NEWS ROUNDUP
Boeing’s stock | Strike reviews | Fred Meyer contract
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
MACHINISTS STRIKE at BOEING
► From NPR — At the heart of the Boeing strike, an emotional fight over a lost pension plan — “The 401(k) program is gambling on our retirement,” said Kat Kinckiner, a union steward who has worked at Boeing for close to 15 years. “To take away the pension and not compensate us enough to cover it? It’s just another takeaway, and there’s nothing unreasonable about wanting it back.” By contrast, 401(k) plans are cheaper and easier for employers. But critics say they push all of the risk and responsibility onto workers. “There’s now a real recognition that workers want both good wages and good pensions,” said Karen Friedman, the executive director of the Pension Rights Center. “There’s a growing appetite for secure pensions, and I think we’re going to see more of it, honestly.”
► From the Seattle Times — Boeing raises $21 billion in capital to repair balance sheet — The infusion of funds clears one of new Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg’s most urgent tasks amid a period of financial turmoil for the plane maker. Boeing’s balance sheet was already strained by the pandemic, and before that two fatal jet crashes involving its workhorse 737 MAX model. Now there’s a labor strike, in its seventh week, that’s crippling manufacturing of the jetliner.
STRIKES
► From Business Wire — As Hotel Strikes Continue, UNITE HERE Launches “Hotel Strike Reviews” Website for Guests to Share Experiences in Striking Hotels — Two months after hotel strikes in major U.S. travel destinations began, the hotel workers union UNITE HERE has launched a new website for guests to share their experiences at striking hotels. HotelStrikeReviews.org allows visitors to leave reviews about stays or interactions with Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott hotels where workers are on strike. The website also cross-posts strike-related reviews from Tripadvisor, Yelp, Google, and other leading travel review sites. Over 4,400 workers remain on strike in San Francisco, Honolulu, and Boston.
► From KQED — SF Hotel Worker Strike Enters 6th Week, No Deal in Sight — “It’s really difficult. Today it’s cold, it’s windy. I’d rather be inside working,” Turcios Brizuela said in Spanish outside the Hilton San Francisco Union Square hotel. “But we’ve got to be strong and hold out for better benefits for us and our families.” The strike against three of the industry’s most iconic global brands has expanded to include nearly 2,000 workers.
LOCAL
► From the Seattle Times — Starbucks threatens to fire staff who don’t come back to office — At the same time, some firms have realized that a return-to-office mandate can serve as layoffs in disguise. In a survey from BambooHR, one in four executives admitted they hoped for some voluntary turnover in the wake of an RTO push. Research has shown, though, that the workers who quit due to the policies are often the more experienced staffers that companies can least afford to lose.
► From Cascade PBS — WA police get one hour of hate-crime training despite rising cases — Training records show the state’s Criminal Justice Training Commission requires just one hour of hate-crime-specific training as part of the 720-hour basic law enforcement academy that every officer must complete for certification. Public record requests to the state’s six public universities found their campus police departments did not require additional training, even as antisemitic harassment, anti-Asian violence and other acts of discrimination have increased in recent years.
► From the Tri-City Herald — Richland schools to cut 34 paraeducators in midst of budget crunch. What we know so far — Richland School District will cut as many as 34 paraeducator jobs this week, likely through layoffs, as part of a plan to address a troubling budget crunch. “This is an extremely unfortunate situation that will negatively impact the community, our members and our schools,” said Annie Carlson, Richland Paraeducator PSE chapter president, in a statement. “But the only thing we can do now to protect our paras is ensure that the contract we have with the district is being followed.”
► From KOMO — ACLU sues Seattle City Attorney’s Office for ‘misuse of power’ following judge removal — “The case concerns a mandatory policy issued in February 2024 by the Seattle City Attorney’s Office directing all assistant city attorneys to file an “affidavit of prejudice” against Judge Pooja Vaddadi on all criminal cases,” the ACLU wrote. “Judge Vaddadi was elected to serve in Seattle Municipal Court, which is foremost a misdemeanor criminal court.” A Staff Attorney for the ACLU said for them, this was a case about democracy. “The Seattle City Attorney’s Office has thwarted the will of the voters and undone the will be removing this judge,” Adrien Leavitt with the ACLU said.
CONTRACT FIGHTS
► From KGW — ‘Change thousands of lives’: Fred Meyer union agrees to new 3-year contract after workers’ strike — “This contract is a victory for members of Local 555, who showed strength and solidarity throughout the entire fight,” said Dan Clay, president of UFCW Local 555. “It was won by union workers coming together and by a community standing with them.” Clay said the new contract “ensures higher wages, stronger healthcare, and a stable retirement.” It also allows the union to better address contract violations.
► From the Olympian — Port of Olympia approves contract for existing union, but not the new union. Here’s why — The Port of Olympia commission on Monday approved a contract for an existing union, but has delayed its vote on a contract for a new union, also known as Local 47B, until next month. “The proposed contract includes a $2 per hour raise for all bargaining unit members, and some salary adjustments for specific positions,” the budget information reads. In April 2022, 17 port employees announced they had formed Local 47B, The Olympian reported.
► From Deadline — SAG-AFTRA Inks Deal With AI Company Ethovox To Build Foundational Voice Model For Digital Replicas — According to the union, the contract “leads the field in performer compensation,” because it requires session fees as well as ongoing revenue sharing through the life of the foundational model. In addition to securing proper compensation for SAG-AFTRA members who want to participate in the building of the model, the union says it has secured a “commitment to diversity and inclusion” from Ethovox.
► From the Baltimore Banner — Unionized Baltimore Hilton workers reach deal for higher wages — The new four-year contract includes wage increases for non-tipped and tipped hotel workers and more funding for workers’ pension and health care funds, according to Unite Here Local 7 President Tracy Lingo. It also includes language to ensure fair pay for banquet workers at the city-owned hotel.
ORGANIZING
From IATSE:
🚨 BREAKING: Saturday Night Live Visual Effects Workers Unionize, Winning Voluntary Recognition with Unanimous Support
While known for its live television segments, SNL employs 16 VFX Artists and Leads who help make the program’s pre-recorded digital shorts pop. #VFXUnion pic.twitter.com/WDyBU4SX8d
— IATSE // #IASolidarity (@IATSE) October 28, 2024
► From Deadline — ‘Saturday Night Live’ VFX Workers To Unionize With IATSE — The VFX workers’ unionization follows that of the sketch comedy series’ editors, who began a union campaign in 2022 and were similarly voluntarily recognized. That group ratified its first union contract last year.
NATIONAL
► From the New York Times — Wages Have Outpaced Inflation. But Not for Everyone. — But this is not a simple case of facts versus “vibes.” Economic statistics are based on broad averages. Dig deeper, and the story becomes more complicated. How a given family or individual has fared over the past five years depends on a litany of factors: whether the earners own their home or rent; whether they had to buy a car or send a child to day care; whether they were able to change jobs or demand a raise.
READY FOR A VOICE 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 ABC News — In a visit to Baltimore, Biden will announce $3 billion to reduce carbon emissions at US ports — President Joe Biden is set to visit the city’s main port Tuesday to announce the grants, which officials say will improve and electrify port infrastructure at 55 sites nationwide while supporting an estimated 40,000 union jobs, reducing pollution and combating the climate crisis. The grants are funded by Biden’s landmark climate law approved in 2022, the largest investment in clean energy in U.S. history.
► From ABC News — A pizza shop owner is sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for threatening workers with deportation — Stavros Papantoniadis, 49, of Westwood — the owner of Stash’s Pizza, a Massachusetts pizzeria chain — was sentenced Friday in federal court to 102 months in prison, one year of supervised release and ordered to pay a $35,000 fine. Papantoniadis forced or attempted to force six victims — five men and one woman — to work for him and comply with excessive workplace demands through violent physical abuse; threats of violence and serious harm; and repeated threats to report the victims to immigration authorities for deportation, according to prosecutors.
► From the Washington State Standard — Overdose deaths are rising among Black and Indigenous Americans — Tribes and helpers need more funding for research to find root causes and more timely information from hospitals to find overdose outbreaks quickly and intervene, she said. It’s a need everywhere, but means even more in Native communities, which are often spread out in rural areas. In the Black community, men older than 55 are especially hard hit, said Gardner, of the National Black Harm Reduction Network. She noticed their deaths start to increase in the mid-2010s, when she served as New York state’s assistant secretary of health, and later realized those deaths were “the canary in the coal mine” that signaled deadly fentanyl’s infiltration into supplies of other drugs.
► From the Washington Post — The AI boom may unleash a global surge in electronic waste — Leading tech companies are spending heavily to build and upgrade data centers to power generative AI projects and to stock them with powerful computer chips. If the AI boom continues, the older chips and equipment could amount to extra electronic waste equivalent to throwing out 13 billion iPhones annually by 2030, the study from academics in China and Israel said.
POLITICS & POLICY
► From the Seattle Times — WA, OR ballot box fires: Here’s what we know — A fire caused by an “incendiary device” damaged hundreds of ballots inside a drop box in Vancouver, Washington, early Monday. The fire is connected to a similar fire in Portland that happened the same day and an Oct. 8 incident in a downtown Vancouver drop box, authorities said. Kimsey encouraged anyone who used the Fisher’s Landing ballot box after 11 a.m. Saturday, when it was last cleared, to go into or call the Clark County Elections office at 564-397-2345 immediately to replace their ballot. You can track your ballot at voter.votewa.gov or text “VOTE” to 868392 to get text updates.
► From Working to Live in Southwest Washington — LISTEN: From Advocating To Legislating — A lot of working people are somewhat familiar with the US Senate and US House of Representatives in the other Washington… but they’re not as familiar with our STATE Senate and State House of Representatives in this Washington (you know… the one in Olympia.) Harold sits down with State Senate candidate Adrian Cortes (https://www.votecortes.com/) and State House candidates John Zingale (https://www.electjohnzingale.com/) and Deken Letinich (https://www.electdeken.com/) to find out the differences – and similarities – between the Federal Legislature and our State Legislature, the value of failure, and how you can change things in our state by talking to your state legislators.
► From Ms. Magazine — Biden-Harris Administration Proposes Most Significant Expansion of Contraception Coverage Under ACA in Over a Decade — Building on the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that most private health plans must cover contraception without cost sharing, the proposed rule would expand coverage to over-the-counter (OTC) contraception without cost sharing, make it easier to learn about coverage for OTC contraception and strengthen coverage of prescribed contraception without cost sharing.
► From the AP — Owner Jeff Bezos defends Washington Post’s decision not to endorse as the right, ‘principled’ one — Billionaire Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos on Monday defended the newspaper’s decision not to endorse a presidential candidate as “right” and “principled” and pushed back against any notion that he ordered it up to protect his business interests.
Editor’s note: shoutout to the reporters at the Washington Post for running an article essentially calling BS on this claim by the billionaire who owns their paper. Relatedly…
► From the Washington Post — On Elon Musk’s X, Republican tweets go viral as Democrats disappear — “In the past political actors on both sides saw Twitter as the place to go to get news coverage and a sense of how people were reacting … but it doesn’t have that real political centrality anymore,” she added. “Now, for Republicans, it’s become a place for partisan signaling — to the leader of the party; to the owner, who’s very close to him; to each other — that I’m a good Republican, and this is what that looks like now.”
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