NEWS ROUNDUP
80K jobs, Boeing ramp-up, WWU pay, Hall & Cee Lo…
Friday, July 6, 2012
EMPLOYMENT
► From AP — U.S. employers add 80,000 jobs as economy struggles— U.S. employers added only 80,000 jobs in June, a third straight month of weak hiring that shows the economy is still struggling three years after the recession ended. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2%.
► At AFL-CIO Now — Trumka says Republican obstructionism hampers job creation — Says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: “Republicans in Congress have responded to massive jobs shortage and weak economy with obstructionism and dishonesty. They have repeatedly blocked public investment that would create jobs and spur grown, including President Obama’s American Jobs Act.”
ALSO at The Stand — ‘Bring Jobs Home’ event July 9 at closed K-C mill in Everett
BOEING
► In Thursday’s Seattle Times — Boeing packs more production into Renton 737 plant — The inside of the Renton plant is a hive of activity as Boeing busily reshapes the interior to accommodate more planes, and more workers. Within the next five years, the company will hire hundreds of new production workers, perhaps close to 1,000, to staff two assembly lines of the current best-selling 737 and one line of its newest variant, the 737 MAX. Boeing will also add hundreds of engineering jobs for the MAX.
► From AP — Boeing delivers 150 planes in 2nd quarter, including six 787s— The 787 deliveries are being closely watched because Boeing is ramping up production of that plane at both its Everett factory and a new line in North Charleston, S.C.
STATE GOVERNMENT
► In the Bellingham Herald — Gregoire chastises WWU president over giving faculty big raises— Gov. Chris Gregoire has chastised Western Washington University for giving “significant salary increases” to faculty during a poor economy while students faced tuition hikes of 16%. Western and the union defended the increases, saying that faculty haven’t had an across-the-board salary increase since 2008. Their current average salaries range from $37,409 for a lecturer to $81,700 for a professor.
LOCAL
► In today’s Seattle Times — Seattle Hilton may be sold, workers warned (brief) — R.C. Hedreen Co., owner of the downtown Seattle Hilton Hotel, has warned 141 hotel employees they may be laid off on Sept. 3. The potential layoffs stem from a possible sale of the building, said a Hedreen official, who declined to comment on the status of negotiations.
PREVIOUSLY at The Stand — Hotel workers protest poverty-wage jobs at Seattle Hilton (Jan. 14)
► In Thursday’s Seattle Times — Farm-labor question is loaded with issues beyond the work itself (by Jerry Large) — What is needed is a long-term solution, stability for workers and farmers, but that’s not likely to happen. Alan Schreiber represents other asparagus farmers and has made a few trips to the other Washington in search of a manageable policy. But, he said: “The right wing of the Republican Party will not budge on this… People who say, ‘Have teenagers, prisoners, the unemployed do the work’ — that is an ideological position, not a viable solution.”
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — State continues to probe into blast at sewage plant — A general contractor didn’t violate workplace safety laws before a propane tank exploded at a Edmonds-area water treatment plant in February, state investigators say.
► In Thursday’s Seattle Times — Seattle teachers union adopts softer strategy — Jonathan Knapp says his election as president of the Seattle teachers union is affirmation of the union’s new strategy of relationship-building and seeking compromise.
ELECTION
► In today’s Olympian — Voter registration deadline is Monday— Residents who have already registered but have changed their name or address have until Monday to update their registration in time for the Aug. 7 election. To register or update your existing registration, go to MyVote.
► In The Stranger — Stop the press — On June 28, Attorney General Rob McKenna sent a press release inviting media outlets across the state to cover his press conference regarding the Affordable Care Act. But when Stranger reporter David “Goldy” Goldstein arrived for the press conference at McKenna’s downtown Seattle offices, a guard was waiting for him. Cameramen, radio people, and reporters were granted free entry. But Goldy was prevented from walking in. Lacking any legal reason to bar Goldy, it seems that McKenna was simply being intimidating, trying to restrict access to a reporter he dislikes. This is a problem when a government official is acting in his or her public capacity.
► At SeattlePI.com — DelBene hit with first 1st District attack mailing — “Progress for Washington,” a shadowy group with a Post Office box address in Kirkland and ties to Laura Ruderman, has targeted Democratic candidate Suzan DelBene with the first negative, “independent” attack mailing of the wide-open U.S. House race.
► In The Hill — Union chief dismisses talk of rift between labor, Democrats — Lee Saunders, the new president of the nation’s largest union of public workers (AFSCME) on Thursday rejected suggestions that tensions linger between Democrats and labor over their defeat in the Wisconsin recall election.
► At Huffington Post — Grover Norquist pledge against taxes attracts fewer Republican candidates — This election season is different. Dozens of GOP challengers and incumbents have declined, so far, to take the anti-tax crusader’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Their objections range from personal to political. But underneath is the belief that being locked into a pledge to never support new revenues in a debt-reduction deal is unpalatable.
► In today’s NY Times — Off and out with Mitt Romney (by Paul Krugman) — All the talk of offshoring and outsourcing has Mitt Romney on the defense. But what was good for Bain Capital definitely would not be good for America.
NATIONAL
► At TPM — Study: Obamacare Medicaid expansion would dramatically reduce number of uninsured in conservative states — A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that all states would see significant reductions in their uninsured populations because of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, at almost no cost to state budgets. But the effect would be particularly dramatic in southern states with low Medicaid participation — the conservative states most likely to opt out of the expansion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision.
► In today’s NY Times — The workingman’s Constitution (by William Forbath) — The Supreme Court is again putting up constitutional barriers against laws to redress want and inequity. While it handed liberals a victory on the Affordable Care Act, it also gave a boost to conservatives to revive the old laissez-faire Constitution in the polity and courts: new doctrine and dictums for their attack on the welfare and regulatory state.
T.G.I.F.
► If you haven’t yet discovered Live from Daryl’s House, let the entire staff of The Stand introduce you to one of our favorite music sites. The legendary Daryl Hall hosts musical guests ranging from Chromeo to Smokey Robinson and performs their hits together — along with Hall & Oates hits — live. Here’s a taste, with Daryl joining Cee Lo Green for “Cry Baby,” our personal favorite from Cee Lo’s latest album.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend — brought to you by the Labor Movement.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 9 a.m.