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July 20, 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.
FRIDAY, JULY 20 ▪ Political activist training sessions set for July 28-29 in Seattle
Local
news:
▪ In today's Tri-City Herald
--
Payments
OK'd for early Hanford workers -- Early Hanford workers exposed to
radiation should automatically receive $150,000 in compensation if they
developed any of a wide range of cancers, a national advisory board
unanimously agreed Thursday.
▪ In today's Seattle P-I --
Southwest
orders 25 Boeing 737s -- The jets were among 36 new orders in the past
week, raising the year's total to 616. Other new orders included six 787s
and two 777s.
▪ In today's Olympian -- Lawmakers
spend endlessly on themselves (editorial)
-- Continuing Capitol renovations are maddening
because taxpayers just spent $118 million to earthquake-proof it.
▪ In today's Seattle Times --
One
buyer, 40 acres: A quiet revolution on Sodo -- Henry
Liebman makes a lot of people nervous. City officials, labor leaders, Port
commissioners. The immigration lawyer-turned-developer has quietly
become Sodo's largest private-property owner,
and his plans may be "devastating" for the area's industrial, blue
collar jobs, say Port officials.
Election
news:
▪
In today's Seattle P-I --
Insurance
Ref. 67 likely to be on fall ballot -- It would repeal a new
consumer-friendly insurance law. (The WSLC will urge members to approve
Ref. 67, which will retain the consumer protections.)
▪ In today's News Tribune --
Eyman's
anti-tax Initiative 960 is officially on the ballot -- (The WSLC opposes
I-960.)
▪ In today's NY Times --
Women
supportive, but skeptical of Clinton -- Winning the support of women,
who made up 54% of voters in the last presidential election, is especially
important to Sen. Clinton, who has sought to rally them behind her quest to
become the nation’s first female president.
▪ In today's Wash. Post -- Making
the poor visible (Dionne column) --
Edwards may be running third in the race for the Democratic nomination, but
he's changed the national conversation on poverty.
Health
Care news:
▪ Today at AFL-CIO Now -- Bush
opposes health care for children. Really. -- Bush apparently would
rather protect insurance companies than kids. He seems to think that by
granting health care coverage to low-income children, the nation’s highly
profitable insurance industry will suffer.
▪ In today's News Tribune --
Children's
insurance measure advances -- Even as President Bush threatens a veto, a
congressional committee approves a bill that could help cut the number of
children in Washington state without health insurance by roughly half.
▪ In the (Aberdeen) Daily World --
State
leaders strike a blow for children's health care (editorial)
-- This Senate reauthorization proposal for the State
Children's Health Insurance Program is particularly good news for Washington
taxpayers, thanks to Sens. Cantwell and Murray.
National
news:
▪ In today's LA Times --
Safeway
sales up but profits fall -- Second-quarter profit slips 11% because
last year's earnings were boosted by a tax refund, but the grocer remains on
a sales upswing.
▪ In today's NY Times --
Chrysler,
UAW open contract talks -- The autoworkers' union today formally began
what is expected to be an intense season of contract negotiations.
▪ In today's Detroit News --
Labor
pacts help nonunion workers (op-ed by Michigan
AFL-CIO president)
-- A new report concludes that while unions raise wages of
unionized workers by roughly 20% and raise their members' benefits about
28%, the impact of unions on total nonunion wages is almost as large. Strong
unions set a pay standard that nonunion employers follow.
FRIDAY,
JULY 20, 2007
Political activist training sessions
set for July 28-29 in Seattle
The M.L. King County Labor Council, in conjunction with the Washington State Labor Council, will be holding two political activist training sessions -- from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 28 and from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 29 -- to provide union members with the tools how to effectively lobby legislators on priority labor issues. The sessions will be held at the Seattle Labor Temple, 2800 1st Ave. (Download and print an event flier.)
This
is an exciting opportunity for anyone interested in building skills for
political activism, collaborating with other affiliates and working to
develop or enhance an internal political program specific to your union local.
The first half of these trainings will focus on issue education with presentations made by representatives from both WSLC and MLKCLC on topics important to all working families: Worker Freedom Act, Healthcare Priorities for 2008, and the Employee Free Choice Act will serve as models on how to construct a broad cohesive labor agenda. Time will also be allotted for each local to talk with their members about any priority issues that are specific to their union.
The second half of the training
will be dedicated to assisting the development of the internal political
program of each local union. Workshops
will be offered on how to effectively lobby your legislators, the different
forms of lobbying, and how to use both your Central and State Labor Councils
as resources.
Contact Lily Wilson-Codega at
206-441-3473 or Benjamin Lawver at 206-281-8901 for more information or to
register for this exciting opportunity!
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