DAILY NEWS
4-to-1 support for OT pay ● Paid in Mukilteo ● Campaignin’ Cathy
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
THIS WASHINGTON
ALSO at The Stand — Attend hearings to restore overtime pay — Hearings continue TODAY in Seattle at 9 a.m. at The Swedish Club, 1920 Dexter Ave N., and TOMORROW (Wednesday) in Bellingham at 9 a.m. at Four Points by Sheraton Bellingham Hotel & Conference Center, 714 Lakeway Dr.
LEARN MORE at the WSLC’s Restore Overtime page.
► From the AP — State Court of Appeals rules Seattle’s wealth tax is unconstitutional, but gives cities new leeway — Seattle’s tax on wealthy households is unconstitutional and should remain off the books for now, the Washington state Court of Appeals ruled Monday. But Seattle and other Washington cities are allowed to tax net income as a matter of law, the Court of Appeals also determined in its significant ruling, declaring void a 35-year-old ban enacted by the Legislature and opening the door to a battle at the state Supreme Court that could have far-reaching consequences.
► In today’s Yakima H-R — New state rules for child care providers to take effect on Aug. 1 — People who provide child care inside their homes will be required to comply with new rules as of Aug. 1 in Washington state, raising uncertainty among some providers.
LOCAL
► In the (Everett) Herald — After 40 years, Skagit college likely done on South Whidbey — Years of funding cuts and dwindling enrollment prompted the idea. The decision hasn’t been finalized.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Seattle City Council votes to adjust human-services contracts as cost of living rises — Under the bill, contracts will rise with year-to-year changes in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers in the region, which tracks shifts in how much workers pay for various goods and services.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Mayor’s approach to Seattle police reforms could prolong oversight, council members say; union offers to talk
BOEING
► From the AP — Boeing jet trouble leads to cuts at Europe’s busiest airline — Europe’s biggest airline, budget carrier Ryanair, will cut flights and close some of its bases beginning this winter because of the delay to deliveries of the Boeing 737 Max plane, which has been grounded globally after two fatal crashes.
ALSO at The Stand — Boeing’s cost-cutting business model is failing (by Stan Sorscher)
THE PRESIDENT IS A RACIST
► In today’s Seattle Times — Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric calls for a bipartisan rebuke (editorial) — Trump deserves a bipartisan rebuke at every political level. By this point, only the specific words Trump chose should be surprising. He has used abhorrent descriptions for foreign countries and his fellow Americans alike for years. He is unapologetic in his discriminatory business practices and the racial rhetoric that buoyed him into political prominence.
► From NBC News — House to vote on resolution condemning Trump’s ‘racist comments’ — The House on Tuesday will vote on a resolution condemning President Donald Trump’s “racist comments” directed at four congresswomen of color who he should “go back” where “they came” from. The resolution twice refers to “racist comments” by Trump but does not call the president a racist.
► From Reuters — Trump tells Republicans not show ‘weakness’ over his attacks on congresswomen — Trump on Tuesday pressured fellow Republicans not to back House Democrats’ resolution to condemn his repeated attacks on four minority congresswomen, saying he was not a racist and tying the issue to his 2020 re-election bid.
► In today’s NY Times — A blaring message in Republicans’ muted criticism: It’s Trump’s party
► In today’s NY Times — Racism comes out of the closet (by Paul Krugman) — This should be a moment of truth for anyone who describes Trump as a “populist” or asserts that his support is based on “economic anxiety.” He’s not a populist, he’s a white supremacist. His support rests not on economic anxiety, but on racism.
THAT WASHINGTON
► From Bloomberg — NLRB repeatedly topples precedent without public input — The National Labor Relations Board’s ruling last week that made it easier for employers to oust unions marked at least the 10th time during the Trump administration that the NLRB settled case law without giving prior notice or an opportunity for public input, according to a review of decisions.
► In today’s Washington Post — Trump administration to move over 80 percent of key Interior Dept. agency employees out of Washington — The administration argues the move will bring roughly 300 federal staffers closer to the places they oversee, while critics contend it will dismantle the Bureau of Land Management.
► From The Hill — Labor leader to Democrats: How you win us back — UMWA President Cecil Roberts describes the United Mine Workers union’s plan, and says, “There’s no such thing as a ‘just transition.’ People are going to have to articulate what am I going to do if you lose your job, and what am I going to do if you lose your job.”
NOTHING TO SEE HERE
► In today’s Washington Post — Earth just had its hottest June on record, on track for warmest July — Boosted by a historic heat wave in Europe and unusually warm conditions across the Arctic and Eurasia, the average temperature of the planet soared to its highest level ever recorded in June. According to data released Monday by NASA, the global average temperature was 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit (0.93 Celsius) above the June norm (based on a 1951-to-1980 baseline), easily breaking the previous June record of 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.82 Celsius), set in 2016, above the average. The month was punctuated by a severe heat wave that struck Western Europe in particular during the last week, with numerous all-time-hottest-temperature records falling in countries with centuries-old data sets.
NATIONAL
► From The Hill — Labor unions back strikes, boycotts targeting Amazon ‘Prime Day’ — The AFL-CIO, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, and the Communications Workers of America have asked would-be Amazon customers to stand with warehouse workers and delivery drivers in calling for safer working conditions.
A message of #Solidarity with @AwoodMpls @amazon workers from national @AFLCIO Secretary-Treasurer @lizshuler #PrimeDay #HearOurVoice pic.twitter.com/SvPhWQK1bt
— Minnesota AFL-CIO (@MNAFLCIO) July 15, 2019
► From HuffPost — Why thousands of Amazon workers are striking on Prime Day — Midway through the work day on Monday, the first day of Amazon’s Prime Day sale extravaganza, workers at the company’s distribution center in Shakopee, Minnesota, walked off the job in protest of what they’ve described as unreasonable and unsafe working conditions. It was reportedly the first major strike of Amazon workers in the U.S. during Prime Day, one of the company’s biggest sales events of the year.
► In today’s LA Times — Uber and Lyft drivers were paid up to $100 to protest a bill that could make them employees — Fighting to stave off a bill that could force them to treat their workers as employees, Uber and Lyft last week deployed an unusual weapon: a promise of extra pay to drivers willing to lobby on their behalf.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.