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’50-50′ double-OT, McNerney no-likey NLRB, food drive…

LEGISLATIVE NEWS:

 

►  At The Slog — In Olympia, ’50-50 chance’ of an extra special session — There are even odds the state legislature won’t finish business by the end of the current special session, which ends May 25, and will require yet another special session. Two state senators also give it a “50/50 chance” of running into overtime. One writes by email, “We have 60+ bills that likely will need to pass but we also have to reach agreement on workers’ comp, which may be the toughest challenge, prior to the operating budget’s being able to come up for a vote.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Really? Why are we paying $8,200 to $14,200 a day for them to negotiate how much to cut injured workers’ benefits?! Tell them it’s time to PASS THE BUDGET AND GO HOME!

►  At HeraldNet.com — Gregoire drafting workers’ comp alternative for lawmakers — The governor told reporters Tuesday she is drafting a bill to carry out the ideas contained in that proposal described as the Claims Resolution Option. She estimates it will save $307 million in the 2012 fiscal year.

►  In today’s Seattle Times — Gregoire says she’ll sign bill letting universities set tuition — The state’s five public universities and The Evergreen State College will set their own undergraduate tuition for the next four years under a bill that passed the Senate on Tuesday and is expected to be signed by the governor.

 


BOEING-NLRB COMPLAINT:

 

►  In today’s Wall Street Journal — Boeing is pro-growth, not anti-union (Boeing CEO Jim McNerney column) —  The NLRB is wrong and has far overreached its authority. Its action is a fundamental assault on America’s capitalist principles. More worrisome, though, are the potential implications of such brazen regulatory activism on the U.S. manufacturing base and long-term job creation. The NLRB’s overreach could accelerate the overseas flight of good, middle-class American jobs.

►  From AP — Let’s speak loud, clear against NLRB on Boeing, S.C. says — Says IAM spokesman Frank Larkin: “The NLRB complaint has nothing to do with right-to-work laws nor does it seek to have the Boeing facility in South Carolina closed. The NLRB is charged with protecting federal labor law and the board should not be bullied or pressured as part of a political campaign.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Boeing media blitz and Republican political assault continues. Ask yourself: why? If Boeing is so confident that it didn’t break the law, why not let the judicial process play itself out, be vindicated, and say, ‘We told you so’? The answer is obvious. Boeing is worried. (And Pavlovian Republicans simply can’t resist any opportunity to politicize commerce.)

►  At SeattlePI.com — Boeing flips stand on role of no-strike deal in 787 line — Back in 2009, Boeing executives told Washington politicians there was nothing they could do to land the company’s second 787 Dreamliner assembly line. It was all up to getting a no-strike deal with union Machinists. Now, Boeing lawyers responding to the NLRB complaint say the company would have put its second 787 line in South Carolina even without the labor issue.

►  At TPM — Union advocates accuse GOP of interfering with independent labor agency — “That’s what this all comes down to: powerful corporate interests are pressuring public officials to interfere with an independent agency, rather than let justice run its course,” said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA). “And we should not tolerate this interference. Instead, we should turn our attention back to the issues that really matter to American families – how we can create jobs in Washington, South Carolina, Iowa, and across the country?”

 


DON’T FORGET… THIS SATURDAY:

 

►  At Huffington Post — Help Stamp Out Hunger (by Nick Cannon) — The largest single-day food drive in the world is taking place this Saturday, May 14th. Stamp Out Hunger is in its 19th year, and has collected over 1 billion pounds of food over the years. Organized by the National Association of Letter Carriers, the food drive is carried out in every postal district in the country. It’s very easy to participate. Just place non-perishable food items in your mailbox or hand to your letter carrier, and the postal workers will make sure it gets delivered to those who need it most.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Also see The Stand’s May 5 posting — Help ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ on May 14

 


LOCAL NEWS:

 

►  Today at The Slog — When a bad day at work means getting strangled — Last Tuesday, two psychiatric ward nurses at Harborview Medical Center were reportedly attacked by patients on the same day. This isn’t particularly unusual — psych ward nurses and other mental health caretakers often turn up in police reports. But the attacks raise a few questions about the safety of caregivers. Was Tuesday a freak outlier? Or are psych wards in need of greater security?

►  In the Wenatchee World — Nearly 1,000 line up early for Stemilt jobs — Tuesday dawned with hundreds of job seekers already in line to snag seasonal warehouse positions, filled on a first-come first-served basis during Stemilt Growers’ annual job fair. By 8 a.m., organizers estimated that nearly 1,000 hopefuls had formed a line over three blocks long around the Wenatchee Convention Center to apply for work during the upcoming cherry harvest.

►  In today’s News Tribune — Budget cuts to eliminate bus service to East Pierce County — Pierce Transit board members decided Monday to abandon the “peanut butter approach” of spreading buses around the county and instead concentrate service in the highest ridership areas. That means principally Tacoma and closely surrounding communities.

►  In today’s Columbian — County payroll goof leads to overpayments — Clark County employees who receive their paychecks via direct deposit got a short-lived bonus this week when their pay was accidentally posted three times. Oops.

 


NATIONAL NEWS:

 

►  In the National Journal — AFL-CIO embraces immigrant workforce — Plagued with an aging—and shrinking—membership, the nation’s largest labor organization on Tuesday moved to tap a gushing fountain of youth: the nation’s fast-growing immigrant workforce. The AFL-CIO announced new partnerships with the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the National Guestworker Alliance, two unions whose memberships are heavily immigrant and predominantly minority. They also have more young workers, something the labor movement badly needs.

►  In today’s NY Times — In border city talk, Obama urges GOP to help overhaul immigration law — The president came to El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday to argue that he is doing his part to crack down on illegal immigration, and that Republicans must now join him in overhauling the nation’s immigration laws for the millions of workers already here illegally.

►  At AFL-CIO Now — Keep Social Security out of deficit talks — Pointing out that “Social Security is not responsible for the deficits we face,” Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said on Tuesday that Social Security should not be on the table in upcoming budget deficit talks. The Senate Finance Committee chairman said the Social Security Trust Fund has a $2.6 trillion surplus and will pay full benefits through 2037 and “even after that, payroll tax revenues will be able to pay 78 percent of benefits.”

►  At AFL-CIO Now — N.J. workers first in nation to ratify Comcast contract — The 75 workers at Comcast in Fairfield, N.J., made history again last night by becoming the first Comcast worksite in the country to ratify a first contract (IBEW).

 


The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 9 a.m. Make this electronic “clip service” your first stop each morning! These links are functional on the date of posting, but sometimes expire.


 

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