Negotiations Update

The language subcommittee met on Thursday and Friday in Washington DC to edit articles to be passed to the Company.

Next week the full committee will meet with the Company in San Francisco to try and finalize an agreement.

In attendance for the Union were Clacy Griswold, Paul Alves, Javier Lectora, Ken Meidinger, Bob Fisher, and Economist Norman Wientraub.

Boeing wins $35 billion Air Force refueling tanker contract

WASHINGTON - The Boeing Co. has been awarded a giant $35 billion contract to build airborne refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force.The decision was announced Thursday afternoon by officials at the Pentagon.The tanker will be built primarily in Everett and Wichita, Kan., and will generate 50,000 jobs - many of them in the local economy.Boeing's bid won out over a competing bid by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, or EADS, parent company of Airbus.
Click here for the rest of the story.

Editorial: Really, we needed to wait ten years (Thank you Senator John MCcain) to rebid the Tanker deal? Does the United States really want their war machine to be built by foreign countries? This deal will keep tax payers dollars in the United States and not going overseas. It creates or maintains jobs in the US and not a foreign country. Please take a look at Bob's post in Dulles it says it all. Get informed and call you Congressman or Senator and of course Governor.

Airbus has enough subsides from their government to keep them going. That was proven by the latest decision from the WTO.

Look what happen today with the last launch of Discovery Space Shuttle. We can build it and it will last a long time. Thank you Senator Murray, Senator Cantwell and the great Congressman Norm Dicks , also Governor Chris Gregoier! for fighting so hard to keep jobs in America!

Jock

Army Deploys Psy-Ops on U.S. Senators

The U.S. Army illegally ordered a team of soldiers specializing in "psychological operations" to manipulate visiting American senators into providing more troops and funding for the war, Rolling Stone has learned – and when an officer tried to stop the operation, he was railroaded by military investigators.

Here is the rest of the story over at Rolling Stones.

Hoffa Praises Wisconsin Demonstrators

(WASHINGTON) – Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa saluted the tens of thousands of people streaming into Wisconsin’s capital this week to protest Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal.

“It’s inspiring to see middle-class workers coming together to say they’ve had enough of this one-sided class war,” Hoffa said. “Government workers didn’t cause Wisconsin’s budget problems and they don’t deserve to be punished for them. Gov. Walker’s proposal is a vindictive attack on people he views as his political enemies. He should be bringing people together to create good jobs in Wisconsin, not tearing the state apart in a crass attempt at political payback.”

Democratic senators left the Statehouse today so that Republicans couldn’t vote on the bill, which was filed six days ago, without a quorum. Hoffa praised the Democrats as courageous.

"Governor Walker is trying to make an end run around democracy,” Hoffa said. “Democratic senators took a stand for Wisconsin workers who won’t be denied a voice in the process. They stood up in the face of injustice.”

Negotiations Update

Negotiations were held between the parties this week in Chicago to try and finalize the remaining open items. Significant progress was made towards the completion of an agreement that would ultimately serve as a transition agreement for the membership prior to the merged, or amalgamated, agreement.

The parties are confident that they will be able to complete this phase of the process in the very near future.

Stop Wasting Time Congress!

Editorial: Last year I signed up to Washington States WARN list (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) this is an Act requires companies to notify affected workers 60 days prior to a plant closure or mass layoff this is emailed to me whenever the state is notified.

Over this past month I have found that it was problem and bad idea. Just this February this state has had four notifications adding up to 731 employee’s being laid off.

Harland Clarke Holdings Corp. (Milton) will lay off 53 employees
Penguin Windows (Lynwood, Mukilteo, Lakewood) will lay off 210 employees
DAL Global Services (Seattle) will lay off 168 employees
Pilchuck Contractors, Inc. (Puget Sound) will lay off 300 employees

This will not help our economy, we need to find a way to keep these jobs and especially in the United States.

The stimulus package has been touted by some in the media as a waste of taxpayers’ dollars. I can personally tell you, that is a crock. I personally have seen a few projects that will add hundreds of jobs in the King County area.

I watch the FAA Appropriations bill be brought up in the House and I was appalled at what I was hearing. After being extended for 17 times (this bill or the FAA budget) they were saying that they wanted to go back to 2008 funding. Everyone on the panel and all but one was pro-business (they had the controllers Union rep there) and none of them were in favor of that.

The FAA and the country needs to start working on the “Next Gen” if they want an airspace that is safer and cheaper to maintain.

We need to contact our Congressman and tell them to stop the cuts and pass the Senate’s version of the bill. By the way the amendment to the Senate bill for stopping all unemployement payments to the laid off millionaires was tabled..

Jock