Pension cuts | Shutdown vote | Arts organizing

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

STRIKES

► From the St. Louis Business Journal — Machinists’ union urges yes vote Thursday on Boeing offer to end strike —  The machinists union is urging its members to vote yes Thursday on The Boeing Co.‘s revised contract offer, which increased the ratification bonus in the first year of the proposed contract from $3,000 to $6,000 in a bid to end the strike before Thanksgiving. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837, who have been on strike since Aug. 4, are scheduled to vote from 8 a.m. to noon Thursday at the IAM District 9 Hall in Bridgeton or the Mascoutah strike headquarters in Mascoutah, Illinois. If the contract offer is ratified, return to work would begin with the third shift on Nov. 16.

LOCAL

► From KUOW — ‘An IOU doesn’t pay my mortgage.’ Bremerton suffers as shipworkers go unpaid — “Across the board, everybody’s feeling it,” said Saleem Patterson, tending an empty bar at the Town Portal arcade across from the shipyard. “Because this is a Navy town, and of course it’s going to be the first place to get hit, right? Like, if you can’t afford to go out and play, you’re not going to go out and play.” The longest federal government shutdown in history has hit Bremerton like a broadside. One out of every three workers in Kitsap County works for the U.S. government, whether for the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Naval Base Kitsap, or the Department of Defense. The U.S. Navy relies on this community’s civilian workers to build, maintain, and repair its vessels, so it’s a matter of national security that they continue to work during the shutdown. They haven’t been paid in 42 days.

► From the Seattle Times — Washington on track to deliver full SNAP benefits; $115M paid so far — According to the governor, the state has delivered close to $115 million in benefits so far, with around $48.5 million left to send out through Nov. 20. “The situation remains fluid, but our plan is to stay on schedule from here on out,” he wrote in a statement on X. “People who receive SNAP benefits should check their cards. If there are funds available, they should use their cards as they normally would.”…Amy Roark, a single mother with two children in her household, received her full SNAP payment on Sunday. However, she also got a seemingly ominous notice on her benefits app. “The Supreme Court paused a ruling to restore full November SNAP benefits,” the notice reads, according to a screenshot shared with The Seattle Times. “We’re working to understand what this means for deposits already issued.” The ambiguity made Roark want to spend all of her SNAP payment immediately. “What if they take it back?” she said Tuesday. “I’d rather have stuff in my freezer instead of not.” She spent about $260 at Safeway on Monday night, stocking up for the week.

► From the Seattle Times — Sea-Tac Airport set up food bank for employees not paid during shutdown — The Port of Seattle has been collecting nonperishable and unexpired goods and other household items to support air traffic controllers, Transportation Security Administration officers, and Customs and Border Protection officers who have been unpaid since Oct. 1. Those interested can drop off donations at the food bank at the SEA Conference Center on the mezzanine level above Checkpoint 2 on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., said airport spokesperson Kassie McKnight-Xi.  The food bank has been running since Oct. 29 and will stay open until the federal government reopens and things stabilize, she said.

► From NW Public Broadcasting — Supreme Court SNAP decision could hit Northwest farmers markets hard — In the Northwest, farmers market organizers are fearful of how the disruptions to SNAP will impact customers and producers. SNAP provides financial assistance for eligible households to purchase food, including at places like the Downtown Yakima Farmers Market. People who receive SNAP benefits can get tokens to buy fruits, vegetables, meat and many other items at farmers markets. Yakima County has the highest percentage of residents receiving food stamps in Washington, with more than 57,000 people in the county relying on SNAP, according to a report from the U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA). “ Not only are the people in our community not able to redeem those [benefits]; it’s then going to affect our farmers,” Heidi Washam, Downtown Yakima Farmers Market manager, said.

► From the Tri-City Herald — Containers of radioactive waste finally on the move at Eastern WA nuclear site –The Washington state Department of Ecology, a Hanford regulator, announced that the first three containers of glassified waste had been hauled using a special transporter to the Integrated Disposal Facility operated by DOE contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Co…Now the first containers filled are staged for disposal at the new landfill in central Hanford after more containers of glass arrive at the landfill.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the Daily (Everett) Herald — ‘At any cost’: Snohomish bargaining to replace union pensions — The city has 38 employees represented by Teamsters Local Union No. 763. As part of their 2023 contract, employees are required to contribute to the Teamsters Pension Trust, which funds monthly retirement payments for life. “Early in bargaining, when the city proposed withdrawing from the Teamster pension, we were stunned,” said Tammy Ayers, a Teamsters’ business agent, during a City Council meeting Oct. 28. “My perception of what they’re doing is that they are intending to get rid of Teamsters pension at any cost,” she said in an interview…During bargaining on Nov. 4, city representatives presented Ayers with a proposal that included the Teamsters pension and a condition that the trust would allow employees to opt out, Ayers said in an email. “The City knows the Union cannot accept this proposal, and they’re also aware that the trust doesn’t permit opt-outs,” she wrote. “So while it may look reasonable on paper, it feels manipulative in my opinion.”

► From the NW Labor Press — After the strike, still no deal with Kaiser Permanente — Kristen Rohde, a Kaiser physical therapist and vice chair of the OFNHP professionals bargaining unit, said local bargaining hasn’t changed much compared to before the strike. “We have some TAs (tentative agreements), but really, we’re not much closer than we were a month ago or two months ago with the big ticket items,” Rohde told the Labor Press. Top priorities for her unit include raises to match market standards, pay for all hours worked, and more worker input on how patients are scheduled. Rohde’s unit met with management once since the strike ended and had another session scheduled as of press time.

► From KGW — Union employees at OHSU move closer to a strike — Thousands of workers at Oregon Health & Science University are moving toward a strike. This week, union members — like painters, custodians, pharmacists and therapists — will vote on a strike authorization. Union leaders told KGW they are pushing for better wages for some of their lowest paid workers. Over the next three years, the union would like to see all of their workers paid at least $27 an hour. Currently, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 328 union president Jennie Olson said some union workers make just $18 an hour.

ORGANIZING

► From People’s World — Detroit Institute of Arts workers form a union, shedding light on labor power in the art world — Another beacon has been raised in the art world as the workers of the Detroit Institute of Arts have announced their formation of a union: Detroit Institute of Arts Cultural Workers United. The news comes only a handful of days after workers at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or LACMA, announced their union. Being represented by the Cultural Workers United branch of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, the DIA workers are fighting for better working conditions, better pay, and better management. Detroit and Los Angeles are not the only cities where the art world has organized. The Art Institute of Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago formed their union in 2022, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art formed a union in August 2020, ratifying a contract in late 2022.

Editor’s note: workers at the Tacoma Art Museum and the Seattle Art Museum have also organized in recent years

► From the Guardian — Delta settles flight attendant lawsuit over sexual harassment and union retaliation –Delta Air Lines settled a lawsuit that alleged a flight attendant was fired in retaliation for supporting unionization and enduring “sexually assaultive touching” during training. The flight attendant, Aryasp Nejat, said he was suspended without pay, then fired, for making two pro-union, anti-harassment posts on social media, and was told his sexual harassment allegation would be investigated, but that he never received a follow-up….“I truly believe that Delta values its anti-union campaign over the legal rights of its flight attendants to organize a union and their legal right to make complaints of sexual harassment.” Nejat said he planned to use the settlement to cover his law school costs. Several labor unions including the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Teamsters are working to unionize 29,000 flight attendants at Delta, currently the largest single-unit organizing campaign in the US.

► From Bloomberg Law — Starbucks, NLRB to Clash Again in Court With No End in Sight — During oral argument Wednesday, Starbucks will try to convince the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to overturn an NLRB ruling that its dress code at its New York City Roastery Reserve café violated its workers’ labor law rights. It’s the first of several disputes teed up for circuit court consideration, with the NLRB and Starbucks meeting again in early December to argue two cases at the Fifth Circuit, a conservative-dominated court that’s emerged as the coffee company’s preferred venue for challenging board rulings. Arguments have yet to be scheduled in five other pending appeals court cases, with four of them in the Fifth Circuit. The unusually frequent court battles between Starbucks and the NLRB are a byproduct of the company’s resistance to a long-running nationwide labor organizing campaign.

NATIONAL

► From the Progressive Magazine — This Veterans Day, the VA Faces Multiple Threats — Among those worried about the agency’s future—and their own—are the 100,000 former service members who comprise one-third of the workforce in the largest public health care system in the country. These veterans work at nearly 1,400 VA-run hospitals and clinics nationwide. Every day, they help the nine million men and women who have service-related medical conditions or qualify for VA coverage because of financial need or recent deployment in combat zones. The fact that so many VA caregivers have first-hand experience with the military and the resulting wounds of war creates a culture of solidarity and empathy between patients and providers that is unique in U.S. health care.

► From the AP — After mistaken deportation, US asks judge to let it send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia — A motion from the government filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland late on Friday says officials have received assurances from Liberia that Abrego Garcia would not face persecution or torture there. Further, it says an immigration officer heard Abrego Garcia’s claims that he feared deportation to the West African nation, but ruled against him. His attorneys argue in a separate Friday filing that Abrego Garcia has already designated Costa Rica as a country where he is willing to be deported. They claim the government now must send him there. The fact that officials continue to pursue deportation to other countries is evidence that the process is retaliatory and violates due process protections, they argue.

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the AP — House returns for vote to end the government shutdown after nearly 2 months away — The vast majority of Democratic lawmakers are expected to vote against the measure because it does not include an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of this year and make coverage more affordable. “Our strong expectation is that Democrats will be strongly opposed,” Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said Tuesday night in previewing the vote…The legislation includes a reversal of the firing of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began. It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over. The full-year funding in the bill for the Agriculture Department means people who rely on key food assistance programs will see those benefits funded without threat of interruption through the rest of the budget year.

► From Politico — Thune secures provision in government funding bill letting senators sue for phone records seizure — Senate Republicans secured a provision in the bipartisan, shutdown-ending government funding package that could award senators hundreds of thousands of dollars for having their phone records collected without their knowledge as part of a Biden-era investigation. That legislative language came directly from Senate Majority Leader John Thune….Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), an outspoken privacy hawk, argued that the provision’s inclusion in the spending bill was “very troubling,” given the seeming lack of oversight or discussion around its development. “It seems that there’s quite an effort on the other side, people saying that they don’t know anything about it,” he said. “Which ought to be a wakeup call to everybody about the possibility of abuse.”

► From the New York Times — As Shutdown Nears End, Trump Still Confronts Soaring Health Costs — The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is coming to an end, but the central issue that caused it — the staggering cost of health care — isn’t going away anytime soon. It will continue to bedevil President Trump, especially as the midterm elections draw closer. The burden is now on Mr. Trump and Republicans to bring down costs or risk peril in the those elections, after a splinter group of Democrats agreed to end the shutdown by dropping their party’s demand to extend certain health insurance subsidies. Despite repeated promises to offer an alternative to Obamacare, Mr. Trump has nothing much to show on the issue, beyond a vague plan to send money directly to policyholders.

► From Politico — Obamacare could collapse under Trump’s new plan, policy experts say — Republicans are putting their own spin on subsidizing Americans’ health care: Route money away from insurers and put cash directly in consumers’ hands to give them more choice over their coverage. Economists and policy experts suspect President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers are presenting this alternative to extending the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies because they want to undermine or even replace Obamacare — something the party has repeatedly failed to do in the past.

► From the New York Times — Groups Sue to Reverse Trump’s Cuts to Energy Projects in Democratic States — A coalition of clean energy groups and the city of St. Paul sued the Trump administration on Monday, challenging what they described as nakedly partisan funding cuts during the government shutdown that wiped out around $7.5 billion for projects in Democratic-led states. The lawsuit, which names the White House budget director, Russell T. Vought, as a main defendant, claims that the Trump administration took advantage of the lapse in government funding in October to slash energy programs in states where voters have supported Democrats.

► From Politico — Dems, union groups blast Trump’s port fee pivot — A group of labor unions echoed the sentiment, warning the Trump administration’s pivot will allow China to get away with “predatory behavior” in global shipping, according to written comments filed by the United Steelworkers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers…Union groups first requested then-President Joe Biden to investigate China’s practices in March of last year and made a number of suggestions, including a fee imposed on Chinese-made ships that dock at U.S. ports to load or unload cargo, with the proceeds going to help fund domestic shipbuilding.

► From the union-busting Columbian — Democrats see backlash to Trump ripple through WA races — In Longview, two Democratic-backed city council candidates defeated more conservative opponents, including ousting the town’s incumbent mayor. In Sunnyside, progressive and Democratic-aligned candidates flipped city council seats. And in Camas, a former Republican America First” congressional candidate lost her city council seat to a Democratic-endorsed challenger. Those results capped a Democratic sweep in nine special legislative elections, including expensive contested senate races in Pierce and King counties. In Bellevue, longtime city Councilmember Conrad Lee, who donated $50,000 to Trump’s inaugural committee, also lost to a 27-year-old Democratic challenger.

► From the Olympian — Olympia minimum wage proposal fails. Campaign says well was poisoned from the start — “Still, 44% of households in Olympia are rent burdened or otherwise financially insecure, and their food stamps just got taken away,” he said. “I don’t think we need a lot of study or debate on this issue to know that low-income workers in Olympia need help now.” Richards said the City Council has an opportunity now to reconsider adopting an increased minimum wage with a provision that requires large employers to offer more hours and other protections to workers.

► From the Tri-City Herald — Newhouse’s Medicaid vote spurs 2 candidates to join 2026 midterms. Who they are — U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse’s alignment with President Trump on cuts to Medicaid and domestic issues in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has spurred two candidates to challenge the Central Washington Republican. Both John Duresky, a Democrat from West Richland, and Devin Poore, an independent from East Wenatchee, say they plan to run for the 4th Congressional District in the 2026 midterms…Newhouse’s reelection campaign confirmed to the Tri-City Herald that he will be running next year for a seventh term. Jerrod Sessler, the Trump-endorsed Prosser businessman, is also running.

INTERNATIONAL

► From ABC — These South Korean workers came to the US to build an EV battery plant. They left in shackles. They still want to know why — The workplace raid was the result of Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown — a policy that at times clashed with his economic ambitions. It shattered the perception of the U.S among many South Koreans, coming just weeks after their government pledged to invest $350 billion in the U.S. Kim Joon Hyung, a member of South Korea’s National Assembly, said he was stunned. “We — all Koreans — think the U.S. is a model for human rights,” he said. “But the scene that we saw, is like they treated our workers, even with a residence card and the right visa, they treated [them] like a terrorist.”

► From Labor Notes — Mega Strike in New Zealand Demands Funding for Public Services, Raises — New Zealand’s streets filled with nurses, doctors, teachers, health care assistants, public workers, and firefighters on October 23 in a massive one-day strike demanding that the government fully fund public services. In all, some 100,000 workers took part in the action—making it the largest strike New Zealand has seen since its first and only general strike in 1979. “Defining moment in our history” was the headline in the New Zealand Herald, the country’s most important newspaper. Many schools were closed—the strike took place on a Thursday—and medical procedures put on hold. It’s been a year of big protests and walkouts by workers in New Zealand. Nurses, for instance, have struck more in the past 12 months than at any other time in their history.

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