5 alarm fire | Caregivers | America ‘not safe’

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

STRIKES

► From the St. Louis Business Journal — Union negotiator blasts Boeing plan to hire replacement workers as ‘scare tactic’ — Boeing’s ability to replace striking machinists with permanent replacement workers is questioned by a union leader, citing training needs and qualifications….”They can’t bring someone off the street that can meet the requirements to work on a defense system,” Jody Bennett, IAM Union resident general vice president, said at a press briefing. “I believe it’s just a scare tactic… I’m not worried about replacement workers because they won’t be able to find them. They certainly won’t be able to qualify them in enough time to make any difference.”

LOCAL

► From the (Everett) Daily Herald — Former barista claims Starbucks violated Everett law — A former part-time Starbucks barista in Everett filed a complaint in Snohomish County Superior Court on Tuesday, alleging the coffee company violated Everett’s new minimum wage law by refusing to give him more work hours and hiring new workers instead. The suit seeks class action status on behalf of other Starbucks workers in Everett who were also working part-time. The company has six company-owned locations in Everett.

► From KING 5 — Overlake announces layoffs, adding to wave of cuts among health care providers — Overlake is the latest regional provider to announce workforce cuts. Earlier this month, Seattle Children’s Hospital said 154 employees would be laid off and 350 open positions would be eliminated, effective Nov. 15. Providence announced in August that it would cut 128 jobs in Oregon as part of $100 million in cost reductions this year, after eliminating more than 300 positions in Oregon and western Washington earlier in the summer.

► From KUOW — ‘Gimme my Jimmy.’ Seattle protesters condemn KOMO, Sinclair’s refusal to air Kimmel — For Tuesday’s protest, Bartus brought a sign that said “Sinclair Silences Speech,” featuring a picture of Kimmel with his mouth taped over. While Kimmel’s comments may have been critical, Bartus said she doesn’t believe they were dangerous or violent. “He’s just critiquing our society and our culture, and in democracies, that’s not silenced,” she said.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the Cascadia Daily News — Caregiver concerns and potential strike hang over Evergreen Supported Living — SEIU 775 members at Evergreen, who unionized in June 2024, have been negotiating for nearly a year and say the last thing they want to do is strike. Evergreen provides care for adults with disabilities in designated residential homes and who mostly pay for services with Medicaid…Evergreen caregivers say that due to staff shortages, clients receive next to no recreational outings and are limited to medical appointments and grocery trips for weeks at a time. Evergreen has experienced up to 90% staff turnover in the last six years, said Trent Mulder, an Evergreen caregiver. The staff now comprises 21 unionized caregivers, McShane said.

► From the NW Labor Press — Portland scrap metal workers answer with a ‘hard no’ to Toyota demand for concessions — The new owners brought a brash style to bargaining and demanded that the union accept sweeping concessions, including withdrawal from the union-sponsored health and pension plans and an end to double time pay after 10 hours and pension. Members voted down the company’s proposal and followed with a 79-2 vote to authorize a strike. “I knew there was going to be a problem with Toyota,” said Local 701 business manager Jim Anderson. Schnitzer had been a family-oriented employer with workers who stayed for decades, and he had a hunch the new owners would be different. “Any company you’re dealing with that’s owned by a big business or an equity management company, they’re always trying to go after your pension and your health insurance.”

ORGANIZING

► From Labor Notes — Wells Fargo Workers Push to Bring A Union to the Banking Industry  — The first branch where workers won a union vote, in 2023, was in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Since then, workers have have voted to join the Communications Workers (CWA) at 29 more branches from Apopka, Florida, to Casper, Wyoming. So have 35 workers who review customer and employee complaints at the bank. These workers, a total of 200, are a small fraction of Wells Fargo’s 217,000 employees. But their organizing represents the first formal union effort since the company’s founding in 1852. And their success is even more notable in an almost entirely non-union industry.

NATIONAL

► From the New York Times — ‘America Is Not a Safe Place to Work’: Koreans Describe Georgia Raid –Since their repatriation, a few dozen workers have started a chat group where they discuss their claims of human rights abuses. They said that the authorities never read them their rights or explained why they were being arrested. With their cellphones confiscated, they could not call their families, employers or lawyers. When they were allowed to use phones at the detention center, they could not make international calls. They have reported smelly drinking water, moldy mattresses, dusty blankets, freezing air conditioning and officials’ tardy response to requests for medical aid. One worker in the chat accused guards of pulling their eyes sideways in a racist gesture against Asians. “The racial discrimination and sneering — and how the United States viewed us — will linger long in my heart,” the worker wrote.

► From Hellgate — Boss of Brooklyn Defenders Charged With Shockingly Sloppy Attempt at Union Busting — Last Monday, Sophie, a 30-year-old social worker in the Brooklyn Defender Services criminal defense unit, got a perplexing email from the group’s executive director, Lisa Schreibersdorf…In a bizarre, 30-minute meeting on Tuesday, Sophie said Schreibersdorf sat her down, complimented her work ethic, then asked her to lead a charge to decertify the BDS union, Local 2325 UAW under the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, and start a new company-wide union with Schreibersdorf’s support.

Editor’s note: in a statement, the union shared that Schreibersdorf printed a step-by-step decertification how-to and gave it to the worker. Now I’m not a lawyer, but creating a paper trail? ‘Shockingly sloppy’ to say the least.

► From the Seattle Times — Here’s the problem with training more air traffic controllers — A shortage of qualified instructors for air traffic controllers – a problem even before the surge in enrollment – was forcing managers to plead with those on staff to pick up extra shifts, even though many are already putting in 60-hour weeks. “If you’re feeling brave, caffeinated, and ready to be a legend, I’m looking for volunteers to work a double shift in the mini lab for RPO training on these days,” read one email viewed by The Post. “If you’re up for the challenge or just want to rack up some extra hours and bragging rights, let me know which date(s) you’d like to claim.” The frantic outreach highlights the daunting challenge federal officials face as they work to ease the strain on U.S. air traffic controllers, whose ranks have a shortage of about 3,000 qualified professionals.

► From Mother Jones — They’ve Won in Court, But ICE Is Still Detaining and Trying to Deport Them — Even though ICE didn’t bother appealing the judge’s January ruling, the agency refused to let Laura out, despite repeated requests by her lawyers in and out of court…ICE treats you like a “living ghost,” she says from detention. “They don’t care if you die.”…In the past, immigrants in Laura’s situation—with a ruling from an immigration judge saying they can’t be deported home—had a real chance of securing release into the US, partially out of practicality. But as ICE has further opened the door to sending people to other countries, the agency now routinely prolongs detention, taking advantage of the appeals process and a loophole that allows imprisonment if ICE says a third-country deportation is likely. The main goal of the delays, lawyers and advocates say, is to wear detainees down and get them to give up their fight to stay in the US.

► From the NW Labor Press — 2025 Oregon AFL-CIO Convention Report — It began 1 p.m. Sept. 5 with bagpipes, an honor guard, and a minister’s blessing, and ended late a day later with a march to a beachside promenade. The 2005 Oregon AFL-CIO convention drew 245 delegates and 80-some honorary delegates and guests to the Seaside Convention Center, and the goal above all was for attendees to leave inspired. It was the first statewide convention since SEIU rejoined the AFL-CIO and Local 503 returned to the state labor federation, and their added numbers contributed to larger than previous attendance.

POLITICS & POLICY

► From Labor Notes — Federal Workers Declare Five-Alarm Fires at Agencies — Braving retaliation, thousands of federal workers across six agencies have signed open letters charging that their workplaces are being hamstrung or dismantled by the Trump administration. They join federal unionists at dozens more workplaces who have been sounding the alarm to Congress and the public…“Not everybody loses their power and their voice at once, it goes step by step,” said Joseph Allen, a member of the Treasury Employees (NTEU) Chapter 66 at IRS in Kansas City. “Everybody’s got to stand in solidarity now.” Allen said that union efforts are vital: “If they take away the power from the unions, they’re going to take away power from management, they’re going to take away the agencies. This is to save what we have of our republic.”

► From the AP — Trump administration rehires hundreds of federal employees laid off by DOGE — The General Services Administration has given the employees — who managed government workspaces — until the end of the week to accept or decline reinstatement, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. Those who accept must report for duty on Oct. 6 after what amounts to a seven-month paid vacation, during which time the GSA in some cases racked up high costs — passed along to taxpayers — to stay in dozens of properties whose leases it had slated for termination or were allowed to expire.

► From NPR — Trump administration fires more immigration judges — At least 14 immigration judges learned last Friday that they would be put on leave and that their employment would terminate as soon as Wednesday in some cases, according to two people familiar with the firings and a confirmation from the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), a union that represents immigration judges. The two people spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Courts in Florida, New York, Maryland, California and Washington state are among those affected.

► From the Washington State Standard — ‘All bad news’: WA tax receipts expected to slide further — Estimates shared with officials Tuesday show receipts for the current two-year state budget tumbling $412 million further from what was forecast three months ago. Incorporating the previous forecast from June, this puts the total slide over half a billion dollars. The troubling report from Dave Reich, the state’s chief economist, to the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council sets the stage for another legislative session marred by tough budget decisions, with the potential for further cuts to state services and higher taxes.

► From the Washington State Standard — Washington denies DOJ request for voter rolls — Secretary Steve Hobbs told the Department of Justice he would be willing to provide voter names, addresses, genders, years of birth, voting records, registration dates and registration numbers. But he wouldn’t give dates of birth, driver license numbers and the last four digits of social security numbers. He wrote that information is protected under Washington law.

► From the Washington State Standard — Feds quietly delay cleanup of forever chemicals at military bases in Oregon, Washington — The Air National Guard base in Portland and the Fairchild Air Force base near Spokane are among nearly 140 military sites nationwide with delayed investigations and remediation for a group of chemicals known as PFAS. The delays come as congressional Republicans are proposing cutting by nearly $200 million the defense agency’s budget for environmental cleanup, including PFAS, an abbreviation for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and rolling back a 2024 ban on the agency’s use of firefighting foam containing PFAS.

► From the Seattle Times — King County Council bans rent-setting software, like RealPage — The King County Council voted unanimously Tuesday to explicitly ban landlords in unincorporated King County from entering into agreements to establish rents, using software that collects data to recommend rental prices, lease renewal terms or occupancy levels…Over the last few years, Texas-based software company RealPage, widely used by large rental companies nationwide, has come under fire for generating daily price recommendations based on the data landlords enter. Tenants, state attorneys general and the Justice Department have sued RealPage, alleging antitrust violations that artificially inflate rents.

► From the Tacoma News Tribune — Tacoma challenges February election for so-called ‘workers bill of rights’ — The city of Tacoma has asked a judge to reconsider his recent decision to put a proposed “Workers Bill of Rights” on the ballot in a special election in February, according to court filings…The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 367, Tacoma For All and the Tacoma Pierce County Democratic Socialists of America sued the city of Tacoma, Pierce County and County Auditor Linda Farmer last month arguing that they didn’t act with “reasonable promptness and diligence” to protect the right of initiative after the measure was not scheduled to appear on the November ballot.

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