Wednesday, January 8, 2020

LOCAL

► In today’s Spokesman-Review — Sacred Heart nurses reach tentative agreement with Providence officials — Nurses at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center reached a tentative contract agreement early Friday that could help avert a feared strike. The Washington State Nurses Association and Providence officials entered marathon negotiation sessions after the threat last week of a statewide strike with other unions led to further discussions between both parties. The tentative agreement, which was reached at 3 a.m., includes enhanced language on staffing levels and workplace violence and protects paid time off and extended illness benefits, according to the WSNA.

PREVIOUSLY at The Stand:

WSNA nurses at Sacred Heart reach Tentative Agreement — The WSNA, UFCW 21 and SEIU Healthcare 1199NW credit their unity in contract talks with Providence for the progress and vow to continue fighting for fair contracts for all healthcare workers at Providence hospitals throughout Washington state.

Support Providence workers at candlelight vigils TODAY — All union members and community supporters are urged to join members of all three unions at Candlelight Vigils for Patient Safety from 5 to 6 p.m. this Wednesday, Jan. 8 at Providence hospitals throughout the state.

► In today’s Seattle Times — PCC to open store in Central District space abandoned by New Seasons — The store is expected to open within six months and employ 100 people in union-represented positions (UFCW 21), about half of whom would be recruited from the neighborhood, as is the co-op’s stated practice.

PREVIOUSLY at The Stand — As New Seasons store closes, UFCW 21 acts to help workers

► In today’s Seattle Times — Macy’s in Burlington, Walla Walla to close as the retailer cuts underperforming locations — The closures, two of nearly 20 Macy’s stores nationwide slated for closure in 2020, according to media reports, will mean the loss of 114 jobs in Burlington and 50 in Walla Walla.

► In the Skagit Valley Herald — Burlington Macy’s to close early this year

► In the Walla Walla U-B — Macy’s closing Walla Walla store

► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Not all are college bound; local students have a new option — Early in high school, Wyatt Brickey, 17, knew that a four-year university was not in his future. He is now enrolled in the Regional Apprenticeship Pathways Program. The goal is to help teenagers learn trade skills while they earn a high school diploma, similar to the Everett-based Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center that provides instruction in many fields… “I’ve always wanted something that’s not like traditional schooling, and this is exactly what I wanted,” Brickey said.

BOEING

► In today’s Washington Post — Ukrainian passenger jet carrying over 170 people crashes in Iran, killing all on board — A Ukrainian passenger jet (Boeing 737-800) carrying more than 170 people from Tehran suddenly plummeted into a field early Wednesday without a mayday from the cockpit, killing all aboard and leaving investigators hoping that recovered flight data can offer clues on the cause. Flight passengers and crew included Iranians, Canadians and Europeans… About four hours earlier, Iranian forces launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles into Iraq, targeting a joint U.S.-Iraqi air base in response to an American airstrike last week that killed the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

► In today’s Washington Post — After the Boeing crash near Tehran, who will investigate? — Past crashes involving U.S. planemaker Boeing’s aircraft have compelled U.S. foes to overcome their resentments and allow American experts access to crash sites or to crucial evidence, because those countries lacked the capabilities or experience to lead complex investigations alone.

► In today’s Seattle Times — Boeing, reversing itself, says all 737 MAX pilots will need costly flight simulator training — Interim Boeing CEO Greg Smith said the change in approach was spurred because “public, customer and stakeholder confidence in the 737 MAX is critically important to us.”

► In the Wichita Eagle — Spirit AeroSystems offers voluntary layoffs amid Boeing 737 MAX uncertainty — It’s “a first step” in cost-cutting measures the company is taking after Spirit halted production of the 737 Max on Jan. 1. To deal with the stop in production, Spirit will likely have to reduce its workforce, Spirit President and CEO Tom Gentile said. He did not say how many jobs will be lost but warns of “many difficult decisions in the days and weeks ahead.”

► From KNKX — Moses Lake airport close to maxing out on Boeing 737 storage — The plane maker plans to deploy a fresh wave of mechanics across the mountains to maintain the large fleet until those planes can fly again.

THIS WASHINGTON

► In today’s Seattle Times — Sign of the times: Being labeled a domestic terrorist may be making Rep. Matt Shea more popular (by Danny Westneat) — Rep. Matt Shea, officially “R-Spokane Valley” but known to his Christian militia buddies by his code name, “Verum Bellator,” or “True Warrior,” may be riding a wave of popularity after an explosive state report alleged he had “planned, engaged in and promoted a total of three armed conflicts of political violence against the United States Government” over a three-year period… If plotting armed insurrection isn’t grounds for getting kicked out, what is? Yes these are just allegations, and yes Shea deserves ample chances to defend himself (he refused any contact with this House-ordered investigation, then called it a sham — remind you of anyone?) But the state ought to at least convene some hearings.

THAT WASHINGTON

► In today’s Seattle Times — Washington’s U.S. representatives are wrong to join anti-abortion push (editorial) — Disappointingly, Washington’s Republican representatives have all joined the call for the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn decades of abortion rulings… By supporting the most extreme and jurisprudence-altering argument, Republican Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Dan Newhouse and Jaime Herrera Beutler have shown disregard for American legal norms and rights Washington voters chose to enshrine in law. Voters must hold them accountable for this choice.

EDITOR’S NOTE — With the 2019 passage of Resolution #31, “the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, affirms that reproductive rights are workers’ rights and will defend and support efforts to obtain and maintain health care for working people covering all reproductive rights choices.”

NATIONAL

► From U.S. News — As minimum wage rises, suicide rates fall — Minimum wage laws can be a literal lifesaver for people who are struggling to get by, a new study suggests. The suicide rate declines among less-educated folks when the minimum wage is increased, researchers discovered. States experience as much as a 6% decrease in their suicide rates for every $1 increase in the minimum wage, said the lead researcher for the Emory University study.

► In today’s LA Times — U-Haul’s anti-nicotine policy is creepy and inappropriate (editorial) — Starting Feb. 1, the company says it will no longer hire people who use nicotine, or at least that it will do so in the 21 states where it is legal to have such a policy, which does not, thankfully, include California… U-Haul is not the only company to adopt strict anti-nicotine policies for employees; Alaska Airlines did so 35 years ago, but this kind of discrimination is still rare enough to be startling and concerning… U-Haul should revoke this discriminatory policy and go back to promoting its workers’ health in a positive manner.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Washington is among the 21 states that allow employers to enact a nicotine-free policy.

► From Deadline — SAG-AFTRA HQ in L.A. and N.Y. evacuated, closed after phone threat; LAPD finds ‘no suspicious device’ — SAG-AFTRA’s offices in Los Angeles and New York were evacuated Tuesday after receiving an unspecified threat of an attack.

The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.