TUESDAY, JUNE 12  ▪  Court ruling shows wage-and-hour laws "hopelessly outdated"
▪  In today's Chicago Tribune -- Supreme Court rules home health-care workers not entitled to OT pay -- More than 1 million workers who care for the elderly and disabled in their homes are not entitled to federally protected overtime pay, the U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled.

Carpenters strike:
▪  Yesterday at The Oregonian's blog -- Pickets by union drywallers reach 11th day this morning -- The Carpenters union says no new talks are scheduled with contractors as some 1,300 drywallers in Oregon and Southwest Washington remain out on strike... Portland police escort three members of Operating Engineers Local 701 off a condominium construction site. The workers say they stayed off the job much of last week over concerns about safely crossing the Carpenters' picket lines. They say Hoffman Construction Co. has laid them off and told them to reapply for their jobs. Local 701 has filed charges with the NLRB contesting Hoffman's actions.

Local news:  ▪  Labor and Religious Breakfast is tomorrow morning in South Seattle 
▪  In yesterday's Olympian -- Health insurance benefit specialists join union -- About 85 health insurance benefit specialists joined the Washington Federation of State Employees this month, after more than 70 percent of the unit turned in union cards.
▪  In today's Oregonian -- Oregon bill streamlines public-sector union sign-ups (brief) -- HB 2891 will allow public workers in Oregon to organize if more than 50% of a workplace signs authorization cards. It has been approved by the Legislature and the governor says he will sign it. (Similar bills in Washington -- SB 5772 and HB 1913 -- failed to pass in 2007, but will be back in 2008.)
▪  At Olympia Dispatch -- Smoking ban not business killer some feared -- Gross income for bars increased 0.3% in 2006. Gambling revenues declined but food-and-drink income increased, suggesting that some smokers had been chased off, but new customers had been lured. 
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Harborview director David Jaffe abruptly announces his retirement 
▪  In today's Bellingham Herald -- Broad health care change urged -- Former Oregon Gov. Kitzhaber promotes legislation to restructure his state’s health-care system to provide universal care.
▪  At AFL-CIO Now -- Legendary longshore leader Harry Bridges live in your living room -- The DVD “From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Dock” about the ILWU founder -- available at The Union Shop Online™ -- features a performance of Ian Ruskin’s one-man play of the same name.

Boeing news:
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing finds 787 pieces aren't quite a perfect fit -- On metal jets, it's common for machinists to encounter gaps where parts are supposed to join. Says one former assembly mechanic: "If it was metal, and it was only three-tenths of an inch, we'd have a party."
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- New 777 Freighter on track, Boeing says -- Engineers have nailed down about half of the design details for the Boeing Co.'s new 777 Freighter, the company says. 

Election 2008 news:
▪  In today's News Tribune -- Washington's primary: Feb. 19 -- The date is moved up by three months in an attempt to give the state a better chance to help play kingmaker. 
▪  In today's Washington Post -- Clinton owes lead in poll to support from women -- In the most recent Post-ABC poll, Clinton led Obama by a 2 to 1 margin among female voters. Her 15-point lead is entirely attributable to that margin. 
▪  In today's LA Times -- Guiliani retains GOP lead, Thompson gains -- A new poll shows conservatives embracing the former Tennessee Sen. Thompson, who has yet to enter the race. (In case you missed it, check out this column about how Giuliani has gotten rich off of 9/11.)
▪  At Wonkette -- Colombians heart Clintons -- Some Democrats want to stop sending them money until they do something about the death squads killing unionists. The Colombian government  has found an easier approach: give Bill Clinton an award and then hire Hillary’s own Mark Penn.

National news:
▪  Today from AP -- Bush to push immigration bill at Capitol -- The president hopes a personal appeal to fellow Republicans at lunch today can save his immigration bill.
▪  From AFP -- China threatens to retaliate if Congress passes trade bill -- U.S. lawmakers plan to unveil a bill this week aimed at addressing concerns China is keeping its currency undervalued.
▪  In today's LA Times -- U.S. Postal Service settles bias suit -- More than 7,000 postal workers will be notified within the next two weeks that the U.S. Postal Service has agreed to pay $61 million in what lawyers say is the country's largest disability discrimination class-action settlement.

Last Throes update:
▪  In today's News Tribune -- Three more Fort Lewis soldiers die in Iraq -- The casualties continue the most deadly period for Fort Lewis. The post lost 20 soldiers in May, and 10 so far in June.
▪  In today's Wash. Post -- Civilian toll in Iraq at "higher levels" -- A U.N. report says U.S. efforts to restore calm in Baghdad have progressed "slower than had been hoped for" and violence has spread elsewhere in Iraq: "Insurgent attacks persist and civilian casualties continue to mount."
▪  At Truthout.org -- Iraq workers strike to keep their oil (David Bacon column) -- Iraqi anger over starvation incomes and oil ripoffs have boiled over. On June 4, the biggest and strongest of the Iraqi unions, the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, launched a limited strike to underline its call for keeping oil in public hands, and to force the government to live up to its economic promises. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki responded by calling out the army and surrounding the strikers at Sheiba, near Basra. Then he issued arrest warrants for the union's leaders.
▪  Of the 3,508 U.S. troops killed in Iraq so far, 3,369 have died (see a list) since President Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" and an end to major combat operations in May 2003; 3,047 have died since Saddam's capture. Five-and-a-half years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is at large.
▪  The WSLC's affiliated unions have called for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq.