DAILY NEWS
777X wing work, DREAM Act, R.I.P. Pete…
Friday, January 31, 2014
BOEING
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Everett could win 777X wing work — Mayor Ray Stephanson believes Everett is well positioned to host a wing-assembly plant for Boeing’s next-generation 777, when an expected announcement comes in mid-February. Stephanson gave his take on aerospace and other economic realities Thursday during his annual state of the city speech. He began by praising Boeing Machinists’ recent approval of a labor contract that the company says will ensure future 777 manufacturing in Washington. “I believe in my heart of hearts that this is a good contract,” he said.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Boeing annual bonuses will pump $400M into state’s economy — Boeing will pay annual incentive bonuses next month of between 16 and 17 extra days’ pay to all nonunion employees and SPEEA-represented engineering staff. Separately, Machinist union members will get an annual incentive bonus of 4 percent.
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Boeing, Air Force dispute report of tanker delay
STATE GOVERNMENT
► In today’s Seattle Times — Republican bill seeks to stop cities from regulating minimum wage — Sen. John Braun (R-Centralia) is sponsoring SB 6307, which would prohibit cities and counties from enacting laws to regulate minimum wage, hours and other private-employee considerations. The bill would not set a minimum wage but would reserve that action for the state. The bill would pre-empt the SeaTac minimum-wage initiative and similar actions being discussed in Seattle.
MORE coverage from AP and The Olympian.
► In today’s Seattle Times — State’s first charter school to open next fall in Seattle — The State Charter School Commission has approved seven new charter schools to open in the Seattle-Tacoma area. Most will open in 2015, but one in Seattle will open in the fall.
► In the P.S. Business Journal — Insurance commissioner’s new rules focus on adequate provider networks — Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler wants insurance companies to provide more information up front about provider networks and to offer proof they are giving consumers the access to providers that they’re paying for.
LOCAL
► From KUOW — Tesoro refinery blast reflects industry-wide problems
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Postal Service plans to downsize in Everett — USPS officials have announced plans to downsize Everett’s downtown Post Office and combine two facilities near Paine Field. There are no near-term plans for layoffs or service cuts.
► In today’s News Tribune — Grant will help maintain Tacoma firefighter staffing — A $3.4 million federal grant will help reduce the financial strain of hiring 20 new firefighters to replace retirees at the Tacoma Fire Department.
► In today’s Columbian — Library to host history museum’s labor event — The year’s first Museum after hours event moves to a different site Thursday: the Vancouver Community Library, 901 C St. The free First Thursday program, “Labor: The History of Work and Workers in the Pacific Northwest,” runs from 7 to 9 p.m. in the library’s Columbia Room.
IMMIGRATION REFORM
► At AFL-CIO Now — Trumka calls House GOP immigration plan ‘a flimsy document’ — AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: “Seven months after 68 senators overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan immigration bill, House Republicans respond with a flimsy document that only serves to underscore the callous attitude Republicans have toward our nation’s immigrants.”
► In today’s NY Times — Obama hints he may be open to immigration deal with GOP — President Obama signaled that he might accept an immigration deal that does not include a special pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally, possibly meeting Republicans in the middle on an issue that has divided them for years.
NATIONAL
► In The Hill — Boehner blasts Obama on trade — House Speaker John Boehner jabbed at President Obama on trade policy Thursday, accusing the president of doing too little to get his own party to “fast track” a pair of blockbuster deals that Republicans already support. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said he doesn’t want “fast track” legislation to advance in the Senate.
► At AFL-CIO Now — Shocker! Life is worse in ‘right-to-work’ (for less) states — Politico took a look at 14 measures of quality of life and combined them into a ranking of the best and worst states to live in. Among the 14 factors included were high school graduation rates, income (on a per capita basis), life expectancy and crime rate. Of the top five states, only one was “right to work.” Of the 10 worst states, eight were “right to work,” with Mississippi coming in last. More than half of all “right to work” states landed in the 20 worst states to live in.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Washington ranks #9. Kinda low, if you ask me…
► And then, there’s this…
TODAY’S MUST-READ
Corporate profits are at all-time high as a percentage of GDP, which helps to explain why the stock market has had such a meteoric rise in the last year, something Obama noted in his speech as a source of income inequality. It’s all the result of having a more financialized economy in which shareholder value comes first, an idea that only took root in the 1980s and has steadily blossomed since. Until Obama deals with this fact, every time he asks corporate America to do something like raise wages, executives will feel free to ignore him. And it’s no wonder: Because they don’t answer to the president — they answer to shareholders.
T.G.I.F.
► Much has been said and written this week about the great folksinger Pete Seeger, who passed away on Monday at the age of 94. But as Pete explains in this brief video, for all his labor and environmental activism, what he really loved was playing the banjo and singing good songs along with other people: “I still figure some of the best songs I know were put together by people who were struggling… And they’re fun to sing! They’re not just editorials in rhyme. They’re good songs.” R.I.P., Mr. Seeger.
CELEBRATE PETE’S LIFE AND SONGS! The Seattle Folklore Society and the Seattle Labor Chorus invite all to a free all-ages community celebration of the life, spirit and music of Pete Seeger at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1 at The Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Avenue N. in Seattle. Click for details.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.