Thursday, December 12, 2013

BOEING

► At IAM751.org — Machinists present offer to Boeing to secure 777X — Machinists Union representatives have presented the Boeing Co. with a preliminary proposal for a contract that would secure 777X wing fabrication and final assembly work for Puget Sound. The union is not disclosing any of the terms of its Wednesday offer. “We tried to craft a proposal that would meet the needs of our members, while also ensuring the long-term success of the Boeing Co. in Washington state,” said Tom Wroblewski, the president of Machinists Union District Lodge 751. He said he expects Boeing will respond to the offer on Thursday.

► In today’s Seattle Times — Machinists make offer to Boeing for 777X; quick reply expected — With negotiations moving so fast, a person on the union side with knowledge of the discussions said that, if the talks are successful, a new vote on a contract extension could be held before Christmas.

MORE coverage in The (Everett) Herald and the P.S. Business Journal.

► In today’s Seattle Times — Boeing beats Airbus for big Air Canada order — Boeing ousted Airbus as Air Canada’s primary supplier of narrow-body jets, winning an big order for the 737 MAX model as they vie for supremacy in the biggest segment of the aircraft market. The 61 planes have a list price of $6.5 billion, but estimates of actual prices paid after discounts put the total closer to $3.2 billion.

LOCAL

► At Slog — SeaTac Prop 1 campaign expects judge to toss out $15 minimum wage initiative — Alaska Airlines and other plaintiffs have attacked the initiative with a kitchen sink full of legal arguments, from challenging whether it truly qualified for the ballot to arguing that the Port of Seattle preempts the authority of SeaTac to regulate airport wages to challenging the power of municipalities to regulate wages at all. King County Superior Court Judge Andrea Darvas already has one poorly reasoned and inevitably overturned pro-Alaska/anti-minimum-wage ruling to her credit, and the plaintiffs have given her plenty of ammunition to deliver another.

TAKE A STAND! — Join workers and community allies for a rally Friday, Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. at King County Regional Justice Center, 401 4th Ave. N. in Kent, before the court hearing in Alaska Airlines’ suit against SeaTac Prop 1. Let’s send a message to the corporations and their attorneys: It’s time to drop the lawsuit and work with us to implement SeaTac’s new law fairly.

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

► In today’s Seattle Times — Exchange board to hold public meeting today in SeaTac — Agenda items include a report from Exchange CEO Richard Onizuka on the progress and performance of Healthplanfinder since the board held its last meeting on Nov. 20. Other members of the exchange staff will update the board on specific aspects of Healthplanfinder, including the performance of the website and the customer support center.

► Meanwhile, at TPM — Map: How is Obamacare enrollment going? — In this map, TPM has attempted to paint an interactive picture of how each state is doing thus far with total enrollment, as well as specifically in private coverage and Medicaid.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Washington!

STATE GOVERNMENT

► In today’s Columbian — Local lawmakers leery of transportation plan — Several state legislators from Clark County remain apprehensive about supporting a transportation plan that would raise gas taxes but include little in projects for Southwest Washington, they told business and community leaders Wednesday morning.

► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Everett’s Robinson likely to become newest member of state House — June Robinson emerged Tuesday night as the party’s top choice to fill the 38th Legislative District seat John McCoy vacated when he moved to the Senate.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

► In The Hill — House to vote on budget deal — The House is expected to vote Thursday on a two-year deal that would represent the first bipartisan budget compromise of the new divided-government era. GOP leaders expect their measure will pass, despite complaints from House Democrats that it includes a fix to prevent a cut in doctor payments but does not extend federal unemployment benefits set to expire this month.

ALSO at The Stand — Deal provides ‘temporary relief,’ but deserts jobless — Budget reaction from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and WSLC President Jeff Johnson.

► In The Hill — Dems threaten budget deal over lack of benefits to unemployed — Several leading Democrats warned Wednesday that the budget deal worked out by House and Senate negotiators is on the verge of unraveling over the exclusion of federal unemployment benefits.

► From the Ways & Means Committee Democrats — 174 House Democrats to Boehner: Do not adjourn without extending unemployment insurance — House Democrats signed a letter to Speaker Boehner urging not to adjourn the House for the year without bringing up an extension of federal unemployment insurance, which is scheduled to expire Dec. 28, immediately cutting of all jobless aid to 1.3 million Americans.

EDITOR’S NOTE — The letter was signed by all Democrats from Washington’s delegation except for Rep. Adam Smith.

► From McClatchy — Budget pact a high-profile deal for Sen. Murray — It was arguably the biggest triumph of Murray’s 20-year Senate career, where she was half the architect of a deal that’s eluded negotiators for years.

► In today’s NY Times — Bipartisan budget deal puts Ryan under fire from fellow conservatives — For the first time, the conservative wunderkind and former vice-presidential nominee is taking withering fire from movement conservatives who see the deal as a betrayal by a former ally.

► In today’s NY Times — The minimalist budget deal (editorial) — For most of this year, the brutal cuts to federal spending known as the sequester have wreaked havoc on important programs, cutting off hundreds of thousands from Head Start and low-income housing assistance, setting back scientific research and environmental protection, and costing more than a million jobs. Getting rid of the sequester for domestic programs was a high priority for Congressional Democrats, and they achieved much of what they wanted in a budget deal reached on Tuesday that in other important respects was disappointing.

NATIONAL

► MUST-READ at Politico — Lament of the plutocrats — In the contentious years since the crash of 2008, financial industry executives have grown wearily accustomed to being called names — labeled “fat cats” by President Obama and worse by those on the left — and gotten used to being largely shunned by Tea Party Republicans for their association with the Washington establishment. And of course there are all those infuriating new rules and regulations, culminating this week with the imposition of the so-called Volcker Rule to make risky trades by big banks illegal. But Hillary Clinton recently offered a message that the collected plutocrats found reassuring, according to accounts offered by several attendees, declaring that the banker-bashing so popular within both political parties was unproductive and indeed foolish. Striking a soothing note on the global financial crisis, she told the audience, in effect: We all got into this mess together, and we’re all going to have to work together to get out of it.

► At In These Times — Are young workers the future of labor? — Nearly two-thirds of 18–29-year-olds have a favorable impression of unions, more than any other age bracket. The time is ripe for labor leaders to bring the next generation into the fold. To discuss what’s next in efforts to recruit young members, In These Times spoke with some young rising stars in the labor movement.

T.G.I.T.

► Since we are taking Friday off, today the Entire Staff of The Stand™ presents a favorite band from our youth, Little Feat. In this gem, the late great Lowell George is joined by a pair of young backup singers named Emilylou Harris and Bonnie Raitt. It was 1977, the same year the band recorded what might be our favorite live album of all time, Waiting for Columbus. Enjoy!

The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.