NEWS ROUNDUP
Fallen bridge fallout, workers’ comp cuts, NLRB, IBT eyes AA…
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
INFRASTRUCTURE
► From AP — Bridge collapse a major break in trade corridor — For farmers, business owners and government officials up and down the West Coast, Washington’s bridge collapse on I-5 represents much more than a close brush with tragedy. As much as $20 billion in freight travels to and from Canada and along the busy north-south corridor each year.
ALSO at The Stand — I-5 bridge collapse ‘a sober reminder’ of Washington State’s crumbling infrastructure
► In Sunday’s (Everett) Herald — In wake of bridge collapse, transportation bill still stuck — With jarring images of twisted steel and submerged vehicles from Thursday’s bridge collapse fresh in the public’s mind, a group of lawmakers is trying to raise billions of dollars for transportation with a 10-cent increase. They hope miles of backups and piles of lost income caused by the severing of the state’s signature north-south highway will dissolve the political gridlock that’s lingered for weeks.
► In the Columbian — Bridge collapse doesn’t sway CRC opponents — “The bridge was damaged by a truck,” said state Sen. Ann Rivers (R-La Center). “It’s not like it randomly fell into the river. It was the result of a structural assault from a truck. We don’t have that situation down here.”
► At PubliCola — Isn’t it weird that…? — Now State Republicans are reprimanding the Democrats for not “getting serious” about transportation when the Democrats have passed a package out of the transportation committee that would fund transportation fixes while the Republicans have balked.
► In today’s Washington Post — Many don’t know how much they pay for roads, survey finds — As Congress continues the search for a new way to fund the nation’s roads and bridges, it turns out that many American taxpayers don’t know how much they’re paying for them now. Forty percent of those who participated in an advocacy group’s survey said they didn’t know, and a quarter of all those surveyed estimated that they paid twice as much as the $46 that the FHA said was the average monthly gas tax paid by households in 2011.
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
► At Slog — Seattle Times lies to its readers in advocating a workers’ comp crisis that doesn’t exist — If businesses really want to reduce their workers’ compensation premiums they should focus on making their workplaces safer. But to argue that we need to reduce benefits in order to stave off rate increases that are unlikely to come, is simply dishonest.
STATE GOVERNMENT
► In the News Tribune — Inslee’s jobs plan has changed since the campaign — The wide-ranging jobs plan Gov. Jay Inslee pitched while running for governor is still a work in progress, but some of his ideas are taking shape at a state agency he dubbed “dysfunctional” on the campaign trail.
► In today’s Olympian — Early forecast could help lawmakers end on time — As lawmakers work overtime in Olympia to finalize a new two-year spending plan, some want to begin budget negotiations earlier in the future to help prevent special sessions like this one.
BOEING
► From AP — S.C. Boeing exec sends workers anti-union email — “I firmly believe a union is not in your best interest, nor is it in the best interest of our company, our BSC site, our customers, nor our community,” wrote Jack Jones. general manager of the North Charleston plant.
N.L.R.B.
► At Huffington Post — NLRB member Flynn resigns after leak findings — Terence Flynn, a recess appointee of President Obama and a conservative on the liberal-majority board, quietly tendered his resignation to the president and the board after investigators found that he had leaked sensitive board information to outside lawyers.
► In the WSJ — Obama renominates Solomon as NLRB’s top lawyer — Lafe Solomon is perhaps best known for signing off on an unfair labor practice complaint the agency filed against Boeing Co. in a union dispute, setting off months of backlash from Republicans and business groups who said the agency exceeded its authority and was trying to bolster labor unions.
NATIONAL
► In the NY Times — High end health plans scale back to avoid ‘Cadillac tax’ — While most of the attention on the Obama administration’s health care law has been on providing coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans by 2014, workers with employer-paid health insurance are also beginning to feel the effects. Companies hoping to avoid the tax are beginning to scale back the more generous health benefits they have traditionally offered and to look harder for ways to bring down the overall cost of care.
► From AP — Nike says it is investigating ‘serious allegations’ from Cambodia factory — At least 23 workers in Cambodia were hurt in the confrontation when police using stun batons ended the protest over pay at a factory that is contracted with Nike. About 3,000 mostly female workers had blocked a road outside their factory.
► From AP — Amazon workers in Germany stage strike — Amazon’s German workers are staging a one-day “warning” strike in a push for higher wages.
► In today’s Washington Post — Colleges enter debate on factory safety — Pressed by students, schools and universities try to police who makes clothes that carry their names.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.