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.

THURSDAY,  MARCH 27

Tanker News:

Northrop, Air Force seek dismissal of Boeing's tanker contract protest -- AP --  Northrop said Wednesday that it has asked the Government Accountability Office to dismiss key pieces of what it called Boeing's "PR-plated" protest, which was filed on March 11.  Boeing maintains that pressure from Capitol Hill and the Northrop Grumman-EADS team ultimately led the Air Force to pick the larger plane even though it had originally asked for a medium-sized tanker. The Boeing protest also argues that the Air Force lost sight of the original mission for the tanker fleet -- letting planes refuel without landing -- by choosing a larger tanker that could carry more passengers and cargo.

Local News:

• SPEEA challenged in Kansas -- Everett Herald -- Just months after being hired as the executive director of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, Ray Goforth may need to convince workers at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems to keep union representation. Some Spirit employees are collecting signatures to force a vote on whether SPEEA should continue to represent professional and technical workers at the Kansas site.
• Picketing slows work on Bellevue Towers -- Seattle PI -- Local 302 says two concrete-pouring companies, Kent's Brundage-Bone Concrete Pumping and Seattle-based Ralph's Concrete Pumping, have illegally interfered with employees' exercise of their self-organization and collective-bargaining rights. The pickets, which were at the site briefly Wednesday morning, said Local 302 has filed unfair labor practices charges with the National Labor Relations Board against those two companies.
• State falling short on labor needs in trades, high tech --Seattle PI  -- State labor leaders lamented that young people don't seem interested in traditional trade work such as construction or plumbing -- and many singled out the decline of vocational training in the schools for that apparent apathy. "We have got to get more young people into our skilled trades," said Rick Bender, president of the Washington State Labor Council. "To me, it is imperative that we put the apprentice program on steroids," Sen. Maria Cantwell said. Dave Johnson, executive secretary of the state's building trades council, said that constructing roads, putting up buildings and similar work can't be outsourced. "But you can in-source the workers," he said. "That's what we want to avoid."
• Snohomish County executive broke labor law, panel rules -- Everett Herald -- Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon and his office broke state labor law by deliberately delaying negotiations with the Snoho­mish County Clerks Association, according to a ruling Wednesday by a state labor-relations panel. The clerks left the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in 2005 and formed their own association with about 70 members. They've operated without a contract ever since, and have faced annual hikes in their medical premiums.
• Seattle Battles the Homeless -- In These Times -- The increasing class schism in this corner of the Pacific Northwest has had a dramatic impact on those trying to eek out a living—or simply trying to find food and shelter. In January, the Seattle/King County Coalition for the Homeless found that there were at least 9,000 homeless individuals in the county in 2007, more than 2,600 of whom were unsheltered. By contrast, in 2000, during the height of the region’s dot-com boom, the coalition counted slightly more than 1,000 unsheltered persons, out of a total of 3,000 homeless adults and minors.
• Washington state overhauls counselor fieldi -- UPI -- A new state law in Washington will strip 18,000 counselors of their credentials ...Current registered counselors have until July 1, 2010, to qualify for one of the new regulatory titles through the state Department of Health.
• tEx-Boeing employee on trial -- UPI -- He allegedly funneled that information to the media because of his concerns about assembly-line inspection procedures at the aircraft company's Tukwila plant....But rather than being a whistleblower, senior deputy prosecutor Scott Peterson contends Eastman was a disgruntled worker who took information having to do with sales projections, new business ventures and design information that competitors such as Airbus "would like to know." 
• Jean Godden on Seattle: My, how you've changed! -- Cross Cut -- The longtime columnist for Seattle's dailies casts an affectionate eye over all the sweeping transformations of the city, and wonders if all the newcomers will learn to keep the uniqueness of the place.
• Did Ron Sims Play Favorites With Cabbies? -- Seattle Weekly -- In conference room at a King County administrative building, Jim Buck, the overseer of taxi regulation for the county, was surrounded by 100 irate drivers at a meeting last week.
• Math WASL will be eliminated by 2014 -- AP -- Gov. Christine Gregoire has agreed to toss out the math section of the 10th-grade WASL, after years of low pass rates and debate over whether it's the best way to gauge students' abilities. Gregoire signed a bill Wednesday that will phase out that part of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning by 2014. Students instead will take two math tests at the end of classes often taken by freshmen and sophomores, such as Algebra I and Geometry I.

Political and Legislative:

AFL-CIO Congressional Records Available click here for more

• Soon, you'll be able to track every tax dollar-- Everett Herald -- Legislation waiting to be signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire would create a Web site providing a quick and easy means of searching details in the state's operating, capital and transportation budgets.
• Gregoire says light rail puts new I-5 bridge on right track fiscally -- Columbian --Making light rail part of a new Columbia River Crossing would serve Clark County residents who want an alternative to commuting by car to Oregon jobs, Gov. Chris Gregoire told a Portland radio interviewer Wednesday. 
• US: Saddam paid for lawmakers' prewar Iraq trip -- AP -- The lawmakers are not named in the indictment but the dates correspond to a trip by Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California. None was charged and Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said investigators "have no information whatsoever" any of them knew the trip was underwritten by Saddam. "Obviously, we didn't know it at the time," McDermott spokesman Michael DeCesare said Wednesday. "The trip was to see the plight of the Iraqi children. That's the only reason we went."
• Clinton's state superdelegates sticking with her -- for now  -- Seattle PI -- A worse fate than a Clinton loss to rival Barack Obama, they suggest, would be a fractured national convention in August, with bitter floor fights over rules for seating delegates -- a spectacle that could enhance Republican chances for victory in November.
• Gregoire weighs veto of toy ban  --  Seattle PI --Consequently, despite overwhelming support for the bill passed earlier this month in the House and Senate, Gov. Chris Gregoire is now contemplating a veto of the strictest toy safety rules in the nation.

Regional News: 

• L.A. firefighter killed in massive explosion -- LA Times -- One Los Angeles firefighter was killed and another injured Wednesday afternoon in an explosion that rocked a Westchester business district as rescuers were investigating reports of earlier blasts and smoke pouring from buildings 

McCain Myth Busters: 

• The AFL-CIO has put up a new website - McCain Revealed, a campaign to tell 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.

   

  The AFL-CIO's new McCain Revealed website features an interactive McCain briefing book that answers the questions we need to know before we go to the polls, including where he stands on the economy, jobs, health care, trade, workers’ rights, retirement security and the Bush administration. click here for more or just go directly to the site.

• 2 McCain Moments, Rarely Mentioned  -- NY Times -- There were times when he rose to the occasion and showed himself to be a real pragmatist,” said Tom Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader who was one of those who met with Mr. McCain in 2001 about switching parties and who is now supporting Senator Barack Obama. “There were other times when he was motivated by political goals and agendas that led him to be much more of a political ideologue.”  Such swings are common in politics, but for Mr. McCain, Mr. Daschle said, “those swings have been far more pronounced and far more frequent.”

• McCain: Working Families to Blame for Mortgage Mess -- AFL-CIO -- Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain must have a plan to address the housing crisis, right? Not so. In fact, the Republican from Arizona blames the millions of America’s working families who have lost their homes. They, says McCain, caused the economic downturn.

National News:

• American, Delta cancel more flights -- CNN -- American (AMR, Fortune 500), the nation's largest airline, canceled 132 flights of its estimated 2,300 flights scheduled for Thursday, spokesman Tim Wagner said. That was about 6% of American's Thursday schedule after the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline canceled 325 flights on Wednesday. The cancellations forced dozens and dozens of people to spend the night in the atrium of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. They slept wherever they could - on couches, on the floor, some on non-moving baggage carousels.
• U.S. airline fleets showing their age -- LA Times -- Experts said the airlines' decision to voluntarily ground the planes didn't signal that they were unsafe. But the episode is the latest indication that a combination of aging aircraft and schedule reductions are leaving the industry with fewer options. U.S. airlines, beset by financial woes that have forced them to postpone capital investments, operate some of the oldest fleets in the world
• WTC cleanup workers' cases can proceed -- AP -- Lawsuits can proceed on behalf of thousands of workers who say they were not properly protected as they cleaned up the World Trade Center site after the 2001 terrorist attacks, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.
• Unions’ Campaign Against Verizon Sale Nets Better Deal for Consumers, Workers  -- AFL-CIO -- The Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which together represent 2,500 Verizon employees, reached a tentative agreement with FairPoint Communications, the North Carolina-based company that will take over Verizon’s landline operations in the three states March 31.
• Fingerprints don't lie -- AP -- New palm scanners that monitor workers' arrival and departures get a thumbs up from employers, but not from all employees. "They don't even have to hire someone to harass you anymore. The machine can do it for them," said Ed Ott, executive director of the New York City Central Labor Council of the AFL-CIO. "The palm print thing really grabs people as a step too far."
• Millions of Jobs of a Different Collar --NY Times --  Presidential candidates talk about the promise of “green collar” jobs — an economy with millions of workers installing solar panels, weatherizing homes, brewing biofuels, building hybrid cars and erecting giant wind turbines. Labor unions view these new jobs as replacements for positions lost to overseas manufacturing and outsourcing. Urban groups view training in green jobs as a route out of poverty. And environmentalists say they are crucial to combating climate change. ... But Some say they are not sure that these jobs will have the staying power to help solve the problems of the nation’s job market, and others note that green jobs often pay less than the old manufacturing jobs they are replacing.

Health Care:

• Food for Your Children or Medicine You Need. What Would You Choose? --  AFL-CIO Blog -- The AFL-CIO 2008 Health Care for America survey is now available. More than 26,000 women and men, insured and uninsured, young and old, union and nonunion took the comprehensive survey, while nearly 7,500 took the time to write about their personal health care experiences. The overwhelming majority, 95 percent, say the health care system needs fundamental change or to be completely rebuilt.

• Going to bat for health care -- Robby Stern and Bob Crittenden guest columnists Seattle PI -- You hear quality, access and affordability again and again when talking to small businesses, individuals and providers. This session more than 65 groups pulled together and defined priorities that would begin to address the most critical health care needs facing people in Washington. Small businesses, children's groups, seniors' groups and consumer groups banded together with health care providers and labor under the name of the Healthy Washington Coalition. None of the victories this session was a solid home run but we got to first base on all but one.
• Rising Health Costs Cut Into Wages --Washington Post  -- Recent history has not been kind to working-class Americans, who were down on the economy long before the word recession was uttered. The main reason: spiraling health-care costs have been whacking away at their wages. Even though workers are producing more, inflation-adjusted median family income has dipped 2.6 percent -- or nearly $1,000 annually since 2000.
• Many in Snohomish County get too little medical care, report finds -- Everett Herald -- Nearly 15 percent of adults in Snohomish County are going without health insurance, and lack of money often means they delay getting medical care.
• Merck Drug May Have Suicide Link  -- NY Times -- The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it is investigating a possible link between Merck's allergy drug Singulair and suicide. FDA said it is reviewing reports of mood changes, suicidal behavior and suicide in patients who have taken the drug, which was Merck's best-selling product last year.

War News: 

• Military Tells Bush of Troop Strains -- LA Times -- The Joint Chiefs of Staff did say senior commanders in Iraq should make more frequent assessments of security conditions, an idea that appeared aimed at increasing pressure for more rapid troop reductions. The chiefs' concern is that U.S. forces are being worn thin, compromising the Pentagon's ability to handle crises elsewhere in the world.
• Supplier Under Scrutiny on Aging Arms for Afghans -- NY Times -- Since 2006, when the insurgency in Afghanistan sharply intensified, the Afghan government has been dependent on American logistics and military support in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.  But to arm the Afghan forces that it hopes will lead this fight, the American military has relied since early last year on a fledgling company led by a 22-year-old man whose vice president was a licensed masseur.

World News:

• India pushes for worker rights in Gulf -- AP -- Oil-rich Gulf nations, already facing labor protests, are getting new pressure from India, which wants them to pay minimum wages for unskilled workers.
  

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.