NEWS ROUNDUP
Revenue uptick ● Immigrant worker POWER ● ‘It was no secret’
Thursday, November 21, 2019
THIS WASHINGTON
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — It’s the Legislature’s turn to face a legal challenge (editorial) — As with the challenge to Tim Eyman’s I-976, the constitutional issues raised by banking associations are for courts to decide. But the path toward adoption of HB 2167’s tax increase on out-of-state banks should be of concern to all, because it points to a record of haste and a lack of due consideration that has occurred more than once in recent legislative sessions.
LOCAL
► In today’s Tri-City Herald — Contamination halts work at Hanford project. It’s the 8th worker exposure this year — Work has halted at Hanford to remove a highly radioactive spill just north of Richland after an eighth incident this year in which a worker’s clothing or skin was contaminated with radioactive waste. The 324 Building sits over a leak of radioactive cesium and strontium into the soil beneath it at the site about one mile north of Richland and about 300 yards west of the Columbia River.
BOEING
THAT WASHINGTON
EDITOR’S NOTE — The House version of the bill — which is strongly supported by the United Farm Workers, is co-sponsored by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, among others.
► In today’s Yakima H-R — Farmworker bill gains favor with House committee but Republican concerns remain — The House Judiciary Committee voiced support for an immigration bill that aims to solve critical agricultural workforce issues despite several Republican concerns during a markup that lasted several hours Wednesday. The decision to advance the bill, called the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, will be official after a recorded vote scheduled for Thursday morning. The bill is the product of several months of negotiations between a group of several House members, including Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA-4th).
► In today’s Washington Post — Trump says China isn’t ‘stepping up,’ and trade talks show signs of languishing –Nearly six weeks after claiming he had agreed “in principle” on a partial trade deal with China, Trump suggested on Wednesday that the agreement might not be finalized this year because of Chinese foot-dragging. Trump’s comments came as investors appeared to be growing impatient with his inability to deliver the promised accord.
► From Wired — Workers deserve a say in automation (by Sherrod Brown and Liz Shuler) — When the global economy shifted in the late 19th century, working people were the first to adapt. They moved to cities like Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Toledo, Ohio, and worked long hours in unsafe factories. They drove the Industrial Revolution and changed the nature of work forever. When it became clear that employers were exploiting their productivity, the labor movement formed to protest abuses like sweatshops, child labor, and poverty wages.
IMPEACHMENT
► BREAKING from the NY Times — Russia expert warns GOP: ‘Fictions’ on Ukraine help Moscow
► In today’s NY Times — Sondland has implicated the president and his top men (editorial) — “Everyone was in the loop. It was no secret.” Those are the damning words of President Trump’s handpicked ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, who on Wednesday morning directly implicated not only Trump, but also several top members of his administration, in the Ukraine shakedown scheme at the heart of the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry.
► In today’s Washington Post — Sondland’s bombshell testimony leaves Trump’s GOP allies scrambling — The bombshell testimony alleging that the president attempted to leverage an invite for the Ukrainian president in exchange for an investigation into his political opponents forced the White House to quickly recalibrate its defense of the president’s actions.
► From the AP — GOP support for Trump shows no overt signs of cracking
NATIONAL
► From CNN — Embattled UAW president resigns amid internal charges of misusing union funds — Embattled UAW President Gary Jones resigned his post Wednesday as the union’s leadership was seeking to remove him from office because he allegedly misused union funds.
► In today’s NY Times — GM sues rival over bribery scheme as union scandal expands — General Motors sued its rival Fiat Chrysler on Wednesday, asserting that it bribed UAW officials in contract negotiations to get a leg up on GM over the course of a decade. Hours after G.M. filed the lawsuit, in federal court, the union’s president resigned as the UAW took steps to oust him. The day’s events embroiled two of the country’s three biggest automakers and the union that represents their workers, a controversy the likes of which the industry has rarely experienced.
► In the Honolulu Star Advertiser — Hawaiian Airlines flight attendants vote to authorize strike — The AFA-CWA said that the tally showed a 99.9% vote to authorize a strike, with 95.1% participating. Said Master Executive Council president Sharon Soper: “Hawaiian Flight Attendants are sending an emphatic message to management: Delay is not acceptable; we demand the contract we deserve because we earn it every day. We are safety professionals, and management must acknowledge our
INTERNATIONAL
► From the AFL-CIO — Colombian workers launch general strike — Colombia’s workers, students, and rural, indigenous and Afro-descendant communities will join together in a national general strike today, Nov. 21. Unlike the strikes many of America’s workers have participated in increasingly in the past five years, Colombians are not striking against any single employer or industry.
T.G.I.T.
► The Entire Staff of The Stand today wishes Canadian singer/songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen a happy 34th birthday. Born and raised in Mission, B.C., just a few miles north of the border crossing in Sumas, Wash., Jepsen hit it big with “Call Me Maybe” in 2012. It’s too bad that’s the only song most have ever heard by her, because she’s far from a one-hit wonder. In fact, her 2019 release Dedicated is one of the better albums TESOTS has heard this year. Here she is recording a live, stripped-down version of a song from that album on a dock in Finland. The setting looks like it could be right here in the Puget Sound, sound, sound, sound, sou-o-ound. Enjoy!
(You like? Try “Too Much.”)
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.