommitment move] just shows how much you really hate workers.

The Employee Free Choice Act has strong bipartisan support. Introduced by Miller, the bill has 233 co-sponsors, including all six Democratic representatives from Washington state. Democrats made it clear that the purpose of the bill was not pro-union or pro-business, but pro-worker. During the debate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said:

Democrats believe we must make our economy fairer. We took the first step in our first 100 hours, with a strong bipartisan vote to increase the minimum wage. And today, we take the next step, with a strong bipartisan vote to ensure that America’s working families have the right to organize.

The right to organize means a better future for them, and for all us.  It means a future that is economically and socially just, a future where the workplace is safe, a future where our retirement is secure.

Click here to see videos of some of the speeches on the House floor during the debate.

Working families made this bill a key priority. The AFL-CIO sent more than 5 million e-mails messages to online activists on Employee Free Choice Act. During a week of action, workers in more than 100 cities met with members of Congress and community leaders to push for passage of the Aact. Actions included conferences, worker roundtables, rallies and other gatherings, with workers and union and community leaders meeting with at least 130 members of Congress.