DAILY NEWS
Boeing limbo, desperation wages, ‘Lost’…
Friday, March 28, 2014
MUDSLIDE TRAGEDY
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — With 90 missing, search of debris field goes nonstop — They are searching for their own. Families and friends are desperate to find the ones who were home on a Saturday morning when the earth ripped open and crashed across so many lives. For the sixth straight day searchers waded through the unrelenting mud, sawed through downed trees and dug, often by hand, through debris.
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — In Darrington, people band together to do the job — As the town deals with the grief of losing neighbors, friends, relatives and acquaintances, people are back at their jobs.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Any union members and their families affected by this tragedy — or any other extreme hardship — can apply for financial assistance from the Foundation for Working Families, a hardship relief program overseen by the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Download and fill out this FWF Assistance Form and submit it to Karen White via email or via fax at 360-570-5189. For more information, call Karen at 360-570-5169.
BOEING
“It’s a ton of stress for our family,” said the wife of one lead engineer, a 20-year Boeing veteran. “Should I get the house ready for sale? Should I be looking at houses in St. Louis?” his wife asked. “It’s unbelievable. They can’t treat people like this.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — The photo above is from Boeing’s web page about the company’s culture and values that features such platitudes as, “We recognize our strength and our competitive advantage is — and always will be — people.”
LOCAL
► In the P.S. Business Journal — Why the maritime industry is important: Seattle leaders get an earful — Washington’s maritime industry directly employs about 57,000 people, which is 60 percent of the number of people employed by Boeing, but maritime employment won’t continue to thrive unless it gets more public support. This was the message from maritime industry leaders during a roundtable discussion at the Port of Seattle on Thursday.
DESPERATION WAGES
► In today’s LA Times — — Ring of LAX baggage handlers stole heaps of valuables, police say — A group of baggage handlers pulled off one of the largest property heists in Los Angeles International Airport history. The men were employed by Menzies Aviation, which provides services to airports internationally.
Here at Sea-Tac Airport, Alaska Airlines baggage handlers earned as much as $16 an hour back in 2008 as employees of the airline. Then the company fired them and hired Menzies to replace them, and today those folks make just $9.66, barely above minimum wage. That’s one of the frustrations that led to the passage of the SeaTac $15 minimum wage proposition.
Which brings us to…
► In today’s News Tribune — Walmart employee accused of stealing cash, says he wasn’t getting enough hours — A Tacoma Walmart employee accused of stealing from his till allegedly told detectives he took the money because he has debt, and wasn’t getting enough hours at the store.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
► In The Hill — GOP targets NLRB ‘ambush election’ rule — Republicans lawmakers offered legislation Thursday to stop the National Labor Relations Board from speeding up union elections.
► In today’s NY Times — America’s taxation tradition (by Paul Krugman) — The demonization of anyone who talks about the dangers of concentrated wealth is based on a misreading of both the past and the present. Such talk isn’t un-American; it’s very much in the American tradition. And it’s not at all irrelevant to the modern world. So who will be this generation’s Teddy Roosevelt?
NATIONAL
► In today’s NY Times — Playing college football is a job (editorial) — If Northwestern and other universities don’t want to deal with unions for athletes, they should stop fighting their players and work with them to improve conditions.
► From NBC News — Labor unions saved Ford in ‘darkest hour,’ says Bill Ford — Bill Ford, the executive chairman of the Detroit automaker, said in an interview that the former United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger doesn’t get enough credit for helping to shore up the books during Ford’s “darkest hour.”
► In today’s Washington Post — Dismantling CEOs’ golden parachutes — It’s nice work if you can get it. Robert Marcus, who’s been the CEO of Time Warner Cable since only Jan. 1 of this year, stands to receive nearly $80 million if the company’s purchase by Comcast closes and he leaves his job.
T.G.I.F.
► For no good reason, the Entire Staff of the Stand presents “Lost” by Frank Ocean. Fellow fans can rejoice that the long-awaited follow-up to his awesome, critically acclaimed debut album from 2012, Channel Orange, will reportedly be this summer. In the meantime, Ocean just released a new song in which he collaborates with Mick Jones and Paul Simonon of The Clash!
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.