NEWS ROUNDUP

Ed. cuts | Union support | NIOSH

Friday, May 23, 2025

LOCAL

► From My Northwest — Parents, staff rally for their jobs as Tacoma Public Schools considers cuts amidst budget concerns — Kari Madden, the president of the Tacoma Federation of Education Support Professionals, said support staff help students with learning needs and those in the general student body. “I worry about the students having enough support,” Madden said. “We see a lot of behavior issues and aggression. There are a lot of social-emotional needs that our students still have coming back from COVID and I worry that there is just going to be a lack of support in all areas.”…Annual raises at the administrative level are a point of contention for Madden’s union and for the Tacoma Education Association, which represents teachers. The Unions brought information to the district’s school board highlighting what they see as substantial salary increases among high-level district staff.

► From KUOW — ICE agents at Seattle courthouse arrest people whose deportation hearings are dismissed — Rodriguez said the arrests appear to be happening after a government attorney moves to dismiss someone’s deportation case. If they don’t object or appeal it, recently arrived immigrants can face expedited removal, which does not require their deportation case to go before a judge. Three people had their cases dismissed Wednesday morning. They were then arrested by federal agents and escorted down six flights of stairs or taken down a freight elevator surrounded by plainclothes officers…Attorneys worry the ICE presence will scare people away from their hearings. That could lead the judge to rule to deport someone because they didn’t show up at court. Already more than a dozen people have gotten a final order of removal for not showing up.

► From KUOW — ICE arrests 17 in raid at Kent specialty beverage company — Officials from four federal agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, arrived at Eagle Beverage and Accessories Products on Tuesday afternoon and took the workers into custody. Videos posted to social media by local immigration attorney Luis Cortes-Romero show the workers in handcuffs and ankle chains as agents directed them out of the warehouse and into a transport bus. This appears to be the second, large-scale immigration raid at a Washington business this year, following the arrest of 37 people at Bellingham roofing company in April.

► From the Yakima Herald-Republic — Yakima-based EPIC Head Start provider may lay off nearly 200 — Washington’s Employment Security Department said Thursday it had received a layoff notice for EPIC, a nonprofit that serves communities in Central Washington. The organization serves about 500 children through its Head Start programs, said EPIC Early Learning CEO Mamie Barboza. People’s livelihoods are at stake, so they need to be aware, and EPIC is obligated to issue the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice, she said. Barboza said she was hopeful the money would come through. Statewide, about 15,000 kids are served by Head Start, which was established in the 1960s to provide education and support services to the nation’s poorest children.

► From the (Everett) Herald — Students, educators speak out against Early Learning Center closure — Staff at the center were also caught off guard by the college’s announcement to close the Early Learning Center, faculty union representative Nina Benedetti said in a report to the board Tuesday. The college had “no plan on actually trying to attempt to maintain that program,” she said. “It was a total slap in the face to the hard-working, experienced and dedicated employees who, if given the chance to be in those discussions before the decisions were made, I would have ventured would have plenty of ideas to run a more cost-effective program,” Benedetti said.

► From the Olympian — Washington state medical groups sue over deleted health, science data from websites — The suit includes WSMA and eight co-plaintiffs, including the state nurses association and the state chapter of pediatricians. The lawsuit aims to stop the deletion of public health and science data. The suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, would require the administration to restore deleted websites and stop further removal of public health data.

AEROSPACE

► From KING 5 — New safety report outlines Boeing’s changes since high-profile incidents — Additionally, nearly 160,000 workers have finished training focused on identifying potential product hazards. The video- and web-based training included real-life examples that involved Boeing employees. [SPEEA’s] Plunkett credits Boeing for making that investment but says it still came up short. “I think it’s great but I don’t believe there was enough emphasis put on it and we heard reports of middle managers walking out of the training, not because they didn’t like it but they had to get back to delivering aircraft and that’s part of the problem,” Plunkett said.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the AP — US meatpacking workers win back pensions in new union contract with JBS — The United Food and Commercial Workers union said Thursday that 26,000 meatpacking workers at 14 JBS facilities would be eligible for the pension plan. The new contract, which was ratified by workers this week, also adds paid sick leave, wage increases and new plant safety measures. “This contract, everything that was achieved, really starts to paint the picture of what everybody would like to have: long-term stable jobs that are a benefit for the employees, a benefit for the employers and a benefit for the community they operate in,” Mark Lauritsen, the head of the UFCW’s meatpacking and food processing division.

► From the New York Times — What are WNBA players seeking in the next collective bargaining agreement? — Players are coming to the negotiating table with several priorities, including increased salaries, a softened salary cap and more access to family planning services. Retirement benefits that provide long-term security for players and their families are also among key priorities, and standardizing team work environments, including facility and travel accommodations as well as support staff minimums, are on the list too. Jackson said the WNBPA has asked to have a seat at the table for future media rights negotiations, too.

NATIONAL

► From the Spokesman Review — Union representing laid-off Spokane occupational safety workers rallies outside HHS, calling on RFK Jr. to reinstate researchers — “Our work has made jobs safer, communities stronger and industry more productive for future generations, but we must remain vigilant,” said Brendan Demich, a union steward from Pittsburgh with AFGE Local 1916, which also represents employees in Spokane. “Our nation calls to increase mining. We simultaneously see pressures to cut the very people working to protect miners. We cannot allow mining safety research and all worker safety research to be sidelined. Now is the time to keep our eyes on the ball. Every advance in safety is written in the lives saved and tragedies averted. We owe it to the memory of those lost and to every miner working today to defend and support NIOSH.”

► From Axios — Americans support unions over big companies by a record-high margin — The approval switcheroo helps explain, in part, why the Republican Party has been courting labor unions in recent years. For the past 60 years, American National Election Studies has been surveying Americans, asking them to rate their feelings toward labor unions and big business. The bottom line: Americans are more likely to support unions than big companies by the widest margin in 60 years.

► From the Labor Tribune — New Bricklayers suicide prevention program saving lives — “We are not mental health experts, but we are looking out for our members best interests and have the tools to help by referring them to professionals,” he said. “More than anything, it gives you a chance to look someone in the face and ask if they are OK. It’s simply being a good human.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 6,000 construction workers died by suicide in 2022 and about five times as many construction workers lose their lives to suicide as compared to the general population. Contributing factors include work environment, mental health stigma, substance abuse, economic pressure and isolation.

► From Labor Notes — Construction Unions Grab Hold of Clean Energy Jobs — State and local governments have begun taking concrete steps towards a clean energy economy, and for now, even under Trump, green union jobs are increasing. Meanwhile, unions have partnered with climate activists to win legislation for more such jobs. Six states have passed “climate jobs” bills to expand renewable energy and raise labor standards for that construction. Four more have union coalitions advocating for such legislation.

POLITICS & POLICY

Federal updates here, local news and deeper dives below:

► From the Washington State Standard — What Medicaid cuts passed by U.S. House could mean for WA — Washington leaders are warning that at least 194,000 people in the state stand to lose Medicaid coverage under a Republican-backed budget bill that passed the U.S. House early Thursday. Washington would also lose about $2 billion in federal Medicaid funding over the next four years, Gov. Bob Ferguson said at a press conference Thursday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He said “no rainy-day reserve fund is going to backfill that.”…The cuts also threaten the livelihood of the state’s nursing homes and rural hospitals, officials said.

► From the Spokesman Review — Baumgartner, Newhouse help House pass Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ after GOP state lawmakers warn of Medicaid cuts — Reps. Michael Baumgartner of Spokane and Dan Newhouse of Sunnyside helped narrowly pass what Trump has dubbed “One Big, Beautiful Bill” – now the legislation’s official name – by a vote of 215-214. Two of their GOP colleagues voted no, another slept through the vote after the House pulled an all-nighter to rush the bill through before its Memorial Day recess, and one Republican voted “present,” lamenting that the bill doesn’t do enough to reduce the federal budget deficit…“If federal funding for the expansion population is cut or federal financing is reduced, Washington will have to use significant state funds to fill the gap,” the [state] GOP lawmakers wrote. “Without federal funding, we will be forced to make further cuts to health care, endangering local health care organizations and eliminating coverage for many constituents.”

► From the Government Executive — House passes reconciliation bill that cuts federal employee retirement benefits — If enacted as currently written, the FERS supplement would be eliminated beginning Jan. 1, 2028, though language stipulates that any federal worker already “entitled” to retire with the supplement on that date will retain their eligibility. In a letter Wednesday, American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley urged lawmakers to abandon these “toxic” provisions. “This bill released Sunday night proposes approximately $15 billion in FERS cuts over a 10-year period, offsetting less than 1% of the bill’s cost while doing incalculable damage to both future and current federal employees,” he wrote.

► From KUOW — Gov. Ferguson signs new WA budget into law, leaving bulk of tax increases intact — Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, left the roughly $78 billion budget plan largely intact, including billions in spending cuts and tax hikes on businesses and services. The governor also signed off on a gas tax increase to support the state’s struggling transportation budget. When it came to taxes, the governor vetoed one change aimed at community banks. He chose to leave in place a tax deduction for interest community banks collect from residential home loans, saying that specific deduction is critical to housing affordability and that removing the exemption would drive up the cost of home loans.

JOLT OF JOY

The Entire Staff of The STAND used to live on Rainier Avenue in Seattle in a super old house. It didn’t have functional heating but it did have a wide porch, set on a rise above a bus stop. As a frequent rider — and even more frequent porch-lounger — the 7 bus was a constant in my life, as were the ATU bus drivers who navigated one of the longest and most-ridden routes through Seattle. The 7 is somewhat notorious for rowdy passengers and safety issues — dust ups at the bus stop weren’t unusual — but it was also well-known for another reason: Nathan. For me, getting on Nathan Vass’ bus felt like a warm hug on a tough day, his friendliness a complete refutation of the Seattle Freeze. I was so stoked to see that Vass now has a book out, chronicling his experiences as a driver through stories of his passengers. Read more about his book at KUOW and go see him at Elliott Bay Books on Friday, May 30th, at 7pm.

The Stand posts links to local, national and international labor news every weekday morning. Subscribe to get daily news in your inbox.