DAILY NEWS
H-2A + FUJ = muscle, forgetting 9M kids, work ’til you die
Monday, October 2, 2017
LOCAL
► In The Stranger — UFCW 21, UNITE HERE Local 8 endorse Cary Moon for Seattle mayor — The split among labor players in the mayoral race continues with an announcement from UFCW 21, the largest private-sector union in the state, and hotel and hospitality UNITE HERE Local 8 endorsing Moon.
► In the (Longview) Daily News — Rising economy, contractor shortage boost cost of public works projects — Like many public works projects in the region these days, the Commerce avenue project cost a good deal more than the city had expected. There was only one bidder, and the streetscape work ended up costing nearly 30 percent more than the city’s estimate.
THIS WASHINGTON
HEALTH CARE
► In the News Tribune — Signs of sanity as Murray tries for health care deal (editorial) — Sens. Patty Murray and Lamar Alexander have come out of their partisan trenches to lead the way forward on a bipartisan health care solution.
► In today’s NY Times — Actually, a health care deal is possible (editorial) — Two senators of different parties have resumed negotiations that offer a more productive path, one that could preserve the best of Obamacare while offering adjustments that both parties can accept.
IMMIGRATION
► In today’s Seattle Times — Private immigration detention center must follow state laws (editorial) — GEO Group, the corporation running a for-profit immigration detention center in Tacoma, is exploiting workers by not paying them the state minimum wage.
ALSO at The Stand — DREAMers’ renewals due Oct. 5; scholarships can cover fees
► In today’s NY Times — On ‘Dreamers’ deal, Democrats face a surprising foe: The Dreamers — The pressure from some immigrant activists to reject any compromise that would tighten border security has frustrated Democratic leaders, who recognize the political risks of being labeled the party of open borders.
THAT WASHINGTON
► From Reuters — Health and safety rules targeted as Trump begins to slash red tape — A Reuters examination of rules published in the Federal Register, a U.S. government journal, shows that so far in 2017, agencies have proposed or finalized 25 deregulatory measures under the two-for-one requirement – a broad easing of rules that will affect workers from miners and farmers to pilots and crane operators.
► From Vox — Liberal activists fear these 3 Senate Democrats could back Trump on tax reform — They are West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, Indiana’s Joe Donnelly, and North Dakota’s Heidi Heitkamp.
► In the Washington Post — How Trump’s time at his golf club hurt the response to Maria — As storm-ravaged Puerto Rico struggled for food, water and electricity, President Trump and his top aides said virtually nothing about it for four days while he fixated on public feuds with North Korea’s leader, Republicans in Congress and the NFL.
► In the Washington Post — Trump just proved he doesn’t understand Puerto Rico’s plight by lashing out at a mayor (by Aaron Blake) — This is who the president is. He doesn’t accept criticism and move on; he brings a bazooka to a knife fight — even when those wielding the knife are trying to save lives.
SUPREME COURT
► From Salon — The fight for $7.25 — On Monday, the day that kicks off the Supreme Court’s new term, the justices will hear arguments in three consolidated cases with far-reaching implications for wage-earners. The cases are all about whether employers have the right to compel workers go through onerous individual arbitration proceedings in order to bring labor law claims. If the justices answer that question in the affirmative, then the affected workers will — as a practical matter — find it nearly impossible to win back pay in cases involving wage law violations.
NATIONAL
► From HuffPost — Starbucks under fire for giving less parental leave to hourly workers — Why does Starbucks think it’s OK to give its well-compensated salaried employees far better paid leave benefits than hourly workers who are already barely scraping by? On Monday, some of the company’s shareholders filed a resolution demanding an explanation.
► From Politico — Could America’s socialists become the Tea Party of the left? — No longer happy to languish in principled irrelevance, socialists are plotting a Sanders-like insurgency inside the Democratic Party.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.