Thursday, May 9, 2013 AUSTERITY ► From AP — Federal spending cuts to lower Washington unemployment checks — The Employment Security Department has announced that beginning on May 19 “emergency unemployment compensation” will be reduced by more than 21% under the so-called sequester. Emergency unemployment compensation is a federally funded program that is [...]
Wednesday, May 8, 2013 STATE GOVERNMENT ► At KPLU.org — Number of on-the-job deaths falls, Washington ranks third lowest — Jeff Johnson, president of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, says our state has more workplace safety inspectors than many other parts of the country. “We know that when an employer is visited [...]
Tuesday, May 7, 2013 LOCAL ► In today’s Columbian — Letter carriers collecting food donations with Saturday mail — Some time this week you should receive in your mail a plastic, biodegradable food bag. Fill it with nonperishable food donations and place it by your mailbox early Saturday morning. (If you somehow miss [...]
Monday, May 6, 2013 PORTS ► In the Oregonian — Columbia Grain export terminal locks out longshore workers at Port of Portland — A bitter labor dispute on Northwest docks escalated Saturday as Columbia Grain Inc. locked out Portland longshore workers, accusing them of obstructing exports by gaming the system. The lockout, which [...]
Friday, May 3, 2013 JIVE TRICKLIN’ ► At Huffington Post — We decide how to share gains (by SPEEA’s Stan Sorscher) — Our slow economic recovery is the result of policy choices we have made as a country. For a generation after World War II, prosperity was shared broadly. But in the mid-1970s, [...]
Wednesday, May 1, 2013 MAY DAY ► At TPM — With immigration reform looming, sense of urgency as thousands take to the streets — Tens of thousands are expected to rally in dozens of cities from New York to Bozeman, Mont., on Wednesday in what has become an annual cry for easing the [...]
Tuesday, April 30, 2013 STATE GOVERNMENT ► From AP — As special session looms, many issues unresolved — Among the Republican-controlled Senate’s special session priorities: cutting workers’ compensation benefits for injured workers and repealing the state’s paid family leave law. ► At PubliCola — Isn’t it bizarre… — Washington State Labor Council Lobbyist [...]
Monday, April 29, 2013 MAY DAY ► In today’s Seattle Times — May Day march set for rush hour — Against the backdrop of a sputtering economy, rising joblessness and growing intolerance toward illegal immigration comes this annual event: the massive May Day march that draws thousands downtown. Friday’s demonstration also comes amid [...]
Friday, April 26, 2013 END DEATH TRAPS! ► In today’s Seattle Times — ‘End Death Traps’ tour puts face on Bangladesh garment industry — Five months ago, Sumi Abedin jumped out of a third-floor window at the garment factory where she worked. A fire was consuming the ground floor of Tazreen Fashions outside [...]
Thursday, April 25, 2013 STATE GOVERNMENT ► At Huffington Post — Washington State may push workers into health exchanges, costing federal government millions — In a quest to save money, political leaders in Washington state are exploring a proposal that would shift some government workers out of their current health plans and into [...]
