Monday, May 18, 2015

AEROSPACE

► From IAM 751 — Cadence-Giddens vote shows workers want union — Hourly workers at Cadence Aerospace-Giddens in Everett have voted by roughly a 3-2 margin to join Machinists Union District Lodge 751. However, the final outcome won’t be decided until after the NLRB conducts a hearing that will determine the fate of 25 ballots that have not been counted yet because the company has sought to exclude those workers from the bargaining unit.

► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Union appears to win vote at Boeing supplier in Everett — Workers at Cadence Aerospace-Giddens apparently voted this week to organize as part of the Machinists union, which represents more than 30,000 Boeing employees around metro Puget Sound.

► In the PSBJ — Machinists claim another victory in string of wins organizing Boeing suppliers — If the union is successful (at Cadence), it will be the latest in a series of victories among smaller Puget Sound-area companies, many of them Boeing suppliers.

► From the PSBJ — Washington state aerospace jobs to drop 8 percent by 2020 — A just-released report by a committee formed by the Legislature, projects that total state aerospace employment will drop to 87,000 by 2020. The majority of those 87,000 jobs will be at Boeing.

► In today’s Seattle Times — Boeing chief Ray Conner defends ‘tough decisions,’ expects hiring surge — Boeing chief Ray Conner defends his tough dealings with local unions, says he foresees no new work transfers, and insists the state gets good value from the tax breaks.

FAST TRACK

► From the State Department — Secretary Kerry to deliver remarks on the TPP at Boeing’s 737 factory — Remarks by the U.S. Secretary of State will be at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 19, at the Boeing Co.’s 737 airplane factory in Renton.

► From Al Jazeera America — Liberal rebellion over trade pact reflects wider fissure among Democrats — Even as odds for passage are looking better in the Senate, where a final vote on the bill could come as early as this week, opposition in the House has mounted among both progressive Democrats and conservative Republicans who do not want to grant Obama additional powers.

► From Politico — GOP: Business lobby blowing it on trade — Unlike unions, they say, Big Business advocates aren’t flooding Capitol phone lines. They’re not winning over skeptical Republicans. And they haven’t made much headway with business-friendly Democrats who are considering voting for the package, either.

► From Politico — Rob Portman takes friendly fire from GOP on currency amendment — Although the Ohio Republican has a long pro-trade history, he’s pushing for currency language that his colleagues warn could kill the huge TPP trade accord.

► From The Hill — McConnell: Senate to pass Fast Track soon — Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) acknowledged that some of his colleagues are “somewhat squeamish” on giving Obama the authority… “But this is a Trade Promotion Authority not just for President Obama, but for the next president as well. This is a six-year Trade Promotion Authority bill that will give the next president an opportunity to enter into additional trade agreements with other countries around the world.”

► From AFL-CIO Now — Three years after Colombia deal, workers still face violence, unfair working conditions — Three years ago, many of the same promises that are being thrown around in the Fast Track debate also were being discussed in terms of Colombia — that the trade agreement would promote better labor conditions and create good jobs. Three years later, we see how empty those promises were.

► In today’s News Tribune — WTO rejects country of origin labels on meat — The World Trade Organization has ruled against U.S. labels on packaged steaks and other cuts of meat that say where the animals were born, raised and slaughtered.

► In the Bellingham Herald — Why I’m against the TPP (letter) — 1. The public can’t read it. 2. Tribunals of private sector attorneys settle claims brought by corporations against governments when policies threaten their profits. 3. Since the NAFTA passed, the U.S. has lost 5 million manufacturing jobs, middle-class wages have declined, and the standard of living has deteriorated.

► From The Hill — Left presses Clinton to choose sides on Obama trade pact — Liberal groups are insisting that Hillary Clinton take a clear stand against the TPP trade pact. They say Clinton, whose positions on trade have zigged and zagged during a long political career, should move beyond populist generalities and let voters know where she stands.

LOCAL

► From SEIU 1199NW — Locked-out PeaceHealth caregivers return to patients — Following a two-day lockout, the caregivers returned to their patients on Saturday morning. The 900 caregivers, who have been bargaining for a first contract for 18 months, are calling for PeaceHealth to invest more of its $50 million profit in frontline care and caregivers.

► From KOMO News — UW police officers blame ‘toxic’ workplace for staffing shortage — The UW police, fully trained and armed officers, are trying to protect the 70,000 students, employees, and visitors on the Seattle campus on any given day, with just half the number of patrol officers on staff — from 32 to just 16 or less.

STATE GOVERNMENT

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Budget talks likely to take second special session (by Jim Camden) — “We don’t negotiate in the media” is a mantra regularly employed by legislators… The House Democrats’ offer to release their budget offer if Senate Republicans do the same provided a brief glimmer of hope for an otherwise hopeless task of giving the public a look at what – if anything – is going on with the budget. Senate Republicans, after all, are big fans of opening up contract talks between state employees’ unions and the governor’s office. Perhaps they’d like to show how a little sunlight is a good thing for negotiations. But the Democrats’ suggestion got no traction with Republicans.

► In today’s Seattle Times — Eyman initiative sets up choice: tax cut or constitutional change — With the backing of new donors, Tim Eyman is back with an initiative that would slash state sales taxes by more than $1 billion a year unless lawmakers put a tax-restricting constitutional amendment on the ballot.

NATIONAL

► At Think Progress — Government finds $60 billion company responsible for the deaths of 4 people, fines it $99,000 — OSHA blamed the chemical company DuPont for failing to maintain the safety of workers, a failure that it says led to the death of four workers in November. OSHA cited the company for 11 safety violates and fined it $99,000.

TODAY’S MUST-SEE

► From Last Week Tonight — John Oliver takes on “contract farming” — how 97 percent of chickens in the U.S. are now raised — a scheme that keeps U.S. chicken farmers in poverty and requires cruel conditions for the chickens. Find out how our own U.S. Reps. Derek Kilmer and Jaime Herrera Beutler are in danger of being labelled “chickenf***ers.”

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