Monday, September 14, 2015

TEACHERS STRIKES

► In today’s Tri-City Herald — Pasco schools to open Tuesday if tentative deal OK’d today — Pasco schools will remain closed Sept. 14 but teachers will vote that morning on a tentative agreement that could end their strike and begin bringing students back to school Sept. 15. Details about the tentative agreement, including its duration, were not immediately available, and the district said it would not provide them until after it is ratified by teachers.

► In today’s Seattle Times — No school Monday for Seattle as talks continue in teachers strike — Negotiations between the teachers union and the school district continued Sunday, but without enough progress to predict an end to a teacher walkout.

ALSO at The Stand — Seattle teachers fighting for students, equity (by Nicole Grant)

► In the Seattle Times — An unavoidable teachers’ strike (by Lyon Terry, the 2015 Washington state teacher of the year) — Seattle teachers are ready to be leaders in our classrooms, in our schools and in our community. We just need a fair contract.

BOEING

► In the P.S. Business Journal — Boeing may tell visiting Chinese president it will complete some 737s in China — Boeing may announce in mid-September plans to open a Chinese facility to complete 737 jetliners. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg is expected to time the announcement with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Sept. 23 visit to Seattle. If it happens, this would be the first time Boeing has operated a commercial aircraft line, and delivered aircraft, outside the United States. The move would be a loss for Renton, which is where 737 assembly, and completion work, is currently done. Completed 737s aircraft are now delivered from Boeing Field.

STATE GOVERNMENT

► In today’s News Tribune — Washington’s charter schools: Officials can’t agree on how to save them — So far, the only concrete ideas to emerge from the state Capitol have been to ask the court to change its mind or to strengthen traditional schools so that frustrated parents don’t have to seek alternatives.

► In the P.S. Business Journal — Inslee: Saving charter schools is not a priority; focus will be on public schools

► In today’s Seattle Times — State Supreme Court: activist justices, or just different? — Critics argue the Washington Supreme Court has grown more liberal and activist. Defenders say the justices are doing their jobs — applying the constitution without regard to popular opinion.

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Envision initiative gets high court date — Envision Spokane and a coalition of business and government interests will make their case before the state Supreme Court on Nov. 10, the court announced when it released its fall schedule.

► From AP — Republican Sen. Andy Hill says he’s not running for governor — The 53-year-old Redmond Republican sent an email to supporters to say that he would not challenge incumbent Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee in next year’s election, something that had been long rumored.

LOCAL

► In today’s Oregonian — Union leaders say Haggen left ‘mass of broken lives’ in wake of bankruptcy — UFCW locals up and down the West Coast criticized Haggen’s actions and its handling of the Tuesday filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, promising to work together to ensure Haggen honors its contracts.

► In the Seattle Times — UW president has reservations over drive to unionize faculty — A group of University of Washington professors is leading an effort to unionize the university’s faculty, but UW Interim President Ana Mari Cauce says she has “grave reservations” because she believes it would undermine the relationship between faculty and administration. “We also have serious concerns about its impact on the freedom we as faculty enjoy to pursue excellence in teaching, research and scholarship, the cornerstones of our success as a university,” Cauce and Interim Provost Jerry Baldasty wrote in an email to faculty.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Fortunately, we live in America — not China — so it’s not up to the boss. The faculty is free to decide for themselves whether unionization and collective bargaining is in their best interests, without any coercion from their interim bosses.

► In today’s Seattle Times — Uber, Lyft: Listen to drivers now or deal with unions later (editorial) — Lyft and Uber should be more responsive to drivers’ concerns now — before city officials clear the way for unions to form later.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

► From The Hill — Poll: Public wants to avoid shutdown over Planned Parenthood — A huge majority wants Congress to keep the government open, regardless of whether that means providing funding to Planned Parenthood, according to a poll released Monday. The poll finds that 71 percent of adults say it is more important for Congress to approve a spending bill to keep the government open, compared to 22 percent who say it is more important to eliminate all federal funds for Planned Parenthood.

► In today’s NY Times — Consumers, lawmakers take steps to end forced fishing — Federal lawmakers, State Department officials, fishing and pet food companies, and class-action lawyers are stepping up efforts to combat forced labor at sea.

► In today’s NY Times — Collecting taxes is government work (editorial) — Private tax collection is a bad idea, and it should be kept out of a highway bill.

► From The Hill — Business groups put their muscle behind regulatory reform bill — Business groups are calling on the Senate to pass legislation curbing costly regulations.

CAMPAIGN 2016

► From AP — GOP presidential candidate Scott Walker to propose vast union restrictions — Scott Walker will propose eliminating unions for employees of the federal government, making all workplaces right-to-work unless individual states vote otherwise, scrapping the federal agency that oversees unfair labor practices and making it more difficult for unions to organize.

EDITOR’S NOTE — in a related story, Scott Walker has fallen from first place (18%) to 10th place (3%) in the race for the Republican presidential nomination in the past two months, according to the Quinnipiac University polls.

► From The Hill — Poll: Sanders surges to 10-point lead — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is up by double-digits on former secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire, according to a poll released by CBS News on Sunday. The senator is drawing 43% support in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus, besting Clinton by 10 points.

► From AP — GOP tax proposals tilt to rich despite populist rhetoric — Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul have all offered tax proposals that would, for reasons such as nomination politics and tax rate realities, benefit overwhelmingly the wealthiest.

► From Politico — Rebel billionaires eager to follow Trump into politics — Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is not the only famous, and famously, rich guy moved to reevaluate his view that the only people to succeed in public service are second-rate hacks who are full of baloney. Inspired by seeing one of their own do it, a slew of flamboyant moguls are giving politics a second look.

NATIONAL

► From St. Louis Public Radio — Unions rally against ‘right-to-work’ override in Missouri — Union members are making sure Missouri Republican lawmakers who voted against ‘right-to-work’ earlier this year know that they will have union support during the next election.

► From ABC 7 in Denver — Miss Colorado dons scrubs, describes passion for nursing — During the talent competition, Kelly Johnson walked onto the stage with her hair in a ponytail, clothed in baggy scrubs with a stethoscope draped around her neck. Johnson didn’t show off a talent, but she passionately explained hers: nursing.

► In the Washington Post — Larry Summers: Stronger unions must be part of the national agenda — we now know that stronger unions are not just good for their members, they are good for our country and our descendants. Strengthening collective worker voice has to be an important component of any realistic American inclusive growth agenda.

TODAY’S MUST-SEE

► From Last Week Tonight — Arrested? John Oliver has a warning you have to hear — “Our public defender system is dangerously under-resourced,” says John Oliver. “We have a system where conceivably, if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you, provided that you pay that attorney, which is absurd. You can’t tell people something’s free and then charge them for it. This is the American judicial system — not Candy Crush.”

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