NEWS ROUNDUP

Federal union rights | NWDC protest | Heaven

Friday, March 28, 2025

 

LOCAL

► From the Seattle Times — ICE arrests spark protest at Tacoma immigration detention center — “Our labor movement includes every worker, no matter where they were born,” said Dulce Gutiérrez, a Washington State Labor Council organizer, at the protest. “We know this isn’t just about immigration. It’s about power, it’s about dignity and it’s about justice. We’re fighting not just for individuals but for the soul of our democracy.”…Last week, a class-action lawsuit was filed claiming people are held for months or even years without the chance of release on bond because of a highly unusual legal interpretation by Tacoma judges. Fear has gripped America’s noncitizen workers, even those here legally, as a result of Trump’s crackdown. An estimated 20% of the U.S. labor force is foreign-born. “This is about immigrant workers detained by ICE, … but it is also about a system that punishes us for raising our voices,” said Cherika Carter, Washington State Labor Council secretary-treasurer.

► From the Cascadia Daily News — Hundreds rally in support of immigration activist detained inside Tacoma ICE facility — Among the speakers was Juarez Zeferino’s brother, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution. He told the crowd he’d spoken to his brother that morning and that he was aware of the protest held in his name.

► From FOX 13 — VIDEO: Unions demand release of members in ICE custody — Hundreds of people rallied in front of the Northwest ICE processing center — protesting the detainment of a farmworker activist and UW lab technician.

► From SEIU 925:

► From the Olympian — Detained population at Tacoma ICE center nearing capacity as immigration arrests increase — The Northwest ICE Processing Center, which holds people who are suspected of being in the country illegally or awaiting deportation, has bed space for 1,575 people. Elizabeth Benki, a directing attorney for the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project’s detention work, estimated Wednesday that 1,400 to 1,500 people are detained at the facility. “There was a sharp increase after Jan. 20,” Benki said. “What we’re seeing, I think, is a combination of two things. I think there’s more people being detained, and there’s also fewer people getting released, particularly on bond.” Before Jan. 20, Benki said the facility’s population had hovered between 700 and 800 for a couple years.

► From the Washington State Standard — Corrosion problem knocks most Amtrak Cascades trains out of service — The years-long process to restore regional intercity rail service and build up train ridership in western Washington and Oregon was dealt a major setback this week when Amtrak suddenly withdrew dozens of train cars from service for emergency repairs. Corrosion discovered on Amtrak’s aging Horizon-class railcars caused the trouble. The rail company immediately removed all 70 of its Horizon train cars from the fleet nationwide, including 26 used on the Amtrak Cascades line

► From Cascade PBS — King County Exec Dow Constantine picked as new Sound Transit CEO — Constantine has served as county executive since 2009, but announced last November that he would not seek a fifth term. A member of Sound Transit’s board for 15 years, he played an important role in supporting the 2016 voter-approved authorization of Link light rail’s third phase of expansion.

 

AEROSPACE

► From USA Today – FAA plans 2,000 air traffic controller hires and tightens Boeing rules — The Federal Aviation Administration plans to hire 2,000 air traffic controller trainees this year and maintain strict oversight of Boeing, the agency’s acting administrator said in written testimony to be given to a U.S. Senate panel on Thursday. The agency will also establish a panel to “identify additional hazard areas involving helicopter and fixed-wing interactions,” acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said in written testimony obtained by Reuters.

 

ORGANIZING

► From the Athens Independent — Ohio University faculty approve unionization by wide margin — Nearly 800 Ohio University faculty will soon be part of a union, following a years-long organizing campaign and an election that saw more than 70% of participating faculty vote to unionize, according to unofficial results.

 

NATIONAL

► From the Daily Free Press — Hundreds gather to protest ‘state-sanctioned political kidnapping’ of Tufts student by ICE  — Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts, is in the U.S. on a student visa. She was handcuffed by plainclothes officers on a Somerville street Tuesday and put in an unmarked SUV, according to a video published by the Boston Globe. According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement database, Ozturk is being held at South Louisiana Ice Processing Center, despite a federal judge ordering for her not to be removed from Massachusetts without notice…Ozturk is also a member of Service Employees International Union Local 509, a union representing Massachusetts workers, including Boston University faculty, graduate workers and ResLife employees.

► From the AP — US consumers remained cautious about spending last month as inflation ticked higher — The report also showed that consumer spending rebounded last month after falling by the most in four years in January. Yet much of the additional spending reflected price increases, with inflation-adjusted spending barely rising. The weak figure suggests growth is rapidly slowing in the first three months of this year as consumers and businesses turn cautious amid sharp changes in government policies.

► From NPR — Federal workers ordered back to office find shortages of desks, Wi-Fi and toilet paper — Earlier this month, a Department of Agriculture employee who works remotely was given a list of possible locations for their upcoming mandatory return to office. One location was described as a “storage unit.” Confused, the employee drove to the address, which turned out to be, in fact, a storage facility. When the employee asked the facility’s owner why it might show up on a list of federal office spaces, the owner laughed and told the employee that the federal government does rent a unit there — to store a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service boat.

 

POLITICS & POLICY

Federal updates here, local news and deeper dives below:

► From The Hill — Trump administration moves to end union rights for many federal workers — The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said Thursday that President Trump signed an executive order limiting numerous agency employees from unionizing and instructing the government to stop engaging in any collective bargaining. The OPM memo references an order from Trump, but it is an accompanying fact sheet from the White House that lays out the rationale for the move, claiming the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 allowing government workers to unionize “enables hostile Federal unions to obstruct agency management.” The order targets agencies it says have a national security mission, but many of the departments don’t have a strict national security connection.

► From the AFL-CIO:

► From the Washington Post — Document details federal worker layoff plans across government agencies — It indicates that broad staff cuts are likely to have a significant impact on the scope of the government’s work. For example, the document lists the Department of Housing and Urban Development as cutting half of its roughly 8,300-person staff, while the Interior Department would shed nearly 1 in 4 of the workers it had when Trump took office and the IRS would cut nearly 1 in 3.

► From the Seattle Times — Top Senate Republican protests Trump bid to withhold spending — They pointed to a memo Trump had sent to Congress on Monday that declared that only a portion of the $12.4 billion designated as emergency funding in the legislation would actually be spent, “because I do not concur that the added spending is truly for emergency needs.” The appropriators vigorously contested that assertion, arguing that the law requires the administration to spend all emergency money or none of it, and does not allow the president to decide for himself what money to spend and what not to.

► From the Seattle Times — Senate overturns rule limiting bank overdraft fees to $5 — The Senate voted Thursday to strike down a rule capping most bank overdraft fees at $5, a measure adopted late last year by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that had been expected to save Americans billions of dollars per year. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., was the lone Republican to oppose the resolution, which passed on a nearly party-line vote, 52-48.

► From the LA Times — These departments investigating Elon Musk have been cut by DOGE and the Trump administration — Now, after spending more than $200 million to elect Donald Trump to a second term as president, the wealthiest man on earth has ensconced himself in the White House at the president’s side. DOGE has laid off thousands of federal employees, while President Trump fired or replaced Biden-era officials, including more than a dozen inspector generals, as multiple agencies or departments — from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — have been regulating or investigating Musk’s companies.

► From Cascade PBS — How would you fix Washington’s $15 billion budget crisis? — On Monday, legislative Democrats, who have a majority in Olympia, released their proposed budgets. Both chambers’ proposals cost about $78 billion. The budget is legally required to be balanced through 2029, and state lawmakers have until April 27 to reach a compromise approved by both chambers and Ferguson. To learn more about how these proposals align with how you might balance the budget, take our quiz.

► From the Spokesman Review — North Spokane Corridor construction could face delays without new revenue, legislators say — Things looked settled for the project, with a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Transportation telling The Spokesman-Review last year it was “fully funded.” In October, a WSDOT representative told the Spokane City Council the agency remained optimistic the project would be completed in 2030. The final phase of the project, however, could be in jeopardy as lawmakers look to fund previously approved projects.

► From the Seattle Times — Top Senate Republican protests Trump bid to withhold spending — They pointed to a memo Trump had sent to Congress on Monday that declared that only a portion of the $12.4 billion designated as emergency funding in the legislation would actually be spent, “because I do not concur that the added spending is truly for emergency needs.” The appropriators vigorously contested that assertion, arguing that the law requires the administration to spend all emergency money or none of it, and does not allow the president to decide for himself what money to spend and what not to.

► From the Seattle Times — Senate overturns rule limiting bank overdraft fees to $5 — The Senate voted Thursday to strike down a rule capping most bank overdraft fees at $5, a measure adopted late last year by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that had been expected to save Americans billions of dollars per year. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., was the lone Republican to oppose the resolution, which passed on a nearly party-line vote, 52-48.

► From the LA Times — These departments investigating Elon Musk have been cut by DOGE and the Trump administration — Now, after spending more than $200 million to elect Donald Trump to a second term as president, the wealthiest man on earth has ensconced himself in the White House at the president’s side. DOGE has laid off thousands of federal employees, while President Trump fired or replaced Biden-era officials, including more than a dozen inspector generals, as multiple agencies or departments — from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — have been regulating or investigating Musk’s companies.

 

JOLT OF JOY

Released on Epic Records 21 years ago this week, chicano legends Los Lonely Boys’ Heaven feels all the more relevant today.

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