Idaho firefighters | MultiCare strike | Big bonkers bill

Monday, June 30, 2025

STRIKES

► From the Tacoma News Tribune — Multicare Emergency workers to walk off job at this Pierce County site –Workers at MultiCare Emergency-Parkland represented by IAM District 160 are planning a five-day Unfair Labor Practice strike starting at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, June 30 at 14815 Pacific Ave. S. The strike is set to conclude at 11:59 p.m. July 4. Ahead of the strike, the union said in a release this week, “MultiCare has committed at least 14 Unfair Labor Practices. These violations include withholding standard status quo raises given at other OCED (off-campus emergency department) facilities, denying union representatives workplace access, illegally interrogating workers, and bargaining in bad faith by refusing to negotiate multiple critical contract articles.”

LOCAL

► From the Spokesman Review — Two firefighters killed in ‘ambush-style’ shooting east of Coeur d’Alene — “Every day, firefighters and EMS personnel put themselves in harm’s way for the communities they serve. Moments like this are a painful reminder of the risks they face in the line of duty and the strength of the fire service family when tragedy strikes,” the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters posted on Instagram.

► From My Northwest — WA fire agencies share messages of support after Idaho firefighters killed — Fire agencies across Western Washington have shared messages of support after two firefighters were killed and one was injured in an apparent ambush shooting in Idaho. “Our hearts are broken over the senseless murders and multiple injuries to first responders in Coeur D’Alene, ID. The men and women in the fire service are the first to run towards danger to protect life and property. Keep those involved, their crews and families in your thoughts and prayers as more details unfold,” the City of Buckley Fire Department wrote.

► From Cascade PBS — WA hospitals required to track staffing levels starting in July — Next month, Washington hospitals must begin monitoring how often they are in compliance with staffing plans, as part of an effort to ease burnout and address worker shortages. Each hospital created staffing plans at the start of this year through a committee that included both hospital management and rank-and-file employees. They outline the minimum number of employees assigned to be in each unit at each hour of the day.

► From NW Public Broadcasting — Chelan County to stop sharing court dates with ICE after courthouse arrest — Ryan Valaas, chief criminal deputy prosecuting attorney, said his office confirmed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement the sentencing date for Douglas Gramajo-Gomez. ICE agents arrested Gramajo-Gomez after his sentencing outside the courthouse. The Keep Washington Working Act, a state law, prohibits law enforcement and courthouses from sharing information about an individual’s immigration status and prohibits arrests in, and within one mile outside, courthouses without a warrant. “We absolutely do not provide or share documentation status with ICE,” Valaas said. “Going forward, this information will no longer be provided by our office and ICE will have to obtain this publicly available information another way.”

► From Cascade PBS — WA lawsuit says Trump order disrupts clean energy, conservation — Trump singled out Washington, Oregon and California as places “where dangerous state and local policies jeopardize our nation’s core national defense and security needs, and devastate the prosperity of not only local residents, but the entire United States population.” The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers later identified 688 projects nationwide whose clean-water-related reviews will be fast-tracked, according to the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project. Washington and 14 other states have filed a lawsuit against this executive order in federal court in Seattle to stop these shortcuts, saying the Trump administration is going overboard on declaring “emergencies,” and this executive order’s “emergency” is not real.

AEROSPACE

► From the Seattle Times — Boeing’s $4.7 billion Spirit deal faces U.K. antitrust probe –Boeing’s $4.7 billion deal to buy Spirit AeroSystems Holdings will face UK antitrust investigation, the country’s antitrust watchdog said. The Competition and Markets Authority will decide whether the deal raises the risk of substantial lessening of competition in the UK. Boeing announced the deal last year with a total transaction value of $8.3 billion, including Spirit’s net debt.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From Deadline — Vox Media Workers Ratify New 3-Year Collective Bargaining Agreement With WGA East, Successfully Recognizing ‘Thrillist’ & ‘The Dodo’ — The 250-member unit voted unanimously to approve the three-year collective bargaining agreement, the union said Friday morning. The WGA East had been fighting to bring all Vox Media workers across various verticals under one union contract, which they said the company had been resisting, prompting the talks to grow contentious. The two sides narrowly avoided a strike by securing a tentative deal just over two weeks ago — and it looks like the union got what it wanted.

► From KIRO — WA grocery store union ratifies contract, avoiding strike — The United Food & Commercial Workers Local 3000 (UFCW) voted to ratify a new contract on Friday night, avoiding a strike, according to the union. UFCW 3000 represents about 30,000 grocery store workers at OFC, Fred Meyer, Safeway, and Albertsons in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

► From Trains.com — TWU ratifies contract with Conrail — Members of the Transport Workers Union have ratified a new five-year contract with Conrail including a 17.5% wage increase, the union has announced. Journeyman carmen will make more than $100,000 a year by the end of the contract. TWU International President John Samuelsen called the deal “a big win for TWU railroad workers” in a press release, saying, ““This new contract locks in real wage increases and ensures that hardworking TWU members will be able to better provide for their families with increased pay and benefits.”

► From PSE of WA:

NATIONAL

► From the Guardian — Disabled Amazon workers in corporate jobs allege ‘systemic discrimination’ — Disabled corporate workers at Amazon have accused the company of engaging in “systemic discrimination”, aggressively quashing their attempts to organize, and using artificial intelligence systems that they allege do not comply with US disability laws. At the center of the Amazon workers’ complaints are allegations that the company has denied requests for accommodations for disabled staff in an “automated” or “semi-automated” way and have allegedly repeatedly removed messages and a petition from an employee Slack channel.

► From 404 Media — ICE Is Using a New Facial Recognition App to Identify People, Leaked Emails Show — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is using a new mobile phone app that can identify someone based on their fingerprints or face by simply pointing a smartphone camera at them, according to internal ICE emails viewed by 404 Media. The underlying system used for the facial recognition component of the app is ordinarily used when people enter or exit the U.S. Now, that system is being used inside the U.S. by ICE to identify people in the field.

► From the New York Times — Tim Walz Eulogizes Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and Husband During Funeral — “Maybe this is a moment when each of us can examine the way we work together, the way we talk about each other, the way we fight for the things we care about,” Mr. Walz said. “A moment when each of us can recommit to engaging in politics and life the way Mark and Melissa did: fiercely, enthusiastically, heartily, but without ever losing sight of our common humanity.”

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the AP — Live updates: Congress sprints to pass Trump’s big bill before July 4 deadline — After a weekend of setbacks, the Senate will try to sprint ahead Monday on President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts despite a series of challenges, including the sudden announcement that GOP Senator Thom Tillis won’t run for reelection after opposing the package over its Medicaid health care cuts. The hours ahead will be pivotal for the Republicans, who have control of Congress and are racing against Trump’s self-imposed July 4 deadline.

► From the Government Executive — All provisions targeting federal worker benefits, unions stricken from Senate reconciliation package — The Senate voted late Saturday to open debate on Republicans’ budget reconciliation package, which aims to cut federal spending in order to partially pay for extended tax cuts for the wealthy and increased immigration enforcement, though the measure’s burden on federal employees is now lighter. That’s because, according to bill text released by the Senate Budget Committee Saturday, the legislation no longer targets federal workers’ retirement benefits, civil service protections or their labor unions.

► From the Washington Post — Senate GOP tax bill includes largest cut to U.S. safety net in decades — While last-minute changes to the bill text make precise estimates impossible, the legislation appears on track to cut Medicaid by about 18 percent and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by roughly 20 percent, according to estimates based on projections from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

► From the Hill — GOP senators reach deal on AI regulation ban — The updated text would enact a “temporary pause,” banning states from regulating AI for five years if they want access to $500 million in AI infrastructure and deployment funding included in the bill. The original provision, which Blackburn opposed, sought to limit state legislation for a 10-year period.

► From the New York Times — G.O.P. Bill Adds Surprise Tax That Could Cripple Wind and Solar Power — Senate Republicans have quietly inserted provisions in President Trump’s domestic policy bill that would not only end federal support for wind and solar energy but would impose an entirely new tax on future projects, a move that industry groups say could devastate the renewable power industry…The repeal of federal subsidies alone could cause wind and solar installations to plummet by as much as 72 percent over the next decade, according to the Rhodium Group, a research firm. The new tax could depress deployment even further by raising costs an additional 10 to 20 percent, the group estimated.

► From the IBEW:

“At a time when we should be investing in energy independence at home, the GOP’s tax bill forces our economy to rely on foreign adversaries while increasing energy bills and draining communities of the jobs they rely on.” https://t.co/lGGHJ1MpRx pic.twitter.com/IMn2jT2vVf

— IBEW (@IBEW) June 30, 2025

► From the Olympian — Labor rights groups seek to put $20-per-hour minimum wage on Olympia’s fall ballot — Two labor rights groups rallied outside Olympia City Hall last week before handing in nearly 10,000 signatures toward qualifying the Workers’ Bill of Rights, including raising the minimum wage to $20 per hour, for the election ballot in November.

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