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January 17, 2011 |
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Monday,
January 17, 2011
Grocery chains denying fair deal to rural workers
Contact big grocers, tell them you'll support employees in a labor dispute
After
nine months of difficult negotiations that brought tens of thousands of
Puget Sound-area grocery workers to the brink of a strike, those employees
ratified a new contract in December that one Safeway employee said
"secured a better future for ourselves and our families." But now
the big grocery chains are playing hardball again, saying that workers in
Eastern Washington and other rural areas don't deserve the same kind of
deal. The WSLC is calling on all affiliated unions and community supporters
to contact the employer representatives in those negotiations, to urge them
to agree to a fair contract, and to emphasize that your organization will be
supporting UFCW Local 1439 members in the event of a labor dispute. Read more.
Honor M.L. King by defending public workers
The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Nobel Peace Prize-winning campaigner for economic and social justice whose legacy we celebrate today (Monday, Jan. 17), died while supporting the right of public employees to organize labor unions and to fight for the preservation of public services. No one should miss the fact that AFSCME, the union that Memphis sanitation workers had joined and the union with which King worked so closely, is now under attack by right-wingers who would have us believe that public workers are to blame for the problems that occur when policymakers blow the budget on tax cuts for the rich, bailouts for big banks and military adventures abroad. Read more.
►
Check local newspaper to find MLK Day events or click
here for MLK Day of Service projects in your community.
► At AFL-CIO Now -- King's legacy: Fighting for economic justice -- In his latest book, All Labor Has Dignity, historian Michael Honey brings together 16 of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speeches on economic justice, many of them unpublished until now. Honey, a professor at the University of Washington Tacoma, edited the speeches and wrote an introduction for the book.
► Michael Honey will read from and discuss his new book this Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the University Bookstore, 4326 University Way SE, in Seattle. Also, the UW Center for Labor Studies welcomes Honey to lead a discussion,
"History and Memory: Revisiting King's Vision of Labor Rights and Economic Justice," this Friday at 3:30 p.m. at UW's Smith Hall, Room 407. Click here for details on both events.
Local news:
► In today's Spokesman-Review -- Pay raises lag in public sector -- An analysis of recent wage increases shows that the pay of many local government workers is rising slower than the rate of workers in the private sector. From 2002 to 2009, workers in the private sector in Spokane County experienced wage increases of 26.4%. Wages of workers in local government were up 24.7%.
► From AP -- Washington DOT worker killed by falling tree -- A veteran state Department of Transportation worker has died after being hit by a falling tree during rain storm on Sunday night. He was setting up safety cones on Highway 203 just south of Carnation to alert motorists to power lines knocked down by the storm when the tree fell on his truck and killed him.
► In the Bainbridge Review -- Union files grievance against city regarding layoffs -- IAM District 160 is fighting on behalf of Bainbridge Island employees who were laid off without regard to their seniority. Also, the union says rehires were stripped of their seniority. The city has cut 42 jobs since 2007.
► In today's News
Tribune --
Close
Tacoma's Foss High School in fall? -- Tacoma
Public Schools officials are considering the temporary closure of Foss High
School, larger elementary schools class sizes and administrative
cost-cutting as options to deal with looming state budget cuts.
► In today's Everett Herald -- Marysville schools must cut staff to meet budget -- With a budget shortfall of nearly $1 million, the district may have to lay off up to 50 more nonteaching staff by March 1.
► In today's Tri-City Herald -- Migrant housing opens soon in rural Franklin County -- The first funded migrant farmworker housing project in the county should be open in time for the asparagus harvest.
State Legislature news:
► In the Seattle Times -- Frustrated Gregoire says "status quo does not work" -- She once advocated boosting state spending by billions of dollars, but now has become the state's budget-cutter in chief. She's rolled out unprecedented proposals to slash services to the poor, eliminate state agencies and restructure government as a way to close a budget shortfall approaching $5 billion. And she's done it with an air of frustration, impatience and a certain weariness with Olympia politics. "Let me repeat," she said recently. "If not this, then what? The status quo does not work."
► In today's NY Times -- Budget gaps push governors into same mindset -- The dismal fiscal situation is forcing governors, despite their party affiliation, toward a consensus on what is needed going forward. Slash spending. Avoid tax increases. Tear up regulations that might drive away business and jobs. Shrink government, even if it means tackling the thorny issues of public workers and their pensions.
► At Huffington Post -- Nearly 50% of mental health service recipients in Giffords' county were dropped in 2010 -- The deep cuts in treatment were protested strongly at the time, with opponents warning that they would result in a spike in suicide attempts, public disturbances, hospitalizations and brushes with the police. Now, in the wake of the horrific shootings in Tucson, reports on the seemingly crazed mental state of the alleged shooter -- who was not, apparently, enrolled in any public treatment program -- is leading politicians to take a fresh look at the funding of mental health care. |
► In Sunday's Tri-City Herald -- Mental health advocates prepare for big cuts -- Statewide budget cuts have Tri-City mental health professionals and advocates worried that those with mental illnesses will see a decline in care in coming months and years.
► In Sunday's Seattle Times -- Bills propose tougher standards for handling chemo in workplace -- Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Kent) will propose requiring the state cancer registry capture occupational data from cancer patients. Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle) wants to create an occupational-safety standard for oncology clinics and other places where chemo is used.
► At Publicola -- Campaign reform bill addresses Democratic scandal, ignores GOP shenanigans -- The conservative Americans for Prosperity Washington isn't being accused of setting up fake committees to hide donors like Moxie, they're accused of not reporting their donors at all.
► At The Slog -- Is the state wasting taxpayer money on higher education? -- We keep hearing politicians and pro-business think tanks demanding more efficiency and greater accountability from our public universities and community colleges, and there's nothing wrong with striving for efficiency and accountability. But in terms of degrees produced per tax dollar spent, we're already tops in the nation. So tell me... where's all that waste and fraud we keep hearing about? How is it possible to attribute 16% of our state budget to waste, when the segment that consumes 44% of state FTEs arguably boasts the highest return on investment in the nation?
Health care news:
► In the NY Times -- In health care fight, a political focus on jobs, with no simple answers -- In the fight over whether the law will create or destroy jobs, both political parties cite evidence to support their claims. But many economists say the effect on jobs is likely to be modest -- neither so negative as Republicans assert nor so positive as Democrats contend. In any event, economists say, the impact on jobs -- a hot political issue now -- is not a particularly good standard to use in evaluating a complex law that will affect one-sixth of the economy and almost every American.
► In the Bellingham Herald -- Health care repeal splits Washington congressional delegation -- All four Republicans -- Reps. Hastings, Reichert, McMorris Rodgers and Herrera Beutler -- back a proposed repeal, while all five Democrats -- Reps. Smith, Dicks, Larsen, Inslee and McDermott -- oppose it.
► From AP -- Raw
feelings ease over health law -- Ahead of a vote
on repeal in the GOP-led House this week, strong opposition to the law
stands at 30%, close to the lowest level registered, dating to September
2009. The nation is divided over the law, but the strength and intensity of
the opposition appear diminished. The poll finds that 40% say they support
the law, while 41% oppose it.
► In Sunday's NY Times -- The truth and consequences of repeal (editorial) -- While repeal will certainly pass the House, it has no chance in the Senate. So House Republicans are already planning other ways to undermine the reforms, like denying agencies enough money to hire personnel to carry out the program. Americans will pay a high price if opponents get their way. Reform means that tens of millions of uninsured people will get a chance at security; and many millions more who have coverage can be sure they can keep or replace it, even if they get sick or lose their jobs. Repeal would also take away the best chance for reining in rising health care costs -- and the government’s relentlessly rising Medicare burden.
► In today's NY Times -- The war on logic (Paul Krugman column) -- Given that their minds were made up from the beginning, top Republicans weren't interested in and didn't need any real policy analysis -- in fact, they're basically contemptuous of such analysis, something that shines through in their health care report. All they ever needed or wanted were some numbers and charts to wave at the press, fooling some into believing that we're having some kind of rational discussion. We aren't.
National news:
► At AFL-CIO Now -- NLRB: federal law preempts state secret-ballot amendments -- Under the federal law, workers may choose a union by voting in a secret-ballot election conducted by the NLRB or they may persuade an employer to voluntarily recognize the union after a majority sign authorization cards. The NLRB advised the attorneys general of Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah that so-called secret ballot amendments to their state constitutions are pre-empted. The board also has authorized its acting general counsel to file federal lawsuits, if necessary, to stop the states from enforcing the laws. The amendments have already taken effect in South Dakota and Utah and are expected to become effective soon in Arizona and South Carolina.
► In today's NY Times -- Republicans divided on how to handle illegal immigrants -- There's a division coursing through the party; many Tea Party movement types and social conservatives believe the tough-on-immigration posture paid dividends in the November elections and want to ratchet up actions and pressure. Congressional leaders want to put the issue on the back burner.
MONDAY,
JANUARY 17, 2011
Grocery chains denying fair deal to rural
workers
After nine months of difficult negotiations that brought tens of thousands of Puget Sound-area grocery workers to the brink of a strike, those workers ratified a new contract in December that one Safeway employee said "secures a better future for ourselves and our families." But now the big grocery chains are playing hardball again, saying that workers in Eastern Washington and other rural areas don't deserve the same kind of deal.
United
Food and Commercial Workers Local 1439, which represents members in small
towns and communities across Eastern Washington, North Idaho and
Northeastern Oregon, has been in negotiations for as long as two years on
multiple contracts covering a total of about 3,000 workers. Safeway,
Albertsons/Supervalu and Kroger are the major employers in these
negotiations. With the resolution of the Puget Sound contract covering
some 17,000 workers, UFCW 1439 negotiators were hopeful that their
contracts could be settled with similar language.
"When I told the employers that I would recommend a similar offer, they said it was too generous for the rural members we represent," said UFCW 1439 President Larry Hall. "I told the employers that that wasn't acceptable to our members and we were willing to fight for a fair contract."
TAKE
ACTION: The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO is calling
on all affiliated unions and community supporters to contact the employer
representatives in those negotiations, to urge them to agree to a fair
contract, and to emphasize that your organization will be supporting UFCW
Local 1439 members in the event of a labor dispute. (See WSLC
President Jeff Johnson's letter for sample language.)
Please send your letters to the following employer representatives, and CC: Larry Hall, UFCW 1439, 1719 N. Atlantic, Spokane, WA, 99205:
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Scott Klitzke Powers Robert McLauchlin |
Cynthia Thornton Brent Bone |
"Maybe the employers need to learn the lesson that labor still believes in solidarity," Hall said. He asks that all unions send letters sent to the above-listed employer representatives telling them that "you will be supporting us if we have any kind of a labor dispute."
Thank you for supporting our Brothers and Sisters at UFCW Local 1439. For more information, visit www.ufcw1439.org.
Copyright ©
2011
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Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO