Support for immigration | Fed. worker unions | Clean energy

Friday, July 11, 2025

STRIKES

► From KING 5 — Jam-packed bins line city streets as strike delays trash pickup in King, Snohomish counties — “Well, it’s certainly inconvenient for anybody not to have trash picked up. It can become a health hazard in time. It’s not that yet, but it can become that. On the other hand, people need a living a living wage,” said Nada Oakley, a self-described old union member who supports labor rights…The strike in Washington is part of a broader labor action affecting Republic Services operations in multiple states. Union representatives indicate workers across the country are facing similar contract disputes and have not ruled out launching additional strikes.

LOCAL

► From the Washington State Standard — Megabill’s elimination of tax credits for clean energy projects could cost WA $8.7 billion — The new law increases the requirements for developers to claim tax breaks for wind, solar and other renewable energy projects, and fully does away with those incentives by 2028. New projects must be under construction by the end of the year to qualify for the lucrative credits. The tax credits, passed by Congress in 2022, have generated $978 million in new private-led investment across seven energy manufacturing facilities in Washington, according to analysis by think tank Energy Innovation. Due to the phase out of those tax credits, an additional $8.75 billion in outstanding investments to 27 facilities in Washington is at risk.

► From KUOW — Fears of ICE arrests cause tension at Seattle immigration court — [Immigration attorney] Schwartz was concerned, because ICE attorneys and immigration judges have been behaving unpredictably. In her experience, really unexpected things have been happening, unexpected outcomes, and she didn’t feel like judges or ICE attorneys were necessarily always following the law. The fact that she didn’t have faith in the system to work the way she felt and believed it had been designed, seemed to have really shaken and demoralized her. There was a lot of relief from her and her client, that his case moved along as normal as expected that day. But the fact that both of them had such strong relief was troubling in itself.

► From Cascade PBS — Bellingham passes new laws to limit “junk fees” for renters — A $750 “new roommate fee.” A $270 application fee. A $50 “move-out cleaning” fee. A $200 “lease transfer fee.” These are the types of charges that tenant advocates call “junk fees,” which can refer to anything from monthly pet fees to parking fees. They argue that  the use of these fees has expanded in recent years as landlords seek alternative ways to raise profits without directly raising the rent itself. “This is really a growing trend,” said Bellingham Councilmember Jace Cotton, who sponsored the laws. “Made-up fees, and existing fees becoming more extreme. The variety of impacts that has on young people and working families and retirees can be quite significant.”

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the Statesman Journal — SEIU state workers picket across Oregon amid contract negotiations — Members of SEIU Local 503 picketed at more than 50 locations on July 10 as bargaining for state workers’ contracts continues. “None of us will rest well until we get a contract we need that reflects how we work in inclement weather conditions, how we deal with discrimination in the workplace and how we deal with the layoff language that we all get a right to return back to work,” said Johnny Earl, the statewide president for SEIU 503.

► From the Philly Voice — Why the agreement struck between DC 33 and the city isn’t a done deal yet — “I think that [the union was] realistic in understanding where things are politically,” said Francis Ryan, a labor historian and professor at Rutgers University. “It’s probably the best deal they can get right now, but I have to say that it’s not done until the members ratify this contract, and I’m not certain right now that a majority would do so.”

NATIONAL

► From Common Dreams — US Public Support for Immigration Reaches Record High Amid Trump Mass Deportation Efforts — A new poll from Gallup shows that 79% of Americans think that immigration is a good thing for the country, which is the highest number ever recorded in Gallup’s 24-year history of measuring U.S. voters’ attitudes on the immigration. Furthermore, the Gallup poll shows that 85% of Americans now support “allowing immigrants, who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, the chance to become U.S. citizens if they meet certain requirements over a period of time” and 78% support “allowing immigrants living in the U.S. illegally the chance to become U.S. citizens if they meet certain requirements over a period of time.”…Voters surveyed in the poll also had decidedly negative views of U.S. President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration, as just 35% approved of how he was handling the issue while 62% disapproved.

POLITICS & POLICY

► From Bloomberg Law — Ninth Circuit Halts Order Protecting Federal Worker Union Pacts — The Trump administration can move forward with disregarding collective bargaining agreements for federal workers at nearly two dozen agencies after an appeals circuit panel paused a lower court order. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit blocked a preliminary injunction from Judge James Donato for the US District Court for the Northern District of California while the government appeals it.

► From the Tri-City Herald — WA Congress members demand feds release $137M in school funds: ‘Unacceptable’ — U.S. Rep. Marilyn Strickland led her colleagues in writing a letter advocating for the release of those federal funds to Washington by Aug. 1. The money is used to maintain after-school and English-language-learning programs, teacher professional development and family and student support. Joining Strickland in signing the letter were six other Democratic Congress members from Washington: U.S. Reps. Adam Smith, Kim Schrier, Pramila Jayapal, Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen and Emily Randall. Noticeably absent: Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

► From Common Dreams — ‘Self-Enrichment’: JD Vance Stands to Profit From Trump Military Contracts, Crypto Reserve — The most lucrative company in Vance’s portfolio is Anduril, which has received an eye-popping $220 million in government contracts since Trump and Vance took office and seen a 125% increase in its valuation. It is expected to reap massive new contracts from the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” that Trump signed into law earlier this month through its creation of expansive new border surveillance technology.

► From the Washington Post — Trump administration moves away from abolishing FEMA — A senior White House official told The Washington Post that no official action is being taken to wind down FEMA, and that changes in the agency will probably amount to a “rebranding” that will emphasize state leaders’ roles in disaster response…Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem in recent months raised the prospect that the agency could be abolished altogether.

► From the New York Times — Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts Are Hurting Rural, White Americans, Too — Mr. Trump’s push to end D.E.I. has been a blunt instrument, eliminating highly competitive grant programs that defined diversity well beyond race and gender. Those who have lost grants include not only Black and Latino scientists, but also many like Mr. Dillard, who are white and from rural areas, which are solidly Trump country. The administration has denounced universities as hotbeds of liberal elitism, inhospitable to viewpoint diversity. The canceled diversity grant programs were intended to make science less elite, by developing a pipeline from poorer areas of the country that tend to be more conservative. “I think it’s very different in their minds, who is getting the D.E.I. stuff,” Mr. Dillard said. “People on the right, they don’t realize they’re limiting the opportunity of their own kids by supporting this.”

► From the New York Times — Missouri Governor Signs Bill Rolling Back Voter-Approved Minimum Wage and Sick Leave — When Missouri voters were asked last year whether they wanted to increase the minimum wage and require employers to provide paid sick leave, 58 percent of them said yes. Not long after that vote, the Republicans who control the state government mobilized to unwind those changes. On Thursday, Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, signed into law a bill that limited the voter-approved minimum wage increase and scrapped the paid sick leave requirement altogether.

JOLT OF JOY

I’ve had this little solidarity ditty stuck in my head all week. 🎶 you can’t get into heaven without that union card 🎶

 

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