Labor 🤝 immigrants | WAWU strike | 737 Max 10

Friday, May 30, 2025

STRIKES

► From WAWU-UAW:

 

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LOCAL

► From Labor Notes — Labor Defends Jailed Immigrants: Forklift Driver, Hospital Worker — The Seattle-area labor movement is rallying in defense of immigrant members seized by the Trump regime…Mylo Lang, an apprentice machinist at Boeing, is excited about the growing solidarity between labor and immigrant rights groups. The Washington State Labor Council is a longtime endorser of the campaign, led by local grassroots group La Resistencia, to shut down the Northwest Detention Center. It’s the state’s only private prison, run by the for-profit GEO Group, and a significant node in the deportation system because of the nearby county-owned airport, known as Boeing Field, that does deportation flight

► From KING 5 — VIDEO: Judge orders release of UW lab tech from ICE custody

► From the Seattle Times — How to prepare for wildfire season in WA  — Climate change isn’t the only factor. More than a century of suppressing wildfires, removing Indigenous burning practices, harvesting large trees and more fire-tolerant species and more human-caused ignitions all contribute. Meanwhile, more human development has moved into the state’s forests, grasslands and sagebrush-steppe. But there are steps people can take to reduce risks to home and family.

► From the South Seattle Emerald — Sea-Tac Airport Detentions Prompt Travel Warnings for Washington Green-Card Holders — According to [NWIRP Deputy Director Vanessa] Gutierrez, the law determines who is deportable, but the governing party “has discretion in how they apply the law and who they prioritize.” When traveling internationally, Gutierrez advised those with any criminal history to have proper documentation on hand and to consult with an attorney before their trip. Some attorneys have sent their clients with letters explaining their citizenship status in case they are stopped, she said.

► From the union-busting Columbian — Wrongful death lawsuit says Big Oil contributed to heat wave and Ferndale woman’s death — In one of the nation’s first wrongful-death claims seeking to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for its role in the changing climate, a Washington woman is suing seven oil and gas companies, saying they contributed to an extraordinarily hot day that led to her mother’s fatal hyperthermia. The lawsuit filed in state court this week says the companies knew that their products have altered the climate, including contributing to a 2021 heat wave in the Pacific Northwest that killed 65-year-old Juliana Leon of Ferndale, and that they failed to warn the public of such risks.

► From the Washington State Standard — New COVID variant found in Washington — The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the variant in a sample collected May 15 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, according to the state Department of Health. As of Thursday morning, that’s been the only case confirmed in Washington, and it’s unclear whether the May 15 case was in a state resident or a visitor. As its prevalence has grown quickly around the world, the World Health Organization has designated the new variant, NB.1.8.1, as one “under monitoring.” NB.1.8.1 is fueling a spike in infections and hospitalizations in China, for example. But the organization believes the variant doesn’t lead to more severe illness than current versions of the virus.

AEROSPACE

► From the Seattle Times — Coming soon to Boeing’s Everett plant? A 737 MAX 10 production line –Boeing aims to increase monthly production of its 737 MAX by the end of the year and resume deliveries to China next month, CEO Kelly Ortberg said Thursday. Of particular importance to the Puget Sound region, Ortberg also said Boeing was planning to dedicate a new production line in its Everett factory to the 737 MAX 10.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the Seattle Times — Starbucks illegally refused to bargain on Zoom, NLRB lawyer says — The general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board determined that the coffee chain violated labor law by refusing to participate in collective bargaining sessions if some workers were present via videoconference, agency spokesperson Kayla Blado said Monday. The company can agree to amend its practices or face complaints by regional NLRB directors around the country, Blado said.

NATIONAL

► From Wired — The US Is Storing Migrant Children’s DNA in a Criminal Database — Spanning from October 2020 through the end of 2024, the records show that CBP swabbed the cheeks of between 829,000 and 2.8 million people, with experts estimating that the true figure, excluding duplicates, is likely well over 1.5 million. That number includes as many as 133,539 children and teenagers. These figures mark a sweeping expansion of biometric surveillance—one that explicitly targets migrant populations, including children.

► From KREM — Idaho healthcare providers call for action as state faces $3.5 billion in proposed Medicaid cuts — “Idaho alone would face a projected $3.5 billion cut in federal Medicaid funding,” said Hillarie Hagen, the senior policy associate with Idaho Supports Medicaid. The insurance program for low-income and disabled Americans covers 360,000 Idahoans, with half of those people being children. Hagen also says more than 30,000 of the state’s most vulnerable could lose healthcare coverage completely if the cuts are passed, and an estimated 59 Idahoans could die every year due to reduced access to care.

► From SMART:

POLITICS & POLICY

Federal updates here, local news and deeper dives below:

• Live updates: Supreme Court lets Trump end humanitarian parole for 500,000 people from 4 countries (AP)
• Trump’s tariffs to remain in effect after appeals court grants stay (Reuters)

► From the AP — Trump administration reverses planned closures of 3 dozen US mine safety offices — The Trump administration is dropping plans to terminate leases for 34 offices in the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the agency responsible for enforcing mine safety laws, the Department of Labor said Thursday. “That’s a relief and good news for miners and the inspectors at MSHA,” said Jack Spadaro, a longtime mine safety investigator and environmental specialist who worked for the agency.

Editor’s note: shoutout to the miners who sued the Trump admin and kept the pressure on.

► From the Washington Post — Trump taps right-wing lawyer to head U.S. Office of Special Counsel — President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would nominate Paul Ingrassia, a 30-year-old lawyer and former right-wing podcast host, to lead the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), an independent watchdog agency that oversees federal personnel issues and plays a crucial role in protecting whistleblowers within the government.

► From Reuters — Republicans seek to cement Trump’s immigration legacy in sweeping bill — A sweeping tax and spending bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives would devote an estimated $150 billion to immigration enforcement, an unprecedented sum that seeks to deliver President Donald Trump’s goal of mass deportations and lock down the U.S.-Mexico border. The bill would provide funding for 10,000 new immigration enforcement officers and $46.5 billion for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border while placing new fees on applications for asylum and other humanitarian protections.

► From the New York Times — Is Nippon Steel Finally About to Land U.S. Steel? — Mr. Trump insisted that the arrangement, which he said he had brokered, would keep U.S. Steel “controlled by the United States.” David McCall, the international president of the United Steelworkers’ union, said in a statement on Wednesday that he still had concerns about how much of Nippon Steel’s investments would go to union-represented sites. He said Mr. Trump’s “‘partnership’ announcement continues to raise more questions than answers.”

► From Wired — WIRED Talked to a Fired DOGE Staffer About Who Was Really in Charge — With Elon Musk and other leaders of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) purportedly on their way out, WIRED spoke with a fired DOGE staffer about his experience, how the group communicates, who appears to be in charge—and what might be coming next.

► From More Perfect Union:

JOLT OF JOY

Sometimes, good things happen. Welcome home sister Lewelyn 💜💙

Clockwise from top left: supporters’ group photo, Lewelyn celebrating, SEIU 6 members, SEIU drummers, SEIU 925 Pres. Tricia Schroeder, SEIU 925 members, a poster calling for freedom for Aunty Lynn. Photos: SEIU 925, The Stand

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