WSLC Reports Today -- May 6, 2009

May 6, 2009

May 5: Millions lose health coverage

May 4: Letter Carriers Food Drive Saturday

May 1: Immigration rights rallies

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Wednesday, May 6, 2009

► At Huffington Post -- Study destroys union intimidation myth as Specter considers "compromise" -- In the past six years, 21,197 Illinois public sector workers from a wide variety of industries have organized under majority sign-up since 2003, with the boards certifying 799 units. While just under 300 petitions were dismissed because the union failed to achieve majority support, literally zero petitions were thrown out because of labor coercion.

► In today's Pittsburgh P-G -- Free choice for all (op-ed by PA union leaders) -- Simply by exercising his freedom of association, Sen. Arlen Specter changed his political party affiliation and joined the Democratic Party. And, in a classic moment of pure irony, in the same speech announcing his decision, he reiterated his opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, which guarantees workers the right to join a union simply by indicating that they want to be part of one.

► At AWB.com -- Incentives, not government mandates, will solve nation's problems (AWB's Don Brunell is in D.C. lobbying Congress to block a vote on the EFCA) -- We are working hard to insure they don't secure the necessary 60th vote (to prevent a filibuster by Senate Republicans).

Food drive news:

► In today's Columbian -- Letter Carriers plan Saturday food drive -- The stakes are high this year. Donations haven’t kept up with a burgeoning number of families seeking food from the Clark County Stop Hunger Warehouse. Organizers hope Saturday’s Letter Carriers Food Drive will close the gap and boost the warehouse’s food stock for the summer.

► In today's Seattle Times -- Letter Carriers Food Drive this Saturday -- Residents are encouraged to participate in the nation's largest single-day food drive by leaving nonperishable food items like cereals or rice in bags by their mailboxes. Donations will be delivered to local food banks.

► Click here for more information about the food drive.

Local news:

► In today's Everett Herald -- 1,200 Boeing jobs lost in Washington in April -- Boeing has cut 2,140 jobs in the state since the beginning of the year. Machinists and engineers unions are working to secure additional benefits for laid-off Boeing workers through the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance program. (CORRECTION: This article erroneously reports that the unions only have until May 18 to file an application for federal TAA benefits. That's not true.)

► In today's Yakima H-R -- Tensions rise among unpaid workers at Wal-Mart site -- The construction site for Yakima's second Wal-Mart is embroiled in a labor dispute involving about two dozen workers who say they're owed three weeks of back pay. And the conflict is further complicated by the question of workers' legal status. The subcontractor acknowledges he's late in paying his employees, but says he will only pay workers who are here legally.

► In today's Seattle Times -- Latest round of Microsoft layoffs may not be the last -- With Tuesday's second round of layoffs, which included 1,200 locally, Microsoft has made almost all of the planned 5,000 job cuts announced in January. But there could be more coming.

► In today's Bellingham Herald -- Tax-capping initiative likely headed to Whatcom County Council -- The first batch of signatures to force the county council to publicly vote on a property-tax capping initiative are in, and the promoter says the required threshold has been met.

► At SeattlePI.com -- Cheap health insurance can be costly -- As unemployment and health-care costs continue to rise, people are buying cheap plans with often financially devastating results.

Legislative session redux:

► In today's Olympian -- Unions, governor talk health expenses -- State employee unions agreed to two-year contracts without pay raises after the recession prompted Gov. Gregoire to shelve their original deals in December. Now, they are discussing likely increases in co-payments and other out-of-pocket health expenses.

► In today's Olympian -- Legislators have until end of week -- Gregoire has given legislative leaders a deadline for deciding whether to hold a special session.” Gregoire and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown thought they would have to regroup, but House leaders were not so sure.

► In today's News Tribune -- Board to discuss raising price of booze -- The Washington State Liquor Control Board will meet today to consider a $1.05-per-liter hike in the price of booze, an increase the liquor industry is calling a “stealth tax” indirectly imposed by the Legislature.

► In today's Seattle Times -- Columbian's not just another newspaper bankruptcy (editorial) -- The time is right for politicians, journalists and the public to start working toward preserving an independent press. (Independent from what? Not taxpayers. Still no editorial thank-you for the newspaper tax break that the Times asked for and got from the Legislature.)

Teacher layoffs:

► In today's Spokesman-Review -- Teachers ponder future with pink slips looming -- More than 100 Spokane Public Schools teachers will get pink slips next Tuesday, with the caveat that those pieces of paper could turn out to be meaningless. “Will I get recalled?" asks one. "Do I have to pack up my room at the end of the year? I’d rather know now if I was not going to have a job.”

► In today's News Tribune -- Peninsula School District sends out 63 layoff notices -- The district addresses $5 million budget gap by giving notices to more than 10% of its teaching force.

► In today's Peninsula Daily News -- Port Angeles schools to lay off at least 27 teachers -- The board sends layoff notices to about 45 with the understanding that 18 will likely be hired back.

National news:

► In today's NY Times -- Obama plan on corporate taxes unnerves Indian outsourcing industry -- He vowed to overhaul a tax code that allowed companies to pay less, as he put it, to “create a job in Bangalore, India, than if you create one in Buffalo, New York.” That could mean eliminating a deduction for companies when they invest in subsidiaries outside the U.S.

► In today's NY Times -- U.S. says Bank of America needs cushion of $33.9 billion -- If the bank is unable to raise it by selling assets or stock, it would have to rely on the government, which has provided $45 billion in capital through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

► From Bloomberg -- Bernanke: Bank of America's Ken Lewis is a liar -- The Federal Reserve Chairman says he never asked Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis to refrain from publicly discussing losses at Merrill Lynch before the merger, as Lewis has claimed..

► In today's LA Times -- Bailed-out banks enabled subprime lending, study contends -- The big banks now collecting federal bailout money were not unwitting victims of the mortgage meltdown but instead were directly linked to the root cause of the problem: a subprime lending machine concentrated in Southern California.

► In today's Washington Post -- House panel to take up Paid Parental Leave Act for federal workers -- It would allow them to take up to four weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child. Federal workers already receive 12 weeks of unpaid leave for such an event.

► In today's NY Times -- Bright spot in downturn: New hiring is robust -- While 4.8 million workers were laid off or chose to leave their jobs in February, employers hired 4.3 million workers.

► In The Onion -- Shirtless Biden washes Trans Am in White House driveway -- "This baby just needs a little scrub down," said the vice president, addressing a tour group as he tucked the sweat-covered top into the belt loop of his cutoff jean shorts. "Gotta get her looking good so I can impress the chicks when I'm cruising down Pennsylvania [Avenue]."