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The art of urban branding

Posted Wed, Nov 30, 2 a.m.

By Bill Stafford

A strong tourism industry, like a strong product, requires good branding. How should Seattle define itself in a growingly competitive international tourism game?

The pain of slow times in job creation

Posted Fri, Oct 21, 2 a.m.

By Stephen H. Dunphy

Even for Seattle, a city with more strength than much of the country, the picture tends to be mixed, perhaps contributing to the larger social discontent. Unemployment has come to Occupy Minds.

Is the green jobs movement kaput?

Posted Fri, Sep 16, 2 a.m.

By Roger Valdez

Faltering commitment and bad PR have given the green jobs movement a bad name. But the basic tenets of the plan - austerity and environmental preservation - could cut costs and add jobs across the country. Will U.S. politicians ever catch up with the realities of scarcity?

Seattle joins the parade for mandatory sick leave

Posted Mon, Sep 12, 8:46 p.m.

By Kathy Mulady

The issue is fast becoming a national workers' rights crusade. Here's a survey of how the movement is going in other cities, and the arguments for and against the requirements.

The Parents Union: A new force for education reform?

Posted Thu, Aug 25, 7:20 p.m.

By Collin Tong

Former Microsoft exec Scott Oki is tackling education reform through a pioneering new concept — a union for parents.

A national expert asks: Have unions stymied education reform?

Posted Thu, Jul 7, 2 a.m.

By Dick Lilly

Teachers unions, as unions should do, have acted in the best interests of their members, a new book argues. That has meant blocking significant reform and overriding the needs of students. One solution: computerized learning.

The public-health case for mandatory paid-sick-leave laws

Posted Tue, Jun 28, 2 a.m.

By Tasha West-Baker

Paid sick leave legislation such as the Seattle City Council is considering makes sense, because when people work sick they infect others. Seattle's politicians should listen to the public and enact a mandate.

Workers' comp reform is worse than dreaded I-1082

Posted Fri, Jun 10, 10:08 a.m.

By Brendan Williams

A former legislator shakes his head that a state that defeated the insurance-privatization initiative by a wide margin has now enacted a law that harms workers more than the initiative would have.

Legislature's workers' comp reforms were wise policy

Posted Tue, Jun 7, 2 a.m.

By Jeanne Kohl-Welles

A key lawmaker rebuts an earlier column that asserted the Legislature punished workers. Instead, there were valuable new features to protect workers, and the trims were sensible measures to protect the fund from serious damage.

Sweet Bones barbecue: a tasty tribute to good, old-fashioned labor

Posted Fri, May 27, 2 a.m.

By Hugo Kugiya

Eating on the Edge: Outside the Othello Public Market, three former laborers undertake the primal, messy, work-intensive endeavor called barbecue.

Washington state's new workers' comp law hurts those already in pain

Posted Thu, May 26, 2 a.m.

By John Burbank

Gov. Gregoire joined Republicans and quite a few Democrats to create a system that transfers money to businesses, at the expense of injured workers and the surviving relatives of workers who are killed.

Ten things you might not know about the economy

Posted Fri, May 20, 2 a.m.

By Stephen H. Dunphy

For example, student debt in the U.S. is now greater than credit-card debt. Here are some more possible surprises, and economic signs to keep watching.

The P-I's death two years later: in no mood to mark the occasion

Posted Tue, Apr 19, 2 a.m.

By John Douglas Marshall

A newspaper veteran who lost his job when the P-I presses stopped reflects on the realities of long-term employment and asks why experience and age now seem to be shortcomings: 'I'm a writer, for godsakes, not a pro athlete.'

When good job news can lead to higher unemployment

Posted Thu, Apr 14, 2 a.m.

By Stephen H. Dunphy

Washington state has seen steady job growth the past three months, but the unemployment rate just ticked up. Here's why that makes sense.

The happiest billionaire

Posted Mon, Apr 4, 2 a.m.

By Knute Berger

More power to Paul Allen, for his memoir and for living a life of the mind through his incredible fortune.

Can we finally take the 'jobless' out of 'jobless recovery'?

Posted Mon, Mar 14, 2 a.m.

By Stephen H. Dunphy

Recent reports nationally and in Washington seem to indicate real job growth, but uncertainties about the economy remain.

The Great Recession may linger longer than you think

Posted Wed, Jan 26, 2 a.m.

By Stephen H. Dunphy

Benefits paid to unemployed workers in Washington set a record in 2010. And one broad measure of unemployment puts the true jobless rate here at over 18 percent.

The burden of the 787

Posted Wed, Jan 19, 2 a.m.

By Knute Berger

There are now two Boeings, New Boeing and Legacy Boeing. The 787 carries the burden of proving that the death of the old company was worth the price of crafting the new one.

How I became an anti-union Democrat

Posted Mon, Jan 3, 3 p.m.

By Adam Vogt

At every step, the priorities of public labor unions have seemed out of touch with the realities of today's younger workers.

Best of 2010: Metro's high wage scale factors into its bus-service equation

Posted Mon, Dec 27, 2 a.m.

By Douglas B. MacDonald

Top-scale wages here beat even New York's and San Francisco's. Comparisons like that should generate some buzz at a meeting tonight (June 3) of of Metro's stakeholder task force.

Workplace / Labor Blog posts

Midday Scan: Birth control time travel; Rep. Dicks caught redhanded; caffeine powder hits the shelves

Posted Wed, Feb 8, 12:36 p.m.

by Zachariah Bryan

The birth control debate moves back in time. How Norm Dicks funneled federal money to his son. Caffeine powder gives us a glimpse of the future.

Midday Scan: Wednesday's top stories around the region

Posted Wed, Sep 14, 11 a.m. 2011

by Pete Jackson

In the news today: An unexpected Seattle-splitting redistricting proposal, D.C. Republicans' petty punishment of the National Labor Relations Board, and Montana's (slightly delayed) Roosevelt backlash.

Remembering Gus Tyler, a labor firebrand

Posted Mon, Jun 13, 11 a.m. 2011

by Ted Van Dyk

He was a great American hero, who never had a complacent minute in his long, long life.

Why Wisconsin Fever isn't heading to our state

Posted Sat, Feb 26, 6 a.m. 2011

by David Brewster

Public employee unions are well dealt into both parties in this state, so they won't be pushed to the wall. But keep your eye on Boeing labor talks and "sustainability" proposals that aim for a grand compromise.

State economy stuck in neutral as election nears

Posted Tue, Oct 19, 2:50 p.m. 2010

by Stephen H. Dunphy

The state's unemployment rate holds steady, but does it provide any traction in the upcoming election?

How police can extract pay boosts in hard times

Posted Sat, Oct 2, 7:41 a.m. 2010

by David Brewster

A look at the linkage between generous contracts and minor concessions on civilian oversight.

A few kind words for government work

Posted Thu, Jul 1, 6 a.m. 2010

by David Brewster

By providing steady work and benefits to one partner, these jobs free up the other one to invent the next big idea in the garage.

A discord resolved at the Symphony

Posted Fri, Jan 29, 6:04 a.m. 2010

by David Brewster

With tempers badly frayed, the musicians and the SSO reach a split-the-difference tentative settlement. Here are the details.

The Symphony gives its side

Posted Thu, Jan 14, 9:44 p.m. 2010

by David Brewster

Management is still not saying much about its financial plight and the details of its contract negotiations with the musicians, but a general case is emerging.