Labor history conference in June (May 7, 2010)

May 7, 2010

May 6: Trade should be fairer before freer

May 5: Murray blasts tanker delay

May 4: Why we are not Arizona

^{RSS
2.0 feed}

Updated DAILY... Almost Every Day!™ by 9 a.m. Pacific
Links are functional at date of posting, but sometimes expire.
How are we doing? -- E-mail your feedback to our staff!

Friday, May 7, 2010

Labor history conference in June

The Pacific Northwest Labor History Association will host its 2010 conference, "The Union Makes Us Strong: Inspiration, Guidance and Hope During Hard Times," on June 11-13 at the University of Oregon in Portland. It will feature panels, workshops and presentations from many distinguished labor leaders and academics from throughout the Pacific Northwest. Read more.

DON'T FORGET! The Letter Carriers' food drive is Saturday

You can help "Stamp out Hunger" by collecting canned goods and dry food, such as tuna, canned meat, soups, pasta, rice and cereal. On Saturday, May 8, you can leave your non-perishable donations by your mailbox and your letter carrier will pick them up as they deliver your mail. NALC members will deliver the goods to local food banks, pantries and shelters to help needy families in 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states and U.S. jurisdictions. Learn more.

Unemployment news:

Trumka: Job gains hopeful, but growth fragile

"Despite positive signs of continued growth in manufacturing and construction jobs, some of the overall job gains still depend on factors -- government stimulus, inventory re-stocking and census hiring -- that are likely to fade through the year," says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. "We urge Congress to act quickly and decisively to enact legislation that invests in our future, gets workers back on their feet now and protects against repeat financial crises." More.

► From AP -- Jobs up 290,000, but unemployment rate rises to 9.9% -- More confident employers stepped up job creation in April, expanding payrolls by 290,000, the most in four years. The jobless rate rose to 9.9% as people streamed back into the market looking for work.

► In today's Spokesman-Review -- No longer unemployed, but still struggling -- In our state, some 800 people a week are running out of UI benefits and the jobless rate remains stuck at 10%.

State government news:

► At WFSE.org -- Salary survey shows 82% of state employees lag on pay -- The new state salary survey -- conducted for the first time by an outside consultant -- shows a still-unacceptable pay gap. Some 82% of state workers still earn below market rate, according to the survey. Nearly a third -- 30% -- fall more than 25% behind comparable counterparts.
(Also in today's Olympian -- Click here for detail on state-worker pay survey.)

► In today's (Everett) Herald -- Initiative seeks end to state liquor store system -- A new group guided by a veteran politico Ron Dotzauer filed an initiative Thursday to end state control of hard liquor sales starting in October 2011, the third such initiative filed this year. The filing culminates months of conversation involving Dotzauer and representatives of major supermarket retailers. For now, the campaign has refused to identify any of the retailers in the coalition.

► From AP -- Community college tuition to rise by 7% -- The vote by the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges adds about $200 to the cost of going to school full-time next year.

► At Publicola -- Gregoire hires Justin -- Gov. Chris Gregoire has hired a new legislative director. The spot, formerly held by Marty Brown, has been vacant since March. The position is being filled by Jim Justin, the Director of the Association of Washington Cities.

Boeing news:

► In today's (Everett) Herald -- Boeing gets order for 20 777s -- McNerney mentioned the orders last month to explain why 777 production would be boosted next year. In the meantime, Boeing will temporarily slow 777 production starting next month, a decision made last year.

► At SeattlePI.com -- Moody's: Strong backlogs will keep Boeing, Airbus stable -- Order backlogs and an economic recovery mean a stable outlook for the global aerospace and defense sector.

► In the (Charleston, SC) Post and Observer -- Union objects to potty numbers -- Employment has surged to more than 3,000 workers at Boeing's local campus as it seeks to ramp up production of its hot-selling 787. But male employees have complained that they are forced to share only a handful of bathrooms within the two existing industrial buildings. Tom McCarty, president of Seattle-based SPEEA, and other labor officials traveled here last month to discuss the local working conditions with their roughly 100 union members at Boeing Charleston.

Local news:

► In today's Columbian -- C-Tran survey suggests voter support for light rail -- Survey: 61% strongly or somewhat support the transit agency’s 20-year development plan. The first phase of the plan, boosting the sales tax by three-tenths of 1 percent, would provide money to operate a planned expansion of Portland’s light rail transit system to downtown Vancouver.

► In today's Tri-City Herald -- Trade dispute with Mexico nears resolution -- The White House is "very close" to unveiling a plan that could help end a year-old tariff by Mexico on Washington frozen potatoes and other agricultural products, says Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

► In today's News Tribune -- Five highways endangered by one Seattle mayor (editorial) -- Five major state and federal highways run through or around Seattle, and the mayor is displaying a petulant obstructionist streak that could threaten every one of them... McGinn pledged not to obstruct the tunnel during the mayoral campaign. That pledge is now floating face down in Commencement Bay... Major highways are serious business, and it takes serious people to make them work. Fortunately, there appear to be enough grownups on the Seattle City Council to override McGinn on the tunnel.

Health care news:

► At AFL-CIO Now -- Nearly 1,000 thank lawmakers who backed health care -- The USW organized the rally with the support for the AFL-CIO, Utility Workers and the SEIU to say “Thank you” to the lawmakers who voted for health care reform, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi turned the tables a bit when she told the crowd, "The thanks go to you for all your help that made this victory possible." AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (left) said that during the course of months-long battle to bring health insurance coverage to nearly 32 million uninsured Americans and end insurance company abuses, “there were no easy votes.”

► At Politico -- Union leaders pledge support for Democrats this fall -- AFL-CIO President Trumka and USW President Gerard said they would reward Democrats in November for their healthcare reform victory. Trumka and Gerard rallied union members on Capitol Hill as Democratic congressional leaders and vulnerable members thanked labor for supporting healthcare reform. Democrats will need motivated union support to fend off a Republican takeover in November.

► At TPM -- Poll: Americans still worried about paying for their health care -- The poll found that 61% are very or moderately worried about being able to pay medical costs for normal healthcare, up from 58% a year ago. Also, 48% are very or moderately worried about not being able to pay medical costs in case of a serious illness or accident, unchanged from a year ago.

National news:

► In today's St. Louis P-D -- Missouri home health care workers OK union -- In what is being billed as “one of the nation’s largest union elections in recent years,” 12,000 personal care workers in Missouri this week agreed to consolidate bargaining power under a single banner. The Missouri Home Care Union will operate under the auspices of AFSCME and SEIU.

► At Politico -- SEIU won't rejoin AFL-CIO -- "SEIU has had no discussion about returning to the AFL-CIO," writes incoming SEIU president Mary Kay Henry in a letter to the rival Change to Win federation. "SEIU remains strongly committed to our relationship with our Change to Win partners and we look forward to strengthening those relationships in the weeks and months to come." Henry's letter seems aimed, at least for now, at squashing that speculation and maintaining the union's independence -- as well as maintaining confidence in Change to Win, from which other unions are also threatening to defect.

► In today's LA Times -- Actors' unions appear ready to walk down the aisle -- Although previous attempts at merging the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists failed, relations "have improved significantly" and union leaders are now "openly discussing the potential for a permanent partnership," a task force says.

► From AP -- Postal Service lost $1.9 billion in first half of fiscal year -- Postal officials have sought congressional approval to drop mail deliveries on Saturdays and for relief from a payment of more than $5 billion to pay in advance for retiree health benefits. At the same time, it has cut its staff by 47,000 to a total of 594,000. That full-time staff number is down by 120,000 since 2008.

► At Slog -- Congressman expected to introduce bill to clean up dirty trucking industry -- For more than three hours, Democratic lawmakers pummeled the trucking industry’s witnesses as an overflow crowd cheered. By the end of the hearing it was clear that the issue, the plight of drivers stuck in an abusive labor market, had struck a chord with the subcommittee.

► In today's Arizona Republic -- Labor, civil-rights groups boycott Arizona -- Leaders of unions and civil rights groups say they will boycott Arizona until its toughest-in-the-nation immigration law is repealed, overturned or superseded by congressional passage of comprehensive reform.

FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2010
Labor history conference June 11-13

The Pacific Northwest Labor History Association will host its annual conference for 2010, "The Union Makes Us Strong: Inspiration, Guidance and Hope During Hard Times," on June 11-13 at the University of Oregon in Portland. The event will feature panels, workshops and presentations from many distinguished labor leaders and academics from throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The conference is coordinated by the Labor Education and Research Center, University of Oregon; and is co-sponsored by the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, Oregon Historical Society, and the University of Oregon History Department.

Download the schedule/registration form, or click here for more information.

A limited number of reduced-rate hotel rooms are available at the Paramount Hotel. 808 S.W. Taylor St. Call 503-223-9900 for reservations and say you're with the U.O. LERC group.

FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2010
Trumka: Job gains hopeful, but growth fragile

The following statement regarding April's jobs report was released this morning by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:

The addition of 290,000 jobs in April, the fourth consecutive monthly gain, is a hopeful sign, if it can be sustained, that real employment growth is finally underway. Still, we face an enormous challenge to get out of the more than 11-million job hole that was opened by the Great Recession that began in 2007.

Even the rise in the unemployment rate to 9.9 percent reflects a positive trend, because it means that over 800,000 workers entered the labor force -- many of them formerly discouraged workers who had stopped looking for work. But, the share of the 15.3 million unemployed workers who have been unemployed for more than six months rose again to a new record of 45.9 percent.

It’s important to remember that the economic recovery supporting this job growth remains fragile, however. Despite positive signs of continued growth in manufacturing and construction jobs, some of the overall job gains still depend on factors -- government stimulus, inventory re-stocking and census hiring -- that are likely to fade through the year.

We urge Congress to act quickly and decisively to enact legislation that invests in our future, gets workers back on their feet now and protects against repeat financial crises.