Unemployment news: 

►  In today's Seattle Times -- State jobless rate jumps to 9.4%, highest in over 25 years -- Employers in Washington cut another 6,700 jobs last month, making May the eighth month out of the past nine in which payrolls have shrunk. The good news: Payrolls are shrinking more slowly than they did earlier this year. Seattle metro area unemployment: 8.4%

►  Other regional unemployment news -- Benton/Franklin (7.2%); Clark (13.2%); Cowlitz (14.2%); Kitsap (8.1%); Pierce (10.1%) Snohomish (9.5%); Spokane (9.1%); Thurston (8%); Walla Walla (6.9%); Yakima (9.3%); and Oregon (a record 12.4%!)

Boeing news: 

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Pitching 777 for tanker could mean more jobs in Everett -- One scenario Boeing is considering that could bring a radical change to the factory: have Everett workers install military systems and complete the tankers rather than fly each tanker airframe to one of Boeing's defense factories, such as in Wichita, Kan., for finishing. 

►  In today's NY Times -- Boeing, Airbus prepare (again) for tanker battle -- In what will be the third effort in a decade to replace the Air Force’s aging tanker fleet, the Dept. of Defense is expected to release soon a preliminary request for proposals, according to company executives.

►  At SeattlePI.com -- Sen. Murray blasts Airbus, bangs subsidy drum -- Airbus is (again) seeking government funding to help develop its A350 XWB program, to compete against Boeing's popular 787 Dreamliner. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) fired off a letter to UN Ambassador John Bruton, head of the Delegation of the European Commission to the U.S, regarding the topic.

►  At HeraldNet.com -- "Boeing is run by bean counters and lawyers" -- So says Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker at the Paris Air Show, and threatens to cancel an order for 60 Dreamliner jets if Boeing doesn’t get its act together. (And we thought the unions were the problem.)

►  Today from AP -- Boeing gets first air show order -- for two 737-800 jets 

Local news: 

►  In the Bellingham Herald -- Community won't find prosperity in big boxes (guest column by NW Washington CLC's David Warren) -- The issue of large retail building regulation is something more than just "anti-Wal Mart." It's about the quality of life in Bellingham. After looking at empty building after empty building -- some emptied more than once -- one must wonder what we can reliably count on from any large chain wanting to move in or expand other than more mediocre wages and minimal, if any, benefits and serial unemployment for retail workers. Before we move backward and agree to water down the (big-box) ordinance for the convenience of the large retail stores, we owe it to the citizens to ensure a real benefit to them in return.

►  In today's Olympian -- State pension plans took hit, report says -- The oldest state pensions, already underfunded, were rocked by the worldwide market crash last year. They are in greater danger of draining reserves and forcing the state to pay retirees directly from the state treasury.

►  In today's Columbian -- Clark County cuts budget $33.8 million -- Almost every county department will see cuts, most of which take effect in the first week of July.

►  In today's Spokesman-Revoiew -- All laid-off Spokane Public Schools teachers will be recalled -- All of the teachers who received layoff notices in May will be recalled by the end of the month.

►  In the Daily World -- Union's concession saves firefighter position -- The firefighters union agrees to forgo $28,000 in holiday pay this year in an effort to save a position in Ocean Shores.

►  Bill Fletcher, Jr., the dynamic labor activist and co-author of Solidarity Divided, visited Seattle on May 20 to describe his ideas on “Building a Labor Movement with Change We Can Believe In” at events at the Seattle Labor Temple and the University Book Store. Here is the TVW coverage of Fletcher's comments at the University Book Store event:

Political news: 

►  At SeattlePI.com -- Picket lines lead to political lines in Seattle mayor's race -- Greg Nickels says he was careful not to cross the picket line at a mayors' conference in Providence, R.I. (Apparently he accessed the event via some circuitous route through/under neighboring buildings.) The firefighters union says the fact that he was at the conference at all was wrong. And now Nickels' opponents are chiming in. Jan Drago calls it Nickels' "I didn't inhale" moment.

►  In today's Seattle Times -- County's no-premium health care is a different but effective approach (guest column by Larry Gossett and Julia Patterson) -- King County employees might not pay a premium, but their health-care costs are being driven down by innovative approaches to help employees be healthier. Now, this approach is being considered by the Obama administration.

►  At SeattlePI.com -- GOP's Hutchison: Cut business taxes in King County -- The county executive candidate says she'll work to restructure the state's B&O tax to cut business taxes.

LBTG news: 

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Withhold signatures on Ref. 71 (editorial) -- Ref. 71 is a petition campaign that voters can confidently ignore. No one is going to read the 114-page bill that extends rights for registered domestic partners. The Legislature put the fairness in the details.

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Showdown over privacy of gay city employees vs. public records -- A judge today will hear arguments about whether the city must release the names of Seattle city employees who attended or were invited to attend meetings of a city-sponsored group.

►  In today's LA Times -- Obama to offer benefits to gay partners of federal employees -- Faced with growing anger among gay and lesbian supporters, President Obama is expected tonight to extend healthcare and other benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees.

►  In today's Boston Herald -- Rep. Barney Frank rips Obama's "big mistake" -- Rep. Frank, one of the nation’s leading gay rights champions, blasts President Barack Obama over a controversial anti-gay marriage court filing and is calling on the commander in chief to explain himself.

►  In The Onion -- New Hampshire passes law forcing old people to watch gays marry (brief)

Employee Free Choice Act: 

►  At AFL-CIO Now -- Big business: Two-faced talk on arbitration -- The latest Big Business tactic is to attack the EFCA provision that guarantees workers who form a union a fair first contract -- a vital provision, because more than 50% of workers who form a union don’t have a contract after one year and more than a third still don’t have a contract after two years. Corporations are crying about the possibility they might have to take part in arbitration with employees if they don’t reach a first contract after three months of talks -- even though they’re enthusiastic about arbitration in a wide variety of circumstances where they have the advantage. 

►  At Plum Line -- CNBC's Erin Burnett in hot water for comparing Iran elections to EFCA -- She compares the Iranian elections to what would happen under the Employee Free Choice Act, and she’s getting bombarded by a plague of angry emails, courtesy of the SEIU.

National news: 

►  At AFL-CIO Now -- Chamber sides with foreign embassies against Buy American -- Ignoring, once more, that Buy American makes fundamental economic sense by ensuring at least some of our taxpayer bailout money is invested in U.S.-made productions, the Chamber of Commerce is siding with foreign embassies battling Buy American provisions in the stimulus.

►  In today's LA Times -- British Airways asks staff to work without pay -- Struggling to come up with ways to save cash after reporting its biggest full-year loss since the former national airline was privatized in 1987, British Airways asks employees to work for blocks of time without pay.

►  In today's NY Times -- Pilots and fatigue (editorial) -- Federal officials need to rewrite the decades-old rules that govern how long pilots can fly before they rest.