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.

Immigration news:
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Immigration-rights leaders say latest bill needs work -- The STRIVE Act would offer the prospect of legal residence, and eventually citizenship, to an estimated 12 million people now living illegally in the U.S. if they meet a list of requirements, including proof of employment and no felony convictions. It also would create a temporary guest-worker program.
▪  Today from the new Onion News Network -- Immigration: The Human Cost 

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2007
Farm Bureau spreads its manure all over family leave bill

The business lobbyists in Olympia have launched an all-out assault on the Family and Medical Leave Insurance bill, SB 5659, with one local Chamber of Commerce hysterically declaring: "This Killer Bill Must Be Stopped!"  But rather than engage in an honest debate on the costs and benefits of granting some paid leave to workers with seriously ill family members or a new child in their family, some are deliberately misleading their members -- and legislators -- with claims they know to be false.

One of the worst examples we've come across so far is an email "action alert" from the Washington State Farm Bureau. This is the fact-challenged farmers' lobbying group that notoriously tried to take out Rep. Bill Grant (D-16th), one of the agriculture community's strongest legislative advocates, all because this veteran State Representative had a "D" after his name. (It would become one of Eastern Washington's ugliest campaigns of the 2006 election season.) 

The Farm Bureau's email about SB 5659 so dramatically distorts the bill that even a casual observer would have to conclude that its falsehoods are a deliberate attempt to create some opposition where little exists. In Eastern Washington, a recent poll showed a remarkable four of five voters (82%) support the Family and Medical Leave Insurance proposal.

Following are excerpts from the Farm Bureau's "Are Lawmakers Being Duped About Paid Leave?" email, with reality checks added (in blue):

FARM BUREAU:  "2ESSB 5659... contains a complex new employment regulation because it would require employers to either reinstate the worker, in the case of large employers, or fund unemployment, if a job is not held open for the worker.  Amazingly, an employee could be hired today and demand paid family leave the next day!"

REALITY CHECK:  Under the bill, you must have worked 680 hours to be eligible for family leave benefits, the same number needed to qualify for Unemployment Insurance benefits.  Like UI, you can earn those hours with any employer.

FARM BUREAU: "After the paid family leave expired, the worker could ask to be reinstated..."

REALITY CHECK:  Under the bill, workers would only earn reinstatement rights if they work for a full year and at least 1,250 hours for that employer -- the same standard in the federal Family and Medical Leave Act -- and only if the employer has more than 25 workers.

FARM BUREAU: "...or begin collecting unemployment insurance -- which could be charged against the employer where the worker worked for the one day or some other employer who did absolutely nothing to cause the unemployment."

REALITY CHECK:  This is the case under current Unemployment Insurance law, if this imaginary one-day worker has to quit to attend to a family emergency or new baby, and the employer refuses to rehire.  SB 5659 would not change that law.

FARM BUREAU:  "The new Washington Family Leave Act is a state-mandated insurance policy and an onerous new employment regulation with a guarantee of re-employment."

REALITY CHECK:  See above: SB 5659's work-hour requirement for reinstatement rights is identical to existing federal law. 

FARM BUREAU:  "Combining the time off available under (state and federal) programs, it is possible for a worker to demand 20 weeks or more of leave each year, and force the employer to keep the job open or be charged for unemployment."

REALITY CHECK:  SB 5659 only provides five weeks of paid leave, following a one-week waiting period, and runs at the same time as the federal FMLA's 12 weeks of unpaid leave, IF the worker is at a large enough company -- 50+ employees -- to be covered by both.  In other words, a worker could take the same maximum of 12 weeks as under current law, except that under SB 5659, the worker would receive a stipend of up to $250 for weeks 2 through 6.

Perhaps the most offensive aspect of the Farm Bureau's disinformation campaign is that those who act on it are directed to the Bureau's web site, which generates an email from them to their state legislators with the subject line, "Farm workers can't afford forced payroll deduction."

Clearly, this is not about protecting farm workers' interests. This is about business lobbying groups that are ideologically opposed to Family and Medical Leave Insurance -- and most other government programs -- deliberately misleading the public. 

This is nothing new.  When the federal Family and Medical Leave Act was first proposed to allow workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family emergencies and new babies, these same groups predicted that "mandating" leave policies would have devastating consequences on employers.  They were wrong then.  And they are wrong now.

For more information about SB 5659, check out "It's time for Family & Medical Leave Insurance for all workers."

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2007
WFSE "Budget Lobbying Blitz" Wednesday morning at Capitol

The Washington Federation of State Employees, AFSCME Council 28 plans a "Budget Lobbying Blitz" for this Wednesday, March 28 at the State Capitol steps in Olympia. What are the key issues for the largest state employee union?

All union members and others who support these issues are invited and encouraged to attend. For more information on the “Budget Lobbying Blitz” Day, contact WFSE's Sara Lowe at 1-800-562-6002.

The following information is excerpted from a rally announcement by the Tacoma chapter of Washington State Jobs with Justice:

A "Stop the Violence and Stop the Staff Shortage at Western State Hospital" rally with hospital workers represented by Washington Federation of State Employees Local 793 will be held at 10 a.m. this Wednesday, March 28 on the State Capitol steps in Olympia. (This is part of the "Budget Lobbying Blitz" described above.)

Severe assaults on patients and staff at Western State Hospital have skyrocketed in the last year beyond an already alarming rate.  Legislators promised more funding in the budget for safe staffing and safety equipment, proven determining factors for violent assault rates. But the House-proposed budget fails to provide most of this funding.

In 2006, there were 556 assaults at Western State Hospital, 278 of them considered "severe."  That's more than 5 severe assaults per week!  (Assaults are considered severe when they result in a workers' compensation claim with the Department of Labor and Industries.)

In 2006, Western State Hospital accounted for $6.5 million of DSHS’s total injured workers’ compensation costs of $28 million. This ratio is far higher than the average workers’ comp costs for state employee workplaces and within the DSHS agency that oversees WSH.

Governor appointees admit that staffing levels are far too low. “All reports indicated staff shortages on all shifts and all times and all areas,” said DSHS Mental Health Director Richard Kellogg to the House Health Care Committee on December 1, 2006.