Tuesday, June 21, 2022

JUNETEENTH

WSLC President Larry Brown speaks at the ILWU/APRI rally Monday at Terminal 46.

► From KIRO — Union workers, several groups celebrate Juneteenth — As the country celebrated the Juneteenth federal holiday, several groups in Seattle marched and held a rally at the waterfront. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers and several other groups marched down Alaskan Way holding signs and chanted “Black workers lives matter,” as well as, “honor Juneteenth as a workers’ holiday.”

The Stand (June 19) — April Sims: What Juneteenth means to me — Celebrating our resilience in the ongoing fight for economic and racial justice.

MORE local Juneteenth coverage in the Bellingham Herald, Cascadia Daily News, (Everett) Herald, Kitsap Sun, Seattle Times, and the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.

► From the Spokesman-Review — Juneteenth recognizes the trauma of slavery – but there’s a reason it’s ‘not just a Black holiday’ (by Amber Dodd) — Dwonna Goldstone, Africana Director at Texas State University, finds Juneteenth a moment to understand the national narrative of slavery. However, she hopes that Juneteenth is not the only day that non-Black Americans acknowledge the impact of slavery and invest in Black Americans’ continued quest for equality:

“We all are excited about Juneteenth, but I wonder what happens after. It’s somewhat a performative action of white people coming together and celebrate with Black people who are coming together and celebrate, but what are we doing the other 364 days?”

LOCAL

► From UFCW 367 — Fred Meyer workers join together with UFCW 367 — Fred Meyer Tumwater Non-Food departments have officially voted to form a union with UFCW 367! This victory was made possible by the hard work and determination of worker leaders at Tumwater Fred Meyer with support from members in their store.

► From KOMO — Canceled flights, crush of passengers means chaos for SeaTac Airport airlines, passengers — For passengers flying out of or arriving at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Monday, many of them were greeted with dozens of local flight cancellations in addition to the thousands of scrubbed flights nationwide.

► From the ALPA — Delta pilots share frustration with customers for flight disruptions — With Delta cancelling more flights than any other major airline, the union says it’s been cautioning Delta for months that it must exercise restraint when adding back flights. “It gives us no pleasure to tell management, ‘We told you so,’” said Delta ALPA Master Executive Council (MEC) chairman Capt. Jason Ambrosi.

► From the union-busting Columbian — NALC’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive nets 40K pounds — After a two-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger food drive returned this year, bringing in nearly 40,000 pounds of food and $36,373 in donations.

THIS WASHINGTON

BREAKING NEWS from SCOTUSblog:

The Supreme Court strikes down a Washington law that made it easier for certain workers to get workers’ comp from the federal government if they became sick while cleaning up a decommissioned nuclear site. SCOTUS says the law violates the doctrine of intergovernmental immunity.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 21, 2022

► From Crosscut — WA families lose safety nets as pandemic, inflation persist — As COVID-19 numbers continue to fluctuate, some federal relief programs supporting families and children have started to disappear. This includes the child tax credit payments, universal free school meals and additional food assistance. State lawmakers have worked to partly replace some aid, but many families who relied on the expanded social safety net still struggle to get by with less help at a time when food and gas prices continue to surge amid the protracted pandemic.

► From KUOW — Washington state creates process for public to seek police decertification — A new process in Washington state allows members of the public to seek the decertification of police and corrections officers, which strips away their license to work in law enforcement statewide.

► From the (Everett) Herald — $1 billion to fund 5 new hybrid ferries, but who wants to build them? — That’s a lot of money and guaranteed steady paychecks for whoever lands the contract. Mega shipbuilder Vigor, which made a number of the state’s ferries, opted not to build the new hybrid boats after completing the design.

► From the Olympian — Kreidler won’t resign, he tells governor and other officials –Facing increasing pressure from Gov. Jay Inslee and other state leaders to step down from his elected position, state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said Friday afternoon that he has no intention to resign.

► From the Tri-City Herald — The back story on Nikki Torres’ run for WA state senate. And why Honeyford dropped out (by Cecilia Rexus) — Honeyford’s surprise move caused political rumblings throughout the district, as well as speculation that he and Torres had made a prearrangement before filing week. That’s not the case, they say.

THAT WASHINGTON

► From the Washington Post — Oil refineries are making a windfall. Why do they keep closing? — Oil refineries across the country are being retired and converted to other uses as owners balk at making costly upgrades and America’s pivot away from fossil fuels leaves their future uncertain. Even at this lucrative moment for what’s left of the refining industry, a White House desperate to bring down gas prices is having little success persuading owners to expand operations, and more closures are imminent.

► From The Hill — Biden’s China tariff policy could irritate union allies — President Biden is facing a tough decision on whether to lift some Trump-era tariffs on China, a move that economists say will help inflation but promises to anger labor unions. Biden said over the weekend that he was still weighing such a move, and officials have not offered a timeline on when he would make a decision.

► From the AP — Biden signs off on hefty pay raise for federal firefighters — President Joe Biden has signed off on giving federal wildland firefighters a hefty raise for the next two fiscal years, a move that affects more than 16,000 firefighters and comes as much of the West braces for a difficult wildfire season.

NATIONAL

► From NPR — Organizing and adding members are top goals for the newly elected AFL-CIO president — In her speech at the AFL-CIO convention, Shuler pledged to expand on recent organizing drives — from high tech to retail to the service industry. “Nineteen thousand baristas at Starbucks across the country are reclaiming what it means to be a partner. And corporate and retail workers are coming together to organize at Apple,” she said. Shuler is pledging a massive grassroots organizing drive over the next decade, with a goal of adding 1 million new union members.

► From CNBC — Apple workers in Maryland vote for company’s first unionized store in U.S. — Employees at an Apple store in Towson, Maryland, voted Saturday to join a union, a significant achievement for organized labor. The Towson store is the first unionized Apple store in the U.S. The vote is a defeat for Apple, which has opposed unionization efforts, and could energize workers at the company’s other retail locations to move forward with organizing.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Ready for a voice at work? Get more information about how you can join together with co-workers and negotiate a fair return for your hard work. Or go ahead and contact a union organizer today!

TODAY at The Stand — Apple workers in Maryland first in nation to unionize

► From HuffPost — Biden says he’s proud of Apple store workers who unionized

► From AL.com — UMWA pledges full support for 15-month Alabama miners’ strike — The United Mine Workers of America is committing “all necessary resources” to continue a strike that has dragged on for almost 15 months against Warrior Met Coal in Alabama. Delegates to the UMWA’s Constitutional Convention last week unanimously passed a resolution pledging support “for the Union to be victorious in its struggle against Warrior Met.” According to the union, this “unleashes every available avenue the union has at its disposal to continue the struggle for justice and win a fair contract.”

EDITOR’S NOTE — The United Mine Workers has established a Warrior Met Strike Aid Fund to accept donations that will be used to help our Brothers and Sisters in their time of need. You can contribute here or send donation checks made out to the UMWA Strike Aid Fund to:

UMWA STRIKE AID FUND
P.O. BOX 513
DUMFRIES, VA 22026

► From the Washington Post — After school shootings, teachers struggle for years with trauma — Teachers often put their students’ recovery process ahead of their own, sometimes delaying their healing for months or years at a time, several said in interviews. Some find solace in advocacy.

► From Bloomberg — Tesla layoffs violated law with no warning to workers, suit says — Tesla was sued by some former employees who claim the company’s decision to lay off about 10% of its workforce violated federal law by failing to provide the required advance notice for the job cuts.

INTERNATIONAL

► From the AP — UK rail strike strands commuters, pits workers against government — Tens of thousands of railway workers walked off the job in Britain on Tuesday, bringing the train network to a crawl in the country’s biggest transit strike for three decades. About 40,000 cleaners, signalers, maintenance workers and station staff were holding a 24-hour strike, with two more planned for Thursday and Saturday.

The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.