Wednesday, November 30, 2016

DAY OF DISRUPTION

► In today’s Olympian — About 100 union supporters walk out at Saint Martin’s University — Carrying signs with phrases such as “Classroom rights, not courtroom fights” and chanting messages such as “What’s disgusting? Union busting,” about 100 faculty and students participated Tuesday in a walkout and teach-in at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey. “A lot of people that are contingent faculty members struggle to live above the poverty line because we’re not given benefits,” contingent faculty member Kyle Smith told the crowd. “All I want to do is be rewarded respectfully for the amount of work we’re putting in.”

► In today’s Seattle Times — National minimum-wage fight interrupts Sea-Tac Airport services (photos) — Protesters stormed the offices of Prospect Airport Services Inc. to deliver a petition. Airport workers here already won a $15-an-hour minimum wage, but union organizers said they want workers at Prospect to be able to unionize.

► From AFP — U.S. fast-food workers lead day of protest for $15/hour — Workers from fast-food chains, airports and other service industries rallied in U.S. cities Tuesday as part of a nationwide day of disruption to demand union rights and a minimum wage of $15 an hour.

► From The Guardian — Thousands of ‘Fight for $15’ protesters rise up in 340 cities across the U.S. — The Fight for 15 has grown into one of the nation’s largest progressive movements, alongside movements by undocumented immigrants, Black Lives Matter and environmental activists fighting global warming. Beginning with fast-food workers, the Fight for 15 now includes other groups, including childcare workers, home-care aides, airport workers and adjunct professors.

► In today’s NY Times — Eyeing Trump voters, ‘Fight for $15’ widens focus — The effort to raise the minimum wage is expanding its reach beyond the urban poor, aiming at those frustrated by an economy no longer producing enough middle-class jobs.

TRADE

► In today’s Seattle Times — Rep. Dave Reichert thinks TPP trade deal not dead, despite Trump’s promise to dump it — “As far as overly optimistic, some people have called me that for years. That’s just the way Dave Reichert operates,” said Dave Reichert.

► From Politico — Kerry: Trade deal opponents are acting ‘knee-jerkingly’ — “You tell me how the economy of the United States is going to grow if 95 percent of the world’s customers live in another country,” Secretary of State John Kerry said. “But we’re going to start knee-jerkingly just closing off some of that because we’re blaming other people?”

EDITOR’S NOTE — The economy will grow the same way it’s grown for centuries without the TPP. Despite your best efforts to equate opposition to free-trade deals with opposition to trade itself, the American people aren’t buying it. Trade will not halt the day the TPP is formally scrapped. The TPP was projected to lift the U.S. gross domestic product by just 0.15% by 2032. So, enough with the doomsday rhetoric. Embrace the new reality and negotiate trade deals that benefit not just investors, but also working people.

THIS WASHINGTON

► From KUOW — Here are the real winners (and one loser) of this year’s ballot initiatives

EDITOR’S NOTE — And who does KUOW declare “winner” of the successful I-1433 minimum wage/paid sick leave campaign? venture capitalist Nick Hanauer!

► In today’s Seattle Times — Counties in Washington that rely most on Obamacare voted for Trump (by Danny Westneat) — Nine of the 10 counties in this state that have benefited the most from Obamacare also voted for Donald Trump. How much are we obligated to care, then, when tens of thousands of them get thrown off health coverage?

THAT WASHINGTON

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Cathy McMorris Rodgers may be up for interior post in Trump’s cabinet — Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers reportedly is being considered as the next interior secretary by President-elect Donald Trump. If she were to accept a post in the administration, she would have to step down from the seat she won. That seat, which represents Spokane and roughly the eastern third of Washington, would remain vacant until next November, when a special election would be held.

► In today’s Seattle Times — Betsy DeVos would be a disaster for public education (by Ken Zeichner) — Betsy DeVos is a woman who never attended public school, never worked in a public school or school system in any capacity, never sent her children to a public school and never earned an academic degree related to education. She runs a foundation has been mainly focused on trying to further the privatization of public education, not on strengthening it.

► In today’s NY Times — Tom Price, a radical choice for Health Secretary (editorial) — Donald Trump has picked a man intent on systematically weakening, if not destroying, the nation’s health care safety net.

► In today’s NY Times — Could Trump really deport millions of unauthorized immigrants? (interactive graphic) — It’s unclear if Trump could carry out the deportations he has proposed without violating due process, especially at the scale and speed he has suggested. He would likely need help from local law enforcement, but many cities and counties have limited their cooperation with federal authorities.

► In today’s NY Times — What Donald Trump might do for working-class families — Which policies will Trump pursue to directly address the needs of working and working-class families? A look at what he has said — along with the wish lists of Republicans in Congress, scholars and advisers — provides some clues on the issues of paid family leave, child care, and apprenticeships.

► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Give privatizing air traffic control much more thought (editorial)

NATIONAL

► In the Washington Post — After Trump pledged to keep Carrier jobs in U.S., company says it won’t move nearly 1,000 to Mexico — Many questions remained open about the deal Tuesday night. It was unclear whether 1,000 new jobs were being saved in the U.S. or whether that figure included 400 jobs the company agreed to preserve earlier this year under pressure from Indiana officials. It’s also not clear whether tax incentives were offered to keep the jobs in the state.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Just in time!

TODAY’S MUST-READ

► From Think Progress — The conservative group behind efforts to intimidate professors — Last week, a conservative group called Turning Point USA published a “Professor Watchlist” that targets academics accused of pushing a “radical agenda.” But the project is part of the group’s much larger effort to organize young conservatives on college campuses… The list is worrying to some academics, who see it as an attempt to intimidate and defame them. One of the more disturbing additions to the list is a woman who once wrote an article that was critical of Turning Point USA.

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