Legislative session redux:

►  In the PS Business Journal -- Unions that backed state Democrats bitter about legislative results (if you can't read this story, email us for a copy) -- Some in the labor community are feeling betrayed and wondering why they worked so hard to support candidates, particularly Democrats. Some are musing about running their own initiatives rather than working through the legislative process. Others are talking about sitting out the next elections. “At least for the foreseeable future, I don’t think we’ll be making any contributions,” says a WFSE representative. “There’s been a significant loss of trust.”

►  In the News Tribune -- State workers struggling as much as anyone (op-ed) -- I strongly disagree with the TNT assertion that state employees' refusal to make concessions on their “generous coverage” caused 40,000 working poor to be cut from the BHP. I’m one of those Fat Cat State Employees the editorial refers to. We are struggling like many other people in our community.

►  In Sunday's Seattle Times -- Layoffs hitting Washington teachers hard -- When they landed teaching jobs in Issaquah in 2007, the Millers -- Jayme, his wife, Andrea, and his sister Sarah -- couldn't believe their good fortune. All three had grown up and gone to school in Issaquah. In their mid-20s, enthusiastic and full of energy, they found their first full-time jobs as teachers in the very place where they all wanted to be: home. So it was a shock earlier this month when Issaquah sent layoff notices to 158 of its 1,097 certificated teachers, all with three or fewer years of experience. This fall, unless they're recalled to work, the Millers will all be out of jobs. 

►  In Sunday's Bellingham Herald -- Ferndale school could lose several teachers -- The teaching staff may be down by as many as 16 full-time positions next school year.

►  In today's Everett Herald -- Time will tell if prison savings worth the risk (Jerry Cornfield column) -- In cutting the Department of Corrections budget, legislators say they let research rather than emotion guide pursuits of what they hope actually improves rehabilitation and public safety.

Local news:

►  In the Tri-City Herald -- DOE reports 400 new hires at Hanford -- The new employees have been hired so far to help with cleanup efforts at Hanford under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. An additional 200 skilled professionals will be recruited by the end of May. The hiring is part of a plan to create or save about 4,000 Hanford jobs -- supported by $1.96 billion in federal stimulus money -- that will last through Sept. 30, 2011.

►  At SeattlePI.com -- Superintendent fires all Seattle teachers, union claims -- The head of the Seattle Education Association said late Friday the group will sue Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson over a letter she sent out that terminates the contracts of all 3,300 members.

►  From KOMO-TV -- New twist in mystery over Seattle teachers' status -- The district denies SEA allegations that all 3,300 teachers were fired by Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson. But some teachers say they have the letters to prove that their contracts were not renewed.

►  From AP -- Lakewood might check legal status of its city workers -- It could become the first city in the state to require its contractors to confirm the legal status of their new hires. The city council is scheduled to discuss the item Monday. It could vote on it May 18.

►  In the Tri-City Herald -- Franklin County announces pay cuts, layoffs -- Four workers received layoff notices at Franklin County last week, and the county's unions were asked to accept a 5 percent pay cut to help correct a nearly $600,000 budget shortfall.

►  In Sunday's Kitsap Sun -- With layoffs, Bremerton police say city violated union contract -- The union filed a grievance against the city this week after two officers were given pink slips.

Employee Free Choice Act news:

►  In Sunday's Oregonian -- She talked up union; she's out of a job -- Elizabeth Lehr, a 23-year-old former "Employee of the Month" at a Portland nursing home, signed her union card March 23. On April 1, Lehr was distributing fliers after her shift when managers asked her to leave. She refused, until they threatened to have police escort her away. The next day, Lehr was fired. 

►  In Sunday's NY Times -- Behind falling wages (letter by Michael Honey) -- Under FDR, the Wagner Act protections of union rights allowed workers to restore their wages and dignity. Unions became the best antipoverty program, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said. Yet workers who organize today can expect to be fired. One hundred seventy-four historians have petitioned Congress to support the EFCA. To restore wages, we need to make it easier to organize.

►  In the Anchorage Daily news -- Corporations are not the workers' friend (op-ed by Army veteran) -- My son is looking for work. He is trying to join a union, but the competition for the jobs is fierce. The only available jobs are low wage, box store jobs with meager benefits and security. This is not the America that I envisioned living in after serving my country. Corporations have actively eroded the freedom of workers to form unions and bargain together with their companies for fair wages, better benefits and job security. This fleecing of America cannot continue unchecked.

►  From Bloomberg -- Social investment funds back EFCA -- A group of mutual and pension funds that invest in social causes is urging Congress to support legislation that would make it easier for workers to join unions. “The business community has come out really aggressively against this bill, but not all businesses or investors are unified in their thinking,” says a fund manager.

►  In today's Washington Post -- The imperfect union bill (editorial) -- Business groups remain dug into a "no compromise" stance on the EFCA. Moreover, the employer coalition fails to acknowledge any flaw in the existing process -- except to the extent that it suggests, falsely, that the playing field is now tilted in favor of unions. That hardly sounds like bargaining in good faith.

National news:

►  From AP -- Safeway, workers agree to continue talks -- With the threat of a strike looming in Colorado, Safeway agrees to resume talks a day after workers authorized a strike.

►  At Alternet -- Is Whole Foods just another evil corporation? -- Beneath the surface of its fuzzy, progressive image is a company hell-bent on preventing its workers from unionizing. As Mother Jones recently reported, "An internal Whole Foods document listing 'six strategic goals for Whole Foods Market to achieve by 2013… includes a goal to remain '100 percent union-free'."