Wednesday, July 13, 2022

STARBUCKS

► From KOMO — Starbucks employees say they ‘don’t buy’ safety issues excuse for store shut downs — Starbucks employees at several stores set to close by July 31 are concerned about their future and questioning the company’s reasoning behind the closures. Starbucks union members brought up concerns the closures are linked to union organizing. At least two of the six stores closing are unionized. Mari Cosgrove, a Starbucks barista and union member:

“I 100 percent cannot buy the safety issues as the excuse… I was honestly insulted they would say this about worker concerns. [To] have workers say, ‘No we’re not concerned actually’ and then be told, ‘No you are concerned that’s why we’re closing, end of discussion’.”

EDITOR’S NOTE — One percent of Starbucks stores nationwide are unionized, but 19% of the stores they are closing for “safety” are union.

NEW: Starbucks brags about offering health insurance to workers.

But workers say the plans are unaffordable. Some face crippling medical debt, others are on Medicaid & some don’t go to the doctor at all.

Now Starbucks is threatening abortion & trans benefits to bust the union. pic.twitter.com/OUGrDOa7Pq

— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) July 12, 2022

AEROSPACE

► From the PS Business Journal — Boeing hits 3-year high for deliveries ahead of Farnborough Airshow — Boeing accelerated the pace of deliveries in June, handing off a three-year record of 51 aircraft to customers as it seeks to stabilize production on the Renton-made 737 MAX, its largest commercial line. More than 80% of the planes it delivered during the month were MAX jets, alongside several freighter aircraft from its 777 and 767 lines.

► From KREM — Boeing hiring for professional positions in Spokane — The company is hiring candidates experienced in engineering, manufacturing, fabrication and quality and other entry level positions.

ELECTION

► From Crosscut — Election security a key issue in the WA secretary of state race — Washington voters will decide whether to keep Kim Wyman’s appointed replacement, Steve Hobbs — a former state senator from Snohomish County and a moderate Democrat — or choose someone else. The two top vote getters will advance to the November general election. The winner will serve the two years remaining in Wyman’s term before the regularly scheduled election in 2024.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Union delegates from across the state voted to endorse Steve Hobbs for Secretary of State at the Washington State Labor Council’s 2022 COPE Endorsing Convention on May 22.

► From the NY Times — Poll shows tight race for control of Congress as class divide widens — Nonwhite and working-class Democrats worry more about the economy, while white college graduates focus more on cultural issues like abortion rights and guns.

► From The Hill — Democrats hold 4-point advantage on generic congressional ballot: survey — The poll found that 46% would choose the Democrat when asked which candidate they would most likely vote for if the election for Congress in their district was held today, compared to 42% who said the Republican and 12% said they had no opinion or did not know.

THAT WASHINGTON

► From the Washington Post — Federal employee satisfaction, engagement show steep drop under Biden — Officials pointed toward two possible contributing factors behind the plunge: Continued turmoil in the federal workforce over the pandemic, and dissatisfaction with appointed leaders — many of whom have yet to be confirmed by Congress.

► From The Hill — McConnell ultimatum endangers China competition bill — Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) aims to pass a party-line economic package to lower drug prices and raise taxes on high earners. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) has threatened to block bipartisan legislation to boost U.S. competitiveness with China if Democrats move forward with a reconciliation bill.

NATIONAL

► From the Wall Street Journal — Union organizing efforts rise in first half of year — The number of U.S. workplaces where employees have started trying to organize unions jumped this year to the highest level in half a dozen years, a rise that reflects warming public attitudes toward unions amid a strong labor market. In the first half of the year, workers at 1,411 U.S. workplaces filed petitions with the NLRB, the first step in joining a union, according to an analysis of federal data. That represents a 69% increase from the same period in 2021 and the most of any year since 2015.

TODAY at The Stand — NLRB: Union organizing activity is surging

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!

► From The Guardian — ‘Don’t quit. Organize’: Amazon union push spreads it wings after New York success — In the wake of a historic union election victory at the Amazon JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island, New York, more Amazon workers in the U.S. are trying to replicate that success with their own organizing campaigns in other states.

► From Bloomberg — Workers at leading abortion researcher vote to join union — Employees at the Guttmacher Institute, a leading researcher of abortion and reproductive health care, voted to join a union following allegations of a “toxic” work culture and retention problems. Workers voted 61-2 to join OPEIU Local 153.

► From the American Prospect — Dollar store workers organizing for justice — As a wave of unionization sweeps across retail, dollar store workers are organizing to fight back against some of the harshest conditions in the sector. Employees across the country work in dollar stores that are understaffed and sometimes unsafe. They have had to deal with rat infestations, broken air conditioners in the summer heat, and even workplace violence. The wages are also among the lowest in retail. According to the Economic Policy Institute and The Shift Project, 92 percent of Dollar General employees make less than $15 an hour.

► From IATSE — Teamsters, IATSE reaffirm ‘Mutual Aid and Assistance Pact’ — The pact outlines how the unions will address organizing efforts, deal with jurisdictional issues and fight in conjunction to meet the goals of economic justice for their respective memberships.

► From CBS Philly — Workers OK contracts at 5 Atlantic City casinos; 2 more remain — Officials with UNITE HERE Local 54 said 99% of workers who voted in ratification elections approved the new pacts, under which housekeeping employees will immediately see their hourly salary increased to $18, up from varying levels.

► From the AP — U.S. inflation reached a new 40-year high in June of 9.1% — Surging prices for gas, food and rent catapulted U.S. inflation to a new four-decade peak in June, further pressuring households and likely sealing the case for another large interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, with higher borrowing costs to follow. The ongoing price increases underscore the brutal impact that inflation has inflicted on many families, with the costs of necessities, in particular, rising much faster than average incomes. Lower-income and Black and Hispanic Americans have been hit especially hard, because a disproportionate share of their income goes toward such essentials as housing, transportation and food.

► From the AP — Cost-of-living crisis to hit women hardest, report says — A cost-of-living crisis sparked in part by higher fuel and food prices is expected to hit women the hardest, the World Economic Forum reported Wednesday, pointing to a widening gender gap in the global labor force.

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