WSLC Reports Today
Updated DAILY... Almost Every Day!™ by 9 a.m. Pacific 

Links are functional at date of posting, but sometimes expire. 
WSLC Reports Today links to stories of interest to organized labor; 
some positive, some negative. The intention is to inform.

Wheels of Justice news:
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Outsourcing violated Alaska Airlines contract with IAM -- An arbitrator rules the airline violated its contract with IAM Air Transport District 143 when it outsourced roughly 500 baggage handling jobs at Sea-Tac Airport three years ago to Menzies Aviation, resulting in mass layoffs of the unionized workers. The amount charged by Menzies was found to be greater than what it cost for Alaska Airlines to do the work itself with its unionized work force.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Arbitrator rules Alaska broke contract by outsourcing baggage handlers -- The airline is directed to begin talks with the IAM to reach a remedy. If they can't agree, the case will go back to the arbitrator. IAM District 143 President Steve Gordon says "Our goal is to provide livable-wage jobs once again back on that ramp in Seattle. We had 485 union positions on that ramp. This arbitration allows us to stake a claim back on that property."

Local news:
▪  In The Stranger -- Dirty work -- In a world that is dematerializing at an unprecedented rate, a world that's transforming real space into cyberspace and substance into spectacle, it is amazing to see bodies -- bone, blood, muscle -- demanding our attention (like the janitors organized with SEIU Local 6 in Seattle). What's more, a job that has long been regarded with little or no respect is suddenly ennobled and emboldened by the spirit of political activism. 
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Air tanker dispute: Take a timeout (editorial) -- The Pentagon has set a preposterous 45-day period to submit new proposals and they plan to give points for a larger plane like the one Airbus previously proposed, with too little time for Boeing to respond effectively.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- South King Co. fire official held in $500,000 fraud case -- An assistant fire chief is arrested on charges of defrauding South King County Fire & Rescue over several years.
▪  In the UW Daily -- UW employees ask for schedule changes -- Maintenance workers (WFSE) ask UW to let employees adjust their schedules by up to 30 minutes to catch a bus or join a vanpool.
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- A Boeing first: 787 order cancelled -- Azerbaijan Airlines replaces a request for one Dreamliner with an order for two 767s and two 737s.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Family, friends honor local fire chief killed in wildfire -- Mourners from across the state and across the West remember East Pierce County Fire and Rescue Chief Dan Packer.

Election 2008:
▪  At Eye on Olympia blog -- WA State Labor Council endorses Terry Bergeson for schools' chief -- The labor organization's backing is a coup for incumbent superintendent of public instruction.
▪  Today at AFL-CIO Now -- McCain linked to job-killing Ohio merger -- McCain’s campaign manager lobbied Congress five years ago to approve German-owned DHL's purchase of Airborne Express. Now, more than 8,000 jobs in Ohio will be lost by the planned closure of a DHL shipping hub. (Watch McCain as he is confronted on the issue by an emotional Ohio woman.)
▪  Today from Reuters -- Labor leaders back Obama, but will members? -- Obama's late-season primary losses to Hillary Clinton in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana revealed a chink in his support among the white working class -- some believing rumors that he is a Muslim or betrays a lack of patriotism.
▪  In today's NY Times -- Know-nothing politics (Krugman column) -- Know-nothingism -- the insistence that there are simple, brute-force, instant-gratification answers to every problem, and that there’s something effeminate and weak about anyone who suggests otherwise -- has become the core of Republican policy and political strategy. The party’s de facto slogan has become: “Real men don’t think things through.”

National news:
▪  In today's LA Times -- Workers' compensation enforcers widen focus on employers -- Employers have long complained about the high cost of workers' compensation insurance and condemned abuses of the system by employees, who they say fake claims, exaggerate medical conditions and collect fat disability benefits. But new data in California suggest that employers -- not workers -- are the bigger workers' compensation cheaters.
▪  At AFL-CIO Now -- California pay cut is "just wrong" -- Gov. Schwarzenegger’s order to cut the pay of 200,000 state workers to the minimum wage is “just wrong,” says state Controller John Chiang. The order "is based on faulty legal and factual premises….and it is just wrong….I will continue to refuse to slash the salaries of the dedicated civil servants who keep our state running."
▪  Today from AP -- Unions set weekend deadline in Verizon talks -- The CWA and IBEW unions representing 65,000 workers there set a Sunday night deadline for a possible strike.
▪  In today's LA Times -- Laborers union blames builders for mortgage problems -- Lending units of KB Home, Lennar and other builders steered buyers into risky mortgages, says LIUNA report.
▪  In today's LA Times -- Employers, costs kill California's paid sick leave bill -- The bill would have granted employees of small companies in California up to five days of paid sick leave each year.
▪  At BusinessWeek.com -- Now, Wall Street wants your pension fund, too (op-ed) -- The folks who brought you the mortgage mess and the ensuing hedge fund blowups, busted buyouts, and credit market gridlock have another bold idea: buying up and running troubled corporate pension plans. And despite the subprime fiasco, regulators may soon embrace Wall Street's latest scheme.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 2008
Next Labor Neighbor volunteer walk: Saturday, August 16

Our next Labor Neighbor Solidarity Walk: Saturday, August 16

Phone banks also under way

Download camera-ready fliers on labor-endorsed candidates

Internal communication is the best way to inform and educate rank-and-file members not just about who has earned your union's support in the coming election, but WHY. Click here for the WSLC Candidate Comparison Fliers for the 2008 General Election, which are available for distribution to your union's members now. And check back often as we continue to add fliers in different races.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 2008
WSLC delegates endorse Bergeson, legislative candidates

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