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ILWU arena suit, Farm Bureau’s sick ‘mistake,’ Chicken Payback…

Friday, October 18, 2012

 


LOCAL

 

► In today’s Seattle Times — Longshore union files suit of SoDo site for arena — Longshore workers who depend on the movement of cargo in and out of the Port of Seattle filed suit in King County Superior Court on Thursday over plans to build a new sports arena just blocks from key shipping terminals. The lawsuit alleges that city and county officials, working with investor Chris Hansen, approved an agreement to build the arena in the industrial Sodo neighborhood without first completing an environmental review as required under state law.

► In today’s Seattle Times — UW students voice concern over wage dispute — About 50 teaching and research assistants at the University of Washington on Thursday voiced their disappointment with the university in a wage dispute over mandatory fees. Members of the UAW Local 4121, the union that represents teaching and research assistants at the UW, asked UW President Michael Young to honor a decision by an arbitrator who found that the university violated the collective-bargaining agreement with student teachers.

 


BOEING

 

► AT SPEEA.org — Negotiations continue but wide gaps remain — “The current pace of progress is frustrating to the team and the general membership. At our request, Boeing agreed to accelerate our negotiation sessions. Three meetings are now scheduled for next week, with the first session set for Wednesday afternoon.”

► In today’s Seattle Times — Boeing to send some insured workers to Cleveland for cardiac care — About 83,000 nonunion employees and retirees and dependents insured by Boeing will be able to get heart surgeries at Cleveland Clinic in the latest deal struck by a corporate giant to move complex care to top-rated centers in exchange for fixed-price bills.

 


STATE ELECTIONS

 

► At Slog — Inslee, marriage equality up in new poll — Washington Poll released Thursday: Jay Inslee (D) 47.9% Rob McKenna (R) 44.7% — Ref. 74 (marriage equality) Yes 56.3% No 35.6% — I-502 (decriminalizing, regulating and taxing marijuana) Yes 50.9% No 40.8% — I-1185 (2/3 majority to raise taxes) Yes 53.6% No 31.2% — I-1240  (charter schools) Yes 47.5% No 39.2%.

► In today’s Seattle Times — Poll: State Attorney General’s race tightens to dead heat— SurveyUSA’s new poll reports Ferguson 40%, Dunn 38%, and 23% undecided. Two earlier SurveyUSA polls showed Ferguson ahead by 9 points and 8 points, respectively.

► In the Wenatchee World — A change of heart on I-1185 (editorial) — Giving a minority of our elected officials the ability to override the majority seems counter to the principles upon which this country was founded. It’s fundamentally undemocratic to have the votes of some count more than others. Initiative 1185 will foment further division and partisanship in the Legislature at a time when the state is already facing enormous financial challenges. Somewhere between the two extremes advocated by the parties are solutions that will preserve the quality life of this state. Initiative 1185 should be rejected.

► In today’s Olympian — Supermajorities create a gridlock that only hurts state’s citizens (editorial) — Voters, are you tired of a Legislature that can’t make progress on fully funding basic education? Do you want less-congested highways, and lower tolls on bridges? Do you want state parks that stay open, and in good repair? Do you want college tuitions that your family can afford? Do you want quick response times from law enforcement, fire fighters and ambulances when you need them? If you do, then you must reject Initiative 1185 on Nov. 6.

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — States voter rolls bursting — Washington has a record 3.88 million voters registered for the Nov. 6 general election, and the number continues to grow by several hundred a day.

► At SeattlePI.com — Firefighters, a union worth having, endorse Cantwell — “Endorsed by Firefighters” is a sticker prized on the yard signs of Washington legislative candidates, and those seeking the White House.

► In today’s Columbian — Flier features error on Probst’s voting record on taxes — The chairman of a voter education organization said he is sick to his stomach about errors in his group’s recent political flier that make it look as if Rep. Tim Probst (D-Vancouver) voted in favor of a significant tax increase. The flier was left on the doorsteps of several hundred residents in the 17th Legislative District.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Dan Wood, chairman of the supposedly non-partisan “Private Enterprise Project,” is a lobbyist with the Washington State Farm Bureau, which has endorsed and contributed to Probst’s opponent (and almost every other Republican running for office statewide). We’re sure he’s just sick about this mistake that he blames on a graphic designer’s “cut-and-paste error.” Can someone please explain how “supported” can be copy-and-pasted where “opposed” should be, and why Ford expects us to believe his obviously partisan Republican campaign materials had  intended to tout a Democrat’s opposition to a tax increase, but the help made an unfortunate mistake. Straight-face FAIL!

 


NATIONAL ELECTIONS

 

► From AP — GM to hire 3,000 workers from Hewlitt-Packard — The automaker plans to hire 10,000 programmers and software experts over the next three to five years. It also wants to shift technology work from outside firms into GM and to open four new IT centers.

EDITOR’S NOTE — We’re glad nobody listened — certainly not President Obama — when Mitt Romney was pushing to “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” four years ago.

► In today’s NY Times– Snow job on jobs (by Paul Krugman) — The true Romney plan is to create an economic boom through the sheer power of Romney’s personal awesomeness. But the campaign doesn’t dare say that, for fear that voters would (rightly) consider it ridiculous. So what we’re getting instead is an attempt to brazen it out with nakedly false claims.

► In today’s NY Times — The other missing man (by Timothy Egan) — The real Mitt Romney, the one who seems to have no idea what it’s like to be middle-class and struggling, is back. It’s clear now that the Romney of Denver was no more real than Paul Ryan pretending to wash those already clean dishes for a photo op in a soup kitchen. The Romney at Hofstra was the man who gives off enough of a toff’s sense of entitlement that you wouldn’t want to hang out with him, even if he demanded it. He’s the plutocrat with a plan, and if you don’t like it, go on down to Human Resources and pick up your lousy severance.

► At Huffington Post — Man with ties to Virginia GOP arrested in voter form destruction — A Pennsylvania man employed by a company working for the Republican Party of Virginia was arrested by investigators from the Rockingham County Sheriff’s office on Thursday and charged with destroying voter registration forms.

► At Huffington Post — Soup kitchen in Paul Ryan photo op faces donor backlash — In the wake of Rep. Paul Ryan’s embarrassing soup kitchen photo-op last week, the organization that runs the facility says that donors have begun pulling their money out of the Youngstown, Ohio charity.

 


NATIONAL

 

► In today’s NY Times — Forgotten hero of labor fight; his son’s lonely quest — It is the obscurity of his father’s grave, not far from the once-tumultuous grape fields where farmworker history was made, that most troubles Johnny Itliong, a chef from Los Angeles. “Larry deserves better,” Itliong said of his father, Larry Itliong, the fiercely determined, polyglot Filipino labor leader whose pivotal role in the farm labor movement continues to reside in history’s shadows.

► At AFL-CIO Now — Social Security: 6 facts you need to know— It’s important for working people to know the truth about the program and push back against Social Security myths and lies and fight for more, not less retirement security.

 


‘ENTITLEMENT CLASS’ UPDATE

 

► From Bloomberg — Models on Abercrombie corporate jet had rules on proper underwear — The rules aboard Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries’ Gulfstream G550: Clean-shaven males had to wear a uniform of Abercrombie polo shirts, boxer briefs, flip-flops and a “spritz” of the retailer’s cologne. Also among the 40-plus pages of detailed instructions: black gloves had to be used when handling silverware and white gloves to lay the table, the song “Take Me Home” had to be played when passengers entered the cabin on return flights and Jeffries’s dogs — identified in the document as Ruby, Trouble and Sammy — had different seating arrangements based on which ones were traveling.

 


T.G.I.F.

 

► Today, for no good reason, the entire staff of The Stand presents “Chicken Payback” by The Bees (known as “The Band of Bees” in the in the U.S.)

Have a great weekend — brought to you by the Labor Movement.

 

 


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