Progressive and radical University of Washington alumni in the ETS! community will be pleased to hear that direct action lives on at the UW. On Wednesday, May 31, the UW Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) and the Sierra Student Coalition (SSC) held a surprise demonstration in front of Gerberding Hall, the UW administration building, calling for fair labor practices for capital projects and other services on the UW campus.

According to SLAP and SSC, LVI Environmental, a non-union contractor hired by the UW to decommission and demolish its long-dormant nuclear reactor building on campus in the More Hall Annex, is currently negotiating with the Washington state chapter of the Laborer's Union. The UW has not yet formally supported these negotiations, so SLAP and SSC organized the May 31 event to call on the university to publicly support the negotiations, and to require both LVI Environmental and all future UW contractors to adopt and abide by a policy of union neutrality toward their employees. SLAP and SSC want the UW to ultimately issue a public statement supporting the standards imposed by the National Labor Relations Act and Washington state law concerning the formation of labor unions.

SLAP and SCC have organized previous demonstrations against the UW's choice of LVI, due to LVI's past history of unfair labor practices, including inadequate protection of workers from hazardous materials. In the weeks prior to the demonstration, SLAP and SCC gathered over 450 painted handprints and signatures from UW students and community members on several large, brightly colored banners in support of their goals. On May 31 they presented these petitions to the office of UW Executive Vice President Weldon Ihrig. In addition, they delivered the UW administration a cake in order, according to a SLAP/SCC press release, "to celebrate UW's openness to discussion and the establishment of amicable diplomatic relations with SLAP and SSC." The demonstrators symbolically presented only one half of the cake "to represent the work still needed to insure safe and fair labor practices on campus." SLAP and SCC intend to deliver the other half "once the UW has formally affirmed a strict policy of union neutrality for all campus contracts."

Real Change News published a detailed account of LVI's contract with the UW on April 6, available at realchangenews.org/2006/2006_04_05/hotspot.html. UW alumni interested in supporting SLAP and SCC's great student activism can contact SLAP at slap@u.washington.edu. --Jeff Stevens

Portland Mayor Tom Potter has announced that the FBI attempted to recruit an informant inside Portland's City Hall.

According to a May 24 letter to the community posted on the Mayor's website (portlandonline.com/mayor/index.cfm?a=117342&c=41986), an FBI agent approached a city employee on May 11 and asked her if she would be willing to pass information to him relating to people who work for the city of Portland. Mayor Potter criticized the FBI at a related press conference:

"The actions of the FBI, even if this was just the act of one agent, represent an unacceptable mindset within the agencyÉ It comes at a time when Americans have witnessed phone companies giving phone records to the government."

In an open letter posted on the city's official website, Potter says federal authorities claim that they are not conducting an investigation of the City government. But despite the federal authorities' claims that there is no ongoing investigation into activities taking place inside Portland's city hall, the FBI still maintains it has the right to question city employees. In an official statement released by the agency, spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele says that it is "entirely proper for an FBI agent to ask willing citizens to provide information when those citizens feel it is appropriate to do so regarding potential criminal conduct."

Potter disagrees and accuses the government of being overzealous and over-reaching in its surveillance of US residents:

"When there's no information to indicate any public corruptionÉ the FBI has no legitimate role in surreptitiously monitoring elected officials and city employeesÉ Spying on local government without justification or cause is not acceptable to me."

Potter experienced conflict with federal authorities in 2005 when he voted with city council members to end Portland's participation in the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force program. Potter says he doesn't think the federal authorities are retaliating against him. He claims the two issues are unrelated. --Mark Taylor-Canfield

From the Kitchen: Late-breaking news at ETS!: We need a new Activist Calendar editor! Our current editor, Amber Croyle, needs to step down due to lack of consistent computer access--a common problem recently among ETS! volunteers (all rumors of a massive and luxurious reader-funded ETS! corporate headquarters to the contrary). Amber's done a great job for us these past few months and her work will be greatly missed. If you, dear reader, have consistent computer access and/or a strong familiarity and/or involvement in the Puget Sound activist community, many would be grateful if you volunteered to become our next calendar editor! Drop us a line if you're interested: editorial@eatthestate.org. --J.S.