Where to join picketers | WSLC endorsements | Inslee: More Horse power

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

LOCAL

► From the Seattle Times — Boeing firefighters reject latest contract offer as lockout drags on — Locked out and facing tough management talks that produced little movement, Boeing firefighters voted late Wednesday to reject a contract offer only marginally improved from one they tossed out in April. The IAFF said the vote was “overwhelming” and General President Edward Kelly said Boeing’s offer was “a clear sign of the corporate giant’s complete lack of respect for our members.”

► ICYMI from the Washington State Standard — Electrician strike in Puget Sound region stretches beyond five six weeks — More than 1,000 electricians in the Puget Sound region have been on strike for the past five six weeks, disrupting construction at major job sites, including Microsoft and Amazon office buildings. Limited energy electricians with IBEW Local 46, are asking the National Electrical Contractors Association for paid holidays, more pay, and increased safety measures like ensuring radios are available on all job sites. The full membership of the union’s limited energy electrician unit, which totals around 1,025, hasn’t gone on strike by themselves since 1945, said 47-year-old Michael Holcomb, who’s worked as a limited energy electrician for 17 years, mostly as a union member:

“I think they’re finally starting to realize their self worth. We’re required to have a license. We do fairly complex work. We’re one of the lower paid trades. We’re finally starting to see we’re worth more than what we’ve been getting paid over the years.” 

EDITOR’S NOTE — Please share this MLK Labor image listing picket locations and then come join striking IBEW 46 members and locked-out IAFF members on the picket lines!

► From NBC Tri-Cities — Kadlec employees to hold informational picket, rally on May 28 — SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, represents over 1,100 service and technical healthcare workers at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland and at Kadlec’s freestanding Emergency Room in Kennewick, plans to hold informational pickets and a rally on Tuesday, May 28. Their contract expired in December 2023 and the union has been negotiating for a new agreement since January.

Today from The STAND — Kadlec pickets in Tri-Cities on Tuesday to demand fair pay

► From the union-busting Columbian — ‘People are just much more willing to fight’: More health care workers in Clark County push to unionize — Unionization efforts across the health care field continue to increase in Clark County and beyond as workers steadily organize to secure more workplace protections.

Today from The STAND — 260 health professionals unite at PeaceHealth SW

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 Peninsula Daily News — Peninsula College, teachers agree on contract — The Peninsula College Federation of Teachers/AFT 3439 reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract that will significantly boost salaries and bring compensation closer to other community and technical colleges in the state.

► From the Seattle Times — What a 32-hour workweek looks like in San Juan County — Switching to a 32-hour workweek allowed the county to boost its per-hour wages without breaking its budget or asking voters to approve higher taxes. So the county and the union, AFSCME 1849, struck a deal allowing employees to hang onto their pay and benefits while working 52 fewer days each year. They estimate it will save almost $1 million this year, compared to what the union initially proposed.

WSLC

► From the WA State Standard — Labor power backs a Republican for eastern Washington congressional seat –Rep. Jacquelin Maycumber didn’t support many Washington State Labor Council priorities in the Legislature this year but the group still endorsed her in a U.S. House race, along with Democrat Carmela Conroy. The decision reflects the WSLC’s commitment to building independent political power that isn’t tied to a party, said Osta Davis, the organization’s political and strategic campaigns director:

“We do consider how candidates fit their district. We want to encourage both Democrats and Republicans to push a pro-worker agenda.”

From the STAND (May 18) — WSLC releases 2024 election endorsements

► From the Olympian — Unionized staff members endorse candidate opposing their current boss at WA state agency — DNR’s Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz and state Deputy Majority Leader Sen. Emily Randall (D-Bremerton) are vying for endorsements in their run to represent the 6th Congressional District. Both are Democrats on the August primary ballot, hoping to replace U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, who is not running for re-election. The Washington Public Employees Association, which represents DNR staff members, voted last week to endorse Randall for the congressional seat.

EDITOR’S NOTE — WSLC delegates also voted to endorse Randall.

THIS WASHINGTON

► From the Seattle Times — Inslee rejects recommendation to slash proposal for WA wind farm — Gov. Jay Inslee breathed new life into a proposal for what could be Washington’s largest wind farm, rejecting a recommendation from a state permitting council that sought to cut the project in half over concerns for an endangered hawk. Plans for the $1.7 billion Horse Heaven Hills wind farm originally included up to 222 wind turbines across 24 miles of hillsides in the Tri-Cities area, plus three solar arrays covering up to 5,447 acres. On Thursday, Inslee — who has the final say in the matter — rejected the council’s recommendation and asked the group to take another look, in the hopes of expanding it closer to its full potential.

From the STAND (June 9, 2022) — Tri-Cities trades unions reach deal to build Horse Heaven

► From the Seattle Times — Schools across WA are struggling to balance their budgets — What’s causing all of this? Inflation means schools are paying significantly more to cover basic costs like materials, fuel, electricity and insurance. Enrollment nationwide is down — a combination of a hangover from pandemic withdrawals and birthrate declines. One-time federal pandemic relief funds amounting to $2.6 billion for Washington schools have come to an end. Some districts are also facing local levy failures, and others have mismanaged funds.

► From the (Everett) Herald — Struggling Marysville schools dropped from state insurance pool — In an unprecedented move, the board of the Washington Schools Risk Management Pool voted to drop the district by August.

AEROSPACE

► From Reuters — Boeing sees six-fold rise in employee concerns on product safety, quality — Boeing saw a six-fold increase in submissions from its employees raising concerns related to the safety of products and services during the first two months of 2024, compared with the same period last year, the planemaker said on Friday.

► From the AP — Boeing’s 1st astronaut flight now set for June after a review of small leak on new capsule

► From Reuters — Some Norwegian Air pilots threaten to strike from June 1

THAT WASHINGTON

► From The Hill — Republicans divided on pledging to accept 2024 election results — Refusing to commit to accepting the results of the 2024 election has become a litmus test for Republicans jockeying to become former President Trump’s running mate, but that’s making their Senate GOP colleagues uncomfortable about the prospect of another Jan. 6-style standoff if Trump loses.

► From the AFL-CIO — AFL-CIO condemns Supreme Court’s disenfranchisement of Black voters in South Carolina — AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond:

“Permitting violations of both the 14th and 15th amendments, this ruling is yet another example of right-wing politicians employing the judiciary to bless racist policies adopted by extremist legislatures. As scandals and record-low approval ratings plague the court, the anti-democratic audacity of this decision highlights the urgent need for federal legislation to protect access to the ballot box.”

NATIONAL

► From WFAA — Molson Coors reaches agreement with workers on new contract, ending months-long strike — Molson Coors and 420 workers at its Fort Worth brewery announced Wednesday that they reached an agreement on a new, three-year contract, ending a strike by Teamsters Local 997 that lasted more than three months.

► From Reuters — UAW asks US board for new unionization vote at Mercedes’ Alabama plant — After last week’s union vote came up short, the union has accused Mercedes of engaging “in a relentless anti-union campaign” including the firing of employees who were pro-union and holding frequent captive-audience meetings to spread anti-union views, according to the filing.

► From the AFL-CIO — Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month profile: Ligaya Domingo — Ligaya Domingo has served the labor movement in every capacity from organizer and shop steward to lead negotiator and local representative. As the current racial justice education director of SEIU Local 1199NW, she is transforming labor culture, leadership development and coalition relationships. She started as a union organizer in AFL-CIO’s Union Summer Program in 1996. She is also trustee of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW’s multi-employer training fund. She serves on the national executive board for APALA as president.

EDITOR’S NOTE — As AAPI Heritage Month continues, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States. Also see profiles of AFT Washington’s Tracy Lai and APALA Seattle’s Amy Leong.

► From Hollywood Reporter — Brooke Shields elected president of Actors’ Equity — Shields takes over from Kate Shindle, who had served as president since 2015, but decided to step down after her term ended May 23.

► From Politico — How women are changing labor unions — As waves of labor activism sweep the country, women of color are leading union growth, while union women in construction and manufacturing are raising labor and safety standards for all workers. Within unions — spaces once largely dominated by white men — leaders say they are pushing women of all races and men of color to take on leadership roles and incentivizing women to join previously male-dominated industries.

► From the People’s World — Coalition of Black Trade Unionists maps strategy for 2024 and beyond — With the 2024 elections looming, setting up a re-run between President Joe Biden and former twice-impeached president and fascist Donald Trump, the CBTU 2024 convention brought into stark relief the high stakes facing the working class and the trade union movement. AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Fred Redmond said:

“Whether we like it or not, this election comes down to us: Black people and the labor movement. (The upcoming election determines) the future of this country and the future of our labor movement.”

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