Mill Creek View Volume XXIII - Issue 10 May 2020 B 4
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Large and small, we do it all!"
Mark Harmsworth
Some legislators want you
to tell on your employer
During the 2020 legislative ses- sion, House Bill 1965 was introduced to increase financial penalties on em- ployers due to employee-originated reporting on violations of workplace protections. At face value, this appears sensible, but a deeper dive into the bill shows there are significant problems
that hurt both the employee and employer.
Under current law, an employee can file a complaint against their em- ployer with Labor and Industries for wage payment issues, safety or health standard violations, discrimination and other reasons. Labor and Industries pursues these complaints, often with vigor and often favors the party that submitted the complaint. House Bill 1965 would also allow the employee to designate a representative
by Mark Harmsworth
Legislative Update
Washington Policy Center Research Fellow organization to pursue the complaint on their behalf, such as a union. The key difference between cur- rent law and the changes that HB 1965 would bring, is the use of state resources to pursue claims and the ad- ditional of compensatory damages. While the right of an employee to bring action against an employer that is failing to follow the rules should be protected, there also needs to be protec- tions for employers. It is not uncom- mon for frivolous claims to be brought by disgruntled employees who, con- vinced by their lawyers, feel they have a case. Current law provides ample pro- tections for those employee and em- ployer protections. HB 1965 would create a new avenue for organized groups to bring claims, using state resources, with almost no penalty for doing so in the case of a false or un- justified claim.
Comments expressed in this column are the sole opinion of the writer.
HB 1965 would increase costs for the employer with an unnecessary increase in liability insurance costs, which could result in fewer avail- able jobs and reductions in employee salaries. While HB 1965 did not pass dur- ing the 2020 session, it did make it through the House and is likely to be reintroduced in 2021. Washington Policy Center will bring you updates Taps is a haunting song played at memorial services in the United States. Very few know how it became such a military standard. During the Civil War in 1862, Union Army Captain Robert Elli- combe was with his men near Harri- sons Landing in Virginia. The Con- federate Army was on the other side of the narrow strip of land. During the night, Ellicombe heard the moans of a soldier who lay severely wounded on the field. Not knowing if it was a Union or Confederate soldier, the captain decided to risk his own life to bring the man back for medical atten- tion. Crawling on his belly, he reached the soldier and began pulling him back towards his encampment. When he reach his own lines, he discovered the soldier was a Confederate and was dead. The captain lit a lantern and sud- denly went numb with shock. In the dim light, he saw the face of the sol- dier. It was his own son. The boy had been studying music in the south when the war broke out. Without telling his father, the boy elisted in the Confeder- ate Army. The following morning, heartbro- ken, the father asked permission of his superiors to give his son a full military burial, despite his enemy status. His request was partly granted. He asked if he could have a group of army band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the funeral. The request was turned down, but out of respect for the father, they did grant him one musi- cian. The captain chose a bugler, whom he asked to play a series of musi- cal notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of the dead youths uniform. The wish was granted and the haunting melody, now known as Taps used at military funerals, was born. The words are: Day is done Gone the sunFrom the lakes From the hillsFrom the skyAll is wellSafety restsGod is nigh Fading lightDims the sight And a starGems the skyGleaming brightFrom a farDrawing nigh Falls the nightThanks and praise For our daysNeath the sunNeath the starsNeath the skyAs we go This we knowGod is neigh.
Taps
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves." - Abraham Lincoln In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; govern- ment is the problem." - Ronald Reagan Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." - John F. Kennedy
Presidential Quotes
The Mill Creek Youth Advisory Board is recruiting for the 2020-2021 school year for high school students 9th to 12th grade. Applications are due Friday, May 15. The Youth Advisory Board is a group of high school students from various backgrounds living in the Mill Creek area who are committed to mak- ing a difference in their community. The board meets twice a month and is overseen by the city of Mill Creek Recreation staff. For more information visit www. cityofmillcreek.com/mcyab. Email applications to Kristen at kristenr@ cityofmillcreek.com.
Citys Youth Adviory Board
by N. Coleman
Fear
Life presents countless opportuni- ties to be afraid. Right now, much of the world is frightened about the latest corona virus. Another worldwide fear is over the possible effects of a changing climate. Fears are most intense when they involve a threat on a life or death scale. But we all must die someday. Is fear really about death or about what comes after? One day when I was experiencing great fear, I happened to read Psalm 56:3-4, When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. There is something to fear that is greater than death. Trusting in God and in his chosen mediator, Jesus Christ, can release us from lifes fears and the fear of what comes after. A secure eternity is the best antidote to fear.
Words of encouragement
Lincoln Park, NJ - A man passed out while driving and crashed his car. Police think it was because he was wearing an N95 mask. The Lincoln Park Police Dept. posted on Facebook that the accident may have been caused by the driver wearing the N95 mask for several hours. It stated that he may have passed out due to insufficient oxygen intake and excessive carbon dioxide. Police said there was nothing un- covered at the scene that led them to believe that the driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, accord- ing to the Facebook post. The driver was not severely in- jured, according to the New York Post, but was taken to a hospital.
Police said that wearing the N95 mask while driving with no other people in the vehicle is not necessary. They said its possible that there was another medical reason that could have contributed to the driver pass- ing out.
Masked driver
crashes car
by Kent Patton Wizard International and Snohom- ish County announced progress on local Personal Protective Equipment production. Wizard International do- nated 200 face shields to Snohomish County for distribution to health care workers and first responders. Front line workers and first re- sponders across the county have ex- perienced difficulties procuring con- sistent supplies of PPE since February and the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The uncertainty of supplies for specific types of PPE is expected to continue as different sectors of the community reactivate and additional cases of COVID-19 emerge. Snohomish County has been lead- ing an effort to connect local produc- tion capacity for PPE with end-users. The sources of this production ca- pacity range from privately-owned 3D printers and sewing machines to privately-operated businesses. There equipment and personnel could be retooled for PPE (design, 3D printers, 3D scanners, laser cutting, water jet cutting, computer numerical control, workspaces, welding and tools. One local business that has jumped at this opportunity is Wizard International. It is led in Snohomish County by Cyril Faulkner, who has shifted manufacturing in Mukilteo from picture framing equip- ment to face shields, based on a design ap- proved by the National Institute of Health. They donated their first production run of 200 shields to Snohomish County through the Emergency Coordination Center. We are proud, as a local manufac- turer, to support our first responders by donating this delivery of face shields. We are grateful to the county for the opportunity to be part of resolving our nations PPE scarcity, said Cyril Faulkner, Chief Financial Officer of Wizard International. Snohomish County will continue to support innovative efforts to provide medical-grade PPE for local health care workers and first responders.
Snohomish County business changes production to PPE
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