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Updated DAILY... Almost
Every Day!™ by 9 a.m. Pacific
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
► In today's Seattle Times -- Starbucks faces third anti-union case in Michigan -- The company, which was thumped by the NLRB last month for firing pro-union baristas in New York, settles a separate NLRB dispute in Michigan, and on Wednesday is to begin proceedings there in a third case. ► At SeattlePI.com -- Employee Free Choice Act: Round 1 -- Some speculate that the Republicans have overplayed their hands in opposing this bill. They spent millions on this in connection with the November elections and have used the automobile bailout as a platform to attack labor and unions. The Heritage Foundation took the fascinating tactic of arguing against the Act as if it were interested in advancing the cause of labor. A devious and patronizing approach.
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State government news:
► In today's Tri-City Herald -- Bill Grant, a gentle giant, takes his leave (editorial) -- Bill Grant combined the leathery look of a dryland wheat farmer with the gentleness of a caring grandfather and the wisdom of a legislator who rose far, far above partisan politics ► In today's Seattle Times -- Lawmakers seek Gregoire's help in Maury Island gravel battle -- Fourteen legislators sent a letter asking her to suspend and possibly overturn a state lease issued in early December that cleared the way for a major expansion of the mine. ► In today's Columbian -- Take care if altering unemployment insurance (column by AWB's Don Brunell) -- Raising unemployment insurance taxes on employers could tip them over the edge. Lawmakers need to find a solution that keeps employers in business.
► In today's Yakima H-R -- State could use a break from Eyman's initiative extravaganza (editorial) -- The argument behind his latest initiative would have us believe that a town like Mabton, which just laid off its part-time police chief, is enjoying a budget surplus. Far from it. The same tight budget conditions hold true throughout the Yakima Valley. But as we have learned from Eyman, the allure of promoting initiatives is too irresistible to pass up.
Local news: ► In today's Olympian -- State lifts its hiring freeze -- The hiring freeze Gregoire ordered five months ago is over, replaced by a cap on the number of positions an agency can fill. The freeze reduced the number of people on the state payroll by 1,406, or 2.1%, by the end of November. ► In today's Seattle Times -- Seattle superintendent to release school closure recommendations -- Goodloe-Johnson will release her final recommendations on school closures this afternoon. ► In today's Everett Herald -- Mike Cooper elected to lead Snohomish County Council -- Cooper has been unanimously elected to replace Dave Somers as chairman of the council this year. ► In today's Everett Herald -- Trade policy needs to protect U.S. jobs (letter to the editor) -- We used to have taxes on cheap imports, to keep our own industries competitive. American corporations used to pay taxes on their profits. We had the best economy in the world. ... We need more unions, not fewer, so all can afford a warm place to live and three meals a day.
National news:
► Today at AFL-CIO Now -- Obama, Congress put working families at heart of economic plan -- Obama is meeting throughout the week with congressional leaders to shape an economic recovery package that focuses on job creation, tax relief for middle-class families, help for the unemployed and aid for states caught in the grip of a tightening fiscal crisis. ► In today's Seattle Times -- Tax cuts a big part of Obama's $775B stimulus plan -- Facing a global economic crisis and U.S. job losses, President-elect Barack Obama and congressional leaders agreed Monday on broad aspects of what's sure to be the largest short-term economic-stimulus plan the nation has ever seen. They promised to pass legislation quickly. ► In today's LA Times -- Obama sweetens stimulus for GOP -- Despite Barack Obama's decision to include as much as $100 billion in business tax breaks to his economic stimulus package to woo reluctant Republicans, obstacles to speedy, bipartisan passage remain. ► In today's Seattle P-I -- Obama's economic plan: Fresh thinking (editorial) -- It's too bad there won't be an inauguration-ready stimulus because old Republican arguments are resurfacing. This is not the time to reargue what didn't work for the past eight years. It's time to try something fresh.
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As the Seattle Times reports today, Schultz's company, already thumped by the National Labor Relations Board last month for unfair labor practices, including the firing and punishing of pro-union baristas at several New York cafes, has now settled a separate NLRB dispute this week in Michigan. And on Wednesday, Starbucks is set to begin proceedings there in a third case in which it allegedly fired a barista because of his union activities. Settlements like the one announced yesterday by Starbucks attorneys never come with fines and rarely with admissions of wrongdoing. Among other things, the Employee Free Choice Act would allow the NLRB to order fines in some situations like these, providing some disincentive for employers who insist on interfering in their employees' freedom of association. Current law says workers have the right to decide for themselves -- free from threat of firing, punishment, harassment or other employer coercion -- whether they want to form a union. But the law has no teeth and is broken with relative impunity by companies like Starbucks, which has reportedly spent millions on high-priced lawyers to subvert unionization campaigns using those illegal tactics. Here is an account -- from portfolio.com -- of the of one group of workers to form a union at a single Starbucks store:
Workers should face such hurdles to exercise their legal right to decide for themselves whether they should have a union. This is America. Democracy doesn't stop at the employers' door. And yet, Human Rights Watch lists the United States alongside many Third World nations as a violator of basic human rights, due to the degree to which we restrict the freedom of association and the freedom to form unions.
Learn more about the Employee Free Choice Act, and then contact your representatives in Washington, D.C. and tell them to make the EFCA's passage a priority in the new Congress.
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Copyright © 2009 -- Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO
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