NEWS ROUNDUP
Boeing’s move | Save the CCA | Federal workers targeted
Friday, October 25, 2024
MACHINISTS STRIKE at BOEING
► From the Seattle Times — As Machinists strike extends, Boeing is running out of runway — For Boeing, waiting until the Machinists give in from the impact of lost income is probably not a viable option. Before then, Boeing’s own financial distress would intensify and its already-stressed supply chain could sustain long-term damage. Scott Hamilton, founder of aviation consulting firm Leeham.net, says Boeing has no choice but to give more to the Machinists. “Will they have to come through and make a new offer? Well, obviously they will,” he said.
► From the AP — Vote to continue strike exposes Boeing workers’ anger over lost pensions — Jon Holden, the president of IAM District 751, which represents the striking workers, said after the vote that if Boeing is unwilling to restore the pension plan, “we’ve got to get something that replaces it.” Bank of America analysts estimate that Boeing is losing about $50 million a day during the strike. If it goes 58 days — the average of the last several strikes at Boeing — the cost could reach nearly $3 billion. “We see more benefit to (Boeing) improving the deal further and reaching a faster resolution,” the analysts said. “In the long run, we see the benefits of making a generous offer and dealing with increased labor inputs outpacing the financial strain caused by prolonged disruptions.”
Editor’s note: it’s the perfect time to join the Machinists on the line or support their strike fund and strike kitchens.
LOCAL
► From the Washington State Standard — CDC confirms two people in Washington infected with bird flu — There is no evidence of human-to-human spread of the disease at this time — all identified infections are among workers who had contact with infected birds or their environments, the Washington State Department of Health said Thursday morning.
► From the Seattle Times — Here are the four schools Seattle proposes closing next year — The plan to close North Beach, Sacajawea, Sanislo and Stevens elementary schools will yield only about $5 million in savings, Superintendent Brent Jones said Thursday.
► From the (Everett) Herald — Marysville seeks input from parents on school closures — The district does not yet know the impacts the closures may have on staff, spokesperson Jodi Runyon said Thursday in an email, because it’s not clear which schools will close. Staff from closed schools would follow students, with the possible exception of support staff and administration, Runyon said.
AEROSPACE
► From the AP — 4 astronauts return to Earth after being delayed by Boeing’s capsule trouble and Hurricane Milton — Four astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after a nearly eight-month space station stay extended by Boeing’s capsule trouble and Hurricane Milton. A SpaceX capsule carrying the crew parachuted before dawn into the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida coast after undocking from the International Space Station mid-week.
CONTRACT FIGHTS
► From the Michigan Advance — Fain rallies with Stellantis UAW members at Trenton plant ahead of strike authorization vote — The UAW says that Stellantis is trying to “backtrack” on agreements to reopen the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois and build the next generation Dodge Durango in Detroit. Attending the rally were Laura Dickerson, UAW Region 1A director; Dave Gerbi, Local 372 president; and U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit). “You’re asking for your fair share of making them money and putting cars on the road,” said Tlaib.
► From the Washington Post — CVS workers reach tentative contract agreement after weekend strike — The unions representing more than 7,000 CVS workers in Southern California have reached a tentative agreement on a contract after workers went on strike over the weekend demanding better pay, staffing, and more affordable healthcare.
► From FOX 12 Oregon — Healthcare workers vote to authorize first doctors’ strike in Oregon history — The Oregon Nurses Association says doctors, physician associates, nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and clinic nurses from Providence Women’s Clinic and Providence St. Vincent Hospital voted to authorize their bargaining teams to call for a strike if necessary. If a strike is called, it would be the first doctors’ strike in Oregon history, according to ONA. It also would come on the heels of Providence nurses holding the largest nursing strike in the state’s history.
► From Teamsters — Teamsters Ratify Western Regional Agreement with Hertz — The agreement covers nearly 3,000 Teamsters represented by locals in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington. These essential Teamsters work in a variety of roles at several major airports in the Western United States, including Albuquerque International Airport, Eugene Airport, Denver International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
ORGANIZING
When we fight, WE WIN! Hotel workers at the Hilton Columbus Downtown made history – they won their union election and are the first union hotel in Columbus! pic.twitter.com/BSJlBL7Ecr
— UNITE HERE Local 24 (@uhlocal24) October 25, 2024
NATIONAL
► From Mediaite — Heritage-Funded Group Publishes ‘Target’ List of ‘Subversive’ Bureaucrats — A group funded by the far-right Heritage Foundation think tank published a list of federal officials it referred to as “targets.” Targets for what? The site, titled “DHS Watchlist,” does not specify.
► From AFGE:
Creating watchlists of so-called subversives inside government is a tactic straight out of the McCarthy era, plain in its intent to terrorize individual civil servants and frighten other Americans away from getting involved in politics and public service.https://t.co/00A2d85tID
— Everett Kelley (@AFGEPrezKelley) October 24, 2024
Editor’s note: a brief look at this fascist website shows a list of “Top 10 Targets” — they are all women and/or people of color.
► From Yahoo Finance — UNITE HERE’s “Resort Fee Ripoff” Website Spotlights Widespread Customer Anger Over Unfair Fees — UNITE HERE is hearing from customers who are sick of paying resort fees for basic hotel services like WiFi, water, and gym access, or for amenities they didn’t want in the first place. Now, travel websites are sharing that these complaints are showing up in their reviews.
► From the United Farm Workers:
Today is Larry Itliong Day in CA, honoring the Filipino American labor leader whose union members began the Delano Grape Strike on 9/8/65. They asked Cesar Chavez’s National Farm Workers Association to join their picket lines. The rest is history. More @ https://t.co/PLDakcyR1G pic.twitter.com/XXXGffeq11
— United Farm Workers (@UFWupdates) October 25, 2024
► From the New York Times — Companies to Pay $101.9 Million to Settle Baltimore Bridge Collapse Lawsuit — “Nearly seven months after one of the worst transportation disasters in recent memory, which claimed six lives and caused untold damage, we have reached an important milestone with today’s settlement,” Benjamin C. Mizer, the principal deputy associate attorney general, said in a statement.
POLITICS & POLICY
► From the New York Times — The ‘Greenest Governor’ Fights to Save a Landmark Climate Law — “This is the single most important election, other than the White House, in the United States,” Mr. Inslee told supporters at a union hall this month in Everett, about 25 miles north of Seattle. The vote on the measure, Initiative 2117, is being watched across the country and around the world as government leaders struggle with how to put in place plans with enough potency to drastically alter carbon emissions — the primary cause of global warming — while answering to voters concerned about the costs.
► From the Cascadia Daily News — Candidates wrestle with need to fix infrastructure while planning for green future — State Rep. Liz Lovelett, running for reelection in District 40, is a self-professed infrastructure lover and a proponent of the CCA. “Creating a program that uses an economy-wide solution to meet our emission goals, reduce pollution, invest in transit, build ferries, leverage federal funds to do big projects like a hydrogen generation hub — this is how we are going to build the economy of the future,” Lovelett told Cascadia Daily News.
► From the AP — Biden tries again at student loan cancellation, this time for those with financial hardships –The Biden administration is moving ahead with a new path to student loan cancellation for Americans who face steep medical bills, child care costs and other types of financial hardship that prevent them from repaying their loans. If finalized, the new rule would allow the Education Department to proactively cancel loans for borrowers if the agency determines they have an 80% chance of being in default on their loans within two years.
► From NBC — Teamsters engage fellow members to boost Harris in battleground Wisconsin — “I will contrast this with the type of top-down astroturf organizing that Elon Musk is attempting somewhat unsuccessfully,” Josh Orton, Harris’ senior adviser for labor, said of the Teamsters efforts. “For these types of peer-to-peer conversations to be successful, to be trusted, to be persuasive, there has to be an existing relationship. There has to be trust, and it has to be based on facts.”
Editor’s note: Teamster Joint Council 28 — covering Washington State — endorsed Harris in August, writing “Our very livelihoods are under threat if Trump and his billionaire friends get their way, rolling the clock back on our collective bargaining rights.”
JOLT OF JOY
Today’s chuckle, courtesy of the UAW archivist at the Reuther Library.
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