If not for the union | 10% of federal workforce | Yosemite union

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

TODAY’S MUST-READ

► From the Seattle Medium — If Not for the Union, There Go I — I keep coming back to this truth: if not for the union, there go I. Without unions, I don’t know where my family would be. The union difference has meant dignity on the job, food on the table, and stability in moments when the system wasn’t built for us to survive. But this Labor Day, as the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists marks Black Labor Day 2025, we must face a sobering reality: Economic mobility for Black folks is under siege amid Donald Trump’s ongoing war on Blackness…Nearly 1 in 5 federal workers is Black, but Trump’s dismantling of government agencies and stripping away of union contracts has destabilized entire communities. These attacks aren’t abstract—they are cutting directly into Black families’ paychecks and futures.

STRIKES

► From OPB — Evergreen school employees strike as districts across the Northwest start heading back to class — “Most of the paraeducators I’ve worked with over the years have second jobs during the school year and also during the summer, just so they can afford to pay rent and keep food on their tables,” said Brooke Lessley, a classroom specialist who works with deafblind students. Lessley said she has been with the district for nearly a decade as she walked the picket line in front of Evergreen High School on Tuesday. The union is asking for paraeducators to be paid for the full time they are at school, even if students need assistance after classes end. They’re also asking for release time to do union work, among other benefits. Union representatives said the district has so far been inflexible with their requests as well as bargaining dates.

► From the union-busting Columbian — Evergreen schools classified staff go on strike for first time in union’s history — “They won’t be able to start school if we don’t come to an agreement,” said Mindy Troffer-Cooper, the union president. “All of our labor partners are not crossing our picket lines, so there’s no one to man the schools without us.” Union members and supporters wore all shades of blue, and those in the teachers’ union wore “red for ed.” Teamsters Local 58, the union representing Chartwells staff, also participated in the strike. The company contracts with districts to operate school meal programs.

► From PSE of Washington:

► From Reuters — Boeing Defense puts talks with striking machinists on hold, union says — Boeing Defense has put contract negotiations with the striking machinists union on hold and has no plans to return to the table until at least after the Labor Day holiday, union officials said on Tuesday. Talks between the two had only just resumed the day before for the first time since the strike began on August 4…In a post on X, the congressional Labor Caucus urged Boeing to resume talks, adding that “Boeing workers are the backbone of the company, and it’s time for them to receive the strong contract that they deserve.”

LOCAL

► From the AP — US deportation flights hit record highs as carriers try to hide the planes, advocates say –Immigration advocates gather like clockwork outside Seattle’s King County International Airport to witness deportation flights and spread word of where they are going and how many people are aboard. Until recently, they could keep track of the flights using publicly accessible websites. But the monitors and others say airlines are now using dummy call signs for deportation flights and are blocking the planes’ tail numbers from tracking websites, even as the number of deportation flights hits record highs under President Donald Trump. The changes forced them to find other ways to follow the flights, including by sharing information with other groups and using data from an open-source exchange that tracks aircraft transmissions.

► From KING 5 — KING 5 investigation leads to Washington state abruptly slashing agreement with ICE — The Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) and the Office of the Governor told KING 5 they’ve cut off the federal government’s ability to search a state database filled with vehicle licensing information. The move comes after the KING 5 Investigators provided proof that ICE has misused state data to arrest undocumented residents. In Washington that’s against the law. The Keep Washington Working Act prohibits this kind of collaboration between state departments and ICE. The 2019 law states the federal government may not use state data to arrest and deport undocumented residents.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the union-busting Columbian — La Center teachers pause contract talks with district but won’t strike Wednesday — Members of the La Center Education Association and supporters rallied Monday in front of the district office. They provided the district with proposals and paused the negotiations; however, they are “holding strong for our cost of living increase,” according to a La Center Teachers Facebook post today. The teachers union notified the school district Thursday that members voted to strike because agreements were reached on all proposals except salary increases, which was the 2.3 percent cost-of-living adjustment that the district will receive from the state for the 2025-26 school year, according to a La Center Teachers Facebook post Thursday.

► From Railway Age — NCCC, BRS Reach Tentative National Agreement — The agreement, which is subject to ratification, is consistent with the terms set by dozens of local and national contracts between railroads and unions that have been ratified as part of the 2025 bargaining round, according to the NCCC. The terms of these pattern agreements provide: “Wage increases of 18.8% over five years. Based on current inflation projections, this increase will translate to real wage growth for covered railroaders along with pay certainty for the life of the contract.

ORGANIZING

► From Bloomberg Law — Yosemite Workers Vote to Unionize — Federal employees at Yosemite and Sequoia & Kings Canyon national parks have voted to unionize with the National Federation of Federal Employees. Across the two parks more than 97% of ballots cast in elections that ran from July 22 to Aug. 19 were in favor of unionizing, results that were certified by the Federal Labor Relations Authority on Monday. Yosemite and Sequoia & Kings Canyon join a handful of other unionized parks in the US.

► From the AP — Unions seek broader foothold in the South as workers vote at an EV battery plant in Kentucky — Ballots are being cast Wednesday over a pivotal decision at a Kentucky manufacturing complex that is producing batteries for electric vehicles. Workers will decide whether to join the United Auto Workers and extend a streak of union victories in the South, where organized labor struggled to find solid footing. A two-day union vote closes Wednesday, about a week after production began at the BlueOval SK battery park, a nearly $6 billion joint venture between Ford Motor Co. and its South Korean partner, SK On.

NATIONAL

► From the New York Times — Public Broadcast Cuts Hit Rural Areas, Revealing a Political Shift  — “Attention: A tsunami warning has been issued for this area,” the message said. “Move to high ground immediately. Tune to your local radio station for details.” Residents of Unalaska, Alaska, hopped into their cars and tuned to KUCB, the only local station on the island, to listen for live updates as they drove uphill and away from danger. The next day, the Senate passed the bill, acceding to Mr. Trump’s demand to cancel funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides money for KUCB and stations like it all over the country that serve listeners in remote areas — many in Alaska reachable only by plane, boat or, in the winter, ice bridge.

► From the New York Times — Abrego Garcia Requests Asylum in the United States — Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran immigrant who was re-arrested this week as officials sought to deport him for a second time, has asked a judge to grant him asylum, his lawyers said on Wednesday, opening up what amounted to a new legal avenue for him to remain in the United States…Judge Xinis said that she would hold a hearing on Oct. 6 to determine whether he might face danger, even torture, if he is expelled to Uganda, adding that she plans to issue a decision no more than 30 days later.

► From USA Today — Why did Trump halt their project? Union wind workers want answers — For the union members hoping to get back to work, Trump’s action makes no sense: After more than a decade of planning, permitting, approvals, reviews and lawsuits, the privately funded Revolution Wind project is 80% done, ready to power an estimated 350,000 homes with the 704-megawatt field of turbines. It’s the kind of construction work that provides six-figure jobs for skilled laborers while helping produce inexpensive carbon-free energy for consumers.

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the Huffington Post — Trump Has Forced Out Nearly 10% Of The Federal Workforce — “We’re seeing the arson of our government,” Max Stier, president and CEO of Partnership for Public Service, told HuffPost. “The numbers are stunning. We can count 200,000, and the administration said 300,000, by the end of the year. That’s 1 in 8.” The nonpartisan group has been tracking federal workforce cuts since President Donald Trump began his second term. On Tuesday, it released updated numbers to reflect new data it has collected from agencies and the Office of Management and Budget. Specifically, it has factored in new deferred resignation data for the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Interior Department, reduction-in-force data for the Defense Department, and retirement data for the Department of Agriculture.

► From Reuters — Trump-appointed judge rebukes DOJ for ‘calamitous’ lawsuit against Maryland judges –The ruling highlighted the judiciary’s increasing frustration with the Trump administration’s aggressive litigation tactics, which have included filing misconduct complaints against judges and stonewalling an order to provide details about the illegal deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an alleged gang member, to El Salvador. Cullen said dismissal of the case against the Maryland judges was clearly warranted, and that “to hold otherwise would run counter to overwhelming precedent, depart from longstanding constitutional tradition, and offend the rule of law.”

► From OPB — Lori Chavez-DeRemer hopes for Trump administration ‘crackdown’ in Portland — Seated across from the president during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, U.S. Labor Sec. Lori Chavez-DeRemer said she was “expecting a crackdown” in Oregon as the administration continues its widespread deportation efforts. “Thank you for what you’re doing with your agents on ICE,” said Chavez-DeRemer, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “And thank you for the prosecution. I hope you will come to Portland, Oregon, and crack down.”…“It’s bad enough to flatter the boss as a requirement for employment,” U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, wrote on the social media platform X Twitter in response to Chavez-DeRemer’s comments. “But it’s even worse to sell out your fellow Oregonians along the way.”

► From the Washington Post — FEMA employees put on leave after open letter criticizing Trump administration — About 180 current and former FEMA staffers sent a letter on Monday to members of Congress and other officials, arguing the current leaders’ inexperience and approach harm FEMA’s mission and could result in a disaster on the level of Hurricane Katrina. About three dozen people had signed their names; the majority of signatories were anonymous…In their letter this week, FEMA employees warned that the Trump administration is sending the agency back to a pre-Katrina era, pointing to several concerns including the lack of a Senate-confirmed and qualified emergency manager at FEMA’s helm; the slashing of mitigation, disaster recovery, training and community programs; and restrictive new policies that curb agency officials’ autonomy.

► From the AP — Embattled Fed Governor Lisa Cook’s lawyer says she’ll sue Trump to keep her job — The announcement makes it more likely that a high-stakes legal battle will ensue that will probably end up at the Supreme Court, and could redefine the limits of the president’s legal authority over the central bank. Increasingly at issue is the Fed’s independence from day-to-day politics, which most economists consider a key factor in keeping long-term inflation and interest rates low.

► From the Washington Post — Trump’s crusade against wind power is throwing an industry into turmoil — President Donald Trump is on a crusade to cripple the wind power industry, using his executive powers to throw projects well underway into chaos, even as the fallout risks landing on ratepayers and investors…Even before the latest stop-work order, BloombergNEF had reduced its forecast for the amount of offshore wind that would come online in the United States by 2030 from 11.3 gigawatts to 6.1 gigawatts. The forecast shows that under current conditions, no further offshore wind power would come online at all between 2030 and 2035, a stark change from BNEF’s forecast in late 2024 that showed an additional 16.5 gigawatts expected.

► From the Everett Herald — Lynnwood advocates launch campaign for higher minimum wage — Advocates launched an initiative to raise the city of Lynnwood’s minimum wage at a press conference on Monday. Currently, Lynnwood matches the state’s minimum wage of $16.66 per hour, and the group wants to raise it to $20.24 per hour. “I am proud to announce an initiative that embodies our collective desire for change, a change that’s not just necessary, but is long overdue,” Lynnwood City Council Vice President Josh Binda said at the press conference…The group needs to secure about 3,400 signatures, or 15% of the number of Lynnwood’s registered voters as of Nov. 5, 2024. Then, the initiative will either go to the City Council for approval or be placed on the next ballot, likely February 2026, Binda said.

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