NEWS ROUNDUP

Trump slashes DOE | USPS & Black workers | PLAs in Whatcom

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

LOCAL

► From the Seattle Times — University of Washington braces for Trump budget cuts, starts hiring freeze — While the university’s financial position is good, “unprecedented and rapid policy changes at the federal level” have upped the risk of funding cuts, Tricia Serio, UW provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, wrote in a blog post dated March 9. Serio said the university also plans to cancel non-essential travel and training and decrease discretionary spending, among other measures.

► From the Cascadia Daily News — Labor agreements under scrutiny as Whatcom plans for massive public construction — “Too many Whatcom County residents have to drive long distances for work, especially in the construction industry,” according to a memo sent by council members Kaylee Galloway, Jon Scanlon and Barry Buchanan…Under federal labor law, PLAs are considered legally binding pre-hire agreements, which outline employment terms such as wages and working hours. “Oftentimes, opponents say it’s going to add 20 percent or 30 percent to the cost of your construction program,” [Daniel] Villao said. “I would be hard-pressed to figure out how to increase your cost by any significant portion for an administrative reporting process.”

► From the Tacoma News Tribune — ‘Where does it stop?’ Workers speak out about cuts to VA services in Puget Sound region — Workers hit with recent funding freezes and firings involving the Department of Veterans Affairs said the recent tumult might result in more long-term damage than any short-term financial gains for the federal budget.

AEROSPACE

► From Yahoo News — US transportation chief to meet with Boeing CEO on safety efforts — Duffy will travel to Seattle with acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau as the Trump administration has vowed stringent oversight of Boeing, also following a January 2024 mid-air panel blowout on a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX. The pair are expected to meet with Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who will testify on April 2 before the Senate Commerce Committee on the planemaker’s efforts to improve its safety culture and quality. They will also visit the 737 factory and meet with FAA inspectors.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From Modern Retail — Unionized Barnes & Noble workers secure contracts as other retailers hold out — Barnes & Noble reached another contract with unionized workers this week, giving its employees more certainty in a tumultuous retail environment while forgoing the drawn-out negotiating tactics seen at other retailers. Workers at several REI and Trader Joe’s locations have also unionized in recent years, furthering a wave of retail unionization in recent years that kicked off at places like Starbucks and Amazon. But Barnes & Noble workers are unique in reaching a contract.

NATIONAL

► From the Guardian — The US Postal Service helped build the Black middle class. Trump could end that legacy — “The postal service workforce is more diverse racially [and] ethnically than the labor force in this country as a whole,” said Brian Renfroe, the national president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. The gains in the post office with regards to diversity aren’t accidental. One reason for the high rate of Black employment at the postal office is because the USPS recruits veterans, a large percentage of whom are Black, said Monique Morrissey, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute. “They’re vetted and they’re trustworthy,” said Morrissey of veterans. “You don’t want somebody messing with mail. The consequences are harsh if somebody does that.”

► From the Calhoun Journal — Labor Leaders Commemorate 60th Anniversary of Selma to Montgomery March — The event will follow a march to Montgomery, after which labor leaders will hold a press conference to discuss the ongoing relevance of the movement. Organizers emphasize that economic justice and labor rights have historically played a crucial role in the fight for racial equity, a connection they say remains significant amid recent labor organizing efforts and union activity across the South. The Selma to Montgomery march, a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement, took place in March 1965 and was instrumental in the passage of the Voting Rights Act. The commemoration will highlight the enduring impact of that struggle and the continued advocacy for workers’ rights and social justice.

► From Indie Wire — Writers on at Least 5 TV Shows Have Received Streaming Bonuses, Thanks to the WGA Contract — One of the wins from contract negotiations with the studios was that shows and films that reach a certain tier of success on streaming platforms will qualify for a bonus on top of the existing residuals they receive. Data about how these shows perform also had to be shared with members, but not publicly, so what shows have qualified since the contract went into effect on January 1, 2024 haven’t been revealed. However, a report in The Ankler on Monday says that at least five streaming series have qualified for and already received payments based on the performance-metric bonuses. Those series are “Bridgerton Season 3,” limited series “Griselda,” and “Avatar: The Last Airbender” all on Netflix, as well as “Fallout” on Amazon Prime Video, and “Ted” on Peacock.

► From WCHS — Longtime leader of United Mine Workers to retire — The longtime leader of the United Mine Workers of America, Cecil Roberts, is retiring. Roberts, a West Virginia native who has served as president of the United Mine Workers of America since 1995, announced that he will be retiring in October 2025, according to a news release.

POLITICS & POLICY

Federal updates here, local news and deeper dives below:

► From the New York Times — Education Department Fires 1,300 Workers, Gutting Its Staff — The cuts could portend an additional move by Mr. Trump to essentially dismantle the department, as he has said he wants to do, even though it cannot be closed without the approval of Congress. Sheria Smith, the president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 252, which represents more than 2,800 workers at the Education Department, said the Trump administration had “no respect for the thousands of workers who have dedicated their careers to serve their fellow Americans” and vowed to fight the cuts.

► From the AP — Trump’s 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports go into effect — Trump removed all exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on the metals, in addition to increasing the tariffs on aluminum from 10%. His moves, based off a February directive, are part of a broader effort to disrupt and transform global commerce. The Republican president has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging “reciprocal” rates starting on April 2.

► From the New York Times — Europe Retaliates Against Trump’s Tariffs as Trade Fight Widens — The response will come in two parts. The bloc had increased tariffs on a range of goods in retaliation to U.S. measures during Mr. Trump’s first term, but they were suspended under the Biden administration. That suspension will be allowed to lapse on April 1, increasing tariffs on $4.5 billions of euros worth of products that include boats, bourbon and motorcycles. The bloc’s second step, it said, would be to place tariffs on about €18 billion worth of additional products.

► From the People’s World — AFL-CIO rolls out week of mass action vs. Trump’s war on workers — In essence, the campaign in the streets will be against the chaos and depredation unleashed by Republican president-in-name Donald Trump and his puppeteer president-in-fact Elon Musk. It’s also against the criminal corporate class, whose exploitative moguls are targets, too. A big symbol of that depredation came the morning of March 10, when Trump pre-emptively ended the collective bargaining agreement between the Government Employees (AFGE) and the Transportation Security Administration, covering 45,000 workers, the airport screeners.

► From Common Dreams — Sanders Warns Musk’s Call for $700 Billion in Cuts Is a ‘Prelude’ to Social Security Privatization — It’s not clear where Musk, who has lied repeatedly about Social Security in recent weeks, got the $700 billion figure. As Rolling Stone’s Andrew Perez noted, “There is no expert on the planet who thinks there is $700 billion worth of annual fraud in America’s safety net programs.” “Why do you lie so much about Social Security? Why do you make it look like it’s a broken, dysfunctional system?” [U.S. Senator Bernie] Sanders asked. “The reason is to get people to lose faith in the system, and then you can give it over to Wall Street. That’s my view.”

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