Wildfires | Starbucks strike | AFLCIO sues HHS

Thursday, May 15, 2025

STRIKES

► From KING 5 — ‘Plain disrespectful’: Bellingham hospital workers demand better pay from PeaceHealth –About 1,000 workers from two different unions are striking at Bellingham’s PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center. Among them is 18-year-old MRI technician Jose Reta. “I was born in this hospital, so to me this is very, very personal,” Reta said. The workers are demanding better pay and health insurance, along with increased staffing. “We’ve been getting nothing but garbage and it’s plain disrespectful,” Reta said. Hospital workers said PeaceHealth pays below the market rate and they can’t keep up with the rising cost of living. “Just struggling to pay for food is a real thing,” said Eva Mohorovich, pharmacy technician. “People are struggling with basic necessities. We have people who live in their cars, which is just totally not acceptable.”

► From Gamespot — The Voice Of Master Chief Asks Halo Fans To Stand Up For Voice Actors On Strike — The SAG-AFTRA voice actors strike is now in its 10th month, and prominent voice actors are asking fans to speak up for the people behind their beloved game characters. In a recent interview, Master Chief voice actor Steve Downes spoke on the issue of AI voice acting that has fueled the ongoing strike, appealing to fans to support the actors’ fight. “We haven’t been able to make any progress with that at all so far,” Downes says of the strike that started last July. “So we’re really asking the people who consume this game, who made Halo what it is, to voice their opinion about this and show support.”

► From the AP — More than 1,000 Starbucks baristas go on strike to protest new dress code — But Starbucks Workers United, the union that represents workers at 570 of Starbucks’ 10,000 company-owned U.S. stores, said the dress code should be subject to collective bargaining. “Starbucks has lost its way. Instead of listening to baristas who make the Starbucks experience what it is, they are focused on all the wrong things, like implementing a restrictive new dress code,” said Paige Summers, a Starbucks shift supervisor from Hanover, Maryland. “Customers don’t care what color our clothes are when they’re waiting 30 minutes for a latte.”

LOCAL

► From the Spokesman Review — ‘Risk to public safety’: Wildfire season may be unpredictable after federal budget slashing hits supplies, crews say — “Right now, we are not able to buy fuel for our chainsaws. We are using epinephrine that expired in 2024,” said Rachel Granberg, a union representative for the National Federation of Federal Employees. “There’s no way someone would be taking this action if they were aware of the risk to public safety this entails.” Granberg is an 11-year employee with the U.S. Forest Service and stationed in Wenatchee, currently working as a squad boss on a helitack crew, a person who fights fires, manages firefighters and manages aircraft.

► From the Seattle Times — NOAA senior scientists in Seattle depart amid Trump cuts — The science center has lost about 30 people, according to Nick Tolimieri, president of the fisheries chapter of the IFPTE Local 8A (a union leader for about 200 center employees in the bargaining unit). While science still continues at the center, many of those lost were scientists with significant experience…So many early retirements all at once were combined with terminations of provisional employees, many of whom were new blood the agency needs, Barre said. “There are a lot of losses of institutional knowledge, and we also lost a lot of early career managers with that new fresh energy and perspective.”

► From KUOW — Microsoft to lay off nearly 2,000 employees in Washington state — The company plans to lay off 1,985 workers in Washington, according to a state filing. This is part of a broader 6,000-person company wide layoff, first reported by GeekWire, which amounts to a 3% workforce reduction. The company didn’t respond to questions about whether artificial intelligence played a role in the latest layoffs. But at an event last month, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said up to 30% of the company’s code is being written by AI.

AEROSPACE

► From Yahoo Finance — Qatar Airways orders 160 Boeing twin-aisle jets during Trump visit — The deal for Boeing 777X and 787 planes with GE Aerospace engines was worth $96 billion, according to the White House. It is a win for Trump on a high-profile visit to the region, even though it will be years before the jets are delivered. The sale is also a boost for Boeing and its biggest engine supplier at a time when large versions of rival Airbus’ A350, powered by Rolls-Royce engines, have struggled with maintenance problems from operating in the world’s hottest climates, including the Gulf region.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From PYOK — United Flight Attendants Storm Media Event For Airline’s New Business Class Seats Demanding Pay Raises — Dressed in full uniform and waving bright yellow placards emblazoned with the words “CONTRACT NOW,” the flight attendants threatened to shut the airline down if their demands for a new contract were not met. Chief executive Scott Kirby went on with the show, but shortly after his presentation, Sara Nelson, the national president of the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), didn’t mince her words when she criticized the state of play at the airline. “Scott Kirby has no business demanding concessions while stuffing his own pockets with gold and beating his chest about United being the best,” Nelson slammed.

► From Inside Radio — SAG-AFTRA’s New Audio Commercials Contract Revamps Structure, Expands AI Protections — The audio advertising business is posted to get a significant overhaul for union voiceover talent. Under the tentative 2025 SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contracts deal, a new structure for audio commercials has been introduced — one that simplifies compensation, reflects current media consumption habits, and includes the union’s strongest protections yet against the misuse of artificial intelligence. The agreement covers April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2028. The three-year deal nets out to $218.4 million in new earnings and benefit contributions. It currently awaits ratification by SAG-AFTRA members ahead of a May 21 voting deadline.

► From the Hollywood Reporter — SAG-AFTRA and Nickelodeon Reach Tentative Agreement on Animation Contract — The union announced on Wednesday that it had reached a tentative deal with Nickelodeon over voice acting on animated programs for basic cable and Paramount+. With covered projects including Rugrats, The Loud House, Kamp Koral and Rock Paper Scissors, the three-year provisional contract also brings some rate increases, a new premium and faster payment due dates.

NATIONAL

► From Reuters — As fire truck prices hit $2 million, US firefighters demand an antitrust probe — IAFF and AELP said high prices and long waits are endangering public safety in communities facing natural disasters, citing reports that dozens of fire trucks were out of commission during the wildfires that devastated two Los Angeles communities and killed at least 29 people earlier this year. From Atlanta, to Houston, to San Francisco, cities and towns are facing a crisis where demand for new fire trucks outstrips availability and funding, [IAFF President] Kelly said. On top of long wait times, fire departments are being pushed into contracts with “floating” pricing structures, where the final price of a truck may go up after an order is placed. “We are paying the price for all these corporate decisions. It serves the investor well, but it doesn’t serve the public when you call 911 and the ladder truck is out of service,” Kelly said.

► From Wired — GM’s New Battery Tech Could Be a Breakthrough for Affordable EVs — General Motors is bringing in potentially groundbreaking new battery tech that not only has 30 percent more energy density at the existing production cost for cells but also would circumvent China’s stranglehold on intellectual property for EV batteries. The company even claims this new type of battery pack could lower the cost of its electric SUVs so they’re comparable to their gasoline counterparts. The news came today as GM has announced it will use lithium manganese-rich (LMR) battery cells in its largest electric vehicles, the full-size trucks and SUVs sold by Chevrolet, GMC, and Cadillac. They are to be produced by Ultium Cells, its joint-venture battery company with LG Energy Solutions.

► From the Fire and Safety Journal — IAFF launch new Committee for female health and safety — General President Edward Kelly shared: “The IAFF is committed to making our dangerous job safer. “With the creation of a new Female Health and Safety Standing Committee, we’ll be able to advocate for better research, improved protections and a safer future for our membership.” A few priorities include addressing ill-fitting PPE, gaps in presumptive cancer coverage, behavioral health stressors, recruitment and retainment, maternity leave policies and outdated station designs.

► From Fast Company — Unionized REI workers allege racial discrimination — The workers surveyed by NELP suggested that one reason REI has struggled to maintain a more diverse workforce is because people of color were more likely to be disciplined or pushed out of their jobs. Over 30% of workers of color alleged they had witnessed or experienced racial discrimination in layoffs—and REI’s own data on termination rates in 2022 showed higher rates of termination among employees of color and especially Black workers. Many workers of color (29%) also claimed to have seen or personally faced discrimination in the company’s promotion practices.

POLITICS & POLICY

Federal updates here, local news and deeper dives below:

• Trump can’t strip Foreign Service workers of their collective bargaining rights, judge says  (Washington Post)
• Watchdog Effort to Obtain DOGE Records Can Proceed, Appeals Court Rules (New York Times)

► From Bloomberg Law — Labor Coalition Sues HHS to Stop Safety Research Agency Cuts — Public Citizen Litigation Group, along with the AFL-CIO, is asking the US District Court for the District of Columbia to declare the staff cuts at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health are unlawful. The plaintiffs seek an injunction to block the Department of Health and Human Services from placing NIOSH employees on administrative leave and eventually terminating them. The action comes as a West Virginia federal judge ordered Tuesday that HHS restore all laid-off NIOSH workers who conduct health surveillance of coal miners in Morgantown, W.Va.

► From CBS News — Head of worker safety agency NIOSH restored, ahead of RFK Jr. hearing — The head of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and a handful of teams at the agency had their layoff notices rescinded Tuesday, multiple officials say, and several worker safety programs that had been eliminated by layoffs last month are being restored. Health officials and scientists being brought back to work include everyone in NIOSH’s respiratory health division, division of safety research, division of compensation and analysis support and National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory according to an email obtained by CBS News.

► From the Spokesman Review — ‘You can’t fire 90% of the people and assume the work gets done’: Sen. Murray questions RFK Jr. over Spokane mine safety lab cuts — Sen. Patty Murray, a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, asked Kennedy why some workers are being reinstated at a laboratory in Morgantown, West Virginia, but none at the Spokane Research Laboratory, which covers the western United States. “I am really alarmed by your decision to essentially eliminate the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,” Murray said. “You’ve already fired nearly 90% of the staff. That includes the staff in my state, at the Spokane research lab. Those are experts. They do essential work to protect miners and firefighters and farmworkers, people who work in dangerous conditions.”

► From the AP — Live updates: Supreme Court hears arguments in case over Trump’s birthright citizenship order — The justices are weighing whether judges have the authority to issue nationwide, or universal, injunctions, effectively blocking an order from Trump from being carried out. The Trump administration, like the Biden administration before it, has complained that judges are overreaching by issuing orders that apply to everyone instead of just the parties before the court.

► From Becker’s Hospital Review — Lawmakers reintroduce bill to set minimum nurse-to-patient ratios — Sens. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Rep. Jan Shakowsky, D-Ill., reintroduced the Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act on International Nurses Day. The bill would require hospitals to develop annual staffing plans that meet the minimum staffing ratios set forth in the legislation. Hospitals would also be required to maintain records of RN staffing and post notices of minimum ratios. Additionally, the legislation would provide whistleblower protections for nurses who speak out against unsafe staffing practices.

► From Politico — Democrats grill Noem on Abrego Garcia and 2 deported US children — Democrats on Wednesday pressed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on what her agency is doing to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran national who was mistakenly sent to El Salvador, as well as the case of two American children who were recently deported by the Trump administration. In a heated House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Noem said DHS is following all federal court orders and that “everybody has gotten due process” while later testifying that due process does not “guarantee a hearing.”

► From On Labor — The Trump Administration Wants to Privatize TSA. Why the Agency Americans Love to Hate Should Remain Public.  — If the past is any prediction of the future, privatizing TSA would pose a whole host of problems, and it would not necessarily cure any of the gripes that Americans have with airport security. In fact, it would likely exacerbate them. For one, it would almost certainly mean a return to employee dissatisfaction. Companies that contract with the federal government to provide private airport security under the SPP program pay lower wages and provide worse benefits than TSA.

► From the Cascade PBS — Nine WA Legislative seats are open this year. Here’s who’s running — On November 4, voters in six legislative districts across Western Washington will decide who will represent them in Olympia starting next year. Following appointments to state agencies, elections to higher office, midterm retirements and the unexpected death of a sitting senator, nine legislative seats are up for election. Most open seats were filled by temporary appointments during the recent legislative session. But under state law, lawmakers appointed in the middle of a term must appear on the ballot in a special election the following November.

► From the Washington State Standard — Trio of immigrant rights laws signed by WA governor — These included measures to strengthen state power to inspect private detention facilities, prevent coercion in the workplace, and prohibit bail bond agents from enforcing immigration laws. Lawmakers put forward the legislation at a time when President Donald Trump is trying to crack down on people crossing into the country illegally and as his administration presses to deport immigrants already in the U.S. without legal authorization.

► From Center Square — New protections for WA workers facing mass layoffs — Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson Tuesday signed a bill into law that will require employers with 50 or more full-time employees to give a minimum of 60 days’ notice to the state, any union, and/or employees affected by mass layoffs or a business closing. Senate Bill 5525, titled the “Securing Timely Notification and Benefits for Laid-Off Employees Act,” is similar to the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

INTERNATIONAL

► From the Toronto Star — Air Canada, flight attendant union head to conciliation amid impasse in negotiations — The union representing Air Canada flight attendants says it has filed for conciliation with the federal labour minister after reaching an impasse in contract negotiations with the airline. The Air Canada component of CUPE, which represents 10,000 Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants, said its top priority is boosting compensation, noting an entry-level full-time salary is roughly $1,951 per month. Its previous contract with the airline, which had been in effect since 2015, expired in March.

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