Will Democrats break the logjam? (WSLC Reports

February 4, 2010

Feb. 3: AFL-CIO decries court ruling

Feb. 2: Labor: Let's talk, not privatize

Feb. 1: Workers' comp grass is greener here

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Thursday, February 4, 2010

Will Democrats break the logjam?

Senate Democratic leaders have agreed to swear in Republican Scott Brown of Massachusetts this afternoon, a week ahead of what Brown had requested just a few days ago. Why? Because Republican leaders want Brown seated early to block the nomination of labor attorney Craig Becker to the NLRB. Why? They think Becker is too pro-labor. This morning, the Senate HELP Committee, including Sen. Patty Murray, voted (again) to approve Becker's nomination. But after Sen. Brown is seated, can Democrats break the NLRB's political logjam? Read more.

► At Huffington Post -- Labor steaming over Scott Brown's early seating -- The labor community is fuming over the expedited plan to seat Sen.-elect Scott Brown (R-Mass) this afternoon, arguing that Democratic leadership is torpedoing one of its most important causes -- the NLRB nomination of Craig Becker. Party leadership had planned to hold a confirmation vote this week, but a series of delays, engineered primarily by Sen. John McCain (R-Ari.) at the urging of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, appears to have pushed consideration back.

► At FireDogLake -- Scott Brown to save the nation from NLRB nominee who cares about workers -- Republicans took about 6 months to allow Al Franken to be seated in Minnesota. Obama just excoriated Republicans for obstructing all of his appointments. Now, steel yourself for the punch line: Democratic leaders have agreed immediately with GOP demands to seat Brown early.

Legislative news:

► In today's Olympian -- Amending I-960 first step to new taxes -- Senate Democrats took a first step Wednesday toward raising taxes by introducing a bill to amend voter-approved Initiative 960 to temporarily get rid of its requirement for a two-thirds vote for tax increases. In the House, Finance Committee chairman Ross Hunter introduced a separate measure that would raise or protect up to $363 million in revenue in the next year by eliminating a series of tax exemptions. He said his measure can’t be passed without changes to I-960.

► In today's Tri-City Herald -- GOP legislators object to Democrats' budget-writing process -- Republicans in Olympia say they're again being left out of the budget-writing process. (Suggestion: Don't complain to reporters, complain to the voters who put you in the minority.)

► In today's Yakima H-R -- Emotions are divided over legislation on developmentally disabled -- Promising that a proposal to close the Yakima Valley School by 2014 “isn’t written in stone,” a Democratic leader in the state Senate says the developmentally disabled will have a choice of living arrangements as the state modernizes its system to care for the vulnerable population.

► In the Retiree Advocate -- Sighted in Olympia: Milton Friedman's ghost (by Robby Stern) -- The discussion today should be about generating the resources to provide assistance to those in need in Washington State. Instead, the advocates of shrinking the education and human services purpose of government -- both Republicans and Democrats -- are exploiting the economic crisis to argue for privatizing services for developmentally disabled children and adults. They also want to privatize everything from our liquor stores to our workers' compensation system.

► In today's Olympian -- "Do no harm," Realtors urge -- Realtors say taxes do harm. (Residents of rehabilitation centers, people on the Basic Health Plan, parents concerned about class sizes, young people interested in attending college, state employees facing more wage cuts and pink slips, and many others say unbending anti-tax ideology and all-cuts budgets do harm.)

► In today's Columbian -- Road funding source runs low on gas -- A new report indicates that the trend toward more fuel efficient vehicles could result in a $3.8 billion revenue shortfall by the year 2025 -- the horizon of a 16-year financial plan adopted by the Legislature last year.

► In today's Yakima H-R -- Bid to unionize child-care workers still a bad idea (editorial) -- We hope State Senators resist the lobbying efforts of large labor unions and dispatch the measure as they did the last two years -- by slipping it into the paper shredder of bad legislation.

► In today's Olympian -- No time for bonuses (editorial) -- Given the state of the economy and in light of a report showing state managers handed out $1.9 million in bonuses last year, the Senate should pass HB 2998 and send it to the governor for her signature. It passed the House 97-0.

National news:

► In today's LA Times -- Soaring cost of health care sets record -- In a stark reminder of growing costs, the government has released a new estimate that healthcare spending grew to a record 17.3% of the U.S. economy last year, marking the largest one-year jump in its share of the economy since the government started keeping such records half a century ago. In the absence of change, the report raises a grim prospect for the country -- a healthcare system consuming an ever greater and potentially unsustainable share of the economy even as private health coverage lags. Last year, it was estimated that government spending on healthcare would not overtake private spending until 2016. Now, that's projected to happen in 2011 or 2012.

► At AFL-CIO Now -- Solis backs EFCA, strong enforcement of wage, safety laws -- The Labor Secretary tells the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee that workers face increasing obstacles when they try to form unions and “we need to restore their freedom to do so.”

► In today's LA Times -- Congressional Dems are naysaying Obama's budget -- Some are railing against certain items as a campaign strategy to distance themselves from controversial issues.

► In today's NY Times -- A bitter guest worker story (editorial) -- A sad case of human trafficking is further proof that immigration reform must include protections for guest workers in this country.

► At Politico -- Immigration reform risky for Democrats -- With unemployment persisting at 10%, addressing the issue risks reviving backlashes that have thus far defined Obama's presidency.

Local news:

► In the (Ellensburg) Daily Record -- Governor OKs Desert Claim Wind Project -- Gregoire formally approves the 95-turbine $330 million project eight miles northwest of Ellensburg.

► In today's Oregonian -- Hong Kong Corporation buys Oregon pulp mill -- A Chinese company hoping to expand into the North American forest products business has purchased Cascade Pacific Pulp, a mill at Halsey in the lower Willamette Valley.

Boeing news:

► From Reuters -- Pentagon vows to move forward on tanker -- The Pentagon wants The Boeing Co. and Airbus-Northrop to compete for the aerial refueling tanker contract, but will move forward even if there is only one bidder, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.

► In today's (Everett) Herald -- First Boeing 747-8 Freighter flight set -- Several preflight tests, including high-speed taxi testing, are planned for the jet in the next few days. The 747-8 could take off from Everett’s Paine Field at 10 a.m. Monday if those tests go well.

► In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing shows 787 interior features -- The partial passenger cabin will be used to test elements of the passenger experience, including air flow and noise levels. Meals will be prepared in the galley. Toilets will be stress-tested. (Volunteers?)

THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 4, 2010
Will Democrats break NLRB logjam?
Some say nominee doomed (again) by Sen. Brown's early swearing-in today

Senate Democratic leaders have agreed to swear in Republican Scott Brown of Massachusetts this afternoon, a week ahead of what Brown had requested just a few days ago. Why? Because Republican leaders want Brown seated early because threy need his vote to continue to block the nomination of labor attorney Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. Why? Because they think Becker is too pro-labor and they fear he will support efforts to make it easier to form unions in America.

Republicans say the NLRB is not supposed to circumvent the authority of Congress by enacting rule changes and interpretations that materially change labor law. You know, like the Bush administration did when it's pro-corporate NLRB changed the definition of "supervisor" to exclude millions of Americans from the right to choose unionization. Now that Republicans aren't in control, we can't have that kind of administrative activism, can we? (Of course, we can still have pro-corporate judicial activism.)

This morning, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted for the second year to advance Becker's nomination from Committee. HELP Committee member Sen. Patty Murray votes YES. (See her news release on the subject below.) That means Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can file for cloture on Friday and a vote to end debate could happen Monday.

So the question is, after agreeing to seat Scott Brown early at the request of the Republican leaders and thus presumably losing another of the precious votes needed to end debate and allow a vote, can the Democrats get 60 votes?

While you consider all this, imagine a land where an NLRB nominee would so vociferously opposed because of his/her work on behalf of corporations and against the interests of workers, that Democrats would mount a more than yearlong filibuster to block that nomination. (Please don't drive or operate heavy machinery if you can imagine this, at least until whatever you've ingested is out of your system.)

BACKGROUND:

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is a five-member body that hears and decides cases involving workers’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act to form and join unions.
The NLRB has been operating with only two members for over two years. This has handicapped the Board’s ability to rule on cases and has triggered a challenge to all decisions issued by those two members in a case now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court which will be decided this spring.
Craig Becker is a highly-respected and experienced labor law practitioner and scholar. He has an impressive 27-year record of advocating for and representing workers, especially low-wage workers.
Becker graduated from Yale University in 1978 and from Yale Law School in 1981. He is a published scholar and has taught law at some of our nation’s most prestigious law schools, including Georgetown, the University of Chicago, and UCLA. Becker is currently an associate general counsel for the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union.
Senator Tom Harkin, Chair of the Senate HELP Committee, has called Becker "one of the pre-eminent labor law thinkers in the United States."
On January 21, 66 labor law professors from our nation’s top law schools wrote Senate leaders urging Becker’s immediate confirmation and attesting to his "integrity, fairness, and dedication to advancing Congress’ purposes in adopting federal labor law and to the role of the NLRB."
Becker was first nominated by President Obama on July 9, 2009, as one of three nominees for the NLRB, along with union-side lawyer Mark Pearce from Buffalo, New York and Senate Republican staffer Brian Hayes.
All three nominees were voted out of the Senate HELP Committee on October 21, 2009 -- Pearce and Hayes unanimously and Becker with bipartisan support on a 15-8 vote. Prior to the Committee vote, Becker responded in writing to hundreds of written questions posed by Republican Senators.
All three nominees were supposed to be acted on by the Senate as a package, but Senator John McCain (R-AZ) then placed a "hold" on Becker’s nomination, preventing further Senate action last year. And when the Senate adjourned for 2009 in December, Becker’s nomination was returned to the White House based on a Senate rule that nominations objected to by at least one Senator cannot be “held over” to the next year. As a result, President Obama had to renominate Becker when the Senate came back into session in January, and the nomination must be acted upon again by the Senate HELP Committee before it can be placed on the calendar for a vote by the full Senate.
The Senate HELP committee held another hearing on Becker’s nomination Tuesday and the committee has scheduled a vote on his nomination for today, clearing the way for action by the full Senate. However, because of opposition from the Chamber of Commerce and other elements of the business community, Sen. McCain and others have indicated their intent to filibuster the nomination, meaning that it will take 60 votes to invoke cloture before the nomination itself can be voted upon.
The Senate should vote to invoke cloture and to confirm Becker to the NLRB. He is an eminently qualified candidate who strongly believes in the mission of the National Labor Relations Act and the role of the NLRB.

Here is the news release distributed this morning by Sen. Murray:

Murray Applauds Passage of NLRB Nominee Craig Becker Through Key Committee

(Washington, D.C. - Feb. 4, 2010) -- Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) voted for Harold Craig Becker to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) at the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Executive Session. Becker passed through the committee by a vote of 13-10 and his confirmation will now go to the full Senate for consideration.

"As workers continue to struggle in these tough economic conditions, it is more important than ever that we fill the empty seats on the NLRB to ensure the board has a quorum and that the rights of workers are protected," said Senator Patty Murray. "Craig Becker is well qualified to serve on the board and I will continue to advocate for his confirmation as this moves to the Senate floor."

The National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1935 to administer the National Labor Relations Act, the primary law governing relations between unions and employers in the private sector. The statute guarantees the right of employees to organize and to bargain collectively with their employers, and to engage in other protected concerted activity with or without a union, or to refrain from all such activity.

There are currently three empty seats on the five member board, two majority (Democratic) seats and one minority (Republican). The three pending nominees are: Craig Becker (D), Mark Pearce (D), and Brian Hayes (R) .