Make room for labor | Yakima school layoffs | Hilary vs. Emily

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

AEROSPACE

► From KUOW — Could Boeing’s leadership shakeup make more room for labor? — In the wake of Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun’s resignation announcement Monday, some industry insiders say the company’s labor groups should have a bigger seat at the table. Now, the machinists’ union is seeking a spot on the airplane manufacturer’s board. For aerospace analyst Scott Hamilton, it will all depend on who Boeing chooses to fill the CEO role:

“You need an aerospace engineer-type individual who knows production, knows aerospace production, knows the supply chain issues. They still have to learn the Boeing system, but I think you don’t want to go outside the industry.”

Today from The STAND — Boeing unions want a seat at the table — Amid executive office shakeup, IAM 751 and SPEEA want to be a part of decision-making to restore the company’s focus on safety and quality.

► From KOMO — Boeing employee unions want new leadership with engineering background, prioritize safety — Representatives with SPEEA, the professional aerospace engineers’ union representing more than 16,000 employees at Boeing, said with Calhoun’s departure, they’re hoping for leadership with an engineering background to help lead in the company’s future.

► From Reuters — Boeing may turn to outsider CEO to tackle spiraling crisis — Boeing’s board has begun the search for a big-hitter to take the helm of the troubled planemaker following the turbulent tenure of CEO Dave Calhoun, with many industry executives and analysts predicting it will seek an outside remedy.

► From the Seattle Times — CEO Calhoun just latest Boeing chief felled by scandal or disaster — Since Philip Condit’s appointment in 1996, four of the five CEOs have left in the aftermath of professional or personal scandal.

LOCAL

► From the Yakima H-R — Yakima school board approves plan to lay off more than 100 staff — Declining student enrollment and budget shortfalls led the Yakima school board to approve layoffs of more than 100 staff members. Dozens of educators and other staff members packed tightly into the district’s central offices Monday night for the decision. Some of them left the meeting with the knowledge they would not have a job in the future. Yakima Education Association paraeducators, academic specialists, counselors and English Language Development teachers saw the greatest reductions.

► From the Bellingham Herald — Neighbors said it was too noisy. Now the port is booting this waterfront business — Canadian-based company ABC Recycling’s scrap metal recycling operation along the Bellingham waterfront will end this year after a decision made by the Port of Bellingham on Monday afternoon.

► From the Bellingham Herald — Bellingham seafood processing company announces closure, putting dozens out of work — Seafood processing company Bornstein Seafoods is closing its Bellingham headquarters, laying off about 70 local workers in the process.

► From the (Everett) Herald — Judge fines Providence debt collectors for deceiving low-income patients — Optimum Outcomes must pay over $827K for withholding disclosures in nearly 83,000 bill collection notices.

► From the Seattle Times — WA’s AG, health officials raise questions about gravel yard by school — Washington state’s attorney general and health department are raising concerns about a gravel yard that’s been operating directly next to an existing elementary school in unincorporated Snohomish County.

THIS WASHINGTON

► From the WA State Standard — Democratic stalwarts take sides in race for open U.S. House seat in western Washington — A growing constellation of Democratic Party influencers are choosing sides in the duel for a U.S. House seat between Washington Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz and state Sen. Emily Randall. Randall and Franz are vying to succeed Congressman Derek Kilmer in the 6th Congressional District. Kilmer has held the seat for more than a decade.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Delegates representing unions across Washington state will consider an endorsement in this race at the Washington State Labor Council’s COPE (Committee on Political Education) Convention on Saturday, May 18 at the Machinists District 751 Hall, 9125 15th Pl. S. in Seattle. It is at this convention that delegates will gather to vote on WSLC endorsements for congressional, statewide, state legislative and judicial candidates, plus state ballot measures. By WSLC Constitution, the council’s endorsements require a two-thirds majority vote.

► From the House Democrats — Inslee signs bill providing transparency in wage data for farmworkers — Washington took a step towards ensuring fair treatment and compensation for farmworkers with the signing of HB 2226. Introduced by Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self (D-Mukilteo), the bill addresses concerns about wage suppression in the H-2A guest worker program, which has seen a 1,000% increase in participation since 2008.

► From the Tri-City Herald — Did WA Legislature drop the ball? Hundreds of Tri-Cities nuclear fuel jobs in the balance — A tax breaks-for-jobs deal between Richland and French nuclear fuel manufacturer Framatome Inc. is headed into extra innings after the 2024 Legislature adjourned without passing two key bills.

► From the WA State Standard — Federal appeals court won’t block Washington’s redrawn legislative district map — The three-judge panel’s decision means new boundaries approved March 15 will be in place for this year’s elections. But opponents can keep fighting the changes.

THAT WASHINGTON

► BREAKING from the AP — Supreme Court seems concerned about whether abortion opponents have a right to sue over medication — Supreme Court justices seemed concerned Tuesday about whether abortion opponents have the right to sue over a medication that was used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S. last year, in the court’s first abortion case since conservative justices overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago. The justices’ comments in arguments over FDA actions that eased access to the drug, mifepristone, suggest that the court could leave the current rules in place that allow patients to receive the drug through the mail, without any need for an in-person visit with a doctor, and to take the medication to induce an abortion through 10 weeks of pregnancy.

► From the union-busting Columbian — Serious legislator Patty Murray gets things done (editorial) — In an age when bluster often is confused with leadership, an unassuming senator from Washington plays a key role in ensuring the federal government remains functional. Last week, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray once again helped avert a government shutdown. The Senate passed a $1.2 trillion spending package early Saturday, after the House of Representatives had approved the deal amid much rancor. Without passage of the bill, approximately 70 percent of the federal government would have temporarily ceased operations.

► From Roll Call — Experts say Medicaid rebate change is behind inhaler price cuts — Three of the four major inhaler manufacturers have announced plans to cap patient copays for all their inhalers at $35 a month in recent weeks, in addition to lowering the list prices of some of those products. But one drugmaker also withdrew two popular children’s inhalers from the market, and the alternative is in short supply.

► From HuffPost — ‘Feeble, confused and tired’: Donald Trump torched after bizarre gaffe-filled appearance — resident Biden’s campaign on Monday released an unusually blunt statement tearing into Donald Trump as “feeble, confused, and tired” after an appearance marked by verbal stumbles as well as a bizarre social media post in which he likened himself to Christ. The former president delivered a rambling performance as his legal battles heat up.

NATIONAL

► BREAKING from the AP — Live Updates: Search underway after major bridge collapse in Baltimore — Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after a container ship lost power and rammed into the bridge early Tuesday, sending vehicles plunging into the water. Six people are still unaccounted for.

► From Fast Company — Why we’re fighting to make sure labor unions have a voice in how AI is implemented (by AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Omidyar Network CEO Mike Kubzansky) — Since last May, at least 4,000 people have lost their jobs to AI, and 70% of workers across the country live with the fear that AI is coming for theirs next. And while the technology may still be in its infancy, it’s developing fast… It doesn’t have to be this way. AI has enormous potential to build prosperity and unleash human creativity, but only if it also works for working people. Ensuring that happens requires giving the voice of workers—the people who will engage with these technologies every day, and whose lives, health, and livelihoods are increasingly affected by AI and automation—a seat at the decision-making table.

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