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June 13, 2007 |
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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.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13 ▪ Oregon to ensure public workers' freedom to form unions -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski is poised to sign legislation that will give the state’s public employees the freedom to form a union when the majority of them sign union authorization cards.
Local
news:
▪ In
today's Olympian -- Proposed
DSHS layoffs tied to raises -- Keeping up with unionized nurses’ pay
is one of the main reasons for the possible elimination of 37 jobs,
according to the state. The union representing the workers facing layoffs (WFSE)
says pay raises should not be blamed for inaccurate budgeting by the state
and might demand negotiations over the proposed layoffs.
▪ Today
from AP -- Pilots
picket Alaska Air meeting in Anchorage -- Two years ago, pilots had to
take an average 26% pay cut. Now that the airline is making money, the Air
Line Pilots Association says it is time the company gave back. The airline
wants a "cost-neutral" contract.
▪ In
today's Seattle Times -- Boeing
closes in on huge order of 787s -- The most influential player in the
aviation business is working to finalize this weekend a huge order for about
50 Dreamliners.
▪ Today
from Bloomberg -- Boeing
boosts plane industry forecast on growing Asian demand
▪ In
today's Spokesman-Review -- Employers
seek health care options -- Employers are exploring alternative plans
that meet routine and catastrophic medical needs but provide less coverage.
▪ In
today's Everett Herald -- 1%
state income tax could fix education system (Burbank
column) -- If we want our kids to gain a world-class
education, rhetoric and delay won't work. Investment in education will. This
is more than a rhetorical question to my readers. What do you think?
Carpenters
strike:
▪ At
KMTR.com -- Some
striking carpenters back at work -- Some of the construction companies
in Eugene-Springfield and Portland have signed interim agreements with the
Carpenters union.
Immigration
news:
▪ In
today's Oregonian -- Immigration
raid pushes Oregon into thick of fight -- A federal raid on a large Del
Monte food processing plant Tuesday in North Portland ended in the arrests
of 167 workers, intensifying Oregon's immigration debate, tearing apart
families, unnerving employers and sparking new calls for U.S. leaders to
rewrite the nation's immigration laws.
▪ In
today's Oregonian -- Small
firm helped Del Monte staff plant -- Feds say the firm "engaged in
a continuing criminal conspiracy" to hire illegal immigrants, even
manufacturing fake IDs for them.
▪ In
today's LA Times -- Large
majority supports path to citizenship -- A new national poll finds 63%
of all respondents, and 65% of Republicans, back the controversial measure.
Only 23% of adults surveyed opposed allowing undocumented immigrants to gain
legal status.
▪ In
today's Washington Post -- Senators
unmoved by Bush bid to save immigration bill -- Republican senators
demand that his administration first show a greater commitment to border
security.
▪ At
Truthout.org -- "Like
outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves" (David
Bacon column) -- Over the last two years, every
immigration proposal considered by Congress has openly sought to channel
immigrant labor, making it available to the world's largest corporations at
a price they want to pay. Welcome to the new world order.
National
news:
▪ Today
from Bloomberg -- Americans
criticize top executives' pay, honesty in new survey -- An overwhelming
majority, more than eight in 10, say CEOs are paid too much.
More than six in 10 say CEOs are "not too
ethical'' or "not ethical at all,'' versus 33% who call them
"mostly ethical.''
▪ In
today's LA Times -- Investors
reluctant to tackle executive pay -- Governance experts say the strong
stock market has put a damper on attempts to send a message on the issue.
▪ In
today's NY Times -- Setback
for ill workers at nuclear bomb plant in Colorado -- A federal panel
recommends that thousands of former Rocky Flats workers be denied immediate
compensation.
▪ In
today's Denver Post -- Turned
away again -- "It will take leadership from Congress to resolve
this lack of compensation and medical care for sick nuclear workers,"
says USW's Leo Gerard.
▪ Today
from Reuters -- Two
setbacks, one win for Wal-Mart in class-action wage suit
▪ In
today's Wash. Post -- Ms.
Clinton, thinking small (editorial criticizing her
opposition to KORUS trade deal)
Last
Throes update:
▪ In
today's Seattle P-I -- Two
more soldiers from Fort Lewis killed in roadside bomb blast in Iraq
▪ In
today's Washington Post -- Big
boost in Iraqi forces is urged -- A senior U.S.
military commander says Iraq's army must expand its rolls by many more
soldiers than Washington had anticipated. But even then, Iraq will be
incapable of taking full responsibility for its security for many years.
▪ In
today's NY Times -- Iraqis
are failing to meet U.S. benchmarks -- Iraqi political leaders have
failed to reach agreements on nearly every law that the U.S. has demanded as
benchmarks.
▪ Today
from AP -- 5,000
reservists ordered to take "physical muster" test -- Fort
Lewis is one of four U.S. posts where the Individual Ready Reservists must
report this summer for screening.
▪ Of
the 3,513
U.S. troops killed in Iraq so far, 3,374 have died (see
a list) since President Bush declared "Mission Accomplished"
and an end to major combat operations in May 2003; 3,052 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.
WEDNESDAY,
JUNE 13, 2007
Oregon to ensure public employees' freedom to form unions
The following report was posted Tuesday at AFL-CIO Now:
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D) is poised to sign legislation that will give the state’s public employees the freedom to form a union when the majority of employees at a workplace put their signatures on union authorization cards.
Yesterday, the Oregon Senate approved the majority sign-up legislation, which also allows workers to opt for an election if they so choose. It now goes back to the House, which approved it earlier, to bring it in line with the Senate bill. Kulongoski has promised to sign the legislation.
In May, the New Hampshire Legislature also approved majority sign-up for public employees. Both bills are similar to the majority sign-up provisions for private-sector workers in the federal Employee Free Choice Act. Majority sign-up is much faster than the government-run balloting process and leaves less time for employers to harass and intimidate workers so they will back off from joining a union.
As Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney says:
The right to organize played a critical role in building our middle class. If a majority of employees want to form a union, Oregon will respect that choice. It’s just common sense.
Oregon union members mobilized outreach to lawmakers through e-mail, letters, phone calls and personal visits to win passage of the bill. Says Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain: More than 300 workers across Oregon helped lobby their elected officials, often telling their stories of abuse at the hands of employers. This vote protects the secret ballot and helps balance the playing field….
Workers appreciate the freedom and choices granted by majority sign-up. They can still have a traditional union election and secret ballot if they want one, but they also have the chance to have their union recognized when a majority of them have signed authorization forms.
In May, during a campaign swing through Oregon, presidential candidate John Edwards threw his support behind the bill. In a letter to Chamberlain, he wrote:
By protecting a worker’s right to join a union, we give more Americans the opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty and into the middle class, which is why I have been all over this country the past few years working with over 20 national unions organizing thousands of workers into unions.
Says Oregon Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown (D):
This is a simple matter of majority rule. If a majority of workers agree to be represented by the union, then they should be.
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 © 200
7 Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO