NEWS ROUNDUP

Sarah Shaw released | Wildfire fighters | Air Canada strike

Monday, August 18, 2025

 

STRIKES

► From In These Times — Dispatch from the Employer Offensive: Mauser Teamsters Strike Back — The unfair-labor-practice strike by members of Teamsters Local 705 started June 9 after the union says the company illegally surveilled workers while talking with union representatives. It comes on the heels of Mauser locking out 20 members of Teamsters Local 117 in Seattle in April and eventually closing the plant…At Mauser, Landa and his coworkers are fighting for protection against [militarized immigration] raids, and he says no one has crossed the picket line. The bargaining committee starts the day at the strike line at 5 a.m. before heading into negotiations after a prayer, says Vallejo. They come back to the line late to share updates from negotiations and take questions, in English and Spanish. That has made workers feel a strong sense of support and has steeled them against company propaganda.

► From the Spokesman Review — A labor strike continues to halt several construction projects across the Spokane area — This strike is between contractors and their workers, but the reason and whether any negotiations are underway are unclear. Because the city gets most of its asphalt using workers in the union, this strike strains various projects. Davis worries that even if the strike is resolved in a timely manner, there’s a backlog of private businesses waiting for asphalt that will be competing with the city of Spokane for the materials they need.

 

LOCAL

► From the Seattle Times — WA state employee, her son released by ICE after three-week detention — A Washington state employee [Sarah Shaw] and her young son were released Friday after three weeks in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, according to her lawyer, Minda Thorward…After their release, according to a statement from Thorward, ICE dropped Shaw and her son off in Laredo, Texas, and they had to take a 2 ½-hour Uber ride to San Antonio to catch their flight home. Thorward said her office “will explore every possible legal avenue to fully restore Sarah’s liberties and to bring her case to a positive conclusion.”

► From the Washington State Standard — People in ICE Custody Complain of Long Waits for Deportation — After Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent a Cuban man to a detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, from Miami, he gave up fighting his case…The man said he had a lawyer in Miami, but a judge hearing his case at Northwest ICE Processing Center told him that the lawyer would have to come to Tacoma. The man and his partner didn’t have the money to pay for the attorney’s travel, so he asked to be deported. Months later, he is still in ICE custody with no end in sight. “I can’t stand this anymore,” the Cuban man said in Spanish. “It’s a lot of suffering.”

► From the Washington State Standard — Washington interpreters demand state address more than $280K in missed payments — When they filed suit, the interpreters for the state Department of Labor and Industries alleged they were owed more than 3,500 payments, ranging from $6 to $494, totaling $280,000, dating back to 2021. The unpaid work continues to “pile up” for language access providers, according to a spokesperson for their union, Interpreters United…Specifically, these interpreters serve those injured while working for an employer that is self-insured and does not participate in Washington’s workers’ compensation system. Such companies must pay for medical services, including interpretation assistance, needed after workplace injuries.

► From the Tri-Cities Journal of Business — New clinic opens to care for union members, their families — Alaska-based Pacific Health Coalition opened its first Washington clinic in Kennewick on June 4, offering primary care services exclusively to union members – and their families – who are a part of the coalition. Currently, the United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 598, Sheet Metal Workers SMART Local 55, and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 112 all have access to the new clinic at 6816 W. Rio Grande Ave., Suite A. Members of these unions don’t have to use the new primary care clinic – they’re welcome to keep their current primary care doctor. But those who visit the Coalition Health Center can enjoy access to a one-stop shop, with primary care, blood work and prescriptions all in one place.

► From USA Today — Washington has the highest average hourly pay across the 50 states. See the federal data — On average, residents in the Evergreen State earn $42.26 per hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This figure is not seasonally adjusted. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also noted that the average worker in Washington state works 35.1 hours per week, which translates to a weekly salary of $1,483.33 and a yearly salary of $77,133.16. Washington state’s average hourly pay is the highest among the 50 states. Only Washington, D.C., has a higher average hourly wage.

 

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the Wrap — LA Times Union to Hold First-Ever Strike Authorization Vote as Contract Talks Near 3rd Year — “We didn’t reach this point lightly,” Guild Chair Matt Hamilton said in a statement obtained by TheWrap. The guild said that 80% of its membership pledged to vote yes in its strike authorization vote. “But Guild members are doing more with less every day after several rounds of layoffs, while management continues to drag its feet in negotiations and insists on extreme positions that would roll back job protections. This supermajority of Guild journalists shows that we want a fair deal, and are ready to do what it takes to get one.”

 

NATIONAL

► From the New York Times — Wildfire Fighters, Unmasked in Toxic Smoke, Are Getting Sick and Dying — It would be unthinkable for urban firefighters — those American icons who loom large in the public imagination — to enter a burning building without wearing a mask. But across the country, tens of thousands of people who fight wildfires spend weeks working in toxic smoke and ash wearing only a cloth bandanna, or nothing at all…But year after year, the Forest Service sends crews into smoke with nothing to prevent them from inhaling its poisons. The agency has fought against equipping firefighters with masks. It issues safety handbooks that make no mention of the long-term hazards of smoke exposure. And its workers are not allowed to wear masks on the front line, even if they want to.

► From the NW Labor Press — Portland unionists protest immigration raids — IBEW Local 48 supported the rally with members holding union banners. Local 48 Business Manager Garth Bachman told the crowd he was there because immigration raids affect all workers, in both private and public sectors. “I’m going to stand here and I’ll catch some heat from some of our members tomorrow, more than likely, and that’s okay. I’m proud to be here, and I’m proud of all of our members that are here, and I’m proud of all of you,” Bachman said.

► From the Des Moines Register — OPINION: I work for Social Security in Iowa. Customer service is crumbling. — When I returned from time with my daughter, I was assigned to the helpline at our local SSA office. One client needed to schedule an in-person appointment for a replacement Social Security card. I couldn’t believe the numbers on my screen. The next available appointment was in the fall, more than five weeks away. That’s just one example of many. More than 70 million Americans rely on their earned benefits and are now enduring an entirely manufactured crisis of longer wait times, field offices forced to turn people away, and volatile policy changes and reversals. This piles on to already record-low staffing. According to a new study, 46 states, including Iowa, lost Social Security staff between March 2024 and March 2025.

► From the Boston Globe — Harvard tussles with campus unions over antidiscrimination policies amid Trump battle — As Harvard battles with the White House, it is tussling with campus unions over how much say they get on antidiscrimination policies for research assistants, postdocs, and professors. Both the Harvard Academic Workers Union and Graduate Students Union said the university has ignored their calls for nondiscrimination provisions in the contracts. Instead, Harvard has said that discrimination complaints — on the basis of race or gender identity, for example — should be settled by university-wide policies, which Harvard can change at will.

 

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the Seattle Times — Gov. Ferguson defends WA immigration policy from White House attacks — U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote a letter to Ferguson last week, which he shared on social media, saying Washington state had been identified by the White House as a jurisdiction that “engages in sanctuary policies and practices that thwart federal immigration enforcement to the detriment of interests of the United States.” But Ferguson said “Washington state has no intention of changing our values in the face of threats from the Trump administration.” A state law passed in 2019, known as the Keep Washington Working Act, limits the role law enforcement agencies can play in aiding the federal government in arresting or deporting undocumented immigrants.

► From Axios — Exclusive: VA rescinds weeks of parental leave — even for some giving birth this week — New and expecting parents who work at Veterans Affairs are getting approved maternity and paternity leave canceled after their union contract was terminated by the White House, according to two internal memos viewed by Axios. Those affected include people giving birth this week, or who just gave birth and are on maternity leave — and probably not checking email, says Andrew Feldman, a spokesman for the American Federation of Government Employees who has been talking to some impacted workers. Most VA employees are women.

► From the AP — Trump tax law could cause Medicare cuts if Congress doesn’t act, CBO says — The CBO estimates that Medicare, the federal health insurance program for Americans over age 65, could potentially see as much as $491 billion in cuts from 2027 to 2034 if Congress does not act to mitigate a 2010 law that forces across-the-board cuts to many federal programs once legislation increases the federal deficit. The latest report from CBO showed how Trump’s signature tax and spending law could put new pressure on federal programs that are bedrocks of the American social safety net. Trump and Republicans pledged not to cut Medicare as part of the legislation, but the estimated $3.4 trillion that the law adds to the federal deficit over the next decade means that many Medicare programs could still see cuts.

► From the New York Times — Appeals Court Paves Way for Mass Layoffs at C.F.P.B. — In the 49-page ruling, Judge Gregory G. Katsas of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a Trump appointee, wrote that Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the Federal District Court in Washington had no jurisdiction to block the Trump administration’s efforts to lay off about 1,500 of the C.F.P.B.’s 1,700 workers. Civil servants’ employment-related complaints are subject under law to a specialized review process, he wrote, and the plaintiffs’ other grievances did not pertain to reviewable, final agency actions or unconstitutional acts.

► From the AP — Judge orders RFK Jr.’s health department to stop sharing Medicaid data with deportation officials — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services first handed over the personal data on millions of Medicaid enrollees in a handful of states in June. After an Associated Press report identified the new policy, 20 states filed a lawsuit to stop its implementation. In July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services entered into a new agreement that gave the Department of Homeland Security daily access to view the personal data — including Social Security numbers and home address — of all the nation’s 79 million Medicaid enrollees. Neither agreement was announced publicly.

► From ABC News — Republicans look to make a U-turn on federal commitment to electric vehicles for the Postal Service — In June, the Senate parliamentarian blocked a Republican proposal in a major tax-and-spending bill to sell off the agency’s new electric vehicles and infrastructure and revoke remaining federal money. But efforts to halt the fleet’s shift to clean energy continue in the name of cost savings. Donald Maston, president of the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, said canceling the program now would have the opposite effect, squandering millions of dollars.

► From WDTV — Silica Rule delayed for 2nd time, UMWA calls it a ‘death sentence’ for miners — The new “Silica Rule”, which was to take effect on August 18, has now been delayed for a second time. According to the United Mine Workers of America, a ruling from a U.S. Court of Appeals has pushed back the implementation of this rule until October…The delay has been cause by a lawsuit from the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA). That association would also be subject to the new Silica Rule, although the UMWA notes that the NSSGA would not be affected until 2027. “The fact that an industry association with no stake in coal mining can hold up lifesaving protections for coal miners is outrageous,” added Roberts. “The Department of Labor and MSHA should be fighting to implement this rule immediately, not kicking enforcement down the road yet again. Every day they delay, more miners get sick, and more miners die. That’s the truth.”

 

INTERNATIONAL

► From the Guardian — Air Canada flight attendants’ strike ruled illegal by industrial board — “The Liberals have talked out of both sides of their mouths. They said the best place for this is at the bargaining table. They refused to correct this historic injustice through legislation,” Wesley Lesosky, a senior member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said in a statement. “Now, when we’re at the bargaining table with an obstinate employer, the Liberals are violating our Charter rights to take job action and give Air Canada exactly what they want – hours and hours of unpaid labour from underpaid flight attendants, while the company pulls in sky-high profits and extraordinary executive compensation.”

► From Rachel Gilmore:

TODAY’S MUST-READ

► From the American Prospect — OPINION: Union-Buster in Chief — Up until now, the go-to example of a president using his power to try to destroy unions and set back the labor movement was Ronald Reagan’s firing of striking air traffic controllers in 1981. That move threw 11,000 dedicated workers who kept Americans safe and flight paths clear out of their jobs. It declared open season on workers who exercised their fundamental rights to improve their working conditions, sending a message to private employers that they, too, could fight worker organizing drives, break strikes, and undermine workers’ rights…Donald Trump has taken that playbook and weaponized it for his own War on Workers.

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