MONDAY, JUNE 18  ▪  Senate vote on EFCA this week; Join nationwide "virtual rally"
▪  From AP -- Showdown ahead on labor bill -- Senate Republicans have vowed to kill organized labor’s top legislative priority of the year (EFCA), and it looks like they’ll soon get their chance.
▪  At AFL-CIO Now -- Employee Free Choice Act bottom line: America's workers -- Passage would address all of the situations in these workers' stories -- harassment and firing for union activity, delays in the union election process and employer foot-dragging in negotiating a first contract.
▪  At TomPaine.com --  Labor refutes some "Choice" lies -- The Employee Free Choice Act does not take away the ballot-election process (which often is controlled by the employer). The act would ensure workers could choose the ballot-election process or the majority sign-up process, in which workers seeking to form a union could sign cards indicating their desire to do so. 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.

Local news: 
▪  In today's Oregonian -- Drywallers to vote on new contract -- The tension-filled 16-day strike by union drywallers in Oregon and Southwest Washington may be over. The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters and its 1,300 members, on strike since June 1, have reached a tentative agreement that includes a 4.5% pay raise this year and a 5.6% pay raise next year. The strike had touched off conflicts between the Carpenters union and other trades unions that thought the carpenters wanted to raid their members. The deal does not change the types of trades covered by the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters.
▪  In the Seattle Times -- Slapdown of WEA (editorial) -- The 9-0 slapdown of the Washington Supreme Court by the U.S. Supreme Court in Davenport v. Washington Education Association is evidence that our state court has been too deferential to political interests -- in this case, unions.
▪  In the PSBJ -- Seattle must exercise caution with its pension investments (editorial) -- Officials who manage the city of Seattle's $2.1 billion pension fund are venturing deeper into the realm of "alternative investments." That should raise caution flags for taxpayers and city employees.
▪  In Saturday's News Tribune -- Shipyards close to ferry deal -- Three rival shipyards (JM Martinac, Todd Pacific Shipyards and Nichols Brothers) reach agreement to end a long political and legal wrangle over a contract for four new state ferries and submit a single joint bid on the contract.
▪  In Sunday's Olympian -- Program (EAP) assists with goal to ease state employees' stress 

Boeing news:
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Boeing says tanker contract would secure up to 6,000 jobs -- If it wins the competition to supply Air Force refueling tankers, the victory would mean employment "well into the future" for the 5,000 to 6,000 men and women who now build 767 commercial jets in Everett.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Northrop confident on tanker -- The contentious Air Force contract battle between Boeing and an EADS-Northrop Grumman partnership won't be decided until October.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- U.S. Airways expected to order 90 Airbus planes 
▪  In today's News Tribune -- Continental delays delivery of 737s -- a sign of things to come? 

Political news:
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- SEIU is a growing force in state politics -- The service union's leaders have open access to the highest levels of political office and have successfully demanded an ever-widening slice of the $33 billion, 2-year state budget. They were also instrumental in issues as far ranging as whether or not tax dollars would be spent on a new pro-basketball arena.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Careful, initiative tampering is dangerous (editorial) -- An environmental group and SEIU 775 have sued to knock Eyman's I-960 from the ballot. The suit would expand the power of political groups to shrink the people's choices before an election. We are against it.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Initiative group says it has signatures, needs cash to retrieve them -- Enough King County voters have signed a petition to force a vote on making county auditor an elected position, but the signature-gathering firm will not release the petitions until it gets paid.
▪  From AP -- Gregoire gets jump on re-election bid -- Gunning for another 4-year lease on the Governor's Mansion, Gregoire has the field to herself -- and may for another five or six months.
▪  In the Seattle P-I -- '03 budget credit goes to Locke, not Rossi (brilliant letter to the editor... scroll down)

Firefighter news:
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- City of Seattle: On the job? (editorial) -- A jury in 2004 found the city negligent after a firefighter was injured during a training exercise, but he's yet to receive a dime of his settlement. And the widow of a police officer who died while training is still waiting for her case to go to court. Why? Because the city is fighting to get the cases dismissed. We hope the Washington Supreme Court disagrees with the city and sides with the injured parties.
▪  In today's Tri-City Herald -- Mid-Columbia firefighters battle weekend wildfires -- A fire that started Saturday evening along I-82 south of Kennewick near Coffin Road burned about 3,000 acres.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Seattle firefighter recruits face tough competition -- Getting into Harvard (which accepts 9% of applicants) is easier than getting on with the Seattle Fire Department (which accepts just 1%). In December, it had roughly 2,500 applicants for about 30 positions.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- City's oldest firefighter hopes to put in 50 years -- Ken Hoefner -- the Seattle department's oldest firefighter at age 70 -- hasn't missed a shift since 1966.