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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

New Report: Fewer Jobs, Benefits for WA Workers

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Thursday, September 20, 2007   

Seattle, WA - It's a mix of good news and bad for Washington workers' jobs and wages. According to a report from the Economic Opportunity Institute, working families in Washington are better off than much of the nation, but the state still needs to gain 128 thousand more jobs to offset employment losses from the last recession. Report author Marilyn Watkins explains that employers have plenty of potential recruits to choose from, and those who are hired are receiving fewer benefits.

"Workers today just don't have the same kind of bargaining power in the workplace, and employers don't have to provide the same level of benefits in order to attract and retain employees."

The data also confirms men in Washington earn about $4 an hour more than women. Statewide, males are leaving the workforce in greater numbers, providing an increase in job placement for women.

The report also contains a worrisome statistic for the future: only half of Washington workers have retirement savings plans on the job. Watkins worries most folks are not managing to cover the gap on their own.

"Congress has repeatedly offered new kinds of retirement vehicles, but we really haven't seen much progress in getting workers past the 50 percent mark, in terms of the number of workers covered."

The report says Washington should keep education and health care as its top priorities as well as increase benefits, such as paid family leave, to help more working families.

The "State of Working Washington 2007" is available on the Economic Opportunity Institute Web site, at www.eoionline.org.




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