DAILY NEWS

‘We’re not laughing’ | Red Cup Rebellion | FAA needs ‘urgent action’

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

LOCAL

► From the (Everett) Herald — As Providence nurses strike, replacements cross the picket line — Before the sun rose Tuesday, hundreds of nurses picketed outside Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. They chanted, cheered and used handwarmers to help brave the 30-degree weather. “Providence, Providence, we’re not laughing,” they chanted in unison. “Nurses and patients need safe staffing.” About 1,300 nurses and their supporters are expected to picket the hospital’s two campuses at all hours until Sunday morning, with rotating shifts. Nurses walked off the job around 6 a.m., just as buses of replacement hires arrived. Security guards stood watch. Some travel nurses didn’t know they would be ~~working a strike~~ crossing a picket line until they arrived at the hospital. Some chose not to.

MORE coverage from KING, KIRO, KOMO, KUOW, and Q13.

► From the (Everett) Herald — Support nurses and patient safety at Providence Everett (letter) — The nurses at Providence Everett deserve our support. Our community can support the nurses as they prepare to strike by joining the candlelight vigil for patient safety from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Thursday Nov. 16 and by getting more info here.

The Stand (Nov. 6) — Nurses at Providence Everett announce plans for ULP strike

► From the (Everett) Herald — Explore apprenticeship programs at free Everett job fair Nov. 16 — The Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center will hold a free Career and Job Fair that features a lineup of 30 apprenticeship programs in Snohomish, Whatcom, Skagit and King and Pierce counties. The event will be held 4-7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16, at the Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center, 9001 Airport Road, Everett.

The Stand — National Apprenticeship Week is Nov. 13-19

► From KUOW — Seattle Schools hits pause on timeline to close several schools — A leaked draft of Seattle Public Schools leaders’ plans to fill a $105 million budget shortfall does not include school closures for next school year, as many expected. Board member Vivian Song Maritz confirmed this is the proposal Superintendent Brent Jones will bring the board on Wednesday. She said she doesn’t know how this internal document got shared, but that it had been provided to board members for review to prepare before the meeting.

STARBUCKS

► From the Guardian — ‘You can’t beat us’: Starbucks workers to strike in ‘Red Cup Rebellion’ — Starbucks workers will strike at stores across the U.S. on Thursday, Nov. 16, the company’s promotional Red Cup Day, in their latest attempt to pressure the company to bargain a first union contract with unionized stores and address issues such as understaffing.

TAKE A STAND — Some stores will face strikes. Others will have leafleting actions. Multiple unions — including APALA, IAM District 751, IBEW 46, MLK Labor, SEIU 6, SEIU 775, SEIU 1199NW, UFCW 3000, and UNITE HERE 8 — are hosting Red Cup Rebellion events to support local Starbucks workers at various locations across the state. Click here to find an event near you. You can also sign up to host an event at your local Starbucks.

The Stand (Nov. 1) — ‘Red Cup Rebellion’ to support Starbucks workers is Nov. 16

► From the Tri-City Herald — Starbucks union plan Red Cup Day strike. 1 Tri-Cities store is targeted — From 7-10 a.m., hosts from Red Cup Rebellion will be at the Starbucks at 7600 W. Clearwater Ave. to support workers and encourage customers to show solidarity with workers.

AEROSPACE

► From the Seattle Times — Boeing still lags Airbus in jet deliveries, but orders are soaring — Boeing continued to struggle with airplane production in October as teams of mechanics performed the slow work of inspecting for defects and repairing the newly built 737 MAXs, data released Tuesday shows. However, October was a very good month for Boeing jet sales with a total of 117 net new orders, mostly thanks to Southwest Airlines.

► From the APWU — NATO to replace AWACS surveillance jets with modified Boeing 737 — NATO will replace its ageing fleet of AWACS surveillance planes, in service since the Cold War in the 1980s, with a militarized version of the Boeing 737 commercial jet, the alliance said on Wednesday, in a deal likely worth billions of dollars.

SOUTH OF THE BORDER

► From the Oregonian — Portland teacher strike: District’s cost estimates suggest 2 sides still more than $200 million apart — After nearly a year of negotiations and eight days out of school for students, Portland Public Schools and its teachers union remain more than $200 million apart in the estimated costs of their proposals for a three-year contract. That’s according to the district’s math.

THAT WASHINGTON

► From Reuters — Safety review team calls for ‘urgent action’ after U.S. aviation near-miss incidents — An independent safety review team named by the Federal Aviation Administration after a series of close-call air incidents called for “urgent action” and made a series of recommendations on Wednesday to boost safety. The 52-page report released Wednesday cited air traffic control staffing shortages, technology issues, funding needs and other challenges. At many facilities, controllers are working mandatory overtime and six-day work weeks to cover shortages.

► From NPR — Congress on track to avoid a shutdown as House passes two-tier spending bill — The House voted overwhelmingly, 336 to 95, to approve an unusual two-tier spending bill to keep some government offices open through mid-January while others would operate through the beginning of February. The Senate is expected to vote on the measure later this week. Democratic caucus leadership got behind the bill Tuesday afternoon, citing the fact that it funded the government at current levels, was “devoid of harmful cuts and free of extreme right-wing policy riders.”

EDITOR’S NOTE — All 10 members of Washington’s congressional delegation voted “yes.”

► From The Hill — Most Americans in new poll say Congress shouldn’t use government shutdown to bargain — Three-quarters of Americans — 75% — came out against shutdown brinksmanship in the poll

► From The Hill — GOP senator challenges Teamsters president to fight during hearing — Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R) nearly came to blows with the Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien at a Senate hearing Tuesday, forcing Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to step in to stop a brawl from breaking out in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee room.

► From Vox — The Supreme Court’s new ethics code is a joke (by Ian Millhiser) — The code is so weak that it serves to legitimize Clarence Thomas’s corruption. It is literally worse than nothing.

NATIONAL

► From Teamster.org — Teamsters, CWA picket American Airlines — Hundreds of American Airlines passenger service workers represented by the Communications Workers of America—International Brotherhood of Teamsters Association took to the country’s airports to demand an equitable collective bargaining agreement during informational pickets. Teamsters at American Airlines, who have been without a raise for nearly four years, staged pickets in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Omaha, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle.

► From the Hollywood Reporter — Hotel union gears up to picket major Hollywood awards ceremonies — UNITE HERE Local 11 is in a labor dispute with the venues that are set to host the Golden Globe Awards and the Critics Choice Awards, among others.

► From the Salt Lake Tribune — University of Utah health care workers have unionized. This is what they want. — Utah Health Workers United is the first union in the state directly tied to a specific health care system. Members say they’re fighting for “substantial changes.”

Ready for substantial changes at work? Get more information about how you can join together with co-workers and negotiate for better wages and working conditions. Or go ahead and contact a union organizer today!

► From ProPublica — “Do your job.” How the railroad industry intimidates employees into putting speed before safety — Railroad companies have penalized workers for taking the time to make needed repairs and created a culture in which supervisors threaten and fire the very people hired to keep trains running safely. Regulators say they can’t stop this intimidation.

► From NPR — Public transit systems try to avoid a ‘death spiral’ as remote work hurts ridership — Big public transit systems are warning of deep service cuts as they struggle to make up lost revenue from fewer riders. But in some places, ridership is growing as systems adapt to the new normal.

► From the AP — China leads list of labor abusers, sometimes akin to slavery, detected on fishing vessels worldwide

T.G.I.W.

► The Stand will go on hiatus after today until Monday, Nov. 27. The Entire Staff of The Stand truly gives thanks for the opportunity to spend an extended holiday break with family on both coasts. Thank you for the days.