DAILY NEWS
Why UW docs will walk ● Trump’s ‘favor’ ● Google contractors unionize
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
LOCAL
► From Crosscut — 80-hour weeks, bad pay, exhaustion: Here’s why UW medical residents are walking out (by Drs. Kisha Clune and — We are the 1,300 resident physicians and dentists at UW. We are the people caring for you in the emergency room and at clinics across Seattle. We are performing your surgeries, reading your X-rays, curing your maladies. We love what we do, but we pay a price for this job. Many of us work 80-hour weeks and 28-hour shifts for what amounts to minimum wage. We carry an average debt burden of over $190,000. And because of years of harsh working environments, we suffer not only from high rates of incredibly prevalent burnout syndrome, but also depression and suicide. The medical training process locks us into these residency positions with virtually no freedom to leave or change jobs. Our working conditions compromise our health and ability to care for our patients.
ALSO at The Stand — UW’s Resident, Fellow physicians need fair pay, will walk out Sept. 25
► ICYMI from KNKX — Kaiser Permanente workers in Puget Sound area won’t be part of upcoming strike action — A one-week strike planned by 80,000 Kaiser Permanente workers for October does not include Puget Sound-area employees. That’s because the union contract between SEIU Healthcare 1199NW and Kaiser Permanente in Seattle, Tacoma and elsewhere in the region isn’t up until the end of the year. But union workers at clinics in Southwest Washington will be part of any strike.
► In today’s Seattle Times — Dairy and bottling plant fined nearly $2M over worker injuries, amputations — After multiple violations that left workers with broken bones and amputated limbs, the Battle Ground-based dairy Andersen Dairy and bottling plant Andersen Plastics was slapped with a nearly $2 million fine by the Department of Labor and Industries… In the last five years, the companies had more than 100 workers’ compensation claims totaling $527,292.
BOEING
► From Bloomberg — Boeing revamps safety oversight after review of 737 Max crashes — Boeing aims to sharpen its focus on safety after the 737 Max’s grounding ends, forming a new oversight panel and recommending changes to the planemaker’s structure and design practices.
► In the Columbia Basin Herald — Boeing looking at 18-month horizon for 737 MAX storage — Everett-based Chicago-based aerospace giant Boeing is preparing for the possibility that its expanding fleet of 737 MAX aircraft will sit at the Grant County International Airport until late fall of 2020.
IMPEACHMENT
► In today’s Washington Post — Pelosi announces impeachment inquiry, says Trump’s courting of foreign political help is a ‘betrayal of national security’ — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the extraordinary step Tuesday of initiating impeachment proceedings against President Trump, accusing him of violating the Constitution in seeking help from a foreign leader to damage a political opponent.
► In today’s NY Times — Congress steps up, Trump blinks (editorial) — Democrats are not content to receive a transcript provided by the administration. Nor should they be. The allegations at hand are complicated and serious and call for the whistle-blower complaint in its entirety to be handed over to Congress. (The complaint is said to be about multiple concerning acts.)
► In today’s Seattle Times — Trump team must disclose full whistleblower complaint (editorial) — Just releasing a transcript of the call and a redacted version of the complaint, which the White House agreed to do Tuesday, is not enough.
► In today’s Seattle Times — ‘Donald Trump is the smoking gun’: Washington state’s Rep. Pramila Jayapal says no inquiry needed to impeach him
► From Politico — Trump legal team steps into a battle like none before — The House’s new impeachment inquiry will test Trump’s army of lawyers — and the president’s rhetoric that this is actually good for him and Republicans come 2020.
► Robert Reich explains what will happen…
THAT WASHINGTON
► Fro Vox — 1.3 million winners and 2.8 million losers from Trump’s new overtime rule — AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called the new rule “disgraceful… [This] is part of a growing list of policies from the Trump administration aimed at undermining the economic stability of America’s working people,” he tweeted in March when the Trump administration revealed its scaled-back version of the rule. The White House’s decision to approve the change is the Trump administration’s latest victory in its quest to undo Obama-era regulations meant to benefit workers.
ALSO at The Stand — State’s overtime pay comment period ends; final rule coming in Dec.
► From NBC — Federal employees union says Trump administration stripping away workers’ rights — The largest union of federal government employees said it is under attack by the Trump administration. Hundreds gathered to rally in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, saying their right to a fair and safe workplace is at risk, and that federal workers across the country could suffer. “The Trump administration is assaulting our collective bargaining rights,” said AFGE President J. David Cox.
EDITOR’S NOTE — The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1865, says: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Many immigration detainees have not been convicted of anything, yet the private company running is allowed to pay them just $1 a day. That’s modern-day slavery. Period.
NATIONAL
EDITOR’S NOTE — Tired of precarious employment? Get a union! Find out 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 organizer today!
► In the Detroit News — GM-UAW negotiations appear to be intensifying: Why it’s taking so long — Wednesday is the 10th day of the UAW’s strike against General Motors, with costs mounting and thousands of workers at suppliers and Canadian plants laid off, and no tentative agreement yet. Negotiators met until late evening Tuesday and resumed Wednesday morning with subcommittees talking at all levels.
ALSO at The Stand — Sign open letter of support for UAW strikers
► From Splinter News — Chipotle workers walk out over labor complaints — Workers at Chipotle Mexican Grille in New York City went on strike Tuesday over complaints about labor violations. SEIU 32BJ said that more than 20 Chipotle restaurants in the city are facing complaints about last-minute scheduling.
NOTHING TO SEA HERE
► From Politico — UN report warns of accelerating sea level rise in a warming world — Sea levels are currently rising ‘more than twice as fast’ than in the 20th century and faster than previously estimated, according to the report.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.