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June 15, 2009 |
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Monday, June 15, 2009
Contact
Sen. Maria Cantwell TODAY about real health care reform
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) is a member of a key Senate committee that is making important decisions right now about sweeping health care reform. Please contact her and make sure that she sides with working families instead of big insurance companies. Read more.
► From AP -- Co-op compromise gives White House a health option -- With Republicans fighting the idea of a government-run health insurance plan, members of Obama's team say that they are open to a compromise: a cooperative program that would expand coverage with taxpayer money but without direct governmental control.
► In today's Washington Post -- Obama pressed to tax health benefits -- The White House is caught in a battle within its own party over how to finance a comprehensive overhaul of America's health-care system, as key Democrats advocate a tax plan that could require President Obama to break his campaign pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class.
CTC board moves to speed faculty layoffs
The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges has declared a financial emergency, despite protests of faculty leaders throughout the state. This will allow presidents at community and technical colleges to expedite the termination of full-time, tenure-track and tenured faculty. AFT Washington is considering a vote of no confidence against Charlie Earl, SBCTC executive director, for his support of the financial emergency declaration. Read more.
Boeing news:
►
At SeattlePI.com -- Largest
Boeing union seeks reconciliation, fights for tanker
-- The International Association of Machinists and
Aerospace Workers District 751 is putting aside its differences with
management and focusing on a new fight with a renewed mission: Win that
tanker contract. "After much discussion and numerous meetings, I
believe we are on the way to improving our relationship with Boeing,"
says IAM 751 President Tom Wroblewski. "Both sides have renewed their
commitment to improving our relationship because we have a common interest
in moving forward."
► In Sunday's Seattle Times -- Airbus claims it would bolster U.S. jobs by winning tanker work -- America's industrial base will be bolstered, not diminished, if the Airbus A330 beats out Boeing's 767 for the U.S. Air Force tanker contract, top executives of Airbus parent company EADS say. EADS chief executive Louis Gallois said Boeing outsources much of its parts manufacturing overseas, while the tanker proposed by Airbus and U.S. partner Northrop Grumman would create jobs at a new assembly line in Mobile, Ala.
► Today from AP -- Boeing upbeat, Airbus wins order at Paris Air Show -- A defiant Boeing says the aviation industry's troubles may be ending, while Airbus kicked off the race for plane orders.
► From AP -- Workers reject new contract with Bell Helicopter -- Manufacturing workers at Bell Helicopter plants in the Fort Worth area (UAW) went on strike for the first time in more than two decades in part to protect 44 janitors whose work the company wants to outsource. (These uppity Texas workers sure don't seem to care about how business-friendly their state is.)
Political news:
► In today's Olympian -- Time ebbs for ballot measures -- With less than three weeks to go until the July 3 deadline for filing signatures to qualify for the Nov. 3 ballot, time is running out. Only Tim Eyman’s property tax measure is considered likely to qualify. But church groups trying to repeal the rights of same-sex couples could also succeed with their Ref. 71 effort.
► In today's Olympian -- Two from GOP to run for Rep. Smith's seat in Congress -- Republican state Rep. Tom Campbell and Pierce County Council member Dick Muri think it’s worth taking a shot in the suburban district -- especially after Congress approved a $787 billion federal economic-stimulus package that they say still hasn’t shown results.
National news:
►
At AFL-CIO Now -- Report:
Paid sick leave doesn't hurt economy -- As
Congress begins considering legislation that would guarantee workers up to
seven paid sick days per year, a new study from the Center for Economic and
Policy Research, a nonpartisan think tank, finds that mandatory paid sick
days do not lead to higher unemployment.
► In today's Oregonian -- The politics of short memories (E.J. Dionne column) -- It's one thing for President Obama to face off against Fox News, the right-wing radio empire, and Republican congressional leaders whose names are unfamiliar to much of the public. It's quite another to confront organized business. That's why last week's announcement by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce of a new "Campaign for Free Enterprise" could be one of the year's most consequential political developments. Now the real resistance to Obama begins.
Our apologies for this abbreviated edition of today's news clips. The entire staff of WSLC Reports Today managed to leave their keys at home and were locked out of our News Command Center™ until our boss showed up -- shaking his head -- and let us in.
MONDAY,
JUNE 15, 2009
Contact Sen. Cantwell about real health care reform
Real health care reform is moving quickly in Congress, and critical decisions about the shape of the final legislation are being made right now. Opponents of health care reform, like the insurance companies, are working overtime to weaken or even eliminate key elements of reform.
The AFL-CIO's legislative team on Capitol Hill has told us the most critical area of concern is in the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Maria Cantwell is a member of that committee so it's critically important that we contact her and make sure that she sides with working families instead of big insurance companies.
TAKE
ACTION: Please
click here to contact Sen. Cantwell today and remind her
of our priorities for real health care reform.
The three key elements of real health care reform that are in danger in the Senate Finance Committee are:
-
A strong public health insurance option is necessary to make health care reform work.
-
All employers need to either provide health care to their employees or pay into a system to make sure everyone is covered. No more corporate freeloaders.
-
Workers' health care benefits must not be taxed.
It is vitally important that Sen. Cantwell hears from constituents like you. Together, we can ensure that everyone in America has quality and affordable health care. Please contact Sen. Cantwell today!
MONDAY,
JUNE 15, 2009
CTC
board moves to speed layoff of college faculty
AFT considers vote of
"no confidence" in board director Charlie Earl
AFT Washington distributed the following press release last Thursday:
State Board Votes to Declare a Financial Emergency to Expedite Faculty Dismissals at Community and Technical Colleges
(June 11, 2009) -- In a controversial vote, the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges today declared a financial emergency over the protest of faculty leaders throughout the state. A law created in 1981, RCW 28B.50.873, allows presidents at community and technical colleges to expedite the termination of full-time, tenure-track and tenured faculty and modifies some reduction-in-force processes outlined in collective bargaining agreements. This law does not apply to four-year colleges and universities.
Many faculty wrote to board members and testified at state board meetings protesting the action. AFT Washington, the union representing faculty at 22 community and technical colleges, is considering a vote of no confidence against Charlie Earl, SBCTC executive director, for his support of the financial emergency declaration.
“We are deeply disappointed in the board’s decision,” said Sandra Schroeder, AFT Washington President. “The financial emergency declaration is an unnecessary blunt object that will allow college presidents an easy way to resolve their bad management decisions on the backs of faculty and will impact the students’ success in achieving their degrees.”
Despite record-high student enrollments, a number of colleges had already eliminated classes and laid off adjunct faculty as a result of the state budget deficit. Most had resolved their budget cuts without terminating full-time faculty.
Full-time faculty currently make up only about 40 percent of the college faculty workforce statewide. The remaining 60 percent are “perma-temps” – part-time instructors who are hired to teach from quarter to quarter.
Our community and technical colleges are the key to economic recovery for Washington. Supporting them makes economic sense in these tough times. For every dollar spent on higher education in two-year colleges, there is a 7% return on this investment – higher than average for most public investments. Because of the bad economy, over 9,000 additional students have enrolled since last fall, of which 15% are enrolled for the worker retraining programs; 31% are parents; 51% work full- or part-time; and 20% are currently unemployed.
Full-time faculty are the core of this recovery effort. Terminating them hurts students.
AFT Washington has posted a fact sheet on the financial emergency declaration on their web site at http://tinyurl.com/financial-emergency.
# # #
AFT Washington represents more than 6,000 pre-K through 12 classified employees, para-educators, Head Start, and early childhood educators, and higher education classified, faculty, and professional staff in Washington State.
Copyright © 2009 -- Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO