DAILY NEWS
Domestic terrorism ● VOTE! ● Boeing SC complaints ● America is rigged
Monday, August 5, 2019
DOMESTIC TERRORISM
► From the Texas AFL-CIO — Texas AFL-CIO on El Paso shootings, white supremacy — President Rick Levy and Secretary-Treasurer Montserrat Garibay: “The related scourges of bigotry, hatred and ultra-powerful guns in the wrong hands must be addressed. Our state and nation need solutions on mass gun violence, and we need them now.”
ALSO TODAY at The Stand — Washington state’s unions recommit to combating racism
► In today’s Washington Post — Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric looms over El Paso massacre — The question is no longer whether Trump will respond to a mass shooting as other presidents once did, but whether he contributed to the carnage.
A mother died shielding her infant in El Paso. The father died shielding them both..
Jordan 25, and Andre 24 both died in the El Paso Texas Shooting. Leaving behind 3 little children. ?
KNOW THEIR NAMES
THEY ARE HEROS pic.twitter.com/MOdg814m3R
— StanceGrounded (@_SJPeace_) August 5, 2019
► In today’s Washington Post — ‘Do something!’: Ohio governor drowned out by angry chants at Dayton shooting vigil
► From The Onion — ‘No way to prevent this,’ says only nation where this regularly happens
ELECTION
► In the (Everett) Herald — Not registered? You can still vote in the primary election
LOCAL
► In the Peninsula Clarion — Striking ferry workers, Alaska reach tentative deal — The state of Alaska and the union representing striking ferry workers on Friday announced they have reached an agreement that could end the work stoppage that cost millions of dollars and stranded passengers in coastal communities. Terms of the three-year deal will not be disclosed until Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific members ratify the agreement, which could come as soon as Monday, state officials said.
► In the Bellingham Herald — Alaska ferry service to Bellingham will resume after three-year deal ends strike
ALSO at The Stand — State’s unions to Providence: Put patients before profits!
► In the NW Labor Press — Following nine firings, Portland’s Little Big Burger stays non-union — Workers at Portland burger chain Little Big Burger voted 41 to 29 to stay non-union in a July 23 election that the company asked the NLRB to hold. The vote came after as many as nine union supporters were fired by the company in the weeks and months after all-volunteer Little Big Union went public March 16.
BOEING
► In the Charleston Post and Courier — Airline surveys point to ongoing production problems at Boeing’s SC plant — Some of the airlines buying 787 Dreamliners built at Boeing Co.’s North Charleston campus are complaining about “unacceptable” production mistakes and poor quality, and analysts say the criticism points to issues deep within the aerospace giant’s culture. While workers at the Dreamliner factory have previously reported quality lapses, this is the first time such private criticism from Boeing’s customers has been made public.
THIS WASHINGTON
► In the Columbian — Change comes to state health care plans for school employees — The Washington State Health Care Authority last week announced the latest details in a slowly trickling stream of information about new school employee health care plans: the monthly premiums staff can expect to pay. It’s the most recent bit of information about massive changes coming to the way Washington insures school employees, from bus drivers to administrators.
► In today’s Yakima H-R — School health insurance plans sealed, making Yakima monthly employee contributions as low as $13
► In today’s Seattle Times — Here’s to Olympia’s long tradition of inclusiveness (editorial) — Speaker-designate Laurie Jinkins’ list of legislative priorities is already extensive, with pressing debates across the policy map to navigate in the coming session. Her pioneer status is a powerful platform to forge stronger connections between Washington citizens and state government.
ALSO at The Stand — WSLC endorses Carolyn Long for Congress in 3rd District
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers to appear at town hall Wednesday at Gonzaga University — The event will not require online ticketing, as has been required in at least the past two town halls the congresswoman has held in the district. The events are usually held during the August recess. It will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Globe Room at Cataldo Hall at Gonzaga and is scheduled to last until 6:30 p.m.
THAT WASHINGTON
► From HuffPost — Will Trump work with Congress to fix NAFTA or will he break his promises to working people? (by Ian Robinson) — During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump portrayed NAFTA as a terrible deal for American workers that he’d either rewrite or exit. This promise was a key contributor to his narrow victories in manufacturing states like Michigan. Now, he is pressing Congress to approve revisions to NAFTA that his trade team negotiated. Has Trump kept his election promise? The short answer is no. But there is still time for Trump to fix an agreement that harmed workers in all three countries and continues to do so today.
NATIONAL
► In today’s Atlanta J-C — Southeast workers rally in Atlanta amid contract talks with AT&T — Hundreds of AT&T workers and union leaders rallied outside the telecommunication giant’s Midtown Center on Saturday for fair wages and job security. The event was organized by the CWA, which represents more than 150,000 AT&T technicians, customer service and call center representatives and retail store employees. About 20,000 workers across the nine Southeastern states, including 4,000 in Georgia, are negotiating their contracts with the company.
► From CNN — Flights canceled, major roads blocked as Hong Kong protests escalate — After calling for general strikes, protesters started the day by blocking subway doors across the city, throwing the transport system into chaos. More than 100 flights were cancelled at Hong Kong airport as ground workers went on strike. There were also disruptions at government offices, beaches — and even Hong Kong Disneyland.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
Reversing that won’t be easy, but it is vital we do so. There are myriad proposals to restore some balance, from having workers elect representatives to corporate boards to making it easier for workers to unionize to expanding public financing of political campaigns to prevent wealthy and corporate donors from often dominating. America’s workers won’t stop thinking the system is rigged until they feel they have an effective voice in the workplace and in policymaking so that they can share in more of the economy’s prosperity to help improve their — and their loved ones’ — lives.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.