Richard S. Davis

WRC's 79th Annual Meeting

…was a great success last night. Thanks to all who attended and sponsored the event, the WRC board and executive committee, outgoing chair Anne Bryant and incoming chair Gary Strannigan. We're going into the 80th year with momentum.  

Microsoft & Boeing announce $50 million scholarship fund

Today, coincident with the governor’s signing higher education bills, Boeing and Microsoft pledge $25 million each to fund scholarships for students in high-demand fields. This is very good news, as the governor points out. …our colleges and universities must have the resources to educate and train the next generation of engineers, scientists and workers. Tuition […]

No joy in today's employment report

As foreshadowed earlier in the week, today’s job report confirms that the American economy remains stagnant. From the statement by BLS Commssioner Keith Hall: In May, nonfarm payroll employment changed little (+54,000), following increases that averaged 220,000 in the prior 3 months. The unemployment rate was essentially unchanged, at 9.1 percent, in May.  Employment in […]

Workers' compensation agreement reached

The major policy obstacle to ending the special sessions was lifted Sunday when negotiators reached agreement on workers’ compensation reform. It does less than business wanted, arguable much less, and goes further than union leaders deem acceptable. So, by the common standard that a good compromise is one that leaves all parties at least partially […]

House leadership should allow vote on needed workers' comp reform

In my column today, I call on Democratic leaders in the House to bring to the floor legislation that would allow voluntary settlement agreements for workers’ compensation claims. This is not a new theme. An excellent editorial in the Herald of Everett urged the bipartisan majorities in both houses of the Legislature to hold firm […]

NLRB's Boeing complaint generating plenty of heat

The NLRB’s Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon lodged a complaint alleging the Boeing company’s decision to expand in South Carolina amounted to impermissible retaliation against the union. I wrote about it in this column. Unsurprisingly, the complaint has become a national issue, properly, because of its sweeping consequences. In the Wall Street Journal, Boeing CEO […]

NLRB complaint against Boeing unwarranted

In my column today I consider the NLRB complaint against Boeing. The NLRB acting general counsel filed the complaint, asserting that the company’s decision to open a new production line in South Carolina was impermissible retaliation against the machinists union. I write: The NLRB’s charges are factually inaccurate, unprecedented and contrary to precedent. To support […]

Tax amnesty produces more than expected …

Yesterday Gov. Gregoire announced the results of the state’s tax amnesty program. Much better than expected. (Sorry, I don’t have a link to her comments, which don’t seem to be on the governor’s website yet.) Here’s some of what she said. Our original estimate was that in the three month amnesty period we would be […]

Barone on the "death of the 'defined benefit'"

Last week, we published a brief on reforming public pensions. It’s timely, then, to link to Michael Barone’s column on the last days of the defined benefit pension. This sounds right: Defined benefit policies assume a static society. But we live in a dynamic society, and defined benefit policies cannot keep up with constant change. […]

What's wrong with the NLRB complaint against Boeing's S. Carolina expansion

Plenty. We’ve spent at lot of time at the WRC looking business decision-making and considering how public policies shape the competitive environment for employers. A fundamental premise: Investors and employers have choices. Last week, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against the Boeing Company, alleging that the decision to open a second 787 […]