WSLC Reports Today
Updated DAILY... Almost Every Day™ 

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.

TUESDAY,  APRIL 22

Workers Memorial Day Materials Include McCain’s Voting Record on Job Safety -- From the AFL-CIO -- New and updated materials are now online and ready to download to help you prepare for Workers Memorial Day on April 28 and to help you get the message out to the media and your community. Every year, thousands of workers are killed on the job and millions more are hurt or become sick because of their work. Next Monday, on Workers Memorial Day, workers, union activists, religious and community leaders and elected officials are expected to take part in more than 10,000 memorial services, rallies and marches to honor workers killed and injured on the job. They also will call on lawmakers to improve workplace safety standards.

Tanker Deal:

• Reversing Air Force tanker deal comes down to one GAO official -- Seattle PI -- The Boeing Co.'s push to overturn the Air Force decision awarding a Northrop Grumman/EADS consortium the lucrative aerial tanker contract rests on convincing Guy Pietrovito. Pietrovito, 54, a deputy assistant general counsel at the Government Accountability Office, is responsible for weighing Boeing's appeal of the Air Force tanker award.

Local News:

• Was Cascade High School teacher being spied on? --Everett Herald  -- Several teachers saw a mysterious object on the ceiling of a fired Cascade High School teacher's classroom last year, and their union now is convinced it was a secret surveillance camera. The union believes the school district spied on English and journalism teacher Kay Powers before she was fired in November. As part of their efforts to get her job back, Powers' attorneys planned to argue that the district installed a hidden camera to monitor her classroom.
• The deputy director of the state ferry system quits -- Everett Herald -- Moseley took over in March as assistant state transportation secretary in charge of the ferry system. He said it was entirely Traci Brewer-Rogstad's idea to leave her job, and that he respected her "tough, courageous decision." A search will be launched within the ferry system for a new deputy director, with preference for somebody with maritime experience, Moseley said. That's something that Moseley lacks -- as was the case for Anderson.
• Teacher refuses to give the WASL, gets 2 weeks without pays -- AP -- Union officials and education leaders say Carl Chew of Nathan Eckstein Middle School might be the first teacher in Washington state to be suspended for refusing to give his students the high-stakes test.
• Fish and Wildlife find way to avert job cuts -- Olympian -- In February, the agency notified the Washington Federation of State Employees that layoffs might be needed in its 52-person Thurston County construction and maintenance staff to make up for a discrepancy in its budget. Jeanine Livingston, contract compliance manager for the federation, said the union worked with management to sort out what work was available, and how the existing work force could complete it.
• Life span shorter in parts of U.S -- Seattle PI --One of every five American women, and one of every 25 men, are either dying at a younger age or seeing no improvement in life span. Although this deadly trend is mostly centered in the southern parts of the nation, several largely rural counties in Washington -- Cowlitz, Lewis, Benton and Grays Harbor -- are also on the verge of seeing a decline in overall life span.
• Boeing negotiator talks changes -- Tacoma Tribune -- The Boeing Co.’s new chief labor negotiator says the company’s local negotiations this year will include proposals for productivity-based pay plans, a revamped pension plan for new workers, a wellness-based health care program, and raises to bring entry-level workers up to market wages....Tom Wroblewski, president of Machinists union Local 751, said he’s pleased that Kight has recognized that entry level pay is too low. “I’ve been talking about that for more than a year now,” he said. But the union leader says he doesn’t want whatever productivity increases Boeing proposes to replace base wage adjustments. “Boeing’s own annual report shows their profits have increased 828 percent over the last five years. They’ve had it over us in the last two negotiations because of 9/11 and the industry downturn, but I think that this time it’s our turn,” he said.

Political and Legislative:

AFL-CIO Congressional Records Available click here for more

• Gregoire Says Clinton-Obama Debate Is Healthy -- Centralia Chronicle -- After speaking to supporters of both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton at the Lewis County Democratic Convention Saturday, Gov. Chris Gregoire said she thinks the presidential race has been “healthy” thus far. However, Gregoire, who has endorsed Obama, said she doesn’t want to see the fight for the nomination go all the way to the party’s national convention in Denver.

• Rob McKenna’s War on the Sick and Disabled -- Horsesass -- When polled on this subject (medical marijuana), overwhelming majorities of this state’s residents support the legality of this medicine and believe doctors should be allowed to authorize it, but that hasn’t translated to real justice for any of these folks. What the Bush Administration’s Department of Justice is doing (and which Rob McKenna’s office is faithfully following) is inexcusable. It’s really hard not to think of it as a human rights violation

• Sen. Maria Cantwell calls for energy-market investigation  -- Seattle PI -- The White House should create a special task force to investigate possible fraud and price-gouging by oil and gas companies, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell and U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, both Washington state Democrats, said Monday in a letter to President George Bush.

• China Shipping Lines to expand at port -- Seattle PI -- Yoshitani anticipates that China Shipping will double its current cargo volumes during its first year of operation at Terminal 30; by 2012, that volume could quadruple, he said. Yoshitani said the port and its terminal operators had not yet determined who would buy the cranes to serve Terminal 30, nor how many would be bought.

• U.S. immigration laws sapping trade, businesses say -- Seattle PI -- In Washington state, and indeed across the U.S., the majority of those hands are brown. They belong primarily to the nation's exploding Latino population, projected to rise from 42 million in 2005 to 128 million in 2050. Without them, the fruit and vegetables needed for a healthful diet will rot in the fields, said Dave Carlson, the chief executive of the Washington Apple Commission. The Mexican population is the fastest-growing in Washington state, and, like many others, Mexican immigrants are watching the tortured national debate with bated breath.

Regional:

• Police oversight advocates critical of proposal -- Spokesman Review -- Spokane citizens pushing for a stronger police oversight system left the city’s Public Safety Committee meeting today frustrated, saying a draft agreement negotiated with police unions and announced April 9 is far too weak. Finer gave several reasons why he thinks the agreement is fatally flawed: It allows police unions to effectively veto any ombudsman they don’t like, contains a “stunning loophole” barring any misconduct investigation if an officer agrees to mediate a citizen complaint, provides no opportunity for meaningful discipline of officers and is not in alignment with best practices used by other police oversight offices nationwide.

McCain Myth Busters: 

• Check out the latest on the AFL-CIO's website:

  McCain Revealed. There you will find the real story about Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the Republican nominee for president. McCain has built a media-friendly reputation as a “maverick” and moderate. But there’s nothing moderate about McCain, a loyal ally of Bush who has consistently and perniciously voted against the interests of working families in his decades-long career in Washington.

   

  Click here to go to a page full of previously posted articles on John McCain. 

• Truth Vs. 'Trash Journalism': McCain's Weak Rebuttal to Damaging Allegations -- Alternet -- I just don't get where all the "outlandishness" and "hate" comes from on the McCain side. I am only a humble author trying to do my job, sharing facts that are 100% sourced. It's not like I included in my book the account of a former AP reporter who recounted to me seeing John McCain wander off into the Red Light District of Hanoi in 1996 when he was there to normalize relations with the Vietnamese. Or that it was known among reporters that he used to disappear into that part of town alone at night. I never said that in my book. And why would I? That would supposedly be "trash journalism."

National News:

• The Health Care Union War -- AlterNet --  As more than 1,000 labor union activists gathered in Dearborn, Mich., last weekend for the biennial conference organized by the magazine, Labor Notes, a passionate argument between competing health care unions coursed through the meeting. But by evening, the dispute turned ugly and physical. And the stakes in the dispute cranked up another notch. On one side were nurses and leaders from the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CAN/NNOC); on the other, staff and nurses with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU ).
• Delta pilots union open to arbitration with Northwest pilots -- Atlanta Journal Constitution -- In a message to pilots, Delta union Chairman Lee Moak said the union wants to ink a single labor contract with Northwest's pilots before the airlines close on their merger agreement, possibly by the end of this year. He said the union will also try to agree on how to merge their seniority lists through arbitration, if necessary.
• Staff at American Airlines pilots union protest the pilots --  Business Week -- Unionized workers employed by the Allied Pilots Association stood in picket lines Monday to protest what they say is the penny-pinching ways of their managers. Those managers are American Airlines pilots, the same ones who last week stood in picket lines to bring attention to their fight to restore wage concessions made five years ago to airline management.
• Writers guild president presses Congress over Web freedoms  --AP -- Writers Guild of America, West, president Patric Verrone is on Capitol Hill today to push for legislation that he hopes will guarantee the Internet's status as an open forum for communication. Verrone is appearing before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee at a hearing on the future of the Internet.
• Worked Over and Overworked -- NY Times -- In the last couple of decades, corporate profits and executive salaries have soared. But for many workers, the only thing that has increased is insecurity. In “The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker,” Steven Greenhouse, a labor and workplace reporter for The New York Times, examines the difficulties faced by workers at companies like FedEx and Wal-Mart, and points to Patagonia and Costco as models for corporate America. The book was publish from about workers....  
• Re-examining Nafta in Hopes of Curing U.S. Manufacturing -- NY Times -- The attacks on Nafta, first in the Ohio primary and more recently before Tuesday’s vote in Pennsylvania, have surprised some experts and analysts. There is little doubt that the rise of Asia, particularly China, has accelerated job losses in the United States faster than Nafta did. Still, the argument carries a strong punch — particularly when famed American brands pack up and move to Mexico. One recent example is the Hershey Company, the chocolate maker. This month, the president of the Teamsters union, James P. Hoffa, traveled to Reading, Pa., to visit what the union called “Nafta victims,” 260 workers in a Hershey plant that is moving to Mexico by the end of the year.
• Women at Greater Risk in Today’s Bad Economy -- AFL-CIO -- Female workers have suffered more job loss and reductions in wages during the past few months than has the general population and have fewer financial firewalls than male workers to protect them when they lose their jobs, according to the report from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. 
• United Airlines parent loses $537 million in 1Q, makes cuts  -- NY Times -- The Chicago-based company said it will lower its planned 2008 spending by $400 million and eliminate 500 salaried and management jobs and 600 union jobs by the end of the year.
• Airbus Sees No Negotiated Settlement With Boeing -- Reuters -- The European Union and the United States are pursuing competing complaints at the World Trade Organisation over tens of billions of euros and dollars in state support provided to Boeing and Airbus, a unit of EADS. Airbus CEO Tom Enders said that while he expects the WTO to rule on the two cases later this year, a negotiated settlement with Boeing was unlikely before then.
• Losses May Turn Into Relief For Home Builders -- Reuters -- Under a Senate bill, U.S. companies, including home builders, would be able to apply losses in 2008 and 2009 to 2004 and 2005 income, when the home builders' profits continued to break records. The Laborers' International Union of North American (LIUNA) opposes the Senate proposal, saying it amounts to a corporate bailout for home builders that helped create the problem.

Health Care:

• A new report by Families USA --  Dying For Coverage gives great stats on state of WA health care.

War News:

• Behind Analysts, the Pentagon’s Hidden Hand --NY Times --  The Pentagon information apparatus has used analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found. The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.

Democracy: The Cornerstone of Community

By Paul Lee

(Paul is a shop steward at OPEIU Local 8)

           Saturday April 5^th was the date that I discovered the power of democracy and why it is so integral to the formation of community. This year the 37^th Legislative District held their caucus at Cleveland High school , home of the fighting Eagles. The energy was high and people seemed enthusiastic. We heard from party notables and elected officials. Both Clinton and Obama supporters were out in force! But something happened that night that was truly transcendent.  

            It was about 4:30PM and all the festivities had ended, people had already given their speeches, and voted on their ballots. The janitors had arrived and cleared the chairs of the floor. We were instructed to make our way into the lunchroom and wait there for the final votes to be tallied. As time pressed on, we all became tired and anxious. Then suddenly, the caucus chair announces over the microphone that Pat Wright of the Total Experience Gospel Choir was going to share a couple of songs with us. I began to feel the spirit in the room begin to lift as everyone shared in singing some old time hymns. Following Pat were others that shared jokes with us, which also included Dawn Mason former State Representative from our district. Soon people were reciting poems and sharing stories, the kind that are usually reserved for the kitchen table. I don’t think it was just me that noticed what was beginning to happen. Others began talking about what a special experience this caucus process was becoming. By the time the votes were tallied, which was about 11PM I don’t think there was a person in that room that wanted to leave. We all wanted to share what had happened in the room and spread it out to our other neighbors and community.

             As I reflect on what I experienced that day, I realized that democracy is all about giving voice to each and every common man. Perhaps what draws me to the process is this notion that each person’s voice is regarded equally and that this empowers people to stand up and be heard.

Do you want to know how Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) voted on a move to repeal the federal minimum wage?

Are you interested in Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-N.Y.) vote on a measure to rein in the soaring cost of prescription drugs for seniors and working families?

How about finding out where Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) stood on a bill that would restore the freedom of airport screeners to join a union?

Or maybe you just want to know if your U.S. House member voted with working families last year?

All that information and more about your U.S. senators and representatives is just a click or two away in the AFL-CIO's final 2007 House and Senate Voting Records. The congressional scorecards track 19 Senate votes and 24 House votes from the first session of the 110th Congress.

Workers Memorial Materials Available Online Now -- AFL-CIO Blog -- 

Each year, thousands of workers are killed on the job and millions more are injured or become ill because of their jobs.

This April 28, workers in the United States and around the world will honor those killed and injured on the job and call for improved workplace safety on Workers Memorial Day.

You can start planning and organizing a Workers Memorial Day event in your workplace or community with materials now available online from the AFL-CIO.