NEWS ROUNDUP

Killed in the line of duty ● Funding schools ● ILWU vs. racism

Monday, April 15, 2019

LOCAL

► In the Columbian — Cowlitz County deputy killed while investigating disabled vehicle — The Cowlitz County sheriff’s deputy shot in the line of duty Saturday night has died. Sheriff’s officials Sunday afternoon identified the fallen deputy as Justin DeRosier, 29. He leaves a wife and a five-month old daughter, his first child. He was a 2008 Kelso High School graduate and a criminal justice graduate of Washington State University (2012).

► In the Skagit Valley Herald — Students learn about trades, apprenticeships — At the Northwest Washington Electrical Industry training hall last week, high school students bent pipes, wired light bulbs and hammered steel. About 340 students participated in WorkSource Skagit’s annual tour designed to expose them to postsecondary careers that don’t involve college.

► From KUOW — Seattle has its first pregnant city councilmember — Teresa Mosqueda, Seattle city council member, is pregnant with her first child, a girl due in October.

THIS WASHINGTON

► In the Spokesman-Review — Legislature into the final push to decide money for schools as pressure mounts — As the Legislature moves into the final phase of settling on a record $50 billion-plus budget – tough negotiations between the leaders of each party in each chamber and the governor’s office over different spending plans – school officials and employees are stepping up the pressure for added financial support for Washington’s public schools.

EDITOR’S NOTE — And that includes the state’s community and technical colleges…

ALSO at The Stand:

— Support AFT walkout April 16 to ‘[Re]invest In Our Colleges’

— We must stop starving our state community, technical colleges (by Shouan Pan and Annette Stofer)

► In the News Tribune — Tacoma teachers on chopping block as district prepares for ‘worst case’ budget scenario — More job cuts are on the horizon at Tacoma Public Schools, and teachers won’t be exempt. That was the message from district officials Thursday night as the board of directors passed a resolution to create a reduction in workforce plan. The district is facing a $30 million budget deficit for the 2019-20 school year, which officials say is due to changes implemented by the state Legislature that cap how much levy funding the district can collect.

► In today’s Daily World — Aberdeen superintendent releases staff reduction proposal

► In the Columbia Basin Herald — Moses Lake School District, teachers start discussing layoffs

BOEING

► In today’s Seattle Times — With close industry ties, FAA safety chief pushed more delegation of oversight to Boeing — In 2012 the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General sent investigators to interview FAA technical staff in Renton, where engineers working under manager Ali Bahrami were responsible for certifying new planes developed by Boeing. The investigation substantiated employee allegations that FAA managers did not always support efforts by their technical experts to ensure Boeing complied with safety rules. It found “a negative work environment” where safety engineers feared retaliation “for attempting to hold Boeing accountable.”

► From The Hill — Trump urges Boeing to rebrand 737 Max jets — Trump gave Boeing a piece of advice on Monday, urging the embattled company to “rebrand” its 737 Max passenger jets in the wake of deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia.

THAT WASHINGTON

► From Politico — On Tax Day, Trump tax cuts remain deeply unpopular — As Americans rush Monday to finish up their own taxes, their judgment on Trump’s beloved tax cut bill is pretty clear: Most really don’t like it… One reason many Americans don’t feel the tax cut: The most dramatic benefit was aimed at slashing the corporate tax rate.

► From Politico — Pelosi: Capitol Police working to ‘safeguard’ Omar after Trump 9/11 tweet — Trump on Friday shared an edited video of Omar superimposed over images of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and now U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) says she has “experienced an increase in direct threats on my life.”

► In today’s Washington Post — Just say it: Trump’s attacks on Ilhan Omar are designed to incite hatred (by Greg Sargent) — Trump’s attacks absolutely are designed to incite hatred of Muslims, and the fact that this could have horrifying consequences does not weigh on him in the slightest.

TODAY’S #MAGA UPDATE

► In the Houston Chronicle — Eleven-year-old ordered deported without her family — “I don’t want to leave my mom,” Laura said Thursday. “I want to stay with her.” Her representatives said immigration officials were at fault for the girl’s missed court appearance, which led to her deportation order.She and her family entered the U.S. through the southern border in early October, telling U.S. government officials that they feared returning to their native El Salvador… Her home in a rural area of El Salvador’s La Paz region became a death trap when a relative testified against a local gang member, said her representatives. Uncles, nephews, classmates and others have been kidnapped or murdered in retaliation.

NATIONAL

► In the NY Times — Stop & Shop workers are on strike at over 240 stores in New England — More than 30,000 Stop & Shop supermarket workers across three states remained on strike for a third day on Saturday, protesting what they said were unfair wages and high health insurance premiums.

► From Vox — The largest private sector strike in years is playing out at supermarkets across the Northeast — The company offered across-the-board pay raises, but union reps say the jump in health care premiums and deductibles for employees would end up costing them more than they would get from any pay bump.

► In today’s LA Times — As video games make billions, the workers behind them say it’s time to unionize — At an industry conference for video game developers in late March, hundreds joined a series of standing-room-only roundtables on the topic of organized labor, taking time away from the Game Developers Conference to brainstorm ways to build worker power in an industry that is almost entirely nonunion.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Are you a video game developer? Get more information from Game Workers Unite about how you can join together with co-workers and negotiate a fair return for your hard work. Everybody else: contact a union organizer to find out how you can do the same!

TODAY’S MUST-READ

► From Salon — Fighting against racism—and for a better paycheck—on the docks — The story of the west coast International Longshore and Warehouse Union, its legendary founder Harry Bridges, and the 1934 San Francisco general strike he led is broadly familiar to Americans who enjoy romantic stories of derring do from the labor movement’s past. Less familiar may be the union’s struggle for anti-racist hiring and layoff policies on the docks, and its crucial allyship in various civil rights struggles. In his new book, “Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area,” Western Illinois University professor Peter Cole pairs ILWU’s history with that of black South African docker organizing that presaged the struggle against apartheid by decades, and created an early and durable institutional stronghold of black power in South Africa.

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