United
On Tuesday, April 25, seven antiwar activists, including Josh Farris, an Iraq war vet, and Joe Clagan, the 64-year-old father of a soldier killed in Iraq, staged a sit-in at Senator Maria Cantwell’s Seattle offices. The group, which showed up at noon after a few of the members felt that their previous communications with Cantwell had dead-ended, refused to leave until Cantwell either signed off on Senator John Kerry’s position for troop withdrawal by December 2006 or pledged to hold a public meeting to clarify her position on the war. After occupying a conference room in Cantwell’s 32nd-floor offices, the antiwar activists forced a conference call with Cantwell staff in D.C., but were disappointed in her “candy-coated bullshit.” At press time, Cantwell’s staff had reportedly opted not to have the group removed—evidently to avoid the controversy that would come with arrests—and chose to stay there with the group overnight. The group was armed with water and protein bars for the long haul. JOSH FEIT
Divided
The Seattle Times announced on Monday, April 24, that it intends to bargain separately from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer during upcoming contract negotiations with the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild.
That’s big news for members of the guild (which represents about 800 reporters, photographers, artists, ad salespeople, and circulation workers at the two papers). For the past several decades, union members from the Times and P-I have negotiated together on one side of the bargaining table, while corporate representatives from the two papers have sat on the other side of the table, also negotiating together.
No more. With the two papers heading into arbitration to end their long-running JOA battle, the Times has decided to bargain alone.
“We believe it to be in the best interests of our employees,” wrote Times Vice President for Labor Relations Alayne Fardella in an e-mail to Times workers obtained by The Stranger. “We have different and separate contracts.”
Union leaders said they were surprised by the move, but unsure how it would affect negotiations. ELI SANDERS
City Council Member Peter Steinbrueck is in D.C. this week lobbying senators for, among other things, $850,000 in federal funding for the Vera Project, a nonprofit music-arts center for kids. Vera just moved into new digs at Seattle Center, and is working to raise $1.5 million to turn the former Snoqualmie Room into an all-ages venue. The $850K would help pay for a backstage greenroom, a “professional level” recording studio, a conference room, and a barista training program and cafe. ERICA C. BARNETT