NEWS ROUNDUP
Wash. unions rising ● Shea’s (still) unfit ● Miller’s latest outrage
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
THIS WASHINGTON
ALSO at The Stand:
— Freedom Foundation keeps spending, failing (by Peter Starzynski, June 18, 2019) — One year after Janus, the right-wing group’s plan to destroy unions in Washington and along the West Coast is a complete failure. In fact, its backfiring on them.
— Unions in Washington state post big membership gains (Jan. 18, 2019) — With an additional 65,000 workers joining the ranks last year, there are now an estimated 649,000 union members in Washington, making it the third most unionized state in the nation.
► From KOMO News — New report ranks Washington state’s community colleges as best in U.S. — The new report ranked hundreds of U.S. schools based on 19 different criteria, including costs, efficiency, retention rates, graduation rates and career outcomes. When all of the criteria were counted up, Washington state’s community college system had the highest average score of any state.
► From The Stranger — Will Jay Inslee run for a third term as Governor? Probably. (by Rich Smith) — He hasn’t ruled out the possibility of seeking a third term, and—according to a few anonymous consultants—he doesn’t look like a guy who’s ready to hang up the keys yet. You can’t look millions of people in the eye and tell them that you’re going to do everything you can to fix climate change and then retire from government to lobby for a solar panel company.
BOEING
LOCAL
► From KNKX — Seattle educators and the school district try to reach a new contract; Tacoma also bargaining
► In the (Longview) Daily News — State Court of Appeals judges uphold DNR’s denial of Millennium sublease — Millennium Bulk Terminals years-long proposal to build a coal terminal in Longview received another blow Tuesday after a state appeals court sided with the state Department of Natural Resources’ 2017 decision to deny the company a sublease needed to build a dock in the Columbia River.
EDITOR’S NOTE — As the Capital Press reports, Zirkle received a DOL notice in July that the state’s prevailing wage for blueberry harvest had increased from 50 cents to 75 cents per pound based on state Employment Security Department wage surveys. These prevailing wage rates are established to keep growers from exploiting the federal H-2A agricultural guestworker program to suppress wage rates. Zirkle hired 4,169 H-2A workers for tree fruit and blueberries in 2018, up 40% from the year before, according to DOL.
► A related story in today’s Yakima H-R — Zirkle to end apple packing operations in Prosser — Zirkle Fruit Co. will close its apple packing operation in Prosser, which will lead to about 300 workers losing jobs starting in October, the company said Tuesday. Zirkle will consolidate its apple packing operation at its Selah facility.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Postal Service employees ‘are the hardest working group’ (letter by David Yao) — The Postal Service is viewed favorably by 84% of the public, the highest rating of any federal agency, according to the Pew Research Center. This trust has been earned since its inception in 1775, despite the recent chorus of anti-government rhetoric from ideologues.
THAT WASHINGTON
EDITOR’S NOTE — “Stephen Miller is a white nationalist,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) previously tweeted. “The fact that he still has influence on policy and political appointments is an outrage.” This is the guy who was the “mastermind” behind the Muslim travel ban and Trump’s child separation policy.
► From Politico — Trump team braces GOP donors for a potential ‘moderate and short’ recession — At a fundraising luncheon this week in Jackson, Wyo., headlined by both Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney acknowledged the risks of recession to the GOP elite behind closed doors. If the U.S. were to face a recession, it would be “moderate and short,” Mulvaney told roughly 50 donors.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Meanwhile, while wealthy political donors get the real heads-up, here’s what the general public gets today via Twitter…
The Fake News LameStream Media is doing everything possible the “create” a U.S. recession, even though the numbers & facts are working totally in the opposite direction. They would be willing to hurt many people, but that doesn’t matter to them. Our Economy is sooo strong, sorry!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 21, 2019
► In today’s Washington Post — Here are eight reasons to be skeptical of Trump’s payroll tax cut talk — Trump’s significant history of failing to follow through with his own plans, and falling short of his own metrics of success for economic stewardship, should cast serious doubt about a payroll tax cut’s viability.
► From The Hill — Sanders unveils plan to double union membership in first term — Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) unveiled his “Workplace Democracy” plan aimed at doubling union membership in his first term and boosting middle class wages.
- That workers be allowed to organize and bargain across geographies, industries and occupations.
- That federal labor laws be the floor and not the ceiling when it comes to union protections.
- That all recipients of government contracts agree to pay workers a minimum of $15 an hour and have what Henry calls “a real opportunity to form a union.”
- And that union jobs need to be at “the center of any major effort to fix our economy,” including programs such as the Green New Deal.
NATIONAL
ALSO at The Stand — Airline food workers vote by 99.7% to strike (June 13, 2019) — Airline food workers who prepare, pack, and deliver food and beverages served onboard Alaska, American, United, and other airlines on flights departing from Sea-Tac International Airport voted by a 99.7 percent majority to strike when released by the National Mediation Board. The strike vote at Sea-Tac was part of the largest such vote ever to occur in the U.S. airline catering industry, with thousands of workers voting in 21 cities.
► In today’s Washington Post — Corporate panic about capitalism could be a turning point (by David Ignatius) — “Evolve or die,” wrote hedge-fund billionaire Ray Dalio in a manifesto published in April titled “Why and How Capitalism Needs to Be Reformed.” With each passing month, more business executives have been joining this unlikely crusade to save capitalism from itself. The loudest reform call yet from inside the system came this week from the Business Roundtable, which represents the chief executives of 192 of the nation’s largest companies. Most of its members signed a statement declaring that making profits for shareholders isn’t a corporation’s sole responsibility. Instead, companies have a broader mission to serve customers, employees, suppliers and communities, too.
► In the Buffalo News — Spot Coffee workers vote to form a union; campaign called ‘groundbreaking’ — Spot Coffee employees have voted, 43-6, to form a union, making them some of the only barista workers in the country with union representation.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Get more information about how you can join together with co-workers and negotiate a fair return for your hard work. Or go ahead and contact a union organizertoday!
► From Vox — DoorDash is still pocketing workers’ tips, almost a month after it promised to stop — It’s been almost a month since the delivery company promised workers it would offer details about its new tipping policy “in the coming days.”
► In the Minneapolis Star-Tribune — Del Monte to close Sleepy Eye plant; will layoff all workers — It will permanently close the 89-year-old Minnesota facility as part of a broader decision by Del Monte’s parent company, Singapore-based Del Monte Pacific Limited, to sell or close many of its U.S. assets.
► From Bloomberg — Amazon opens its largest campus building anywhere, in India — Amazon.com Wednesday opened its largest campus building globally in the south Indian city of Hyderabad as it prepares for a furious expansion and battle with nemesis Walmart in one of the world’s fastest-growing retail markets.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.