Even if Congress lets Bush's tax cuts for the rich expire as scheduled, but preserves the "middle-class" tax cuts -- as President Obama and Sen. Patty Murray propose -- wealthy households will STILL receive a substantial tax cut, significantly larger in dollar terms that what middle-class Americans will get. But that's not enough for Sen. Murray's Republican challenger Dino Rossi, who has quickly cast aside his stated concern about rising federal deficits to demand that the richest Americans pay even lower taxes, despite the fact that the Bush tax cuts for the rich are the single biggest contributor to the federal deficit.
Reports indicate that the federal budget deficit commission is likely to recommend raising the retirement age and making other cuts in Social Security when it makes its recommendations after the November elections. Now, conservative media pundits are attempting to make the case for those cuts by spreading lies about the Social Security system. Check out the "Top 5 Myths About Social Security" and the evidence that debunks them.
It's back to the bargaining table this week for the State of Washington and union representatives, who are negotiating for a contract that will cover more than 100,000 state workers. At issue is who pays, and how much, for health insurance premiums and deductibles. The Washington Federation of State Employees, AFSCME Council 28 contends the state is one of the largest employers in Washington and should pay its share of health care benefits accordingly. Instead, state negotiators have suggested raising workers' share premiums by 67% and doubling their out-of-pocket deductibles.
"Social Security Works / Washington" is a new statewide coalition determined to defend and improve Social Security in the face of the gravest threat to its integrity in the 75 years since it was signed into law. Initiated by a nucleus of labor, women's and retiree groups -- including the Washington State Labor Council -- the coalition is reaching out to the many organizations that recognize the unique role of Social Security in preventing poverty and in uniting our people across the generations.
The Wenatchee City Council has voted 4-3 to proceed with replacing the Wenatchee Convention Center's unionized food service with a cheaper nonunion contractor. But there is still a chance for the city to do the right thing. Any final agreement has to be brought back to the council for approval, which may happen Thursday, Aug. 26.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray joined with hundreds of local seniors Monday at the Greenwood Senior Center in Seattle to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Social Security being signed into law. She talked to the group about the importance of Social Security to seniors and her commitment to protect it from cuts and privatization. In contrast to Sen. Murray's strong outspoken advocacy for preserving Social Security without benefits cuts, her opponent, Republican Dino Rossi, has evaded the question of whether he would support his party's agenda to privatize Social Security or cut its benefits.
Before exhorting union leaders and members at the Washington State Labor Council to work hard to elect pro-worker candidates this fall, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler on Monday honored WSLC President Rick Bender and WSLC Secretary-Treasurer Al Link and thanked them for their service to working families. She appeared at the WSLC's 2010 Convention being held through Thursday at the Hotel Murano and Convention Center in Tacoma.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray has successfully introduced an amendment that will deliver federal funding that Washington state expected and help avoid a special session of the legislature to make drastic cuts to state jobs and services, or increase taxes. The Murray Amendment also provides support to school districts to allow them to avoid teacher layoffs that would hurt students and schools.
Washingtonians pay a lower percentage of their income in state and local taxes than do residents of 29 other states, according to a report issued this week by the Washington State Department of Revenue. Washington taxpayers paid $105.49 per $1,000 of personal income in state and local taxes in Fiscal Year 2008 while the national average was $111.99. Washington's 30th place ranking is an improvement over its 26th place ranking in 2007.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray leads a group of bipartisan senators in sending a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asking how the Pentagon intends to account for the unfair advantages that illegal subsidies provide in the competition to replace the U.S. military�s next generation of aerial refueling tankers. This letter follows the WTO's release of their final ruling that European governments have been providing Airbus with illegal subsidies that have undercut U.S. workers for the last 40 years.
Check out a summary of the Washington State Labor Council's endorsements for statewide ballot measures that are expected to be on the ballot this fall. What decides the outcome on these measures won't be the amount of money spent by supporters and opponents, it will be whether voters decide that important public services have to be maintained and properly funded, or if they want to cut and/or privatize those services.
A statewide group of small business owners, workers, and community leaders have formed to defeat Initiative 1082, the move by out-of-state insurance giants and the Building Industry Association of Washington to scrap Washington's public non-profit workers' compensation system. I-1082 would allow largely unregulated, for-profit insurers to sell workers' comp insurance.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka once again expresses the federation's strong opposition to the proposed U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement: "This flawed agreement is the last thing working people need. With a fragile and incomplete economic recovery, and unemployment estimated to remain near 10 percent for the foreseeable future, we should not be putting in place new trade agreements that will speed up the offshoring of U.S. manufacturing jobs."
With the state auditor estimating that teens� access to hard alcohol will increase by more than 400% if Initiative 1100 passes, a growing coalition of public safety officials and others -- calling on voters to "Keep Our Kids Safe" -- has denounced I-1100, a proposed statewide measure to privatize liquor sales.�
The Association of Washington Business has announced that its board of directors voted unanimously to support Initiative 1053, Tim Eyman's latest ballot proposal to require a two-thirds super-majority legislative vote for any state revenue increases. But Boeing and Microsoft say they have taken no position on I-1053. We decided to contact a few dozen of board members representing many of the state's most recognizable companies and organizations. But to date, we have yet to find a single AWB board member who'll admit to being at the May 13 meeting and to voting to endorse I-1053.
The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 21 is urging union members and community supporters to sign a Grocery Workers' Bill of Rights listing the basic principles upon which negotiations for a new Puget Sound-area grocery store workers' contract are based. Please read it and sign it!
The Washington State Labor Council will receive $225,477 -- funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 -- to provide enhanced technical assistance in the Trade Adjustment Assistance program to better support laid-off workers throughout Washington state. The TAA provides job retraining, income support and health care benefits to workers who have been adversely impacted by federal trade policies.
Initiative 1082, which will likely appear on this fall�s ballot, would privatize our state�s public nonprofit workers' compensation system. It is sponsored by the right-wing Building Industry Association of Washington and by the insurance industry, including the notorious AIG. Yes, that too-big-to-fail insurance company that we taxpayers bailed out is the nation�s biggest private workers' compensation insurer. And they want a piece of the action in Washington state.
He's ba-ack. The national Republican Party has successfully recruited real estate salesman Dino Rossi to run against U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, the Washington State Labor Council's endorsed candidate. Rossi's extreme anti-labor positions are already well-documented. Rossi's 6% WSLC voting record ranks among the worst -- and most partisan -- of any legislator during his 1997-2003 tenure as a State Senator. Check it out.
In advance of its 2010 endorsement convention this Saturday in Seattle, the state's largest labor organization -- the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO -- released the 2010 edition of its Legislative Report and Voting Record today. The publication (available online in HTML and 2MB PDF format) summarizes this year's legislative activity on working families issues and grades the performance of individual legislators.
Decrying the lawsuit as a "partisan political showmanship on the taxpayers� dime," the Washington State Labor Council has urged Republican State Attorney General Rob McKenna to withdraw his participation in a lawsuit to undermine the federal health reform signed into law by President Obama.
(SPECIAL REPORT ON WORKERS' COMPENSATION) -- All independent national evidence points to Washington as having both high benefits and low employer costs when compared to other states. That's why all proposals to change the system should be measured by whether they maintain or increase our state's success in providing "sure and certain relief" to injured workers and their families.
As our national economy continues to hemorrhage jobs, the number of union members dropped 771,000 to 15.3 million in 2009. The rate of union membership remained virtually unchanged at 12.3%. Washington state remains ranked No. 4 in terms of union density in 2009, with the state's 574,000 union members accounting for 20.2% of the workforce.
Union offices, rank-and-file members and others are urged to purchase 100% union-made coffee -- produced by ILWU members in Hawaii. This excellent coffee is competitively priced and for every pack ordered, a rebate goes to the Foundation for Working Families, a non-profit organization to help union members in times of hardship or disaster.
