Friday, October 5, 2012

BOEING

► In today’s Seattle Times — SPEEA offers Boeing an olive branch — The executive director of Boeing’s white-collar union made a direct approach this week to a top company executive seeking a peaceful way out of the rancorous contract dispute. “We have an outline of what we think a negotiated settlement looks like that provides a face-saving way forward for both sides,” said Ray Goforth, executive director of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, IFPTE 2001.

► From AP — First 787 made in South Carolina delivered to Air India — The airline took delivery Friday and the jet is expected to fly out of the Charleston International Airport on Saturday.

► From AP — Boeing doubles deliveries of 787 in 3Q — Boeing said that it delivered 12 of its new 787s during the third quarter, as it speeds up production of its newest plane.

STATE GOVERNMENT

► In today’s Olympian — Dorn: Schools need $4.1 billion— Washington state schools chief Randy Dorn dropped a bit of a budget bombshell Thursday, saying that costs to adequately fund the state’s K-12 public schools will be around $4.1 billion more than is spent today.

► From AP — State pollution tax ruled constitutional — The high court upheld a King County Superior Court ruling that found the state is not precluded from using the current tax of 0.7% imposed on oil products, pesticides and other chemicals for environmental cleanup projects.

LOCAL

► In today’s Columbian — Cantwell on CRC: ‘We have to get this done’ — U.S. Sen. Cantwell says replacing the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River is the final piece in the puzzle for improving the region’s freight mobility and infrastructure. Without such improvements, the nation will struggle to compete in a global economy, she said.

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Spokane, firefighters reach tentative agreement— Spokane city officials said the proposed four-year deal includes no wage increases for 2012 or 2013 but “modest” increases in 2014 and 2015. The plan must be approved by the City Council and by a vote of the 287 employees of the Fire Department covered by IAFF Local 29.

► In the PS Business Journal — Controversy continues over proposed $517M bottling plant — A high-tech executive’s plan to build one of the nation’s largest bottling plants in Skagit County has passed a key hurdle. But controversy over the $517 million proposal highlights the beverage industry’s mixed success in its efforts to expand in the Pacific Northwest.

JOBS

► At TPM — Huge September drop in unemployment, economy adds 114,000 jobs — The U.S. economy added 114,000 jobs in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in line with analyst expectations and comparable to an initially disappointing August figure, which was revised significantly upward Friday from 96,000 to 142,000. Despite a modest topline payroll figure, the report is filled with positive metrics — most visibly that the unemployment rate plummeted from 8.1% to 7.8%.

► At TPM — Solid jobs report spawns crackpot ‘job truthers’ movement— Paired with major upward revisions to previous monthly reports, the jobs report is viewed as good news for America. Unless, of course, you were hoping for bad news. And apparently quite a few of President Obama’s critics were — so much so that they suggested the Bureau of Labor Statistics was part of a vast conspiracy.

NATIONAL ELECTION

► At AFL-CIO Now — Union drive registers 450,000 new voters — More than 450,000 new voters from union households may be going to the polls Nov. 6 thanks to an ongoing voter registration drive by the union movement, says AFL-CIO Political Director Mike Podhorzer.

► In today’s NY Times — Romney’s sick joke (by Paul Krugman) — Mitt Romney’s claim that pre-existing conditions are covered under his health plan was his biggest of many misleading statements in Wednesday’s debate.

NATIONAL

► At AFL-CIO Now — Southern Calif. Walmart workers strike — For the first time in history, WalMart workers have gone on strike. Workers participating in the one-day strike at several Southern California stores say they are striking to protest attempts by WalMart to silence and retaliate against associates who speak out about working conditions, low-pay, lack of respect and other issues that plague workers  at the notorious anti-union retail giant. While the striking workers are not union members, they have joined together in OUR WalMart, a worker-led organization that stands up to make change in its company.

► At Huffington Post — Striking Walmart workers make history — For the first time in Walmart’s 50-year history, workers at multiple stores have gone on strike, even though their jobs are not protected by a labor union.

► In The Hill — Liberals slam Obama on Social Security — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday strongly criticized President Obama for not taking a more forceful stance on Social Security in the presidential campaign.

ALSO TODAY at The Stand — Senators stand against Social Security cuts — As Congress negotiates yet another deficit-reduction deal to avoid the year-end “fiscal cliff,” 29 U.S. Senators — including Washington state’s Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell — have taken a strong, public stand against any cuts to Social Security as part of the negotiations.

T.G.I.F.

► Youngsters, gather ’round while the entire staff of The Stand tells you a story from before you were born. These four guys would take four guitar chords and turn it into a 2:30 song about who they wanna walk around with or what they want to sniff. Then they’d rock… the… house, and keep everybody dancing from start to finish as they played about 50 of those songs as fast as they could, each one separated only by a “1, 2, 3, 4!”

Ladies and gentlemen, The Ramones! If you don’t have time for the whole glorious 26 minutes, skip ahead to about minute 21 and enjoy the last three classic songs. 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.