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Posts published in “Day: May 31, 2007”

Roady’s and Taco Bell

May 31, 2007
Humanitarian Bowl

Humanitarian Bowl

Considering all the name changes it's gone through already, the new name addition of Roady's Truck Stops to the Boise State Humanitarian Bowl may not be a very big deal.

After all, consider the names the game already has had: Humanitarian Bowl (1997-98), Crucial.com Humanitarian Bowl (1999-2002), [plain old] Humanitarian Bowl (January 2004) and MPC Computers Bowl (Dec. 2004-2006 - no "Humanitarian" at all).

In the context, the new Roady's Humanitarian Bowl doesn't really sound like a big stretch. And the naming rights were duly paid for.

(Never heard of Roady's Truck Stops? That may be because, though it's currently a large outfit in the industry, it was created only this year by the merger of two differently-named companies. The company list says the only Roady's in Idaho at present is the Mayfield stop east of Boise on I-84; there is one in Oregon, at Baker, and two in Washington, at Spokane and Toledo. Roady's corporate offices are located in New Plymouth, however.)

Not everyone's happy about it. Remarked one commenter on an Idaho Statesman comment board (the whole long thing, well over 100 comments so far, really is worth scanning) offered: "I never thought I could ever stop laughing at the Taco Bell Arena... Today I finally got over it. Can't wait to find out who will have naming rights for Bronco Stadium so that I can stop laughing at the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl."

Strike?

May 31, 2007
NW carpenters

NW carpenters

Haven't seen much about this, but could it be that a labor-union settlement in one part of the Northwest might prompt a massive strike in other parts of the region?

Carpenters unions around the Northwest have been pushing in recent months for pay increases. In western Washington (mainly the Puget Sound area) this week, they reached a deal with the Wall and Ceiling Contractors Association involving an increase of about $7.20 an hour at the journeyman level.

No such deal yet, though, for Oregon or others in Washington. An e-mail from the carpenters notes that "The last and final offer from the Wall and Ceiling Contractors Association was only about 70% of the increase that the Association agreed to in Seattle." A spokesman was quoted: “In Western Washington, the same worker will be receiving a 30% larger raise than he or she would in Oregon or in Southwest Washington. [He said] In Oregon alone, construction accounts for at least $9.9 Billion to the economy annually. It’s not just 1,300 families negotiating here; if they fail, Oregon and Southwest Washington lose economically when the contractors disrupt the operations of their own jobsites."

So, the mail said: "With only hours before the contracts expire at midnight on May 31st, members of the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters (PNWRCC) in Washington and Oregon may be forced to walk off dozens of active construction sites; the strike is imminent since the contractors continually failed to offer an acceptable increase to workers’ wages and benefits. Already, 97.5% of the affected carpenters have voted in favor of striking as a last resort."

Pickets tomorrow, all over the region?