DAILY NEWS
Big win for ATU | Domestic and border abuse | Unions for the common good
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
LOCAL
► In today’s (Longview) Daily News — Longview school secretaries’ union demands pay raise — A standing-room-only audience Monday night demanded that Longview school secretaries get pay raises that their union says are mandated by the state. The Longview Classified Public Employees Association is seeking to reopen the secretaries’ labor contract, which runs through 2019.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Seattle City Council to consider repeal of head tax less than a month after approving it — “We heard you,” says a statement from Mayor Jenny Durkan and seven of the nine City Council members, announcing the plan to reconsider the head tax that has spurred controversy and a repeal effort by businesses.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Businesses get a win on head tax, but solution to Seattle homelessness crisis still elusive — With Seattle’s head tax apparently dead, businesses that opposed it signaled a desire to re-engage in search of solutions to the worsening homelessness crisis. Advocates for homeless people say more funding is needed to address the issue.
► From KNKX — Janitors have one of the highest on-the-job injury rates of any workers — Janitors and custodians have some of the highest on-the-job injury rates of any occupation, ranking higher than heavy equipment operators and tractor trailer truck drivers. Although not usually deadly, the injuries among people who clean for a living can leave the workers with chronic and lifelong pain. At the University of Washington, there’s an effort to reduce the injury rate.
THIS WASHINGTON
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — State must replace hundreds more culverts to save salmon — Washington taxpayers face a bill of some $2.4 billion to repair hundreds of culverts over the next 11 years as a result of a U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday. Divided 4-4 with Justice Anthony Kennedy not participating, the tie lets stand a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the state was violating a series of tribal treaties with culverts that block salmon coming from and going to spawning grounds.
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Net neutrality ends nationwide, remains in Washington — Federal net neutrality regulations went away Monday, but internet users across the country may not notice any immediate changes. In Washington, a new state law says they shouldn’t, period.
BOEING
HEALTH CARE
► In The Stranger — Jayapal introduces bill to help states fund universal health care — Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Seattle) officially introduced The State-Based Universal Health Care Act. In essence, the bill would allow states or even entire regions to redirect federal health care funds to pay for “state-based universal health care systems.” Passing the bill is a necessary step for politicians and organizations pursuing legislative efforts to bring a single-payer health care system to Washington state.
ALSO TODAY at The Stand — Jayapal unveils universal health care bill
— WSLC’s Dodson: ‘This is the time for bold action’ on health care
► In today’s NY Times — The health care stalkers (editorial) — Add this latest move to a growing list of similar efforts and it becomes clear where the Trump administration’s priorities lie: not in helping more Americans get good health care, not even in supporting the will of the people, but in dismantling what some political opponents built, just for the sake of doing so.
IMMIGRATION
► In today’s Seattle Times — Seattle mayor, others condemn Trump administration crackdown on asylum seekers entering U.S. without permission — The practice of separating children from their parents, which has been criticized by the United Nations, is “an insult to American family values,” Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said in a letter signed by more than 20 other mayors to the U.S. attorney general and the head of Homeland Security.
► From Politico — GOP leaders try to cut deals to stop DACA vote — House Republican leaders, eager to stop an immigration showdown in their chamber, have begun cutting deals with lawmakers who might help moderate Republicans trigger bipartisan votes to protect Dreamers. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy phoned Rep. Dennis Ross on Monday and offered the Florida Republican what he wanted in hopes of keeping him from joining the moderates’ discharge petition: the promise of a vote on a guest worker program before August recess.
THAT WASHINGTON
► In today’s NY Times — As ties with allies fray over trade, Congressional Republicans back Trump — As President Trump and his advisers take aim at some of America’s closest allies amid tense disputes over trade, congressional Republicans largely stood by the president on Monday, insisting they were not worried about a possible deterioration of relations with the West.
► From The Hill — Advocates fear court decision on Ohio could pave the way for more voter purges — The Supreme Court on Monday upheld an Ohio practice of purging voters from the state’s rolls, leaving voting rights advocates afraid that other states could end registration for hundreds of thousands of voters who sit out as little as one federal election.
► In today’s N Times — Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner made millions in 2017 — Nearly 80 transactions totaled $147 million in 2017, financial disclosures showed. Ethics experts have said the activity could raise questions of possible conflicts of interest.
NATIONAL
► From Workday Minnesota — 6.8 million government workers represented by a union could be affected by Janus decision — As union workers await a Supreme Court decisions in Janus v. AFSCME, the Economic Policy Institute published a paper that examines the demographics of the 6.8 million state and local government workers who are represented by a union. Key findings include: A majority (58 percent) of workers covered by a collective bargaining contract in state and local government are women. African Americans, Latinos, and Asian American and Pacific Islanders make up one-third of unionized state and local government workers.
ALSO at The Stand — Building Strong Unions: Get ready for the Janus decision!
► From Business Insider — A Tesla worker testifies that the electric-car maker stopped him from organizing a union — A Tesla Inc employee organizing a union was asked by a supervisor and company security guards to leave the factory after handing out pro-union flyers, the worker said at an NLRB hearing on Monday over whether Tesla had violated federal safeguards for employee activity.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.