NEWS ROUNDUP

Jay eyes White House ● UAW fights back ● Brandi hits big time

Friday, December 7, 2018

 

THIS WASHINGTON

 

► In today’s Seattle Times — Inslee’s new PAC raises $112,000 as he ‘actively’ considers presidential run — A long shot? Inslee pointed to the funeral for former President George H.W. Bush, noting that two former presidents in the front pew, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, were once “pretty much unknown governors of small states.”

► In today’s Columbian — Department of Corrections denies allegations raised by Larch employee — The Washington Department of Corrections denies all of the allegations outlined in a lawsuit filed by a Larch Corrections Center employee claiming racial discrimination and a hostile work environment.

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Former lawmaker Lynn Schindler remembered for strong values — Schindler, who died this week at age 74, stuck to her strong Christian conservative values when backing candidates for local, state and national office. She did the same during her 10 years in the Legislature representing the Spokane Valley.

► From the NW Accountability Project — Public officials aligned with Freedom Foundation may be expelled due to incompetence, corruption — The Washington State Conservation Commission is holding a hearing this Dec. 7 to vote on the removal of two supervisors from the board of the Thurston Conservation District who have been cited with multiple cases of neglect of duty and acts of malfeasance.

 

LOCAL

 

► In today’s Seattle Times — Boosting South Sound manufacturing jobs (editorial) — Strong advocates are needed to protect industrial lands, where employers provide good paying jobs to people with all sorts of backgrounds and education levels.

► In today’s Seattle Times — If Amazon Go technology goes big, grocery workers may get the sack (by Jon Talton) — If Amazon finds the technological keys to heavily automate grocery shopping, the consequences could be a nine on the disruption scale.

► From Teamsters 117 — Marci Solomon, Teamster electrician, wins Tradeswoman of the Year — Marci is a lead Teamster electrician and has run the show at the Tacoma Dome for the last 10 years. She inspects transformers and circuits, scampers across rigging 85 feet in the air, and illuminates the big acts that come to town from Garth Brooks to AC/DC. Last month Marci was recognized by her peers as Tradeswoman of the Year at an awards ceremony put on by Washington Women in the Trades. She was ecstatic when nominated for the award by a co-worker and even more pumped when she found out she’d won. “I could have lit up the city,” she said. “It was as if every amperage and voltage in my body was off the charts.”

 

THAT WASHINGTON

 

► From Splinter  — The next big case to assassinate unions is on the way (by Hamilton Nolan) — This summer, the Supreme Court gutted America’s public labor unions with the Janus ruling. Now, another case has the potential to further destroy the very basis of organized labor in America. This is serious. Uradnik v. Inter Faculty Org is a case brought by the right wing Buckeye Institute with the specific aim of dismantling a key part of U.S. labor law. The case seeks to end the practice of exclusive representation in public unions — the rule that a union represents all of the workers in a workplace. In the case, a college professor is arguing that the requirement that the union in her workplace negotiate on her behalf even if she does not want to be a union member is an infringement of her free speech. The case is a part of a long-term strategy by right wing groups to use the pretext of free speech as a way to destroy protections for organized labor.

► From The Hill — Trump runs into GOP opposition with NAFTA threat — Congressional Republicans are warning Trump not to withdraw from the NAFTA as he attempts to push through an updated version of the deal. If Trump did so, old trade rules and tariffs from before NAFTA was implemented would go back into place, likely raising costs for businesses and consumers in the United States. This explains the resistance to the idea from Republicans in Congress, and why many believe the president would not follow through on the threat.

► From The Guardian — Trump launches Twitter offensive before Mueller filings on Russia inquiry — Donald Trump attacked the special counsel Robert Mueller just hours before he was to deliver details on how two of the president’s closest former aides have helped or hindered an investigation into possible collusion between Russia and Trump’s 2016 election campaign.

► In today’s NY Times — Making President Trump’s bed: A housekeeper without papers — During more than five years as a housekeeper at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., Victorina Morales has made Donald J. Trump’s bed, cleaned his toilet and dusted his crystal golf trophies. When he visited as president, she was directed to wear a pin in the shape of the American flag adorned with a Secret Service logo. Because of the “outstanding” support she has provided during Mr. Trump’s visits, Ms. Morales in July was given a certificate from the White House Communications Agency inscribed with her name. Quite an achievement for an undocumented immigrant housekeeper.

► In today’s Washington Post — Trump called journalists ‘THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!’ A Capital Gazette photographer had a powerful rebuttal.

 

LAME-DUCK POWER GRABS

 

► In today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch — Missourians have spoken on labor rights. Legislators must respect the vote. (editorial) — Less than four months after Missouri voters overwhelmingly rejected legislative attempts to undermine collective bargaining under the misnomer “right to work,” a state lawmaker has filed a bill to effectively overrule that vote by legislation. The Legislature has a long, sorry history of this kind of contempt for the will of the people. Legislative leaders should forcefully scuttle this proposal and send a strong message that labor rights, as well as democracy, are still in force in Missouri.

► In the Detroit News — GOP power play ramps up in Michigan Senate; Clinton calls it ‘anti-democratic’ — In an extraordinary week in the lame-duck Legislature, Republicans sent Gov. Rick Snyder bills to weaken minimum wage and paid sick leave initiatives while advancing several measures to bypass or handcuff Democrats set to take over top statewide offices Jan. 1.

 

NATIONAL

 

► From The Hill — Autoworkers ready to fight GM over its callous layoffs (by UAW President Gary Jones) — This action should serve as a wake-up call for all elected leaders. Relying on corporations to do the right thing does not work. We need tax and trade laws that reward U.S. investment and hold companies accountable for their actions… We must understand that these companies, including GM, are no longer in trouble. They are recording annual profits in the tens of billions of dollars. GM’s decision is a slap in the face to the U.S. autoworker. It’s a statement that their trust, loyalty and years of dedication aren’t as important as this year’s profits and shareholder gains and that their sacrifices made during the dark days of GM’s bailout  are long forgotten.

► From The Guardian — U.S. airport workers struggle to make ends meet as industry profits soar — A new report shows that airlines made $38 billion in profits during 2017, a fourfold increase since 2013. But those profits do not trickle down to the workers that generate them. In fact, some tips-dependent workers at major hubs are making less than minimum wage.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Get paid. Contact a union organizer today!

► In today’s Washington Post — Millennials aren’t breaking traditions. They’re just broke. (by Catherine Rampell) — A new report looks at financial and cultural milestones for the cohort born between 1981 and 1997, and how it compares with earlier generations at a similar life stage. Contrary to stereotypes that kids these days have sharply different tastes and aspirations than did kids of yore, the report concludes that “millennials do not appear to have preferences for consumption that differ significantly from those of earlier generations.” We simply lack the earnings or assets to make those same consumption preferences happen.

► In today’s Philadelphia Inquirer — City council approves bills for ‘Fair Workweek’ and $15/hr. wage hike — The “Fair Workweek” legislation, part of a national movement to provide more predictability in the lives of retail, fast-food, and hotel workers, passed by 14-3, nearly a year after advocates and workers launched a campaign to fight for more predictable scheduling.

 

T.G.I.F.

 

► Long-time readers know that The Entire Staff of The Stand have been cheerleaders for Brandi Carlile for many years. This brilliant Washington state-bred singer-songwriter with the powerful and soulful voice went from busking at Seattle’s Pike Place Market, to playing bars atop Queen Anne hill, to releasing her first eponymous album in 2005, and has steadily grown her audience with each of her successive six albums.

This morning, Brandi hit the big time. Today, the Pride of Ravensdale received six Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year for this year’s By the Way, I Forgive You, and both Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “The Joke.” Of this song, Carlile told NPR, “There are so many people feeling misrepresented (today). So many people feeling unloved. Boys feeling marginalized and forced into these kind of awkward shapes of masculinity that they do or don’t belong in… so many men and boys are trans or disabled or shy. Little girls who got so excited for the last election, and are dealing with the fallout. The song is just for people that feel under-represented, unloved or illegal.”

“Let ’em live while they can.
Let ’em spin, let ’em scatter in the wind.
I have been to the movies, I’ve seen how it ends.
And the joke’s on them.”

Congratulations, Brandi.

 

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

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