NEWS ROUNDUP

Big raises in Seattle | 1M in WA on Obamacare | Molson Coors boycott

Wednesday, April 3, 2024

LOCAL

► From Crosscut — Seattle Council unanimously approves raises for 10,000 city workers — The Seattle City Council voted 9 to 0 Tuesday to approve new union contracts for approximately 7,000 city workers, including back pay, annual wage increases and other expanded benefits. Across the board, workers will get a 5% retroactive pay increase for 2023 and 4% for 2024, which will be paid together this year. In 2025, raises will be pegged to the regional Consumer Price Index with a minimum 2% raise and maximum of 4%. In 2026, raises will be pegged to inflation with a minimum of 2% and maximum of 5%.

READY FOR A RAISE? 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 The STAND (Sept. 20, 2023) — More than 1,000 Seattle city workers rally for #RSPCT

► From KXLY — MultiCare, nurses union reach agreement pending union vote — MultiCare Health Systems has announced a tentative agreement was reached with the union representing healthcare workers at MultiCare Valley and Deaconess hospitals. The union was prepared to strike April 7, but the agreement will be ratified pending a union vote.

EDITOR’S NOTE — SEIU Healthcare 1199NW confirms that members are currently voting on a Tentative Agreement. Stay tuned to The STAND for the results later this week.

From The STAND (March 28) — Strike set for April 7 at Spokane’s MultiCare hospitals

► From the Tri-City Herald — Will Tri-Cities schools see expected ‘financial crisis,’ layoffs other WA districts face? — It’s been a treacherous budgeting season so far for many Washington school districts. Across the state, schools that banked on student enrollment rebounding after COVID are now making sweeping cuts to staff as they spend the last of the federal cash they received during the pandemic. It’s a shadow that’s sure to loom over local Tri-City school districts, most of which have only just begun to draft budget documents and understand the fiscal impacts of the last legislative session.

AEROSPACE

► From Fox Business — Boeing’s 737 factory logs reveal delays, production pressure before door plug blowout: report — Boeing’s factory logs show that crews apparently did not follow procedures as they faced mounting pressure over delays in finishing a jet that would later have its door plug blown off midflight, according to a report.

► From CNBC — United asks pilots to take unpaid time off, citing Boeing’s delayed aircraft — United confirmed the request for voluntary, unpaid time off. The airline previously said it would pause pilot hiring this spring because of aircraft arriving late from Boeing.

THIS WASHINGTON

► Today’s MUST-READ from the Seattle Times — Finally here to stay? Near 1 million in WA now get Obamacare (by Danny Westneat) — With officially 971,463 Washingtonians under age 65 now getting health care through Obamacare, the once-pariah program roughly matches the size of Medicare, the insanely popular government health plan for seniors. It also has dropped the uninsured rate in Washington from 14% to just 6%… Intriguingly, there are five counties in Washington where half or more of the nonsenior population is on government insurance or Obamacare policies, most of which are subsidized. All five counties are in Eastern Washington — Adams (57% government-covered), Ferry (56%), Okanogan (56%), Pend Oreille (54%) and Yakima (53%). By contrast, King County is at just 25% (meaning most health coverage in King remains employer-based). Ironically, this means some of the red counties are tipping over toward the very thing their leaders say they are adamantly against — universal government-assisted health insurance. All five counties have twice voted for Donald Trump, who is again threatening to “terminate” Obamacare.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Then-Rep. Dave Reichert, now a Republican candidate for governor, voted against the Affordable Care Act (2010 HR 3590), and then after it passed, voted multiple times to repeal and defund the ACA (2015 HR 596, 2013 HR 45, 2012 HR 6079).

► From the (Everett) Herald — Small nuclear plants may be key to state’s energy mix (editorial) — Considering the pace of global warming and climate change — 2023 globally was the warmest year on record and the 10 warmest years in the last 174 have all occurred in the last decade — there remains ample reason to further investigate nuclear energy’s place in the mix of solutions, especially for a new and promising development in nuclear energy.

From The STAND (April 1) — Labor hails Washington’s investment in nuclear future — Building Trades, Climate Jobs Washington applaud state’s historic investment in an advanced modular reactor.

► From the Seattle Times — Keep long-term care insurance mandatory in Washington (by Richard G. Frank) — As it currently exists, the WA Cares Fund provides a constructive step toward easing the bite of needing long-term care and support by making it affordable to many more older adults. That protection will only be realized if the mandatory provision of the program is retained.

► From the WA State Standard — U.S. Supreme Court won’t block Washington’s new legislative district map — Opponents sought an order preventing its use in this year’s elections. The legal fight over the boundaries will continue in federal appeals court.

► From the WA State Standard — As campaigning revs up, WA laws aim to detect cyber attacks and protect election workers — Gov. Jay Inslee said new laws are a consequence of misinformation spread since the 2020 election that undermines the integrity of how elections are conducted in the state.

THAT WASHINGTON

► From Reuters — U.S. to require two-person crews for most train operations — The Transportation Department’s Federal Railroad Administration said Tuesday it will require major railroads to have at least two crew members for most trips. The final rule creates a special approval process for railroads seeking to initiate new one-person train crew operations and requires trains carrying some hazardous waste to have two-person crew.

► From Politico — Tribe plugs into Biden’s electric school bus push — President Biden pledged to electrify the nation’s fleet of school buses while investing in underserved communities, including $13.7 billion to improve the lives of Native Americans. The bus program offers a down payment on that promise.

► From the People’s World — MAGA House Republicans attack workers again — The Republican House majority on the Education and the Workforce Committee approved HJR 116 to abolish the Labor Department’s new rule that makes it much tougher for shady businesses to misclassify their workers as “independent contractors.” The committee OK’d it on a party-line vote on March 21.

NATIONAL

► From Yahoo Finance — Teamsters call for nationwide boycott of Molson Coors amid labor dispute — The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is calling for a nationwide boycott of Molson Coors amid stalled labor talks between the union and the beverage company. Some 420 members of Teamsters Local 997 in Texas have been on strike for more than a month at Molson Coors’ Fort Worth brewery after negotiators failed to reach an agreement on a new three-year contract for workers.

► From the Teamsters (Mar. 28) — Molson Coors offers workers 5 cents, talks collapse

► From The Guardian — ‘They are breaking the law’: Inside Amazon’s bid to stall a union drive — Amazon workers in Moreno Valley, CA filed for a union vote in October 2022, only to pull the election petition after significant opposition from the company. Those who led the campaign allege managers violated labor laws to halt it in its tracks.

► From Reuters — Mercedes workers in Alabama to file for union vote this week, UAW leader says — The SUV plant in Vance, Alabama, plan to file paperwork with the National Labor Relations Board seeking a formal election to join the UAW.

► From the Nevada Independent — Former Culinary head and national UNITE HERE leader D. Taylor steps aside — Labor leader D. Taylor, whose four-decade career in union organizing included helping Culinary Workers Union Local 226 become a Nevada political power, stepped down after 12 years as president of UNITE HERE, the local’s 300,000-member parent organization. UNITE HERE said Taylor’s departure took effect Easter Sunday but didn’t make the announcement until Monday morning. Taylor said:

“I believe the next generation of leaders should get their shot.”

EDITOR’S NOTE — AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler released a statement that reads:

“D. Taylor’s legacy is one of building power for low-wage workers whose shot at a decent standard of living is tied directly to the strength of their union. His storied career in the labor movement includes countless victories for hospitality workers, first in Nevada as head of UNITE HERE Culinary Union and, for the past 12 years, as leader of the international union. Through it all, D. remained 100% grounded in the work to ensure that ‘One Job Should Be Enough,’ which became a rallying cry for working people across the country.”

► From Deadline — American Federation of Musicians ratifies new deal with studios — AFM members have ratified the Basic Theatrical Motion Picture and Basic Television Motion Picture Agreements contract, which was unanimously recommended by the bargaining committee in February.

► From the San Jose Mercury News — California could be first state to give workers right to ignore boss’s after-hours calls, texts, emails — Bill would give Californian workers “right to disconnect.”

► From the Washington Post — Journalism could help change the immigration debate in America (by León Krauze) — Immigrant workers such as Maynor Suazo Sandoval, who died in the Baltimore bridge collapse, are also the engine of America’s economy. The immigrant workforce has long been a crucial driver of various industries. For example, without immigrants, the construction industry would grind to a halt. Immigrants work in it at great personal risk. And yet, immigration is increasingly identified as an issue of concern among American voters. Why has Trump’s ugly demagoguery gained purchase with American voters? In part, it’s because migrants toil in obscurity.

► From Jacobin — Key Bridge collapse shipowner could legally skirt liability — Big Oil and shipping interests have lobbied for years to keep a law on the books that caps their liability following deadly disasters. The company linked to the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse aims to use it to avoid paying damages and compensation.

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