NEWS ROUNDUP
I-1000 / Ref. 88 for fairness ● Boeing takes a hit ● Chicago teachers take City Hall
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
ELECTION
► From KOIN — Washington will vote on Affirmative Action with Referendum 88 — Voters in Washington will have a chance to decide if they want affirmative action to contribute to college admissions, state employment and state contracting. “If there are employers who are treating their employees the way they should be and hiring the right person for the job, then this is not going to be a problem,” said Shannon Meyers with the SW Washington Central Labor Council. “The problem is there are those who are not doing it the right way and the people who are suffering are those in our community.”
► In the P.S. Business Journal — Equal access to opportunity is a moral and economic imperative (by Susan Mullaney and Angela Jones) — Referendum 88/Initiative 1000 is long overdue and is a step forward we must take together. It will begin to break down barriers to ensure that veterans, people with disabilities, women, and people of color are fairly represented in universities, jobs, and contracting. It will allow our public universities to take action to make sure the student body — and thus future workforces — better represent the diversity of our community. Join Kaiser Permanente and Washington STEM in supporting Initiative 1000.
► In the Seattle Times — Addressing the confusion I-976 created (editorial) — The baited trap of Initiative 976 awaits voters on the Nov. 5 ballot. Its beguiling promise of cheap car registrations carries destructive consequences statewide. Voters should reject it.
BOEING
► In today’s Seattle Times — Boeing profit slashed as cost of 737 MAX grounding climbs to $9.2 billion — The 737 MAX crisis slashed Boeing’s third-quarter profit in half compared with a year earlier, but the company absorbed the financial hit without any additional write-offs to cover the expenses of compensating customers and continuing to build 737 jets that it cannot deliver.
► In the Seattle Times — Boeing’s defense of 737 MAX’s flight-control system in wake of pilot messages stands up — The erratic behavior described in the 2016 chat by 737 MAX chief technical pilot Mark Forkner revealed a software bug in the MAX flight simulator he was using, a pilot training machine that he and his colleagues were then fine-tuning to get it ready for the MAX’s entry into service. It was not evidence of the flaws that later showed up on the real airplane’s new flight-control system.
THIS WASHINGTON
► In the Yakima H-R — Lack of accessible child care costing state economy — and possibly Yakima County — significantly — A dysfunctional child care industry is severely costing employers and employees statewide, a new report has discovered. Research commissioned by a state-mandated task force found that in 2017, a “broken market” cost employers $2 billion from employee turnover related to child care issues.
► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Legislative panel urged to restore voting rights to felons sooner — Washington should change its voter laws to allow convicted felons to register as soon as they leave prison as a way of helping them return to society, a legislative panel was told Tuesday.
LOCAL
► In the Willamette Week — Outback Steakhouse locations in Oregon are being used to test new employee surveillance technology — The “computer vision program,” called Presto Vision, uses pre-existing security cameras to track metrics such as the length of time it takes for food to arrive and how quickly waitstaff tend to tables, then sends data to restaurant managers. The information can then be used “to identify problems and infer whether servers, hostesses, and kitchen staff are adequately doing their jobs.”
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Port of Everett secures mill property, inks shipyard lease — Port commissioners said the moves would help rebuild Everett’s waterfront and support the Navy base.
THAT WASHINGTON
► In today’s Washington Post — Here’s the quid pro quo proof, Lindsey Graham (editorial) — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is himself a lawyer and former military prosecutor. He surely can recognize this corrupt campaign for what it is. The question is whether he, and other Republicans, have the moral courage to do so.
► From Politico — Pelosi, McConnell are on an impeachment collision course — The party leaders will need to work together to avoid a government shutdown just as House Democrats are moving to impeach Trump.
NATIONAL
► In today’s Chicago Sun-Times — Striking Chicago teachers converge outside City Hall for Lightfoot’s first budget address — After failing to reach a deal Tuesday, Chicago Public Schools canceled classes Wednesday, marking the fifth day of canceled classes and the seventh day of the teachers strike — with no end in sight. Aiming to up the pressure on Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the union is planning a 10 a.m. rally this morning around City Hall during her first budget address.
► In the Detroit Free Press — Here’s how the UAW-GM ratification process works and what members are voting on — Over the next few days some 46,000 UAW members at General Motors will vote whether to ratify or reject a 2019 tentative contract agreement. So far, the limited results appear favorable for ratification.
► From WKRN — UAW member dies after being hit by vehicle near GM plant in Tennessee — The incident happened on the bridge where striking UAW members have been picketing since mid-September amid contract talks with General Motors.
► In today’s — Amazon warehouse staff ‘treated like slaves with 10-hour shifts and short breaks’ — Exhausted staff at the Amazon warehouse in Tilbury, Essex fall asleep on the loo, were punished for trying to form a union and get reported for taking breaks longer than 10 minutes.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.