With all the hoo-hah over the Times/P-I strike, few people noticed that unionization won a major victory in Seattle last month when the University of Washington caved to the strike threats of teaching assistants and, after lengthy intransigence, recognized their new union. Now, two more local unionization battles are upon us. At the UW Bookstore (an independent business not affiliated with the school), long-time employees, inspired by the struggle at Powell's Books in Portland, are spearheading a card-signing drive to affiliate with the ILWU. Issues include the usual: lousy pay (workers with over a decade of seniority still top out at about $13/hour), arrogant management, no job security, and the like. Meanwhile, the same sorts of issues--plus the cruelties of HMO-managed medicine--have led to two of the three prospective categories of employees approving unionization last weekend at Northwest Hospital, one of the largest (previously) non-unionized hospitals in the area. It's the largest single new unionization in the state in four years. The next challenge: a contract! --Geov Parrish

Quite regularly, ETS! gets unsolicited e-mails announcing something along the lines of: "Congratulations! Your web site has been selected as the [some silly award] by our [previously unheard-of outfit]!!!" This is immediately followed by the real point of the spam: "Be sure to post a link to our really cool [previously unheard-of site]!!!" Such an invitation, of course, demands immediate action--which is why, unless there's any evidence that they actually know who ETS! is and what we do, I lunge for DELETE. But sometimes, Internet awards really mean something, and ETS! got one last week that we're really, really proud of. For the month of January, ETS! has been named "Freedom Fighter of the Month" by the anarcho-punk band Rage Against the Machine. Their webmaster, Jake Sexton, is a longtime ETS! reader, occasional contributor, and is himself editor of the excellent e-zine NewsWatch (www.asc.upenn.edu/usr/jsexton/GSB). The honor puts us in a truly exceptional pantheon of community organizers from around the country, working--effectively--on a breathtaking array of issues that the band cares about. That includes alternative media, and Project Censored is the only other media endeavor so honored. We're humbled. Rage is awesome. So, here's the plug (which, tellingly, they didn't ask for): check 'em out at www.ratm.com. And play their songs LOUD.--Geov Parrish

While I'm the last person to criticize someone for harboring an illegal alien, I can't think of a better person to deserve the Zoe Baird treatment than Linda Chavez, Bush's right-wing nominee for Labor secretary. That's labor, folks. Chavez described her housekeeper as a "guest" who occasionally did housework and received some cash from time to time. If that's the definition of "guest," then Microsoft has several thousand "guests" living and working on the Redmond campus. Fortunately, the courts decided otherwise. When Chavez bowed out last week and Bush nominated Elaine Chao, the AFL-CIO breathed a big sigh of relief--prematurely, I might add. Chao is indistinguishable from Chavez, but she has something Chavez didn't: her husband is US Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. The senators at Chao's confirmation hearing are likely to go easy on the wife of a colleague. In addition, Chao chaired the board of the United Way while John Sweeney, AFL-CIO president, was one of its directors, and the two got along famously. Her record? She opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1991 which increased workers rights to sue for discrimination in the workplace. She's against affirmative action and she has criticized efforts to diversify workplaces. She opposes the new rules on ergonomics in the workplace and she supports allowing workers to withhold the portion of their union dues that would be used for political purposes. She's also likely to oppose any increases in the minimum wage. Chavez? Chao? If there's any difference, I can't see it.--Maria Tomchick

We can celebrate the downfall of Linda Chavez, Bush's nominee for Labor secretary, but other extremists remain on the Bush wish-list. The two most likely to come under fire from the left are Gale Norton (Interior) and John Ashcroft (Justice). Norton will be difficult to remove, unless activists can find some bit of scandalous dirt or outright illegal activity in her personal life; as one analyst pointed out, nominees are seldom dropped because of their professional record or personal biases (witness James Watt, who was worse then Norton). Fortunately, John Ashcroft may be the first to break that rule. Ashcroft has an impressive array of groups united against him, from the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) to the staid and firmly non-political Japanese American Citizens League. Even Senate Democrats are beginning to see the problem with having a man who "tries to invite God's presence while making crucial decisions and compares his political victories and defeats to resurrections and crucifixions" as the nation's attorney general. And listen up, Washingtonians: our new senator, Maria Cantwell, has just been named to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she'll have some say on Ashcroft's confirmation. Now's the time to put the pressure on her to get him outta there. Contact her office at: U.S. Senate, Room 464, Russell Building, Washington DC 20510, phone 202-224-3441, fax 202-228-0514, or cantwell@senate.gov. During her campaign, Cantwell made a big deal about her pro-choice stance; call her on it now.--MT

Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma's pro-democracy movement met recently with senior representatives of the military government, their first such contact in five years. The UN envoy to Burma said the parties have agreed to maintain regular contact and that, "the process of national reconciliation had begun." The military appears to be reacting to international pressure, and while observers are hopeful, true reconciliation is a difficult distance in the future. Aung San Suu Kyi remains under the "house arrest," she has endured for years. US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright welcomed news of the talks but said the military government will need to engage in more than the patronizing dialogue she witnessed on previous visits to Burma. "[Aung San Suu Kyi] needs to be respected as a political leader and not as, what was explained to me, as a 'little sister' that they have to take care of by keeping her in her house."--Troy Skeels

Help wanted! When ETS! was having problems with its web site last year and asked for volunteers to take it on, about a dozen folks volunteered. We got it fixed, and now I'm hoping for at least one person of similar generosity that can help me out with a semi-personal project (I'm abusing my position of influence within ETS!, you see...). I'd like to set up a web site, linked to ETS!, that archives all of my articles--the ones for ETS!, Seattle Weekly, Alternet, Mojo Wire, Nonviolent Activist, and so on--updated frequently, where anyone can find them. The Weekly stuff in particular is often of potential interest to ETS! readers (when it isn't a rerun), but particularly for folks out of town, hard to get. Anyway, setting up a web site, even one that simple, is far beyond my techno-capabilities, but I know that for some people it's pretty easy. I can supply the text (archives) and some design ideas; and once someone shows me how, I can keep it updated. anyone who's interested, please contact me at gparrish@seattleweekly.com. Thanks! --Geov Parrish