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June 12, 2009 |
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Friday, June 12, 2009
Green jobs must mean
good jobs
(Guest
column by the Presidents of the Washington State Labor Council and the
Oregon AFL-CIO)
Green jobs have been held as the panacea of the economic collapse. We are told this is the industry that is going to save America's jobs and move us into the future. But the saga of SolarWorld offers a cautionary tale about how "clean energy" employers -- like most other corporations -- are eager to scurry over the border in search of a way to get cheaper labor while taking advantage of the taxpayers in that state, gobbling up tax breaks and lowering the standard of living at the same time. Read more.
Local news:
► In today's Yakima H-R -- KDNA strike ends with promise of arbitration -- After nearly a month on strike, Radio KDNA employees have agreed to a settlement and will return to work Monday. Employees of the Spanish-language public radio station have been protesting in front of the Granger station since May 16 about what they called unfair labor practices, including the dismissal of two workers who supported unionization. They signed a return-to-work agreement on Wednesday that allows for two terminated employees to go through a binding arbitration.
► In today's Seattle Times -- Nickels in tricky spot for mayors' meeting -- The Seattle mayor is scheduled to take over as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors this weekend, but to do so he may have to cross an IAFF picket line in Providence, RI. His aide says he won't cross the picket, but Seattle IAFF Local 27 President Kenny Stuarts says, "My members are watching."
► In today's Seattle Times -- GOP's Hutchison: King County government bloated, needs job cuts -- The Republican candidate for King County executive vows to impose a hiring freeze if elected and to negotiate with employee labor unions to roll back benefits she said are too generous.
► In today's Seattle Times -- Big Paris air show starts amid tough times for aviation -- The Paris Air Show will open Monday under an uneasy pall, with plenty of reasons for gloom.
► At KPLU.org -- Shop Class as Soulcraft (audio) -- Mastery of a blue collar craft can provide a livelihood that not only pays well, but also challenges the intellect. And it's work that can't be outsourced. Yet schools today still try to steer everyone toward college. A new book seeks to restore the honor of the manual trades as a life worth choosing. Its author holds a PhD in Philosophy -- but has chosen to work most of his days getting his hands dirty.
A strange land where Democrats are Democrats:
►
In today's Oregonian --
Health
care reform bills clear Oregon Legislature -- A
health reform bill that cleared the Oregon Legislature will provide health
coverage for 80,000 uninsured children and an additional 35,000 uninsured
low-income adults and put the state on a path toward covering all of its
more than 600,000 uninsured residents.
► In today's Oregonian -- Oregon bills raising business, personal taxes win final approval -- The action averts another round of budget cuts that could have forced hundreds of teacher layoffs. "We now have a clear path to a balanced budget," says House Speaker Dave Hunt (D-Gladstone).
► Also see our Wednesday posting -- Oregon's Worker Freedom Act advances -- The Oregon State Senate did what the Democrat-controlled State Legislature in Washington refused to do in 2009, it held a vote on legislation to allow workers to opt out of employer meetings on politics, religion, union organizing or other matters of individual conscience. It passed.
Meanwhile, on this side of the bridge:
► At TheOlympian.com -- State workers' insurer needs cash to reach reserve -- Lawmakers knew they weren’t giving state employees enough to keep up with rising health insurance costs this year, but they thought they at least were giving them something. As the numbers are finalized, it turns out the 3% increase covered in the budget is more like zero. State workers already were expecting higher co-payments, deductibles and out-of-pocket fees over the next two years, and the latest twist only steps up the growth.
► In today's Seattle Times -- Custodians balk at UW plan to shift workers -- More than two dozen night custodians (WFSE 1488) could be switched to days, forcing some to choose between their UW jobs and other daytime jobs. Others would have to find daytime caretakers for children and elderly parents. An additional 17 custodians are being laid off. More than 100 custodians, students and community members marched Thursday outside the Board of Regents meeting.
► In today's Bellingham Herald -- Council approves county employee furloughs -- A furlough plan for the Whatcom County’s non-union employees, which account for 150 of the county's nearly 900 staff members, was unanimously approved at the County Council meeting this week.
Health care reform:
► In today's NY Times -- Obama takes his health care case to public -- The president vigorously defends his call for a government-sponsored health plan to compete with private insurers. But back in Washington, a leading Senate Democrat -- Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, is looking for a compromise that establishes an insurance cooperative that would be owned and operated for the benefit of its members, but not run by the government.
► At TheOlympian.com -- Sen. Cantwell being pushed on national health care reform -- U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell is apparently one of three Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee being pushed by liberal groups to embrace a national health insurance plan for the public.
►
Today from AP -- Sen.
Dodd's wife serves on health-care company boards -- Sen.
Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) is filling in for ailing Sen.
Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee, which will soon start work on the health
care bill. Dodd's wife sits on the boards of three health
care companies and is among the most highly compensated non-employee
members of one of them.
► From AP -- Obama tells GOP to offer a better health plan -- The president challenges Republican critics to offer alternative plans for overhauling U.S. health care, saying he's "happy to steal people's ideas" but doing nothing about out-of-reach costs and uninsured Americans is not an option.
National news:
► In today's Wall St. Journal -- Nursing shortage eases with recession -- The deep recession is helping to alleviate the decade-long nursing shortage, as workers who had left the field in better times are returning in droves. Nearly a quarter-million nurses entered the work force in 2007-08, an 18% surge that was the largest two-year increase in at least three decades.
► In today's Wash. Post -- Executives unruffled by proposed compensation rules -- The plan laid out by the Obama administration largely maintains the status quo for pay practices at all other publicly traded companies, including hundreds that are receiving taxpayer assistance.
► In today's LA Times -- Computer "raid" leaves LA-area factory workers devastated -- A major food-processing plant terminates more than 200 employees after an IRS audit finds that they had provided "invalid or fraudulent" Social Security numbers. UFCW calls it a "desktop raid."
► In today's NY Times -- The big hate (Paul Krugman column) -- The rise of right-wing extremism is being systematically fed by the conservative media and political establishment. It's a threat to take seriously. Yes, the worst terrorist attack in our history was perpetrated by a foreign conspiracy. But the second worst, the Oklahoma City bombing, was perpetrated by an all-American lunatic. Politicians and media groups wind up such people at their, and our, peril.
FRIDAY,
JUNE 12, 2009
Green jobs must be good jobs that respect labor
The following
guest column by Washington State Labor Council President Rick Bender and
Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain appears in
today's edition of The Seattle Times:
Green jobs have been held as the panacea of the economic collapse. We continue to be told this is the industry that is going to save America's jobs and move us into the future.
But a disturbing incident between Washington and Oregon over a "green" company that grows the crystals from which solar panels are made should wake us up to what can go wrong if we don't carefully monitor the growth of this industry and ensure that "green workers" are part of the next middle class.
Not only did SolarWorld take $43 million in tax breaks to move to Oregon, bust its union and significantly cut employees' compensation, the company later sold Oregon clean-energy tax credits to Wal-Mart, which will now get millions of dollars in clean-energy tax subsidies for doing nothing.
In 2006, the German company SolarWorld, one of the world's largest solar energy companies, purchased Royal Shell's solar division and acquired a plant in Vancouver, Wash. That operation was a unionized facility providing good, middle-class wages to the Machinist Union members employed there. SolarWorld promised there would be no layoffs for the first year of their ownership of the facility.
But then, in March 2007, SolarWorld purchased a facility in Hillsboro, Ore. The company was lured there in part by $43 million in tax breaks and public subsidies. SolarWorld jumped at this opportunity to move its operation to a new facility. But at the same time, they adamantly rejected requests by the Machinist Union to remain neutral in any efforts to unionize the Oregon work force. New employees at the Hillsboro facility were offered much lower pay than the unionized Washington workers, inferior benefits, no job protections and work shifts that varied between 12-hour graveyard and 12-hour day shifts.
As labor leaders representing union members in both states, we find this entire story reprehensible. You would think that a company from Germany, a place where unions represent almost 25 percent of the population, would respect the inherent value of a well-trained, organized work force.
Instead, we see this company acting like so many of the American corporations do — scurrying over the border in search of a way to get cheaper labor while taking advantage of the taxpayers in the state, gobbling up tax breaks and lowering the standard of living at the same time.
This is not how we are going to rebuild a strong middle class through green technology. This scenario sets up the working men and women of this country for a further slide down the rung into poverty and bad working conditions. Further, the practice of states pitting themselves against each other by luring jobs across the border sets the stage for economic warfare. We can and must do better than this for American workers.
The rise of the middle class in the mid-20th century came through struggle. Working men and women had to fight for many years to be recognized and included in the prosperity of the growing nation. We need to remember that history, teach it to our children and recognize exactly how those struggles brought about protections for workers including higher pay, the eight-hour workday and a stronger voice in the workplace. Those who neglect to learn the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.
What is to be said for these workers at SolarWorld who were offered the opportunity to keep their jobs if they chose to drive almost 40 miles each way to the new office, work for $5 to $6 less an hour, lose benefits and seniority, be subjected to 12-hour swing shifts and at the same time lose their voice in the workplace? Do we chalk this up to progress?
Green jobs can never help rebuild our economy if the industry is not built with respect and dignity for the workers who will be doing the heavy lifting. We cannot allow taxpayer subsidies to lure jobs from one state to another and at the same time finance anti-union activities.
Business, government and labor must work together to ensure that this new green economy works to provide family-wage jobs with real protections and a strong voice in the workplace. Those are the values that created the middle class in the first place — the values that made our country great.
Rick Bender is president of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Tom Chamberlain is president of the Oregon State AFL-CIO.
Copyright © 2009 -- Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO