Shutdown pain | Farmworker wages | Strike-ready SBWU

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

STRIKES

► From the St. Louis Business Journal — Boeing, machinists union negotiate for 7 hours, will continue Tuesday — As the Boeing strike stretches into its third month, federal mediators have stepped in to help bridge the gap between the aerospace giant and its machinists union…IAM District 837 sent a text to its members stating: “Today, your bargaining committee met with Boeing through federal mediators to continue working toward a fair contract. The company requested to continue mediation on Tuesday morning and the union has accepted.”

LOCAL

► From NW Public Broadcasting — Harvest at a Crossroads: How immigration is affecting the 2025 harvest in the Pacific Northwest — Edgar Franks, political director of Familias Unidas por la Justicia, a farmworkers union in Skagit County, said people are thinking more about traveling from town to town or even participating in community celebrations. “There’s been more reluctance for people to feel free, to move around and look for work,” said Franks. “I think people may be choosing other lines of work that are closer to their home or just overall feel like it’s a safer place.”…Earlier this month the Trump administration announced changes to the H-2A program, which brings thousands of farmworkers from other countries to the Northwest. The update will reduce the hourly wage for those farmworkers, and allow growers to deduct housing costs from their pay…“It’s a really big deal, because it sets a bad precedent,” said Franks. “Lowering the wages of farm workers, whether they be H-2A or local workers, we still feel it’s an overall attack on farm workers that already are some of the poorest workers in the state.”

► From the Spokesman Review — ‘Recipe for abuse’: Labor leaders decry wage cuts for H-2A workers but growers support the changes — Antonio De Loera-Brust, communications director for United Farm Workers said the possibility of replacing local workers with foreign labor will negatively affect rural communities. “They’re exchanging basically the undocumented population for a guest worker population that has even less rights and will be cheaper to exploit than ever,” De Loera-Brust said…De Loera-Brust said the H-2A program has long been a “recipe for abuse,” with years of low wages and constant complaints from employers about labor costs. He said that cutting wages will have serious consequences, not just for workers’ paychecks, but for the future of the Washington agriculture industry.

► From the Seattle Times — Trump administration fires Seattle immigration judge despite huge case backlog — Seattle’s Susana Reyes, just shy of finishing her two-year probationary period as an immigration judge, received a termination notice Sept. 19 amid the latest of several waves of firings across the country, according to the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, the umbrella union for a national immigration judges association. The administration has fired more than 83 immigration judges since President Donald Trump took office, 24 of them in September, according to their union. Roughly 60 more have been forced out or left of their own accord. That leaves fewer than 600 immigration judges nationally to hear roughly 3.8 million pending cases.

► From KING 5 — Federal immigration authorities accessed Washington state license plate readers, KING 5 finds — The disclosures, contained in a report released by the University of Washington Center for Human Rights, show that U.S. Border Patrol conducted thousands of searches using data from 31 Washington police agencies, many of which did not authorize such access…The automated license plate readers, primarily Flock-brand cameras mounted along busy streets, are designed to help local police find stolen vehicles, track criminal suspects and solve crimes. When officers input a license plate number or vehicle description, the systems generate alerts if matching vehicles pass by. But records obtained by University of Washington researchers show U.S. Border Patrol, ICE and other federal agencies appear on approved user lists for some departments, including Auburn, which operates 20 Flock cameras throughout the city.

► From the union-busting Columbian — School nurses a ‘critical bridge’: Health care pros are spread thin in Vancouver schools — Evergreen’s middle schools have a nurse two to three days per week all day, while elementary schools range from one to two days per week. In Vancouver, middle schools typically have a nurse three to four days a week, and elementary schools typically have nursing coverage three days a week. The number of nurses assigned to each school depends on enrollment, meaning staffing increases only if student numbers go up, Vancouver district spokeswoman Jessica Roberts said. Vancouver Public Schools’ nurse-to-student ratios have improved with each contract, but support staff has been affected by budget cuts, which means the district has had to get more creative with training front office staff to assist where needed, Williams said.

► From Me Edmonds News — Webinar set for federal workers and others affected by the federal government shutdown — Washington state federal workers who have been furloughed or laid off as a result of the federal government shutdown are invited to a free virtual webinar on Oct. 23 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The webinar will help affected workers, including federally-funded state workers facing furloughs, navigate unemployment benefits and other resources. Register on Zoom.

► From the Spokesman Review — Grandson of labor leader Cesar Chavez publishes kids’ book inspired by rural Idaho elementary school — Last month, Eduardo Chavez released his first children’s book, “Mi Abuelo César” – or in English, “My Grandfather César” – inspired by his visit to Alturas Elementary in Hailey, Idaho. The book, he said, reflects on his own personal journey as a 7-year-old hearing about his grandfather from his father and learning about his fight for farmworkers’ rights. “I wrote this story to hopefully educate and inspire young people at the ages of 5 to9, to maybe be able to learn these themes for the first time and go on their own journeys with their parents and learn about their history and why it’s important to be proud of where we come from,” Eduardo Chavez said.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From Labor Notes — Strike Captains and Practice Pickets: Starbucks Workers Aim to Bring a Contract Home — Thirty-eight stores held practice pickets in early October, and starting October 25, 80 more stores plan to hold pickets and sign up customers to a “No Contract, No Coffee” pledge, promising not to patronize any Starbucks in case of a strike. “We’re all strike-ready,” said Jhoana Canada, a barista in Nashville. She said that when they practiced picketing at her store, many customers learned for the first time that they were unionized. “It’s just basically an ongoing, overpouring amount of support,” she said. Starbucks agreed to bargain starting February 2024 and negotiations progressed for eight months, then stalled. “Most of our contract was already agreed upon,” said Diego Franco, a Des Plaines, Illinois barista. “It’s just the aspects related to pay and scheduling guaranteed hours that the company has been stonewalling us on.”

► From the Hollywood Reporter — Broadway Musicians Say They Will Strike “Immediately” If Deal Is Not Reached Wednesday — “The Broadway musicians represented by Local 802 AFM are going into mediation on Wednesday, Oct. 22. If we do not have a new contract by Thursday morning, we are prepared to strike immediately. We are hopeful that we can reach an agreement,” Local 802 President Bob Suttmann said in a statement. Broadway musicians have been working without a contract since Aug. 31, 2025, and have been lobbying for “stable” healthcare coverage, as well as wage gains and job security.

ORGANIZING

► From WIVB — Union workers ask for boycott of one of Buffalo’s largest hotels — Current and former unionized workers at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Buffalo are asking for a boycott of the hotel amid a yearlong fight for fair wages and a voice at the hotel. Workers announced a union campaign at the Douglas Jemal-owned hotel in Fountain Plaza over a year ago. Workers have accused hotel leadership of union-busting campaigns, intimidation tactics, threats and firing workers. According to the union, approximately 10 workers have been fired due to their involvement in the union. The National Labor Relations Board is looking into a few of them.

NATIONAL

► From Business Insider — Federal Workers Are Pinching Pennies During the Government Shutdown — Federal workers told Business Insider that one check can be the difference between paying a bill or going into debt. A Pew analysis showed that nearly half of government employees earned under $89,000 annually as of March 2024, with 8% earning less than $50,000 — money that goes fast if families are paying for housing, childcare, groceries, and medicine. “A lot of us are living paycheck to paycheck, like most Americans, but even more so now we have to be cognizant of where every penny is going,” Mark Cochran, a furloughed National Park Service employee in Pennsylvania and AFGE Local 3145 president, previously told Business Insider.

► From the LA Times — Unionized baristas want Olympics to drop Starbucks as its ‘official coffee partner’ –The union, Starbucks Workers United, contends in the complaint that Starbucks’ treatment of U.S. workers looking to unionize and bargain a contract — as well as allegations of forced labor abroad — conflict with the Olympic Games’ code of ethics. The 22-page complaint notes findings by federal labor regulators in recent years that the company had unlawfully retaliated against employees, failed to bargain with the union, and took other actions in an “aggressive, unrelenting campaign of intimidation and interference” to discourage workers from exercising their right to organize.

► From OregonLive — How quickly could troops be at Portland’s ICE facility? — The deployment could, at least in theory, come within days, based on discussions among lawyers and a judge in federal court. Members of the Oregon and California National Guard are said to be stationed and waiting at one or two Oregon military training centers. They could conceivably arrive within hours of Trump winning another plea before a federal judge or the wider 9th Circuit. But the reality is, it’s unclear when or if troops will arrive or what would happen if they do.

► From CNBC — OpenAI cracks down on Sora 2 deepfakes after pressure from Bryan Cranston, SAG-AFTRA — OpenAI announced on Monday in a joint statement that it will be working with Bryan Cranston, SAG-AFTRA, and other actor unions to protect against deepfakes on its artificial intelligence video creation app Sora. The “Breaking Bad” and “Malcolm in the Middle” actor expressed concern after unauthorized AI-generated clips using his voice and likeness appeared on the app following the Sora 2 launch at the end of September, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists said in a post on X.

► From The New Republic — Former DOJ Lawyer Says He Was Ordered to Lie About Ábrego García — On Sunday, Justice Department whistleblower Erez Reuveni told 60 Minutes what the public has suspected for months now: The Trump administration told him to lie to a judge about Kilmar Ábrego García being a gang member after it mistakenly deported him. “And I respond up the chain of command: No way. That is not correct. That is not factually correct, it’s not legally correct. That is a lie. And I cannot sign my name to that briefing,” Reuveni, who has since been fired from the DOJ, said…“Here’s the really important thing. Whether Mr. Ábrego García is or isn’t a member of MS-13 or a terrorist or anything else, is beside the point,” Reuveni continued. “What matters here is that they did everything they did to him in violation of his due process rights. What’s to stop them if they decide they don’t like you anymore? To say you’re a criminal, you’re a member of MS-13? You’re a terrorist? What’s to stop them from sending in some DOJ attorney at the direction of DOJ leadership to delay, to filibuster, and if necessary, to lie?”

► From the Teamsters:

UPS TO EXPEDITE A/C VEHICLES TO HOTTEST STATES

To help expedite delivery of 28,000 air-conditioned vehicles under the current national contract, United Parcel Service (UPS) has signed a new letter of agreement with the UPS Teamsters National Negotiating Committee to begin… pic.twitter.com/GL9CbNevHt

— Teamsters (@Teamsters) October 21, 2025

POLITICS & POLICY

► From Politico — Republicans broach a longer stopgap bill as shutdown enters fourth week — When House Republicans first passed a stopgap spending bill last month, it was written to give Congress a seven-week window to come to a long-term deal on government funding. With the government shutdown now running into a fourth week, that original Nov. 21 deadline is looming fast — and numerous Republicans acknowledged Monday a new, longer stopgap bill will be needed…But reopening the timing debate is risky and divisive inside the GOP. Leaders face a similar dilemma as they did before the shutdown began: Appropriators generally want a shorter stopgap, allowing them to write bipartisan bills, while conservative hard-liners want a longer continuing resolution running until March or even to the beginning of the next fiscal year, according to three Republicans granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.

► From the New York Times — ​​Government Shutdown Threatens Pay for Air Traffic Controllers — Speaking on Fox News, Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, was unequivocal in warning that “there will be no dollars” in controllers’ next paychecks, which are expected to be issued a week from Tuesday, stating: “They don’t get paid.”…Controllers have already received one reduced check, because the shutdown began in the middle of a pay period. The next pay date, Oct. 28, will be the first fully missed paycheck. Many controllers have already been laboring in understaffed facilities and pulling overtime shifts to compensate for severe staffing shortages. Mr. Duffy said on Monday that he was concerned the flying public might start experiencing disruptions in air travel as controllers’ paychecks are reduced to nothing. He warned that those who live paycheck to paycheck will have to start “figuring out ways to keep their families afloat.”

► From the New York Times — Federal Courts Run Out of Funding Amid Government Shutdown, Threatening Delays — The shutdown of the federal government will begin to affect the operations of the federal court system on Monday, including the Supreme Court, which will shut its doors to the public at a time when the judiciary is confronting a pileup of legal challenges to the Trump administration’s policies…The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which helps coordinate operations across the country’s dozens of federal court districts, said in a separate statement that by Monday the federal courts would not have funds to “sustain full, paid operations.”

► From Reuters — US judge to block Trump directive to erase ‘gender ideology’ from state sex education — A federal judge in Oregon said on Monday she will block President Donald Trump’s administration from forcing a group of Democratic-led states led by Washington, Oregon and Minnesota to remove all references to “gender ideology” from sexual health education curricula in order to receive federal grant funding. U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken said she plans to issue an injunction at the behest of those 16 states, as well as the District of Columbia, after a lawyer for Washington state told her during a hearing that the Department of Health and Human Services wants them to effectively “edit transgender kids out of their curricula.”

► From Axios — Here’s where the Interior Dept. plans to cut more than 2,000 jobs — The expected layoffs, also called reductions in force (RIF), are higher than an estimate the department put out just days ago in a court filing after several unions sued the department. While the administration continues justifying federal cuts as shutdown-driven, Monday’s filing says all proposed or planned layoffs were already in motion. A department spokesperson also confirmed the layoffs were already planned when reached by Axios…The Interior’s Monday filing shared the department “will not proceed” with any RIFs for the more than 4,800 employees represented by unions in the lawsuit, unless the order is lifted.

► From the Seattle Times — Who benefits from the MAHA anti-science push? — Two advisers to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sat on a stage in California this spring, addressing an audience at a natural products industry trade show that drew tens of thousands of people from food brands, investment banks, supplement sellers and other companies. Their message: The goals of the Make America Healthy Again movement will help your bottom lines…Powerful anti-vaccine advocates and people selling potentially harmful goods such as raw milk are profiting from the push to write anti-science policies into law across the U.S. They object to the term “anti-science” and portray the MAHA movement as grassroots. But it’s fueled by a web of well-funded national groups led by people who’ve profited – financially and otherwise – from sowing distrust of medicine and science.

► From Politico — Trump nominee says MLK Jr. holiday belongs in ‘hell’ and that he has ‘Nazi streak,’ according to texts — Paul Ingrassia, President Donald Trump’s embattled nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, told a group of fellow Republicans in a text chain the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell” and said he has “a Nazi streak,” according to a text chat viewed by POLITICO. Ingrassia, who has a Senate confirmation hearing scheduled Thursday, made the remarks in a chain with a half-dozen Republican operatives and influencers, according to the chat…One of the people in the text group said in an interview that Ingrassia’s comment was not taken as a joke, and three participants pushed back against Ingrassia during the text exchange that day.

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