WSLC Reports Today
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WSLC Reports Today links to stories of interest to organized labor; 
some positive, some negative. The intention is to inform.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 21

Rally TODAY to support WFSE workers at UW, Harborview
All union members and supporters are urged to join in consecutive rallies beginning at 3 p.m. today at the University of Washington's Red Square and then at 4 p.m. at Harborview Medical Center's View Park. The rallies are in support of members of the Washington Federation of State Employees Local 1488 who are currently in contract negotiations with the University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center. Learn more.

Boeing news:  IAM District 751 invites all union members to a “Final Countdown Rally” at 12:30 p.m. this Sunday, Aug. 24 -- download/post a rally flier -- at the Doubletree Hotel in SeaTac in support of successful contract negotiations with Boeing.
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- Contract talks: Boeing, Machinists differ on progress -- With a strike deadline looming, negotiators head into round-the-clock negotiations at a SeaTac hotel today. They paint different pictures on progress made up to this point. The union says there has been little. Boeing negotiators says it's been quite a bit.
▪  In today's News Tribune --- Boeing, Machinists to open intense talks -- IAM 751 President Tom Wroblewski: “Boeing needs to get serious with their offers and quit talking about takeaways.”
▪  In today's Wall St. Journal -- Boeing, union have big stakes riding on contract talks -- Boeing Co. faces a quandary in final contract talks with union machinists that begin Thursday: It must avoid a strike that would cause delays on an already backed-up production line, yet be tough enough to make inroads against mounting pension and health-insurance costs.
▪  Today from AP -- Boeing, Northrop await final air tanker guidelines -- The final guidelines will be released next week in the latest round of bidding for the $35 billion Pentagon contract.

Washington's Primary Election redux:
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Union-funded PAC goes after Rossi -- A new bully has emerged in state politics and with more than $2.4 million in spending power from unions and other Democratic allies, it is giving Republican Dino Rossi a drubbing. Evergreen Progress is said to be a direct response to the BIAW's independent political actions -- nonstop attacks on Gov. Chris Gregoire.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Republicans hint at more money to Rossi's campaign -- The Republican Governors Association hints that it will spend more of its $20 million war chest in Washington to help (GOP Party candidate) Dino Rossi.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Rossi gas-tax rant detours from facts (editorial) -- Republican Dino Rossi is running ads lambasting Gov. Chris Gregoire for doing precisely what our state needed to do (and what voters told it to do): raise the gas tax. Get transportation projects done. Help businesses and motorists get moving. Rossi's ads all but blame the governor for today's higher gas prices. That is not what happened. The ads are unfair; he would be wise to pull them.
▪  In today's Columbian -- State Rep. Jim Dunn refuses to concede defeat -- He says he'll wait until more votes are counted, even though he finished a distant third with just 18% of the vote.
▪  In today's Columbian -- Adios, Jim Dunn (editorial) -- Dunn’s Republican Party punished him after he made an allegedly inappropriate comment to a female aide. He could have regained committee posts by enrolling in sensitivity training. Dunn refused. Now he has no one but himself to blame.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- State Rep. Dan Roach ordered to repay campaign $21,504 -- He's told to repay $21,504 after a complaint that he improperly reimbursed himself for lost income in 2006.

Local news:
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Teamsters Local 117 leader John Williams steps down -- The union's board picks senior staff attorney Tracey Thompson to succeed him as secretary-treasurer on Oct. 1.
▪  In today's Wenatchee World -- State to pay $2 million to Mattawa day care workers -- According to settled lawsuit, DSHS investigators raided day cares between 2001 and 2003, targeting Hispanic women's homes and demanding paperwork without obtaining search warrants.
▪  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Deaconness sale approved -- SEIU 1199 NW has been bargaining new contracts for registered nurses and technical workers at Valley Hospital and the technical workers at Deaconess. Registered nurses at Deaconess decertified with SEIU over the summer.
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- Council approves rezone for Everett hospital -- The city council votes 6-1 in favor of a controversial rezoning that will allow the Providence Everett Medical Center to move ahead with a 9.3-acre expansion project at its Colby campus.
▪  In today's Tri-City Herald -- Kennewick company fined $1,500 in engineer's death -- J-U-B Engineers cited after a longtime construction engineer died in February after falling into a collapsed trench.
▪  In today's Tri-City Herald -- Hanford employees fire over alleged fraud -- Fluor Hanford fires three employees it believes are linked to the misuse of a federal government credit card.

Election 2008:
▪  Today at CNN.com -- AFL-CIO targets McCain on trade with China -- Mailer reads: “Beijing 2008 America’s athletes are coming home. But thanks to John McCain, 2.3 million jobs aren’t. 2.3 million jobs outsourced to China? That’s not a world record I would be proud of,” says union member Dennis Philippi.
▪  In today's LA Times -- McCain, Obama tax plans diverge on wealth -- McCain would lower taxes for the wealthiest Americans, while Obama would increase them.
▪  A related story today from AP -- McCain not sure how many houses he and his wife own -- Days after he cracked that being rich in the U.S. meant earning at least $5 million a year, McCain acknowledges that he isn't sure how many houses he and his wealthy wife actually own. "I think -- I'll have my staff get to you," he responds. "It's condominiums where -- I'll have them get to you."
▪  From AP -- Democrats bet on Biden as Obama's running mate -- Sen. Joe Biden has emerged as the favorite among Democrats for his understanding of foreign policy in grave global times and his fighting spirit against the rival Republican ticket.
▪  At NECN.com -- Obama stresses importance of Employee Free Choice Act at Town Hall meeting (video clip) -- "Some people don't recognize how important unions have been in this country. Unions ensure that workers get some share of the pie. When things get tough, the unions step up."
▪  At CNN.com -- Obama ties McCain to Bush policies -- "John McCain has provided honorable service to our country, but, when it comes to his economic policies, he is promising and proposing the same things we've been doing for the last eight years."

National news:
▪  Today from AP -- Football union chief Gene Upshaw dies at 63 -- The Hall of Fame guard who as union head helped get NFL players free agency and the riches that came with it passes away. (He also kept his union's Seattle local -- representing the mighty Seahawks! -- affiliated with the Washington State Labor Council, the area's only professional sports union choosing to do so.)
▪  From AP -- States push laws requiring sick leave -- Some 46 million U.S. workers lack paid sick days. Lawmakers in 12 states -- including California, Connecticut, Minnesota and West Virginia -- have proposed legislation in the past year that would require businesses to provide them.
▪  Today from AP -- Labor Dept.: Fewer workers killed on job in 2007 -- Yet there were significant increases in some types of fatal injuries, including falls and workplace homicides.
▪  In today's Chicago Tribune -- United's workers band together to oust CEO -- About 20,000 orange wristbands bearing the phrase "Glenn's Gotta Go" have been distributed among United workers.
▪  In today's LA Times -- Leader of CA's largest SEIU local steps down amid charges -- The local goes into trusteeship after reports of payments to firms owned by his wife and mother-in-law.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2008
Rally TODAY to support WFSE workers at UW, Harborview

All union members and their supporters are urged to participate in consecutive rallies beginning at 3 p.m. Thursday at Red Square at the University of Washington's Seattle campus to support members of the Washington Federation of State Employees Local 1488 who are currently in contract negotiations with the University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center.

Delegates to the Washington State Labor Council's 2008 Convention held earlier this month in Vancouver unanimously passed a resolution in support of the state employees who are currently in negotiations with the University of Washington and Harborview.

The UW/Harborview has opened bargaining with low-ball offers that have insulted their employees, especially given that UW President Mark Emmert is the state's highest paid state employee, making $905,000 a year and living rent free in a 12,000-square-foot presidential mansion while getting perks like free memberships at The Rainier Club and the Seattle Tennis Club. (He makes another $304,000 a year serving on corporate boards, which may be where he learned his contract bargaining techniques.) By comparison, Governor Chris Gregoire earned about $150,000 in 2007. 

So WFSE Local 1488 members have organized consecutive rallies for Thursday to demand a fair wage increase and respect at the bargaining table. The action starts at the UW Campus's Red Square from 3 to 4 p.m. (see parking information), and then moves to Harborview Medical Center's View Park (west of the hospital located at 325 - 9th Ave.) from 4 to 5 p.m.

"For a major university that prides itself as having the only endowed labor center in the country, the UW is not walking the walk when it comes to its own employees," said David Freiboth, WSLC Vice President and Executive Secretary of the Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council. "It is time for the labor community in Seattle and King County to stand up for this work force."

Please join the Washington State Labor Council in support of the workers at the University of Washington and Harborview at Thursday's rallies.

Copyright © ^{2008 --  Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO}