DAILY NEWS
Port fingers, Obama orders, SCOTUS power grabs, heckuva song…
Friday, November 14, 2014
LOCAL
► In today’s P.S. Business Journal — Ports to unions and its employer: stop finger pointing and get back to work — Contract negotiations between the ILWU and the PMA turned ugly at the beginning of November when the PMA sent out a press release blaming the union workers for slowdowns at the ports. The ILWU responded by calling the allegations “bold-faced lies” and saying any slow downs have been caused by problems in the maritime shipping industry, not the union.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Day after closing, Paseo files for bankruptcy
► At PubliCola — Seattle City Council set to trump mayor on city $15 — City council members Kshama Sawant and Mike O’Brien are co-sponsoring a budget amendment that would fund the salary boosts for the lowest-paid city employees to $15 in the 2015 budget (as opposed to 2017 in the mayor’s plan). It would cost about $1 million for about 700 low-wage workers.
► In today’s P.S. Business Journal — Two Boeing contract workers injured on Everett line — One worker was airlifted to a nearby hospital and another was treated at the scene and then transported to the hospital.
► MUST-READ in today’s Oregonian — Amanda Schroeder: Union official couldn’t get leave OK’d before cancer surgery — “I’m really emotional,” said Schroeder, an Army veteran and VA employee who was diagnosed with breast cancer. “I am still covered (by) insurance, no thanks to the agency, but great, great thanks to my union.”
STATE GOVERNMENT
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Roadwork lies ahead to keep jobs in county, state (editorial) — We are, however, fully behind Keep Washington Competitive coalition’s push for a transportation package that addresses current weaknesses in moving supplies, goods and services, not to mention commuters. Larry Brown of IAM 751, a member of the coalition, painted the need for transportation improvements starkly. “We landed the 777X project and gave up our pensions to do it,” he said. Without an investment in transportation, there’s less incentive for Boeing to build its next plane here. “We don’t have any more pensions to give away.”
► In today’s Columbian — State school board chief: New revenue essential to McCleary — The Washington State Board of Education doesn’t see a way to fully fund K-12 schools without finding new sources of state revenue. Said its executive director, Ben Rarick: “We reject the idea that we can rely on revenue growth for funding. New revenue is going to have to be part of the picture. If the Legislature is not considering some new form of revenue, they’re going to have real challenges.”
► In today’s Olympian — Community colleges buoy our education goals (editorial) — It won’t be easy to balance the needs of early education, K-12 and higher education, while also funding roads, social services, mental health and the environment. But budget writers must keep in mind the growing importance of community colleges to the state’s educational goals.
ELECTION
► In today’s News Tribune — Republican Dan Griffey claims victory over Rep. Kathy Haigh — Haigh, an eight-term Democrat and veterinarian from Shelton, called Griffey to congratulate him Thursday morning after another count of ballots in Thurston County left her 512 votes behind and unlikely to catch up.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
► From Reuters — Boehner won’t rule out government shutdown fight on immigration — Republican House Speaker John Boehner said “all options are on the table” to thwart an Obama immigration order.
► In today’s NY Times — Big and bold on immigration (editorial) — President Obama could use his law-enforcement discretion to spare millions from deportation. The sooner he acts, the better.
► From Reuters — U.S. Capitol workers, others strike for higher pay, union — Hundreds of striking federal contract workers, including for the first time some from the U.S. Capitol, rallied on Thursday to urge President Barack Obama to boost pay and spur unionization.
► At Huffington Post — More than the minimum: Obama’s next executive action (by Robert Borosage) — On Thursday, several hundred low-wage federal contract employees walked off their jobs in the nation’s capitol, telling President Obama that “$10.10 is not enough.” These workers are calling for a Good Jobs Executive Order that would give preference in government procurement to good employers that (1) pay their employees a living wage of $15.00 an hour, (2) offer good American benefits, including paid sick days, and (3) respect their employees’ right to organize and bargain collectively to gain a fair share of the profits and productivity they help to create.
NATIONAL
► At AFL-CIO Now — Walmart workers stage a sit-down at L.A. store (video)
► At RawStory.com — Police in riot gear arrest California Walmart workers during sit-in over wages, firings — One woman told a reporter she was willing to get arrested over of what she called “retaliation” against her fellow workers. Said Denise: “We have a lot of associates who spoke up and were fired, and we need to stop it.” Asked why she was risking arrest she said, “I have two sons and it’s their future that I’m concerned about, mainly. Walmart is setting the trend for all companies. If we don’t change it now, the future of our youth is in dire straits.”
► At AFL-CIO Now — Hey, Walmart, want to fix those sales problems? Why not invest in workers? — A recently leaked memo by a Walmart manager urged store managers to improve lagging sales, primarily through addressing problems with understocked shelves and with keeping fresh meat, dairy and produce stocked and aging or expired items off the shelves. While the memo catalogs problems the company faces, it ignores the two most obvious solutions — giving workers adequate hours and paying those workers the $15 living wage they’ve been calling for.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Well, what are you waiting for? Sign it!
► From Reuters — Americans are quitting their jobs more, and that’s a good thing — Americans quit their jobs in September at the fastest rate in over six years. “It’s definitely good for wages,” says one economist.
T.G.I.F.
► The Entire Staff of The Stand™ considers Randy Newman to be one of our nation’s greatest living songwriters. Before he became primarily a film composer, Newman wrote many brilliant, brave songs filled with social and political commentary about everything from American greed to racism. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, this 1974 song about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 became something of an anthem. When Newman describes President Coolidge arriving on the scene with a “fat man with a notepad in his hand” (then-Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover), one can’t help but recall President George W. Bush and “Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job.” Performed here with a full orchestra, this song is poignant and beautiful. Enjoy.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.