NEWS ROUNDUP

SBWU picket | Strike dates set | Flying union

Tuesday, November 25, 2025

 

STRIKES

► From the UW Daily — No contract, no coffee: Why UW students need to stand with striking Starbucks workers — This is not a fight you want to be on the wrong side of. You can sign a pledge from SBWU here to show your support and solidarity with striking baristas. The union is asking its community members and customers to stand against corporate greed, and needs us as consumers to take the simple step of choosing our holiday drinks elsewhere. Until Starbucks is willing to forfeit a fraction of its corporate profits for the sake of its employees — the ones whose labor generates the corporation’s value, yet receive none of the benefits — it must be held responsible. A corporation that cares solely for its own profits will only respond to concrete actions, like strikes, that threaten this margin.

► From the NW Labor Press — Starbucks workers escalate to open-ended strike — Unionized Starbucks locations have struck in the past, but mostly one-day strikes or just a few locations at a time. This is the largest and longest strike the union has undertaken. “This feels like the strike that will win us our contract,” said Abigail Darling, a barista at the Garden Home location in Southwest Portland. “It’s Starbucks’ most profitable time of the year, they’re in crisis mode, trying to turn things around …. We just keep applying pressure.” More locations represented by Starbucks Workers United are expected to join the strike in the coming weeks.

► From MLK Labor:

 

LOCAL

► From KUOW — Should WA data centers generate their own clean energy to get tax breaks? — Data centers in Washington use sales-and-use tax breaks designed to incentivize companies to build in communities that could use an economic boost. Some on the workgroup wanted to make those requirements contingent on data center companies coming up with their own sources of clean power. The recommendation would also extend the tax break to data centers built across all of Washington. The workgroup will not include the clean energy recommendation in its final report, a development first reported by Columbia Insight and confirmed by group member Zachariah Baker, policy director for NW Energy Coalition…That doesn’t mean data centers will have carte blanche to run on carbon power sources. The workgroup is still recommending data centers comply with Washington’s environmental laws, including one that requires all electricity generation in Washington state to be free of greenhouse gas emissions by 2045.

► From Oregon Live — Oregon teenager’s ICE detention sparks high school walkout — McMinnville High School students staged a walkout Monday to protest federal immigration enforcement, days after agents detained a high school senior on his lunch break. About 300 students walked out of school “in response to the ICE activity in our community last week,” McMinnville School District Interim Superintendent Kourtney Ferrua said in a statement…ICE agents detained 17-year-old Christian Jimenez on Friday while he was driving his father’s car during the school’s lunch break. According to a video shared by Jimenez’s brother, the teen told officers he was a U.S. citizen, but they detained him anyway.

 

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the NW Labor Press — After 34 months of talks, New Seasons workers set strike date — New Seasons Market workers at 10 locations have authorized a strike that could start Dec. 17. More than three years after the first location formed the New Seasons Labor Union (NSLU), workers are still bargaining for a first contract. The strike authorization vote passed by 83%, with 80% turnout in a vote that ended Nov. 14.  NSLU and the company were scheduled for bargaining Nov. 19 and Dec. 4. Workers will vote Dec. 4 on the latest proposal — either a tentative agreement recommended by union leadership or the latest company offer. The result of that vote will determine if workers strike on Dec. 17.

► From the NW Labor Press — 8,000 OHSU workers poised to strike — Two unions at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) authorized strikes this fall, with one reaching tentative agreement on a contract soon after. Roughly 8,000 OHSU workers represented by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 328 could strike as early as mid-December. Local 328 represents workers ranging from custodians and food service workers to physical therapists and pharmacists; their contract expired June 30. Members authorized a strike in a vote that closed Nov. 18.

► From the Salt Lake Tribune — The Salt Lake Tribune and its employees’ union sign their first labor contract –The Salt Lake Tribune’s management and the union that represents its employees have negotiated the first labor contract in the newspaper’s 155-year history. Members of the Salt Lake News Guild — which includes employees of The Tribune, and the Tribune-owned Times-Independent of Moab and the Southern Utah Tribune — ratified the two-year agreement, and The Tribune’s Board of Directors voted to approve the contract. Both votes were unanimous.

► From CPR News — Telluride ski patrol union nears strike as new contract remains elusive — One of Colorado’s most challenging ski resorts could be without its typical ski patrollers come opening day unless a stalemate over wage increases is broken by Dec. 6. The Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Union has unanimously voted to authorize a strike if negotiations remain deadlocked. The union and the mountain are set for negotiations on Tuesday and in early December to reach a deal, said union president Graham Hoffman.

► From the Pittsburgh Union Progress — Dog gone: The PUP says thank you and bids you a heartfelt goodbye — Launched as the first strike “newspaper” of the digital age by publishing its first stories two days after the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh went on strike on Oct. 18, 2022, our publication was powered by the hearts of journalists who cared so much about their calling and their communities that they continued to do this important work without getting a paycheck…As we wrote in our “About” section, “This publication will be shut down at the resolution of the labor disputes.” That time has come as we union journalists, having won in a court ruling what we sought to win, have voted to end the strike and return to work at the PG. We just want to say from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

► From the NewsGuild-CWA:

 

NATIONAL

► From the NW Labor Press — How to fly union — Today, four big carriers account for more than two-thirds of the U.S. domestic passenger airline industry: Delta, Southwest, American, and United. Delta, the largest, is also the least-unionized. Most heavily unionized is American Airlines, which also tends to bargain new contracts relatively quickly. Under federal law, union contracts don’t expire at airlines, but have a date after which they can be amended. At the end of 2024, just 7% of union-represented employees at American had contracts that had passed their initial term length…Alaska Airlines — the biggest airline at the Portland and Seattle airports — is 84% union in its core, but its subsidiary Horizon Air is only 42% union. Alaska purchased Hawaiian Airlines (82% unionized) last year and plans to negotiate contracts that cover similar workers at both airlines, who are represented by the same unions.

► From Hammer & Hope — Immigration Raids at This Home Depot Got More Aggressive but Less Effective. The LA Tenants Union Knows Why. — But since that first raid, agents haven’t entered the lot without encountering a DHS watch, staffed entirely by volunteers and organized by the LA Tenants Union. Like DHS, LATU spent the summer experimenting. Organizers built a long-term protective presence, developing relationships with those targeted and connecting people in detention with financial and legal support. They can’t stop the raids, but they have seen the direct impact of their work in shortened raid times and lower arrest rates. As the Trump administration expands its deportation project across the country, LATU’s efforts demonstrate the infrastructure and commitment needed to mount a response to an ever-changing, militarized, and lawless assault.

► From the AP — Consumer confidence slides as Americans grow wary of high costs and sluggish job gains — The figures suggest that Americans are increasingly wary of high costs and sluggish job gains, with perceptions of the labor market worsening, the survey found. Declining confidence could pose political problems for Trump and Republicans in Congress, as the dimmer views of the economy were seen among all political affiliations and were particularly sharp among independents, the Conference Board said.

 

POLITICS & POLICY

► From CNN — The GOP’s major pickle on Obamacare — News broke Sunday that President Donald Trump was preparing to propose a two-year extension of the subsidies. The proposal — which was not final — included some provisions favored by Republicans — things like potential income caps on who is eligible and requiring all enrollees to make a minimum monthly premium payment…Republicans far and wide pilloried it, signaling it was a nonstarter. The White House postponed its rollout, which had been expected on Monday…Polls point to plenty of reasons this is politically troublesome for Republicans. For one, Americans overwhelmingly support these subsidies. A KFF poll in late October and early November showed 74% of Americans said Congress should extend them. Even 50% of Republicans and 44% of MAGA Republicans supported that.

► From the Washington Post — Trump wants to ‘return education to the states.’ Is that what he’s doing? — The benefits of local control and the overreach of Washington are longtime Republican talking points. On education especially, Americans see and value locally run schools, so the idea of D.C. getting out of the way has rhetorical power. But it’s a misnomer to talk about “returning” education to the states because education has long been run mostly by states. The federal government doesn’t set standards for teachers or determine what’s taught, as McMahon often points out. And while the Education Department had more powers during the No Child Left Behind era, those rules were rolled back at the end of the Obama administration.

► From CNN — What we know and don’t know about DOGE’s reported demise — But after DOGE spent months upending the government by laying off or prompting the departure of hundreds of thousands of employees, canceling contracts and dismantling entire agencies, it remains unclear in what exact organizational structure the initiative operates…US DOGE Service said in a statement on its LinkedIn that President Donald Trump’s executive order remains “in effect,” though that leaves questions about what form it exists.

► From the Washington State Standard — Farmworkers sue over Trump’s low wages for foreign guest workers — One worker, Irene Mendoza, a U.S. citizen, said in the lawsuit that her wages could be cut by $3.22 an hour, to $13.78, because of the guidelines, even though she doesn’t need a foreign worker visa, forcing her to get a second job to pay for food, housing and transportation between jobs in some of the states where she works. Mendoza said in the lawsuit that she works picking and packing green beans and potatoes in Michigan, Minnesota, Texas and Wisconsin.

Editor’s note: read more from The STAND — Farm workers sue Trump administration

► From Reuters — US government to shed 317,000 workers this year, Trump’s HR chief says — The Trump administration will shed about 317,000 employees this year, its human resources chief said, a higher figure than previously estimated. Scott Kupor, director of the Office of Personnel Management, also said in a statement that the U.S. government hired 68,000 workers in 2025.

► From Wired — Trump Takes Aim at State AI Laws in Draft Executive Order — US President Donald Trump is considering signing an executive order that would seek to challenge state efforts to regulate artificial intelligence through lawsuits and the withholding of federal funding, WIRED has learned. A draft of the order viewed by WIRED directs US attorney general Pam Bondi to create an “AI Litigation Task Force,” whose purpose is to sue states in court for passing AI regulations that allegedly violate federal laws governing things like free speech and interstate commerce.

► From the Guardian — Majority of Latino voters disapprove of Trump, Pew study finds — After receiving support from nearly half of Latino voters in the 2024 election, Trump had lost the backing of a majority surveyed in October. Pew found that 70% of Latinos “disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job as president”, while 65% disapprove of his administration’s approach to immigration and 61% believe his economic policies have worsened economic conditions. Trump won 48% of the Latino vote in 2024, up from 28% in 2016. Latinos, one of the fastest-growing demographics in the United States, account for one in five Americans.

► From the Seattle Times — Gov. Ferguson taps former AG civil rights chief for WA Supreme Court — Gov. Bob Ferguson has turned to a longtime colleague and top civil rights lawyer in naming his pick to serve on the Washington Supreme Court. Ferguson on Monday appointed Colleen Melody, whom he hired more than a decade ago to lead the civil rights division in the attorney general’s office, to fill the court vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Mary Yu…Melody has led the Wing Luke Civil Rights Division of the attorney general’s office since 2015. Ferguson, then the state attorney general, hired her to build the new division at that time, to investigate and fight discrimination in areas including housing, credit, employment and education.

► From NW Public Broadcasting — Yakima organization urging city leaders to turn off Flock traffic cameras –Central Washington Resistance handed a petition to the Yakima City Council on Tuesday, asking the city to turn off its Flock cameras. They want the city to build a policy around how the cameras and the data collected from them are used. The petition has more than 550 signatures. “In October, we learned this data has actually been accessed by immigration enforcement, which is directly against city policy and Yakima Police Department policy,” said Brian Korst, a Central Washington Resistance organizer.

The Stand posts links to local, national and international labor news every weekday morning. Subscribe to get daily news in your inbox. 

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