News

Berry Craig, recording secretary for the Paducah-based Western Kentucky AFL-CIO and a professor of history at West Kentucky Community and Technical College, is a former daily newspaper columnist and Associated Press columnist and currently a member of AFT Local 1360.

Why is the media so anti-union?

This old reporter-turned-history-teacher could retire if he had a dime for every time he's heard a union brother or sister ask that question. [read full article]

It just got easier to lay off full-time faculty members in Washington State, thanks to a declaration of financial emergency last month by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. But some faculty leaders say the board’s move is more about a power grab than saving money.

Either way, faculty members are worried about the possibility of layoffs. And some observers say other cash-strapped states could try similar maneuvers. [Read full article]

KENT, Wash. - Employees at several Washington schools are getting a national nod today as part of "Making a Difference Every Day," a campaign by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) to call attention to the good things happening in classrooms around the nation despite budget cuts and layoffs. [more]

When it comes to cutting millions of dollars out of state community- and technical-college budgets this spring, perhaps the most vexing issue is that the very programs that could kick-start new careers won't be available for all the students who want to enroll.

The Legislature last month sliced $84 million from the community- and technical-college budgets for the next biennium, while authorizing 12 percent-a-year tuition increases for the next two years. [read full article]

Thousands of union members from all over Washington poured onto the grounds of the state Capitol on Friday, calling on lawmakers to "put people first" by ending corporate tax breaks and painful cuts to public programs.

The protest was by far the largest of four days of boisterous demonstrations in Olympia over spending cuts legislators are considering in order to help close a looming $5 billion budget deficit for the next two-year cycle.

Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/04/09/1610018/thousands-flock-to-capitol-join.html

Rep. Andy Billig, guest columnist

As a freshman legislator, I often feel like a rookie relief pitcher, knowing the home team is counting on me to make the right decisions. One of those decisions is my sponsorship of legislation that will create a closer examination of tax exemptions, institute sunset dates so continuing tax preferences are required to be reauthorized at regular intervals and eliminate tax exemptions that can’t be justified. These measures will protect funding for our kids and communities, and bring more accountability and transparency to the tax exemption system. [more]

Amy J. Kinsel is a U.S. history instructor at Shoreline, chair of the college's Strategic Planning and Budget Committee and first vice president of the Shoreline Community College Federation of Teachers (local 1950).

THIRTEEN of Shoreline Community College's 129 full-time instructors have received layoff notices, along with staff and administrators, and we have been warned that more cuts are coming. 

Recently named Washington's top community college by StateUniversity.com, Shoreline is not alone. Colleges across the state expect to absorb a projected 18 percent cut in the next biennium. [read full article].

The Stand

The Stand is a new website from the Washington State Labor Council which includes legislative, local, and national news as well as opinions and other information of interest to working families in Washington.

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