NEWS ROUNDUP

Toxic smoke | Project 2025 | Kickstarter strike

Friday, October 3, 2025

 

STRIKES

► From the Seattle Times — Boeing expands push for replacement workers [scabs] amid St. Louis strike — The union fired back in a message to members, calling Gillian’s move a “terrible idea” that “won’t work.” “Dan Gillian just sent an email about how hard he’s trying to get scab labor to build the world’s most advanced military systems,” the note said. “There are 3,200 highly skilled workers ready to get back on the job,” the message said. “The union continues to be ready to negotiate a fair deal.”

► From Rascal — Kickstarter United workers will strike beginning October 2 — Represented by the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 153, Kickstarter United members have been negotiating the contract since April, with the union proposing to enshrine Kickstarter’s four-day, 32-hour work week, as well as establish a minimum, livable salary into their collective agreement. In an email to Rascal, a Kickstarter United spokesperson said that Kickstarter management had insisted the company will not agree to a four day work week, while rejecting every proposal for a minimum salary. “They would like the unilateral power to change working hours back to a five day work week if a business need arises (‘business need’ of course being up to the discretion of management) — without any compensation for the additional labor hours,” they said.

► From Kickstarter United:

 

LOCAL

► From the Washington State Standard — Wildland firefighters risk dangerous smoke exposure even with new mask guidance — The reversal of a decades-old U.S. Forest Service policy means that federal wildland firefighters can now mask up if they want to — something Washington’s state wildland firefighters have been able to do for the past five years…while N95s protect against smoke and particles in the air, they do not protect against gases, vapors, oils and other chemicals wildland firefighters are regularly exposed to. There are no respirators currently available for wildland firefighters that do filter all the harmful substances they are exposed to on the job.

► From OPB — Washington and Oregon employment offices announce benefits for furloughed federal workers — Those furloughed workers, who are not getting paid during the shutdown, may be able to file for stopgap benefits in both states, officials from the Washington state Employment Security Department and Oregon Employment Department said. “Federal employees that are furloughed very well may qualify for unemployment benefits,” said Cami Feek, commissioner at the Washington state Employment Security Department. But workers should prepare to pay back any benefits they receive when the shutdown ends and they eventually receive those federal wages.

► From the Washington State Standard — What the federal government shutdown means for Washington’s K-12 schools — Most federal funding for K-12 education is provided in advance, so schools still have access to it during the shutdown, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction confirmed this week. Existing grants and contracts that don’t require involvement from federal staff will also continue as normal. Programs and services that do require involvement from the U.S. Department of Education, like internet connectivity programs, technical assistance, reviews of civil rights complaints and implementing new grants, however, will likely experience interruptions. The department has furloughed about 95% of its staff.

 

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the New York Times — Is the WNBA headed for a work stoppage? The consequences could be grim for the league — But there is another similarity with the NHL of the previous era, as well. In 1994, hockey found itself in a tense labor negotiation. Its salary system was a key point of contention. That is also where the WNBA finds itself as the 2025 finals begin on Friday. The league’s current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire on Oct. 31…NHL owners locked the players out for 103 days during the 1994-95 season, and the league missed 468 games. “There was incredible momentum,” said Ian Pulver, an NHL agent who worked as a labor attorney for the NHLPA for 15 years, including during the ′94 talks. “I think the momentum fizzled after that. I think it took years for the NHL to catch up again.”

 

ORGANIZING

► From Nonprofit Quarterly — We Organized Our Nonprofit and Lost Our Jobs, But We’d Do It Again — It is bad enough that a mental health organization would fail to support the wellbeing of its staff. But what NEDA leadership did to my coworkers and me next was even worse. Upon petitioning management for better working conditions, we were subjected to a months-long campaign of targeted retaliation and workplace abuse built on lies, intimidation, humiliation, and bullying. When we finally won our union election to affiliate with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), NEDA bosses responded with blatant, illegal union busting. They fired every single one of us and attempted to replace our lived experience with a dangerous AI chatbot named “Tessa.”…If we hadn’t unionized, the exploitation of NEDA staff and volunteers would have continued unchecked. Organizing gave us the tools not only to improve our working conditions, but to challenge broader systemic exploitation. Moreover, if we hadn’t spoken up, our story would remain unknown in the field.

 

NATIONAL

► From the New York Times — Immigration Judge Rejects Abrego Garcia’s Efforts to Seek Asylum in U.S. — The decision by the judge in Baltimore on Wednesday foreclosed one of the options that Mr. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers had tried in an effort to keep him in the country. While the ruling meant that a final order of removal that was first imposed on Mr. Abrego Garcia in 2019 remained in place, the Trump administration cannot deport him again until a separate case he filed in Federal District Court in Maryland is resolved.

► From the Seattle Times — Starbucks’ sweeping store closures aren’t a surprise. Here’s why — As of June, the major shareholders in the publicly traded company were investment management companies: The Vanguard Group with 9.5% of shares, BlackRock with 4.5%, State Street with 4.1%, Goode Capital Management with 2.1%, and Invesco with 1.9%, according to financial services company The Motley Fool. It also listed Schultz as holding 1.9% of shares.

 

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the AP — Trump no longer distancing himself from Project 2025 as he uses shutdown to further pursue its goals — In a post on his Truth Social site Thursday morning, Trump announced he would be meeting with his budget chief, “Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.” The comments represented a dramatic about-face for Trump, who spent much of last year denouncing Project 2025, The Heritage Foundation’s massive proposed overhaul of the federal government, which was drafted by many of his longtime allies and current and former administration officials.

► From the Washington Post — Senior government officials privately warn against firings during shutdown — Regulations say that employees must be given 60 days of advance notice before being laid off. What if the shutdown ends up lasting for 12 days, D’Agostino asked, “Or 12 hours? Three hours? I just can’t see how they tomorrow spit out notices saying you’re fired because of no funding, and then on Friday, we have funding again.”…Kevin Owen, another federal employment lawyer, said the unions have a strong case — but he is far from confident the courts would eventually intervene. “I have stopped trying to predict what the courts will be doing,” Owen said. “I know what they should be doing based on existing case law. But we’re not in those times right now.”

► From Wired — Government Workers Say Their Out-of-Office Replies Were Forcibly Changed to Blame Democrats for Shutdown — It’s not clear who made the change to email accounts, which was first posted about on Bluesky by journalist Marisa Kabas. “It’s disturbing,” says a DOE employee who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Some employees changed their responses back to the more neutral language, only to have it changed yet again to the partisan response, multiple sources tell WIRED…This is particularly problematic, because experts have alleged that the partisan language could be a violation of the Hatch Act, which sets limits to the kinds of political activity government employees can engage in. Violating the Hatch Act, which is not subject to a statute of limitations, could cause a federal employee to face fines or lose their job entirely.

► From NBC — What the shutdown means for Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs — Fortunately for everyday people, core programs like Medicare and Medicaid will keep running because their funding is built into law. But a popular Medicare benefit — telehealth — has already ended for many, and so-called discretionary programs, such as Community Health Centers (CHCs), may be at risk unless Congress acts soon. More than 167 million people — roughly half the U.S. population, according to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — are covered by the programs.

► From the New York Times — Jobs Report Withheld by Shutdown Leaves Economists Guessing — Other labor market indicators generated by the private sector have been downbeat. The payroll processor ADP estimated that nongovernmental employers shed 32,000 jobs in September, while the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that companies’ announced hiring plans so far this year were at the lowest level since 2009. “Labor market weakness is evident and it’s accelerating, and what counts as a good jobs report is going to increasingly get revised down,” said Andrew Flowers, chief economist at Appcast, a recruiting technology firm. “The main driver of that is labor supply contracting, particularly with immigration restrictions. But there’s also evidence that demand is also weakening.”

► From the New York Times — Medicaid Work Requirements Don’t Boost Employment, Study Shows — A new study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that President Trump’s sweeping tax and domestic policy legislation, which is expected to cause millions of people who rely on Medicaid to lose benefits, might not produce meaningful job gains. Published today in BMJ, the study found that tying proof of work to Medicaid coverage didn’t improve employment gains in Georgia. “These results have critical implications,” the study stated, as Mr. Trump’s law will soon implement so-called work requirements across the country.

► From the Government Executive — As Trump promises shutdown layoffs, fights over previous layoffs stall due to shutdown  — The White House has said the new round of shutdown layoffs will hit in the coming days. In the meantime, the effort to rollback the previous layoffs are running into a new obstacle: the Justice Department attorneys litigating the cases in federal court are furloughed due to the shutdown…“Absent an appropriation, Department of Justice attorneys and employees of the federal defendants are prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis,” the department said in a filing on Wednesday. Under the judge’s order, all deadlines on the case will be pushed back equal to the number of days that the shutdown drags on.

► From the Spokesman Review — Trump administration defunds Northwest hydrogen hub, Spokane grid project, WSU research in cuts targeting ‘the Left’s climate agenda’ — A list of the terminated grants, obtained by The Spokesman-Review, shows 11 awards for projects in Washington state. By far the largest was bound for the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Association, a coalition of public and private groups in Washington, Oregon and Montana that was organized by the Washington State Department of Commerce. Gov. Bob Ferguson released a statement Thursday afternoon condemning the cuts. “It is outrageous that this administration is using a government shutdown to punish blue states like Washington,” Ferguson said. “These projects will lower costs, create jobs, and reduce air pollution. We’re working with the Attorney General’s Office to fight this illegal action.”

 

JOLT OF JOY

Gotta laugh to keep from crying:

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