For Desecration of the American Way of Life.

A rat is a contractor that does not pay all of its employees the Area Standard Wages, including either providing or making payments for family health care and pension benefits. Businesses that choose this breed of contractor are guilty as well. When contractors underpay their workers, often the rest of pick up the difference when we pay our taxes.

Shame on GVA/Kidder Mathews for contributing to the erosion of Area Standards for area carpenter craft workers. The Pacific NW Regional Council of Carpenters has a labor dispute with Davis Schueller Inc. performing work in the Vance Building in Seattle. Davis Schueller Inc. does not meet area labor standards, including providing or fully paying for family health care and pension for all of its carpenter craft employees.

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The Longshore Caucus (like a Convention) adjourned today, Friday Feb. 8 but not before passing an antiwar resolution to shutdown all U.S. West Coast ports with a stop work meeting on May 1, 2008 for 8 hours to protest the Democrats' and Republicans' continuing to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The resolution from Local 10 encountered vigorous debate. In the end the overwhelming consensus to take dock action to stop the war prevailed. As the President of Local 34 Richard Cavalli stated this resolution follows ILWU Local 10 and 34's successful Labor Conference to Stop the War held in San Francisco Oct. 20, 2007, as reported in the ILWU's newspaper, The Dispatcher.