DAILY NEWS
Feds on ports, life vs. pie, killing unions, Gabriel’s ride…
Friday, February 13, 2015
PORT CLOSURE
► In today’s Seattle Times — Lawmakers push for end to West Coast port strife — Alarmed by mounting job and business losses that seem destined to only grow worse, members of Congress on Thursday called for an end to the labor impasse that has brought 29 ports along the West Coast to a virtual shut down.
► In today’s NY Times — Simmering labor fight beings crippling delays to West Coast seaports — “The continued intransigence by labor and management to reach a new contract is unacceptable,” the National Retail Federation said in response to the latest report. “This stalemate is hurting American businesses, their employees and consumers.” It called on the White House to push for a settlement, as did the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
► In today’s News Tribune — West Coast port crisis needs president’s intervention (editorial) — The longshoremen and the PMA have unique leverage over the American economy and Pacific Rim commerce. As the nation’s leader, the president should remind them that such leverage carries heavy responsibility. Millions of Americans need this deadlock broken.
REFINERY STRIKE
► MUST-READ in The Guardian — At my oil refinery, my life is worth the price of a pie (by Butch Cleve) — Every now and then I caught a glimpse through the dense vapor of another of my crew members, and I thought, “Well, if today is my day, I will not be alone.” We shut the valves, diffused the propane and escaped with our lives because it never ignited. We were lucky and we knew it… After I helped to disperse the propane, supervisors thanked us and said “good job” and bought us apple and cherry pies. For preventing a massive explosion. When someone suggested we deserved exceptional achievement cash awards, a supervisor said, “We don’t reward you for doing your jobs. We bought you pie.” We don’t want to be exposed to potentially fatal hazards unnecessarily. We want safety improved. Pie for risking my life to resolve a problem that could have been prevented shows how little refineries value the lives of their workers.
ALSO at The Stand — Refinery workers are taking a life-or-death stand (by USW President Leo W. Gerard)
► From Reuters — U.S. refinery strike enters 12th day, no talks scheduled — The largest U.S. refinery strike since 1980 entered its 12th day on Thursday with no talks scheduled until next week and industry representatives were weighing a union counterproposal, said a labor spokeswoman.
STATE GOVERNMENT
► In the Spokesman-Review — Crack down on state’s wage, labor scofflaws (editorial) — Attorney General Bob Ferguson last Friday filed criminal charges against a former Seattle Seahawk and an accomplice who allegedly lifted more employee wages than barbells at their two Seattle athletic clubs, and shorted state and local government a ton of taxes besides. He’s also supporting overdue legislation that will discourage abuses by companies that want to do business with the state.
ALSO at The Stand — AG seeks criminal prosecution in Seattle wage theft case
MORE local coverage from the Seattle Times, Spokesman-Review, Tri-City Herald, AP, KPLU, and PubliCola.
► In today’s Yakima H-R — Legislation goes after taxpayer-funded Yakima union job — Legislation aimed at prohibiting the use of taxpayer funds to pay the salaries of teacher union representatives moved out of the Senate Commerce & Labor Committee Thursday.
LOCAL
► In today’s Seattle Times — Half of engineers whose work went to Calif. stay with Boeing — Boeing on Thursday updated employees about the transfer of 1,000 support engineering jobs from the Puget Sound area to Southern California, indicating only 400 of the engineers still face possible layoff this year. About half of the affected engineers have secured a job within Boeing — 150 moving to California and 350 taking a different Boeing job in the Puget Sound region, the company said.
► In the PSBJ — 4 workers injured when section of Highway 99 tunnel project collapsed — Seattle Tunnel Partners said five workers were installing rebar for a concrete wall at the tunnel’s north portal work zone when the wall of rebar gave way, injuring four of the five workers.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
► From TPM — The ghost of NAFTA still haunts Obama on trade deals — Near the heart of every trade argument lurks NAFTA, a breakthrough deal passed mainly by Republicans in Congress and signed by a Democratic president, Bill Clinton. Liberals, labor unions and others denounce NAFTA almost daily. They say it’s the blueprint for new proposals being pushed by Obama and — once again — a mostly Republican constituency in Congress.
► At AFL-CIO Now — New bipartisan bill cracks down on currency manipulation — AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the currency manipulation legislation is an important piece in addressing unfair trade, but more should be done.
NATIONAL
► In today’s NY Times — Missouri House passes ‘right-to-work’ bill, ignores veto threat — A bill that would make Missouri the latest state to adopt so-called right-to-work laws or policies passed the Republican-controlled House here on Thursday, but without enough votes to override an expected veto from the Democratic governor.
► In today’s Philadelphia Inquirer — Philadelphia Council passes mandatory paid sick leave bill — Mayor Nutter, who vetoed paid sick leave legislation introduced by Greenlee in 2011 and 2013, intends to sign the bill into law Thursday afternoon. It will take effect in 90 days.
► In today’s NY Times — Jon Stewart’s America (by Timothy Egan) — For Stewart, a gifted clown with wide-ranging curiosity, Fox News was not just a house of hypocrisy and endless source material. It was part of what made a great democracy harder to govern, and less likely to share a common narrative. He understood exactly what they were up to, even if some of their teleprompter readers never did.
T.G.I.F.
► Today, the Entire Staff of The Stand wishes the great Peter Gabriel a happy 65th birthday. A career-long activist for humanitarian causes, AllMusic calls Garbriel “one of rock’s most ambitious, innovative musicians, as well as one of its most political.” Gabriel said that this song, his first single as a solo artist after leaving the band Genesis, “is about being prepared to lose what you have for what you might get… It’s about letting go.” In this case, Gabriel lets go by pulling a Michael Bennett. Enjoy.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.