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Farm group fined | ILWU calls out Reichert | Dwayne the Unionbuster

Friday, October 11, 2024

 


MACHINISTS STRIKE at BOEING

► From Freight Wave — Boeing considers ‘next steps’ after pulling contract offer for striking workers — In a statement posted Tuesday by IAM District 751 in Seattle, the union said Boeing refused to propose any wage increases, vacation/sick leave accrual progression, ratification bonus or 401(k) match/SCRC contribution, or to reinstate workers’ benefit pension. “By refusing to bargain the offer sent to the media, the company made it harder to reach an agreement,” the IAM statement continued.

► From Quartz — Striking Boeing workers are ‘in this for the long haul’ — “They’re trying to take credit for very minor, very meager movement that wasn’t really touching on the major issues in a way that we could even get that in front of our members,” Holden said. “The areas where they didn’t make improvements are glaring.” Holden told Reuters that while some members were willing to vote on Boeing’s proposal, the company had rescinded its offer. He noted, however, that the union feels “strongly that there’s lots of movement that can be made.”

Today at The STAND: Rally with striking Boeing Machinists

 


STRIKES

► From the San Diego Tribune — San Diego hotel workers and Hilton agree on contract, ending 38-day strike — The workers, represented by Unite Here Local 30, voted overwhelmingly in favor of the contract, with 94% in support. They will return to work Friday. The union did not share specifics, citing a non-disclosure agreement, but in a news release, it called the contract “life-changing.” Some of the agreed upon changes include pay raises for tipped and non-tipped workers, increased pension and health care funding, improved staffing and workloads, a new anti-harassment policy, improved PTO policies and recognition of Juneteenth.

► From Yahoo News — Hotel Workers’ Union UNITE HERE Calls on Hotels to Notify Guests of Ongoing Strikes — Guests arriving at Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott hotels have reported that they were not notified of raucous picket lines or service disruptions. In one case, guests in swimsuits held a protest in the hotel lobby to demand refunds. Over 4,000 hotel workers are currently on strike in Boston, Honolulu, and San Francisco.

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!

 


LOCAL

► From the Tri-City Herald — Tri-Cities farm labor group fined $252K, banned for mistreating workers, moldy housing — Kennewick-based farm labor contractor Harvest Plus LLC housed farmworkers in unhealthy living conditions, transported them in unsafe vehicles and violated other H-2A guest worker program requirements, found an investigation by the Department of Labor. The department announced this week that Harvest Plus will not be allowed to participate in the H-2A program for three years and fined the organization $252,475.

► From Washington State Standard — Washington not on pace to fill growing job gap — “Washington’s education and training systems are not producing talent with the right skills at the right levels to keep pace,” said Marc Casale, founder and CEO of Kinetic West, which led the research for the report. Washington’s job growth is expected to be 12.8% through 2032, compared to 2.8% nationally. Of the 1.5 million job openings through 2032, about 640,000 are new jobs and 910,000 are from retirements.

► From the union-busting Columbian — ‘There’s nowhere for her to go’: Number of homeless domestic violence survivors has doubled in Clark County — Advocates like Stevens say a lack of shelter and safe housing is fueling domestic violence in Washington. Domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness for women in the United States, according to the federal Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services. In Clark County, the number of people who said they’re homeless due to domestic violence more than doubled from 808 people in 2022 to 1,794 in 2023, according to newly released numbers from the Council for the Homeless management information system.

► From the Yakima Herald — School districts received $2.6 billion in federal COVID relief funding. Here’s how they spent it — The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction said that maintaining staff and programming was part of supporting students. “You aren’t able to eliminate a teaching position because you had four students unenroll,” Payne said in an email. “You still need the teacher, the supplies, the support staff, the principal, the school bus.” Payne also pointed out that Washington received less money than other states, which meant the funds “simply weren’t a big game-changer like they were in southern states.”

► From the Seattle Times — In a First, a Gas Utility Is Sued Over Global Warming Deception — Oregon officials have added the state’s largest natural gas utility as a defendant in their $50 billion lawsuit against fossil fuel companies over their contribution to climate change. The suit — the first to make climate-related deception claims against a utility, experts said — alleges that the company, NW Natural, knew that the burning of natural gas contributed to global warming but misled its customers about the consequences.

 


AEROSPACE

► From the Seattle Times — FAA’s ‘failing system’ of monitoring Boeing blasted by federal watchdog — The Federal Aviation Administration hasn’t done enough to improve its oversight of Boeing to identify and address risks within the aerospace giant, a government watchdog agency said in a scathing report released Friday. In response, the FAA agreed with the recommendations and pointed to its addition of more safety inspectors in Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems facilities. The agency said it plans to fully implement the inspector general’s recommendations between 2025 and 2028.

 


NATIONAL

► From Axios — The elderly caregiving crisis is an economic problem — Why it matters: The sector is staffed by underpaid and unpaid workers — mostly women — carrying out crucial jobs that will only become more important as the population ages. Aging adults or those with disabilities who need home care pay for it out of pocket, spending upward of $100,000. If Medicare were to provide some kind of universal home-care coverage, something policy experts have recommended — Harris’ plan is based partly on a Brookings paper — that could reshape the way this market works. It would be hard to expand home health care coverage without making jobs better — increasing wages, providing better benefits, etc

► From the AP — The 2 people killed after a leak at a Texas oil refinery worked for a maintenance subcontractor — Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the two workers were killed and nearly three dozen others were either transported to hospitals or treated at the scene following the leak of hydrogen sulfide Thursday at the facility in Deer Park.

► From the Washington Post — Racism was called a health threat. Then came the DEI backlash. — A growing number of U.S. institutes created to explore the nexus between racism and health — and the researchers who preside over them — are finding themselves under attack, their missions and funding in peril barely four years after the nation had what many called its “racial reckoning.”

► From the AP — US consumer sentiment slips in October on frustration over high prices — Economists noted that the decline occurred after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate in September, while gas prices have steadily fallen and overall inflation has cooled, trends that should boost sentiment. Yet Hurricane Helene and Middle East turmoil could have pushed sentiment lower, Bradley Saunders, an economist at Capital Economics, noted. And after falling in anticipation of the Fed’s rate cut, mortgage rates have climbed in the past two weeks.

 


POLITICS & POLICY

► From ILWU — Washington Governor’s Race Puts Workers’ Rights on the Ballot — Organized labor is at a crossroads in this country. On the one hand, our unions are more active, powerful, and emboldened than we’ve seen in decades. Just look at the historic wins made by the UAW and ongoing attempts to organize non-union employers like Starbucks and Amazon. On the other hand, there’s a deeply reactionary conservative movement hellbent on rolling back what gains we have left from the New Deal and the Civil Rights Eras — and unions are on the chopping block. Dave Reichert, along with Trump and JD Vance, is a part of that anti-labor counteroffensive.

► From the AP — Abortion has passed inflation as the top election issue for women under 30, survey finds — About 2 in 5 in the group of young voters said abortion was their top concern in the recent survey, compared with 1 in 5 who ranked it most important in the same survey in the spring. In the earlier edition, inflation was the top concern for younger voters, as it was for women voters of all ages. Inflation remained the top concern for women in each age group over 30 and women overall.

► From Common Dreams — Progressives Say 2.5% COLA Increase Is a Reminder That Social Security Is on the Ballot — “The Republican Study Committee (which comprises over 80% of House Republicans) proposes annual budgets that include Social Security cuts. Page 104 of the Fiscal Year 2025 Republican Study Committee Budget calls the automatic nature of COLAs a ‘problem’ and implies that they should be subjected to annual Congressional approval. It also claims that the current COLA formula is too generous. Social Security beneficiaries likely disagree!”

► From the Seattle Times — Sparks fly at debate over initiative to repeal WA’s carbon market — The average price of gas in Washington in mid-October was about $3.96 a gallon and two years ago — before the state launched the carbon markets — it was closer to $5.20. Scientists across the world broadly agree that the brunt of climate change is caused by people burning fossil fuels like gas, oil and coal. Global warming also contributes to more extreme weather, like the record hot waters in the Gulf of Mexico, adding to the size and speed of Hurricane Milton, which has ravaged Florida.

► From the Seattle Times — WA initiative backers hit with $20K fine by campaign finance regulators — The state Public Disclosure Commission said Let’s Go Washington failed to report spending by subcontractors, or confirm that its vendors didn’t use subcontractors. It also failed to turn over its books to the commission, the PDC said. The PDC, which enforces campaign finance and disclosure laws, had requested the records twice, in May and July, before issuing a subpoena in late July. Let’s Go Washington turned over the records in August.

 


JOLT OF JOY

Members of SEIU 775 picketed Aegis Living Ravenna in Seattle yesterday, calling out billionaire CEO Dwayne Clark for union-busting and unfair labor practices. You’ve heard of Scabby the Rat; meet Dwayne the Unionbuster.

 


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CHECK OUT THE UNION DIFFERENCE in Washington: higher wages, affordable health and dental care, job and retirement security.

FIND OUT HOW TO JOIN TOGETHER with your co-workers to negotiate for better wages, benefits, and a voice at work. Or go ahead and contact a union organizer today!