State government news: 

►  At TheNewsTribune.com -- Labor Council wants to boost unemployment benefits $50 -- More than 90,000 applied for benefits last month, beating the old record of 73,000 by a long shot. Washington State Labor Council President Rick Bender says he hopes lawmakers will add $50 to the weekly benefits of those who are unemployed. Labor also wants a change in the formula for computing benefits, one that would add an average of $8 a week to benefit checks. Bender said it makes sense to add that money to everyone's benefit amount because that money gets spent right away and, therefore, is an immediate stimulant to the state economy.

►  At TheOlympian.com -- Union man Stern now heading health group -- Robby Stern, who would stay to the end of the appropriations meeting just to give lawmakers a piece of organized labor’s mind, has retired from the State Labor Council. But he’ll be back in Olympia, as chairman of the Healthy Washington Coalition.

►  In today's Olympian -- Report shows good place to start cuts (editorial) -- Turns out there are 470 state boards and commissions, and collectively they spend millions of dollars every budget cycle. In fact, 47 of them each spend in excess of a quarter million dollars a year.

►  At SpokesmanReview.com -- U.S. News: Washington state tops for creating a small business --  Although there’s a constant “we’re great/we suck” debate on virtually all attempts to gauge Washington’s business climate, here’s the latest one: U.S. News and World Report gives the state high marks as a place to launch your company. Tops, in fact. (The state's many business lobbying groups have gone into immediate We-Still-Suck Damage Control Mode™.)

Local news:  

►  In today's Seattle P-I -- Seattle P-I is for sale -- The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is being put up for sale, and if after 60 days it has not sold, it will either be turned into a Web-only publication or discontinued entirely.

►  At SeattlePI.com -- Workers help grow 21st Century economy (op-ed by UFCW 21 President Dave Schmitz) -- While higher and indexed minimum wages are a good start, what are some of the ideas for the 21st century? We should reform our tax system so lower-paid workers stop paying a higher share of taxes. We can level the playing field of power in the workplace by passing the Employee Free Choice Act so when workers want to join a union they can do so without intimidation or harassment. We should demand that all Americans have the opportunity for a high-quality education regardless of where they live and how much money their parents make.

►  In today's Everett Herald -- Unpaid furloughs OK'd for Snohomish County Council's staff -- Those 27 employees will take nine days of unpaid leave over the next 12 months. County Executive Aaron Reardon has been negotiating with local union officials for unpaid furloughs among other departments, but it's not clear whether they'll reach an agreement.

►  In today's Everett Herald -- Boeing's good news: Orders are up -- Scott Carson: "While we clearly faced obstacles (like our own reluctance to offer the Machinists a fair contract from the get-go), 2008 also was a time of accomplishment." (Sometimes you have to read between the lines.)

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Strike, supplier problems hurt Boeing deliveries -- Boeing delivered 41 jets from its area factories in the last month of the year, after just four deliveries in November.

►  In today's Yakima H-R -- "Labor Domes" considered for mid-Columbia farm workers -- A possible solution to migrant worker housing: an igloo-like "Labor Dome," a 20-foot-wide, 12-foot-tall white dome designed to house four to six people. The dome originally was designed as housing for emergency situations. It has been approved for temporary worker housing by the state Department of Health.

►  In today's Seattle P-I -- Schultz took Starbucks' new jet to Hawaii for the holidays -- The union-busting EFCA poster boy used Starbucks' new $45 million corporate jet to spend the holidays in Hawaii with family and friends like a Twittering Lance Armstrong, who writes: "Great man who's committed to health care for all." (Except for his own f---in' employees, Lance.)

National labor news: 

►  In today's Chicago -- AFL-CIO, Change to Win may reunite -- National labor leaders from the AFL-CIO and the break-away Change To Win federation began talks Wednesday on the goal of reuniting America's labor movement. (See yesterday's NY Times article breaking this story.)

►  In today's Wall St. Journal -- AFL-CIO, Breakaway unions discuss reuniting -- AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, 74, is expected to step down this fall. Among those expected to vie for that title are LIUNA's Terry O'Sullivan and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka.

Other national news: 

►  In today's NY Times -- Unemployment hits 7.2%, 16-year high -- With the recession in full swing, the nation’s employers shed 524,000 jobs in December, the government reported Friday, and a rapidly deteriorating economy promised more significant losses in the months ahead.

►  In today's NY Times -- Obama urged to open high-tech exports -- An "expert panel" says he should immediately change or even scrap Cold War-era restrictions on immigration for foreign scientists and engineers. (See previous report, then file this one under "WTF?!")

►  In today's NY Times -- Daschle lays out plan to reform health care -- He formally begins the incoming administration’s arduous quest to overhaul the nation’s health care system on Thursday, telling former Senate colleagues that the task had become more urgent because many people were losing health insurance, along with their jobs, in the recession.

►  In today's LA Times -- Hilda Solis' belief in unions runs deep -- Her father came from Mexico and was a Teamster who worked at a battery recycling plant. Her mother is from Nicaragua and had a union job on a Mattel assembly line. Rep. Hilda Solis, the daughter of immigrants who lives in a modest home in El Monte not far from where she was raised, takes her first step to almost certain confirmation as U.S. Secretary of Labor today at a Senate hearing.

►  From AP -- Democrats begin new session with labor bills -- Democrats usher in what they believe will be a new labor-friendly era in Washington with House votes on two bills aimed at helping women fight pay discrimination. 

►  In today's NY Times -- The Obama gap (Krugman column) -- He says the nation needs aggressive action to deal with the economic crisis, and he’s right. But his plan falls short of what’s needed.

►  In today's Washington Post -- Teamsters union approves wage cuts for truckers -- In what some say is a forerunner of the concessions U.S. workers will be asked to make during the recession, 40,000 members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters voted to approve a wage cut to keep afloat their employer, YRC Worldwide, a Fortune 500 trucking company.

Employee Free Choice Act news: 

►  In today's NY Times -- Bill easing unionizing under heavy attack -- Intent on blocking labor’s top legislative goal, corporations are quietly contributing to lobbying groups with appealing names like the Workforce Fairness Institute and the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace. They plan a multimillion-dollar campaign in the hope of killing the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that would give unions the right to win recognition at a workplace once a majority of employees sign cards saying they want a union. Business groups fear the bill will enable unions to quickly add millions of workers and drive up costs.

►  In The Nation -- Can labor revive the American Dream? -- The financial markets are in tatters, consumer spending is anemic and the recession continues to deepen, but corporate America is keeping its eyes on the prize: crushing organized labor. The EFCA, which would allow workers to unionize when a majority sign cards rather than requiring a bruising election, has galvanized the business community in a way even the $700 billion bailout couldn't. Obama recently restated his commitment to ending the "barriers and roadblocks" to unionization but avoided any reference to the bill itself. "The Chamber is fanning the flames on this, saying this is the epic battle between labor and business," says a key strategist working to pass the measure, "and it scares the shit out of the Obama people and some of the Democrats."