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GOP no-show | Press freedom | Hanford

Friday, October 10, 2025

 

STRIKES

► From Houston Public Media — 42-day Houston hotel strike slated to end Sunday. It’s an unprecedented labor action — in more ways than one — On a windy Friday evening, more than 20 people picketed outside the 24-story Hilton Americas-Houston, next to the sprawling George R. Brown Convention Center. The striking workers have a shared economic grievance. “We gotta live paycheck to paycheck. It’s not enough for us to cover our bills,” Aylin Alvarez, a housekeeper, said…The situation is unprecedented in more ways than one — the historic nature of the labor action, the underlying context of the hotel’s record-breaking financial performance and the unique financial arrangement of the public-private partnership operating the hotel…The hotel strike is slated to end on Sunday, on the 42-day mark, but there have already been two extensions of what was initially a 9-day strike. Union officials said the strike fund is strong, and they wouldn’t rule out another extension.

 

LOCAL

► From the Tri-City Herald — Feds consider laying off hundreds of Hanford contractor workers in Eastern WA — The Hanford tank farm contractor notified the Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council that it is looking to temporarily lay off 733 union workers because of the federal government shutdown. Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure, or H2C, employs about 2,500 workers. H2C sent a letter on Wednesday to HAMTC, an umbrella group for 15 unions doing work at Hanford. The letter was discussing directions from the Department of Energy to reduce staffing levels by Oct. 20 to the minimum needed to maintain safety at the Hanford tank farms. However, by Thursday afternoon that letter had been rescinded as premature and efforts continue to delay any layoffs, although they remain a possibility.

► From KUOW — Pay twice as much for health insurance? That’s the prospect some Washington residents face — The Enhanced Premium Tax Credits, as they’re called, have helped more than 216,000 Washington residents. About 25% of the state’s marketplace customers are self -employed or small business owners like Tussing…Without the tax credits, Tussing expects her premiums to cost more than $2,200 a month. She’s checked in with insurance brokers to find the best and lowest cost option for her family, but the options are limited. “At the moment total insurance is taking up 50% of our income — that’s auto, health, life, and home insurance,” she said. Tussing has to make a decision soon. Open enrollment for health insurance starts next month, when Americans start shopping for insurance plans.

► From Cascade PBS — Prosecutor won’t charge Rotschy after teen loses legs at worksite — The Clark County Prosecutor has declined to file criminal charges against a Vancouver-based company that had been cited and fined by the state for violating youth labor laws after a teenage employee lost both legs on a jobsite in 2023…Prosecuting Attorney Anthony F. Golik wrote in an Oct. 8 letter to L&I that based on the evidence available, the legal barriers to prosecution were “insurmountable.” “The factual record confirms that the minor was exposed to prohibited equipment, but it does not establish proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the corporate entity acted with a culpable mental state,” Golik wrote. “This was a preventable accident, but the legal standard for felony prosecution requires more than a violation, it requires culpability. That standard has not been met.”

► From the Seattle Times — Seattle’s ‘outrageously expensive’ child care rattles family budgets — Seattle is one of the costliest places in the country to put a kid in day care, and tuition costs have spiked since 2020. But the child care system has several problems, according to parents, providers and child care advocates. Workers are poorly paid, they lack benefits, and turnover is high. Families struggle with long waitlists and inconvenient pickup and drop-off times. Providers face regulatory hurdles in opening new facilities and expanding existing programs.

► From KUOW — Which employers seek H-1B visa workers in Washington state? — As part of the H-1B visa process, employers must submit a “Labor Condition Application” (LCA) to the Department of Labor declaring they will pay wages that are at least equal to the wages of the company’s current U.S. workers, or the prevailing wage for the same work in the region where the job is located. Employers can request multiple positions under the same LCA if the job, pay, and region are consistent. For example, the staffing agency Insight Global, LLC requested 450 registered nurses in Tacoma, with the same pay, under a single application.

► From the Washington State Standard — WA’s food aid program for infants and mothers now funded through October — Washington mothers and their babies will have access to food benefits through the end of the month, even though the federal government remains shut down, the state’s Department of Health said Thursday. Last week, state officials said the Women, Infants and Children program, or WIC, had just one to two weeks’ worth of funding to keep feeding low-income Washingtonians. The Department of Health encouraged enrollees to continue using their benefits as usual. The newfound money is coming from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, not the state, the Department of Health said. But it was not immediately clear how much money the federal government was providing, or where it was being funneled from.

► From the Spokesman Review — The number of fluent Spokane Salish speakers has more than doubled after the first graduation of a pilot adult immersion program: ‘This is historic’ — Felicia Pichette was overjoyed the first time her grandson told her “no.” It wasn’t what he said, but how he said it: in Spokane Salish, the endangered Indigenous language of the Spokane tribe…Pichette is one in the first cohort of adults in a Spokane tribe -sponsored Salish language -immersion program who graduated on Tuesday in a tear- and laughter-filled ceremony in Wellpinit, Washington. After two years in the immersion program, the nine graduates are at varying levels of “conversationally fluent,” joining the handful of fluent speakers, mostly elders.

 

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the Hollywood Reporter — Los Angeles Times Journalists Authorize a Strike — Los Angeles Times journalists have voted to authorize a strike in a move that ratchets up the pressure on management after three long years of contract negotiations. Eighty-five percent of members who belong to the newsroom’s union and participated in the vote opted to allow the labor group to call a strike. The union, a Local of the Media Guild of the West, represents more than 200 reporters, editors, photographers, designers and others at L.A.’s hometown paper. Around 98 percent of those participated in the vote.

 

ORGANIZING

► From Michigan Homecare Workers United:

 

NATIONAL

► From the Washington Post — Judge orders halt to DHS agents’ targeting of journalists in Chicago — A federal judge Thursday temporarily blocked federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security from using riot control weapons against journalists covering protests and immigration enforcement operations in the Chicago area…“We are grateful for Judge Ellis issuing a temporary restraining order making it clear that the government cannot use riot control weapons on journalists, media workers, peaceful protesters and members of the clergy,” said Jon Schleuss, president of the NewsGuild-CWA, whose local chapters are plaintiffs in the suit. “Journalism is not a crime. Speech is not a crime. Every American must loudly condemn the Trump administration’s assault on our First Amendment rights.”

► From the San Francisco Standard — Unions call for boycott of Airbnb, as company pursues $120M lawsuit against the city — Organized labor and elected officials on Wednesday called for a boycott of Airbnb in an effort to pressure the company to drop its $120 million lawsuit against San Francisco over business tax refunds. Two city supervisors joined a coalition of labor unions and community groups that gathered outside Airbnb’s Brannan Street headquarters to dis the company over the lawsuit and ties to the Trump administration. Dozens of activists held signs reading “Boycott Airbnb.”…Cassondra Curiel, president of United Educators of San Francisco, said educators work year-round to pay property taxes while Airbnb seeks to avoid its obligations. “A company as large and as global and as profitable as Airbnb is trying to skirt their responsibility to pay their fair share of taxes,” Curiel said.

► From the Government Executive — Federal and postal workers to see double-digit health care premium increases again next year — Federal employees and retirees will pay an average of 12.3% more toward their health insurance premiums in 2026, marking the second consecutive year of double-digit cost increases. The government’s share of Federal Employees Health Benefits Program premiums will increase by an average of 9.2%, bringing the overall premium increase to 10.2%. In 2025, civilian federal workers were estimated to pay an additional 13.5% on their employer-sponsored health insurance, compared to just 7.7% in rate hikes in 2024.

► From the Chicago Catholic — Pope meets pilgrimage of Chicago labor union leaders — Greeting a pilgrimage of labor union leaders from Chicago, Pope Leo XIV thanked them for helping “to create a society where all can flourish.” Organized by the Catholic Labor Network, the pilgrimage included members of Chicago Federation of Labor, UNITE HERE, Service Employees International Union, Teamsters, International Association of Machinists and the Laborers’ Union…Pope Leo had special thanks for the way the unions try to welcome and assist migrants and refugees, especially by supporting food pantries and shelters. “While recognizing that appropriate policies are necessary to keep communities safe, I encourage you to continue to advocate for society to respect the human dignity of the most vulnerable,” the pope said.

Editor’s note: someone tell the union-busting leadership of Catholic university LMU that the Pope is pro-union.

 

POLITICS & POLICY

► From Politico — Mike Johnson sticks to no-show shutdown strategy as resistance mounts — For Mike Johnson, not showing up is the entire battle. The speaker made clear Thursday — nine days into the government shutdown — he is committed to keeping the House out of session as long as it takes to pressure Senate Democrats to act on the stopgap funding bill his chamber passed three weeks ago. Johnson is holding firm on the indefinite recess strategy even as pressure mounts inside his own conference to bring members back to Washington, with more and more GOP lawmakers prodding him to change course. “There is absolutely no reason for the House to be out of session — it’s embarrassing,” Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) said in an interview. “The government is shut down, Americans are losing access to critical services, workers are being furloughed and the House isn’t even in Washington.”

► From the Federal News Network — EPA furloughs employees after using carryover funds to keep them working — The Environmental Protection Agency has begun sending furlough notices to its employees after keeping them on the job for the first nine days of the government shutdown. The EPA’s latest contingency plan calls for furloughing the vast majority of its workforce during a lapse in funding. But the agency, up until this point, tapped into carryover funds to keep nearly all of its employees working. Other agencies are also furloughing more of their staff, as the shutdown continues into its second week and as lawmakers are no closer to reaching a deal to end it.

► From Politico — IRS pulls back on promise of back pay for idled workers — The IRS is walking back guidance on back pay for staffers a day after the agency furloughed almost half its employees and suggested they would receive retroactive paychecks, according to an email obtained by POLITICO. “An earlier memo circulated on furlough guidance incorrectly stated the nature of the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 as it relates to compensation for non-pay and non-duty status,” the email to employees, sent Thursday, reads. “The Office of Management and Budget will provide further guidance on this issue, and you will be updated accordingly.”

► From the New York Times — Inflation Report Will Be Released Despite Shutdown — The Bureau of Labor Statistics is calling back a limited number of workers to help release consumer price data for September, despite the federal government shutdown, according to administration sources familiar with the plan. It isn’t clear when the Consumer Price Index report, originally scheduled for Oct. 15, will be released. But it will almost certainly be in time for the Federal Reserve’s next meeting at the end of the month.

► From WDEF — Volkswagen employee and union barginer testifies at Senate hearing — Steve Cochran says he has worked at VW for 14 years and is on the UAW’s bargaining committee. However, he voiced his displeasure with how that process has gone to a group of Senators, arguing that V-W has broken the law. Cochran said, “Your average worker has to fight like hell to win their union against constant illegal activity against their employers. If they overcome that to win their union, then they have to fight like hell to win their union contract and improve their lives.” Cochran told the panel of Senators that he along with other VW employees have been intimidated during the process of contract negotiations.

► From Trains.com — Rail union asks FAA to ban drone flights over rail infrastructure — The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division, or SMART-TD, submitted comments earlier this week on a proposed FAA rule that would allow expanded drone use of beyond visual line of sight. Such a proposal was a condition of the FAA Authorization Act of 2024. SMART-TD says it seeks the ban primarily because of what it says is an increasing use drones by railroad management for employee surveillance and operational testing, calling such use “a practice that crosses every line of safety, respect, and common sense.” Jared Cassity, SMART-TD’s national safety and legislative director, said in a post on the union’s website, “Our rail yards are not laboratories or surveillance zones. They’re our offices. When a drone flies overhead, it’s not just a nuisance; it’s a distraction in one of the most dangerous work environments in America…”

 

JOLT OF JOY

After a prayer request from her sister sparked panic online (and in my household), nothing could make me happier than the news that Dolly Parton ain’t dead yet. And hallelujah for that!

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