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October 2, 2008 |
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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.
THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 2
Volunteer
to make a difference in '08
With the election just a few weeks away, NOW is the time for
union leaders, staffers and rank-and-file members to get involved. Volunteer
for a Labor Neighbor shift at one of this weekend's walks in Seattle,
Tacoma, Everett, Spokane or Vancouver. See
the October Labor-Neighbor schedule for details on where and when you
can volunteer. Learn more.
▪ Saturday,
Oct. 4 is the last day for Washington residents to register online to vote.
CLICK
HERE TO REGISTER TO VOTE. If you miss that deadline, you can
register in person at your county elections department until 15 days before
the election. Contact your County
Auditor for details.
▪ Already
registered? Are you SURE? Is there chance you've been "scrubbed"
from the voter rolls? CLICK
HERE TO CONFIRM YOUR STATUS as an active registered voter. You can
also update your address there, if you've moved recently.
Boeing Machinists strike:
Day
27
Click here
to learn what you can do to help striking Machinists.
Learn more at www.iam751.org.
The
$700 Billion Bailout "Rescue:"
▪ In
today's NY Times --
Senate
passes bailout plan; House may vote by Friday -- In
stark contrast to the House rejection of the plan, a bipartisan coalition of
senators -- including both presidential candidates -- showed no hesitation
in backing a proposal that had drawn public scorn, though the outpouring
eased somewhat after a market plunge followed the House defeat. The Senate
margin was 74-25 in favor of buying troubled securities in an effort to
avoid an economic catastrophe.
▪ In
today's Bellingham Herald --
Cantwell
opposes, Murray votes for bailout package
-- Sen. Maria Cantwell
says she was not "turning the keys of the U.S. Treasury over to the
private sector." Sen. Patty Murray votes "yes," conceding it
is far from a "cure-all" for the nation's economic woes.
▪ In
today's Seattle P-I --
Congress
and the bailout: This just stinks (editorial)
-- Guess who's being "rescued" now? Every
lobbyist in Washington. The bill's latest incarnation -- some 450 pages at
last glance -- includes dozens of new items ranging from tax credits for new
home appliances, to tax deductions for new motorsports facilities -- you
know, NASCAR. This is Congress at its worst.
▪ In The Nation -- Bail out working families (op-ed by AFL-CIO's Thea Lee) -- Working families have experienced decades of stagnant wages and eroding healthcare and pensions. Median incomes have still not recovered from the recession of 2001, and now taxpayers are being asked to foot a gargantuan bill for economic excesses we never enjoyed.
▪ Today from AP -- Many think the financial crisis will delay their retirement -- (Many are right.)
Rossi's
Builder-gate:
▪ In today's
News Tribune --
Why
Rossi should repudiate the BIAW (editorial)
-- The BIAW has been a baleful presence in Washington
politics for years. It skims royal sums off its members’
workers-compensation insurance rebates and uses the money to buy outsized
political influence, typically with nasty campaign advertising. This year,
the BIAW’s political action committee – ChangePAC – has been barraging
the state with ads that savage Gregoire. The organization appears to have
played fast and loose with at least some of the money behind that barrage.
Campaign ethics require respect for the spirit as well as the letter of the
law. Rossi would reassure a lot of people were he to attack the BIAW’s
election practices.
▪ At HorsesAss.org -- Buildergate:
Follow the money -- Regardless of whether Rossi skates through and around a legal loophole (a determination that won’t be made
until months after the election), was it really ethically “OK” for him
to be directly involved in raising hundreds of thousands of dollars beyond
legal contribution limits to finance so-called independent
expenditures?
▪ In The Strenger --
Meet
your new governor: Seven reasons to fear Dino Rossi -- The differences
between Gregoire and Rossi are vast. It would make no sense for Washington
to go for Obama -- and simultaneously elect a George W. Bush clone to the
state's highest elected office.
Election
2008:
▪ From AP -- Gregoire,
Rossi jab on economy -- Republican Dino Rossi blames Gov. Chris Gregoire
for, well, everything.
▪ In today's Yakima
H-R --
Civil
but sharp --
Both accused the other of being beholden to powerful special
interests. According to Gregoire, Rossi’s allegiance is to the
conservative BIAW that has consistently accused Seattle-area Democrats of
stealing the 2004 election. According to Rossi, Gregoire does the bidding of
the labor unions, especially state employee unions.
▪ In
today's Tri-City Herald --
Re-elect
Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler (endorsement)
--
He has been a strong consumer advocate during two terms as
the state's insurance commissioner.
▪ In the
Seattle Weekly --
Every
vote (kind of) counts (editorial) --
King County voter invalidations have
steadily risen since 2004. In the recent primary election, the
disqualification rate was more than double the 2004 figure, even though far
fewer people voted.
Instead of filling in the
circle next to their candidate's name, some check it, put an X inside it,
leaving it unreadable by electronic tabulators. Others are disqualified for
scribbling complaints and epithets on their ballots.
▪
In today's LA Times
--
McCain
opposes regulation -- until he supports it -- Republican presidential
candidate John McCain embraces the GOP's small-government rhetoric. But his
record shows that in a crisis, he is among the quickest in his party to call
for robust government intervention.
▪ At AFL-CIO Now -- McCain
wants to tax our health care --
Local
news:
▪ In
today's Olympian --
Prison
workers lack a contract -- As the clock ticked
down Wednesday night, some 6,400 state prison employees are headed for two
years without a contract, possibly meaning no raises. Members of
Teamsters Local 117 voted down what Gov. Chris Gregoire's
team called their best and final offer over the weekend and did not reach
another agreement by Wednesday's midnight deadline to submit a ratified
contract.
▪ In
today's Tri-City Herald --
New
contractors take over Hanford cleanup projects --
Washington River Protection Solutions has hired 1,105
employees to manage and operate Hanford's tank farms and prepare for
operations of the vitrification plant. Almost all of the workers for
outgoing contractor CH2M Hill Hanford Group who applied for jobs with the
new contractor were hired. And CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. has hired
1,950 employees to clean up much of central Hanford... Although workers now
accruing benefits for the traditional Hanford pension will continue in that
program, new employees not on the pension plan will get an enhanced 401(k)
plan.
▪ In
today's Tri-City Herald --
3
Tri-City companies win $12 million Hanford subcontract --
George A. Grant Inc., North Wind Inc. and Watts Construction
Inc. will provide backfill services at waste sites and burial grounds after
they are cleaned up, as needed through 2013.
▪ From
AP -- Spokane
Spokesman-Review cuts 60 more staffers, editor resigns -- The
newspaper's publisher announces another round of job cuts and a more compact
format. Then, its editor quits.
National
news:
▪ At
AFL-CIO Now -- Federal
court OKs San Francisco universal health care law -- San Francisco’s
pioneering health care program that provides coverage for 80,000 mostly
low-wage workers survives a challenge from the Bush administration and city
restaurant owners.
▪ Today
from AP -- 4.2
million "green" jobs predicted -- A major shift to renewable
energy and efficiency is expected to produce 4.2 million new environmentally
friendly "green" jobs over the next three decades, according to a
study commissioned by the nation's mayors.
▪ In
today's LA Times --
More
families find college costs out of reach -- More than one-third of U.S.
parents have decreased or stopped saving for their children's college
education, says a survey.
▪ In
today's LA Times --
New
SAG board to make call on strike vote -- The balance of power shifts
away from the actors union's negotiating committee to the newly configured
national board.
THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 2, 2008
Volunteer in October to make a
difference in '08 elections
Walks planned this weekend in
Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Spokane and Vancouver
|
Check out the latest Labor Neighbor newsletter! It spotlights Washington labor leaders and individual unions that have stepped up efforts to make this year's Labor Neighbor efforts a success, plus updates the number of households that union volunteers have visited and called so far. |
With the election just a few weeks away, NOW is the time for union leaders, staffers and rank-and-file members to get involved. Volunteer for a Labor Neighbor shift at one of this weekend's walks in Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Spokane or Vancouver. SEE THE OCTOBER LABOR-NEIGHBOR SCHEDULE for details on where and when you can volunteer.
Labor Neighbor, the Washington State Labor Council's grassroots member-to-member political education program, has a busy schedule in October and volunteers are needed to help make sure that candidates who support working families are elected in November. Already, several thousand union households have been visited and tens of thousands of phone calls have been made where volunteer union members are talking to other union members about the bread-and-butter issues that matter in the 2008 election.
The response has been overwhelmingly positive. People are hungry for some real information where candidates stand on issues that affect their wages, health care, education and their families' security. They say they aren't getting that information from the TV commercials, junk political mail, or even the newspapers.
Volunteers will be dispatched into neighborhood to deliver printed information to union households explaining how labor-endorsed candidates earned our endorsement and where they stand on the issues that matter. There are brief training sessions at the beginning of each shift.
If
you aren't available this weekend, there are also plenty of other walks and
phone banks happening -- both on weekdays and weekends -- throughout October.
Just check out the Labor
Neighbor schedule, and then VOLUNTEER!
For more information, contact WSLC Field Mobilization Director Lori Province at 206-281-8901 x24.
Remember: Powerful special interests in Olympia and Washington D.C. have the money, but unions have people. It will be our votes that decide this election, not their money!
Copyright ©
2008 -- Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO