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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2020)
Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle January 8, 2020 ® Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Looking to 2020 — Put Your Vote to WORK! Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor I Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Patricia Irvin Graphic Designer Monica J. Foster Seattle Office Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer 2019 MERIT AWARD WINNER The Skanner Newspaper, es- tablished in October 1975, is a weekly publication, published every Wednesday by IMM Publi- cations Inc. 415 N. Killingsworth St. P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR 97228 Telephone (503) 285-5555 Fax: (503) 285-2900 info@theskanner.com www.TheSkanner.com The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Association and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. ©2018 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited. Local News Pacific NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar Updated daily online. n F ebo TheSkannerNews o k • learn • co m me in y o u r c o m m u n d ay ! • L i ke u s o ac it Hear about it first. Sign up for Breaking News and Events at • nts f you work for a living but are somewhat up in the air about who to vote for in 2020 or for that matter, if you should even bother get- ting to that crowded polling place, I’d like to ask that you indulge me for a minute. Because I’ve got a story to tell you that might help with your decision. A story of working people and pol- iticians who are working against all of us — everyday. I’d like to go back to 1980, the year that Ronald Reagan was campaigning to the 40th president of the United States. Much of his rhetoric was de- signed to appeal to labor and the working men and women of this country, promising to protect jobs, to support pol- icies that would create more jobs and put unemployed Americans back to work. Promises betrayed The reality of his presiden- cy and his policies came down somewhat differently. In fact, President Reagan’s eight years in office were devastating for labor and the middle class. He was a cham- pion of deregulation, which systematically weakened workplace safety standards and record-keeping. He spe- cifically went after labor by appointing three manage- ment-friendly National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) mem- bers, causing the NLRB to de- part from its legal obligation to actively promote collective bargaining — the constitu- tional right and underlying principle for the existence of unions. During his presiden- cy, NLRB caseloads were dras- tically cut and the cases that with the status quo. Ray Curry Secretary- Treasurer, UAW did go forward went from the recent 33 percent finding in favor of employers to 75 per- cent favoring employers. His economic policies shift- ed the tax burden away from the wealthy and onto the back of middle-class Americans. So, why am I bringing up “ Clearly, it should serve as a dire warning of what is to come should we continue with the sta- tus quo this sad history here in the last days of 2019? Because Ronald Reagan, who turned his back on orga- nized labor and started Amer- ica’s middle-class into a tail- spin from which it has never recovered, has recently been voted by this administration’s hand-picked NLRB into the Labor Hall of Fame. I think that speaks volumes. Clearly, they have taken a page from the Old Gipper’s playbook. And clearly, it should serve as a dire warning of what is to come should we continue Stacked against us Today, an NLRB even more conservative than President Reagan’s has moved as fast as it could to make it more diffi- cult for unions to organize. In December of 2017, the board overturned a rule that had made it easier to organize smaller units of workers in big factories and stores. Another decision made it tougher for workers at fast- food restaurants and other franchised operations to unionize. What’s more, this board is further encroaching on labor by looking to slow unionization elections, a move that, as we all know too well, would give corporations more time to pressure work- ers to vote NO. Here at the UAW, we saw those stalling hijinks in ac- tion in Chattanooga this sum- mer with the effort to orga- nize Volkswagen and give its workers a real say in their work lives. This administration hasn’t stopped at turning the NLRB into the Chamber of Com- merce. Let’s look at the Su- preme Court. Justice Neil Gorsuch was confirmed in the first few months of this administra- tion and he delivered the conservative anti-labor edge to the Janus case almost as soon as he was installed. Gor- such, who had close ties with groups that bankrolled Janus, cast the deciding vote in a de- cision that prohibited public sector unions from collecting fees from non-members. This devastating decision reversed 41 years of prece- dent and overturned laws in the 22 states that have not adopted “Right-to-Work” pol- icies. And all signs indicate that, when he is not drinking beer, the administration’s sec- ond appointee, Justice Bret Kavanaugh will be just as aw- ful. The Huffington Post in siz- ing him up as anti-labor, re- counted the time when a New York manufacturer created a new spinoff company to avoid bargaining with union- ized workers. Federal regula- tors and a panel of appellate judges said the manufacturer broke the law and violated its employees’ rights. There was, however, one judge who dissented in the appeals decision and sided with the employer: Brett Ka- vanaugh. Say no more. Supremely anti-labor A Legal Aid lawyer put it this way, “Along with [Justice Neil] Gorsuch, [Brett Kava- naugh] is the ideal of a Koch brothers judge. He’ll be an- ti-labor and anti-worker.” Of course, just as disturbing when it comes to the courts is this fact: While the Supreme Court gets the attention, it’s the lower courts that decide the bulk of the cases. In lock- step with the anti-worker overhaul of our courts, more pro-management judges have been appointed to the fed- eral appeals courts than at any other time in our recent history, and one out of every four circuit court judges have been installed by the current administration. Read the rest of this commentary at TheSkanner.com A Sharp Tongue Cuts from the Inside Out LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS LOCAL EVENTS to y • Opinion G rowing up, I was never a student of the Bible even though I grew up surrounded by the best kind of Christians there were: the love-filled family kind. I believe I am now being constantly moved by the Holy Spirit (I hope) to see the sim- plicity in the scripture I now study. As such, I am finding myself gravitating to min- isters, pastors and saints as they dissect in sermon and prayer the incredible power of the tongue; yes, that small but dangerously lethal weap- on housed in one’s mouth. Without any biblical per- spective, history confirms the ability of deceit-filled el- oquence to entice weak men to murder, married women to stray, prideful men to war and so-called peace-loving folk to slaughter. On a daily basis, a reckless tongue can sear forever the spirit of an innocent child, a wanting spouse, a true friend tongue wields the power of James A. life and death. Having been Washington the target of ill-intended crit- Publisher, The Dallas Weekly or a caring co-worker. Evil or- atory moves men and women to do evil things. But oh, how powerful, how wonderful is a well-inten- “ ‘Reckless words pierce like a sword but the tongue of the wise brings heal- ing’ tioned ‘thank you’, a sincere ‘I’m sorry’ or a genuine ‘I be- lieve in you.’ James 3:10 tells us that the icism, and out of momentary anger or hurt having tried to destroy the souls of many I held dear, I know first-hand that James is so right. I have been trying to correct this character flaw by being as deliberately uplifting as pos- sible, thinking of myself as a vessel of the living God first before I speak and remem- bering that man was made in God’s own image and curs- ing any man is tantamount to cursing God. Could it be that James 1:26 holds a key to salvation? “… If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his reli- gion is worthless…” I submit to you that if you compare the words of Jesus Christ to any demagogue, you will find that Jesus’ words re- pulse with great power all ha- tred, gossip, rumor and even innuendo. It is impossible to claim to love God without lov- ing Jesus as the living Word of God. Saying so merely con- firms the truth in this case that the spoken Word will in- deed set one free. “Reckless words pierce like a sword but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Prov- erbs 12:14. I’m told God hates a liar and loves the truth. Re- member there is no cure for hurt feelings except an honest spoken apology. Hurt feelings fester and infect a person. Think before you speak. And please don’t take my word for it. “He who guards his lips, guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.” Proverbs 12:3. May God bless and keep you always. James A. Washington is a father, husband, Christian, writer, entrepreneur and the owner/publisher of the Dallas Weekly. nt • lo c a l n e w s • eve
