Wednesday, August 2, 2023

LOCAL

► From the Seattle Times — 7 takeaways from Seattle and King County primary election results — For King County Council District 4, Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda looks certain to face Burien City Councilmember and Mayor Sofia Aragon in the general election. Mosqueda led Aragon 55% to 40% on Tuesday night. That margin could always narrow as more votes are cast, but it puts Mosqueda in a strong position heading into the general election.

LOCAL ELECTION RESULTS from the (Aberdeen) Daily World, Bellingham Herald, Cascadia Daily News, (Centralia) Chronicle, (Ellensburg) Daily Record, (Everett) Herald, Kitsap Sun, (Longview) Daily News, Olympian, Peninsula Daily News, Seattle Times, Skagit Valley Herald, (Spokane) Spokesman-Review, (Tacoma) News Tribune, Tri-City Herald, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, Wenatchee World, Yakima Herald, and from the union-busting (Vancouver) Columbian.

► From the PS Business Journal — WestRock will close 94-year-old paper mill in Tacoma — Atlanta-based WestRock Co. said Tuesday it will permanently close the paper mill in Tacoma’s Tideflats on Sept. 30. WestRock said high operating costs and the need for significant capital investment led to the closure. The mill currently employs about 400 people. The workers will receive severance and outplacement assistance, according to a news release.

THIS WASHINGTON

► From Crosscut — What WA’s new wildfire smoke rules might mean for outdoor workers — Washington could be the second state to impose permanent safety regulations, but employers and workplace advocates disagree on the proposal.

TODAY at The Stand — WSLC resolutions chart course for Washington’s ‘voice of labor’ — Among the resolutions approved by delegates at the 2023 Convention of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO: Resolution 2023.26 on safe working climates — As climate chaos leads to higher temperatures and more wildfires, the WSLC will advocate to strengthen protections for outdoor workers from excessive heat and smoke, support state rulemaking for indoor heat and air quality standards and mitigation, and “support capital funding requests to assist school districts, local governments, state government, and non-profit service providers to update HVAC systems to increase air filtration and provide air conditioning.”

► From the Washington State Standard — Washington weighs in against Idaho law restricting out-of-state abortions — A lawsuit filed in federal court is challenging the law, which threatens penalties against people who help minors access abortion care beyond Idaho’s borders.

► From Politico — Idaho health care providers can refer patients for abortions out of state, judge rules — A federal judge has ruled that it would violate Idaho medical providers’ free speech rights to sanction them for referring patients to out-of-state abortion services, rejecting the state attorney general’s interpretation of Idaho’s abortion ban.

THAT WASHINGTON

► From the Washington Post — Trump charged in probe of Jan. 6, efforts to overturn 2020 election — A grand jury indicted former president Donald Trump on Tuesday for a raft of alleged crimes in his brazen efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory — the latest legal and political aftershock stemming from the riot at the U.S. Capitol 2½ years ago. The four-count, 45-page indictment accuses Trump, who is again running for president, of conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, attempting to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiring against people’s civil right to have their vote counted. The maximum potential sentence on the most serious charge is 20 years in prison.

► From the NY Times — Trump’s case has broad implications for American democracy — The third indictment of the former president is the first to get to the heart of the matter: Can a sitting leader of the country spread lies to hold onto power even after voters reject him?

► From HuffPost — ‘I want justice’: Capitol Police officers react to Trump’s Jan. 6 indictment — “Our justice system has a duty to try those who commit crimes, and Donald Trump must answer for his,” said a former officer.

► From the Federal News Network — VA, AFGE reach ‘historic’ settlement to reinstate, compensate thousands of wrongfully fired feds — Thousands of former Department of Veterans Affairs employees will soon have the option to return to work, after the VA reached a settlement agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees. The agreement will let former VA employees who were terminated for minor offenses under the 2017 VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act choose between either getting reinstated at VA or receiving compensation.

The Stand (July 28) — Take action: Tell Congress to oppose misguided VA firing bill

AEROSPACE

► From Reuters — Spirit AeroSystems lowers 737 delivery prediction after strike hit — Spirit AeroSystems took $104.7 million in reach forward losses on Boeing and Airbus programs during its second quarter and will deliver a lower number of 737 fuselages in 2023 due to a roughly two-week work stoppage at a key production site, the company said on Wednesday.

NATIONAL

► From Vox — Why everyone is on strike — Everyone, it seems, is on strike or threatening to be. Not only have delivery drivers, teachers, and hotel workers taken to picket lines in recent months, so have the people who play them on TV. Here’s why 2023 is a perfect storm for strikes.

► From the AP — Striking writers and studios will meet this week to discuss restarting negotiations — Writers Guild of America leaders told striking Hollywood writers Tuesday night that they plan to meet with representatives for studios to discuss restarting negotiations after the first official communication between the two sides since the strike began three months ago.

► From Variety — WGA East President Michael Winship will not run for re-election

► From the LA Times — SAG-AFTRA brings its labor fight to New York — SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher came home Tuesday to New York as striking actors gathered outside of City Hall in a show of support nearly three weeks after they staged a nationwide walkout against the Hollywood studios.

► From the LA Times — As actors and writers push back on automation, Hollywood is in the midst of an AI hiring boom — Amid a pair of Hollywood strikes that have found screenwriters and actors questioning the rise of artificial intelligence, studios and streaming companies are bulking up on AI staff.

► From the LA Times — Taylor Swift, please postpone: Officials make request in show of support for hotel strikers

► From the Washington Post — Amazon mastered the internet. Grocery stores are a different story. — Lawsuits and layoffs now litter Amazon’s years-long path to conquering the brick-and-mortar grocery store. Now the company is making big changes — cutting shifts, killing hundreds of jobs, even supplementing the store’s signature high-tech systems with traditional checkout options. Last week, hundreds of Amazon Fresh employees across the country found out via conference call that the company was eliminating their jobs. Said one employee:

“We are asked to cover multiple stations as they don’t schedule properly and don’t have enough staff. That can lead to people not taking proper safety measures.”

► From NPR — Amazon may have met its match in the grocery aisles

EDITOR’S NOTE — Ready for a voice at work? 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 organizer today!

► From the AP — More teachers are quitting their jobs. Educators of color often are more likely to leave. — Aspects of Rhonda Hicks’ job deteriorated, such as growing demands from administrators over what and how to teach. And when she retires in a few weeks, she will join a disproportionately high number of Black and Hispanic teachers in her state who are leaving the profession.

► From the Guardian — ‘The cruelty Olympics’: Texas workers condemn elimination of water breaks — Outdoor workers express anger and fear of potential repercussions after governor rescinds mandatory breaks amid extreme heat.

T.G.I.W.

► The Entire Staff of The Stand is off the rest of the week.

Today, we honor the memory of the late great actor Paul Reubens, who passed away this week after a long, private struggle with cancer. We are so grateful we went to the 35th anniversary tour of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure at Seattle’s Moore Theater right in December 2019, right before COVID struck. It was a thrill to watch a screening of the film with a crowd of fellow fans and then have Reubens come out and tell stories about the making of the movie. Here he is in that classic biker scene where he introduced The Champs’ “Tequila” to a new generation of fans. Reubens was a true original and will be missed. R.I.P., Pee-wee.

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