NEWS ROUNDUP
Meet Boeing in St. Louis, Hillary opposes TPP, ‘Work Til We Die’…
Thursday, October 8, 2015
BOEING
► In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch — Boeing moves 777X work to St. Louis, creating 700 jobs — St. Louis got a toehold in the commercial jet manufacturing business Monday as Boeing announced that it would make parts for the new 777X airliner at its defense works in north St. Louis County… Along with previous announcements of Boeing jobs shifting to St. Louis, it will total about 2,000 jobs, which would trigger some provisions of a giant incentive package passed last winter, state officials said.
EDITOR’S NOTE — You see, Missouri and every other state that offers Boeing tax incentives — except for Washington state — requires some accountability for job creation and maintenance in order to receive the incentives. (See chart below.)
► From The Hill — Ex-Im petition roils GOP meeting — Conservative frustration over Republican efforts to force a House vote on reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank boiled over Wednesday during a contentious GOP meeting.
EDITOR’S NOTE — We’re still waiting for the commercial media in Washington state to ask our state’s Republican members of Congress whether they will sign the petition — and if not, why not.
LOCAL
► In today’s Bellingham Herald — Haggen may eliminate six more stores — Six more Haggen stores have been added to the list of locations they want to sell or close: three in Washington (Puyallup, Burien and Federal Way) and three in Oregon (West Linn, Happy Valley and Eugene).
► In today’s News Tribune — Must we have 10 more years of immigrant detention in the Tideflats? (by Matt Driscoll) — Will the GEO Group be detaining people caught on the wrong side of our country’s misguided immigration policy at the Northwest Detention Center for the next decade? If there’s hope to be found in any of this — even glimmers — it comes from people like Tacoma’s U.S. Rep Adam Smith, who over the years has become a pointed critic of privatized immigration detention and the NWDC… For Tacoma to do its part, the first step is to stop turning a blind eye.
► From KPLU — PLU debate will explore whether Tacoma should hike its minimum wage to $15 — Tacoma voters have less than a month to decide whether to raise the city’s minimum wage, and if so, how much. Thursday evening, debaters at Pacific Lutheran University will give their best arguments in favor and against a $15 minimum wage.
► In today’s Columbian — No severance for many as Red Lion Hotel closes — As the Red Lion approaches its final day of operations on Oct. 31, workers have turned angry at their company. Their decades of service will not translate into a single penny of severance pay.
STATE GOVERNMENT
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Senate panel gets an earful on school funding (editorial) — No request will be more concise than from a sixth-grader from Seattle who attends a school where 85 percent of the students meet the family income requirements for free and reduced lunches. “We need extra help so I don’t fall behind,” said Olivia. “I am your paramount duty.”
► In today’s Seattle Times — State says idled Bertha may add $78M to its cost for tunnel — The state says it expects to spend $78 million extra on its own staff, consultants and road work because of tunnel-machine Bertha’s two-year delay, a letter to insurers says.
► From The Olympian — Indicted auditor Kelley has first challenger: Sen. Mark Miloscia — Miloscia, who ran for auditor as a Democrat in 2012, said he is running for the position a second time — this time as a Republican.
TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP
► In today’s NY Times — Hillary Clinton opposes Obama’s TPP — Hillary Rodham Clinton dealt a significant blow to President Obama in his efforts to secure approval from Congress on his signature trade agreement, saying on Wednesday she could not support the TPP, the 12-nation trade pact that she bolstered as secretary of state and that liberals in the Democratic Party have vehemently opposed. After months of delicately avoiding expressing an opinion on the controversial deal, Clinton said the agreement in its current form did not meet her high bar for protecting American workers, the environment and advancing national security.
► In today’s NY Times — Debate serves as backdrop to Clinton’s TPP concerns — Her decision was something of an imperative before Tuesday’s debate in Nevada. Her opposition came after Sen. Bernie Sanders, her main rival in public polls at the moment, had already drawn support from the left in part because of his long-held criticism of the deal. Clinton, who talked positively about the deal in her memoir, “Hard Choices,” is now getting criticized for flip-flopping.
► From The Hill — Sanders glad Clinton ‘has now come on board’ opposition to TPP
► From Politico — Clinton defection complicates trade pact’s path — An endorsement from Clinton would have given wary Democrats political cover to vote for the TPP.
► From The Hill — Tobacco ‘carve-out’ sparks bid to sink TPP — Lawmakers from tobacco-producing states and business groups are aiming to torpedo the TPP over a provision they believe will severely damage the U.S. industry.
► From The Nation — TPP prioritizes ‘rights’ of corporations over workers, environment, and democracy (by John Nichols) — The way to begin any discussion of the TPP is with a simple question: Where does this sweeping global trade deal rest power — with the people and their elected representatives in the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries, or with the multinational corporations that have been empowered by every previous trade deal of this kind? The answer, if history is any indication, and if reports on the the secretive agreement are accurate, is that the power will rest with the corporations.
► From The Nation — Why the TPP won’t work for workers (by Michelle Chen) — hose who want evidence of the impact TPP may have on a huge chunk of the world’s workforce can look no further than how an existing free trade accord, based on the same model, is managing labor relations between Peru, a TPP signatory, and the United States.
NATIONAL
► From Reuters — Obama praises unions, workers’ rights at White House Summit — President Barack Obama called for higher blue-collar wages and benefits and promoted collective bargaining on Wednesday, courting workers’ unions in a day-long event as his advancing Pacific Rim trade deal has left many labor groups disenchanted with the White House. In a speech to workers, union leaders, lawmakers and employers, Obama supported the defense of workers’ rights and urged workers to band together in an increasingly technology-driven economy: “I believe when people attack unions, they’re attacking the middle class.”
ALSO at The Stand — The White House Summit on Worker Voice (video)
► In today’s Detroit News — UAW, Fiat Chrysler avoid strike; reach tentative deal — The UAW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles avoided a potential strike by reaching a new tentative contract before a Wednesday night deadline. No details were released about the deal, which the union says “secured significant gains.”
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
► From Politico — Senate GOP plans contentious immigration vote — The legislation from Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) would target sanctuary cities — localities where local law enforcement officials decline to cooperate with federal immigration authorities — by withholding key federal grants and increasing prison sentences for those who try to re-enter the United States after being deported.
TODAY’S MUST-SEE
► From Social Security Works -WA — (Don’t Wanna) Work ‘Til We Die — Our latest Social Security music video, “(Don’t Wanna) Work ‘Til We Die,” is right here. Be sure to sign this letter telling the President and Congress to expand Social Security and “scrap the cap” so everyone pays the same tax rate for the same guarantee!
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.