NEWS ROUNDUP

Starbucks strike | Negotiating AI | Obamacare

Monday, November 24, 2025

 

STRIKES

► From the Seattle Times — Workers at 3 Seattle-area Starbucks stores still on strike one week later — Workers at three Starbucks coffeehouses in the Seattle area are continuing to strike one week after picket lines first formed at stores around the country to protest stalled union contract negotiations…“The vast majority of Starbucks stores on strike have been forced to close due to lack of sufficient staffing,” the union said Thursday. “We imagine the company will try to bring in other workers or managers to cover stores, which has had mixed results.” Workers United said Thursday that 2,000 baristas from 95 stores across 65 cities are part of the strike.

► From Jacobin — Starbucks Workers Strike Against Foot-Dragging in Bargaining — Niccol’s previous job was as Chipotle’s CEO. Under his leadership, the burrito chain had aggressively quashed union-organizing drives and violated labor law so wantonly — from keeping a store operating where rats bit employees (they only closed it when a manager was bitten) to violating child-labor laws. They paid $300,000 for the latter in 2023, shortly after coughing up $20 million to New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protections for violations of the city’s Fair Workweek Law. Niccol negotiated a $97.8 million compensation package for himself as Starbucks CEO — more than twice what he made at Chipotle, itself an astronomical sum — and became chair of the board, ensuring he’d be harder to fire.

► From More Perfect Union:

 

LOCAL

► From the Seattle Times — Workers sue WA’s biggest employers over limits on taking a second job –Moonlighting bans usually take the form of provisions nestled in hiring contracts or policies that prohibit conflicts of interest. Worker advocates argue that these bans unfairly limit economic mobility for workers, especially those making the least. This year, workers in Washington have filed dozens of lawsuits against some of the state’s biggest employers over the right to take on additional jobs, including for competitors.

► From the Seattle Times — In Seattle, juggling two or more jobs isn’t just for low-wage workers — Working multiple jobs was traditionally seen as the domain of low-income workers. For those earning close to minimum wage, extra shifts and second jobs have always been an obvious way to earn more money. But today, people across income levels are balancing more than one job. Some are drawn to the flexibility of gig work. Others are pressured by high costs of living — from housing to child care to debt. Usually, both factors play a role. “Traditional jobs don’t pay enough, and everything is too expensive, especially in larger cities like Seattle,” said Shelly Steward, chief research officer at the Workers Lab, a nonprofit that conducts research on labor issues.

► From Real Change News — Federal agents are breaking the law. Immigrant families are fighting back — A Yakima County trial attorney, speaking on condition of anonymity, said ICE agents now appear weekly in their unmarked, darkly tinted vehicles before and during Friday pre-trial hearings…The escalation peaked in October. A plainclothes ICE agent entered the jail courtroom in violation of Keep Washington Working and began photographing defendants with Spanish surnames or those requiring Spanish interpreters. The courthouse prohibits phones in the courtroom—only court staff and attorneys can keep their phones for work. According to the attorney, colleagues present that day all described consistent observations: the ICE agent appeared “giddy, laughing,” leaving the room to text, presumably coordinating with agents in the parking lot. Once outside, ICE took seven individuals without warrants. When an attorney demanded to see one, “[ICE] did not produce the warrant, and they threatened him with charges.”

► From Oregon Live — ICE detains 4 U.S. citizens in Oregon this week, advocacy group says — Immigration agents detained four U.S. citizens outside Portland this week, including a high school student and two people who were filming officers, an immigrant advocacy group said Saturday. The alleged detentions raise questions about constitutional protections amid an increase in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the Portland area and elsewhere. “All of us should be concerned about ICE operating outside of the laws of our country, disappearing even U.S. citizens without concern or fear of consequences,” Oregon for All Director Jess Montoya said in a statement.

 

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From Sports Illustrated — U.S. Soccer Players Protest for Improved Standards As League Considers Pro-Rel — Players in the American second-tier USL Championship staged a protest against the league on Saturday, with members of FC Tulsa and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds wearing USLPA shirts as they walked out for anthems ahead of the final. The shirts displayed the message, “Pro Rel? Try Pro Standards First.” The protest pushed back on the USL’s hopes to integrate promotion and relegation, along with adding a first division in 2028, while failing to provide professional standards for players. Several fans also displayed signs reiterating the same message.

► From USA Today — Standoff between WNBA, players union continues after new CBA proposal — The standoff between the WNBA and its players doesn’t appear close to ending with less than 10 days remaining before the league’s collective bargaining agreement expires. The Women’s National Basketball Player’s Association has determined the latest CBA proposal from the WNBA won’t move negotiations forward, according to a report from ESPN. The proposal reportedly included a significant raise and revenue sharing component that would allow players to earn as much as $1.1 million per season, up from $249,244 in 2025. But the players’ union, according to ESPN’s sources, does not believe the league’s proposed CBA includes appropriate player salary growth in conjunction with the league’s business over time.

 

ORGANIZING

► From Progressive Grocer — Whole Foods Market Employees in Philadelphia Continue Efforts to Unionize — “These workers serve their community every single day. They’re the reason customers can shop for holiday meals, and they deserve wages and benefits that reflect their essential role. Amazon-Whole Foods can absolutely afford to do better,” said Wendell Young IV, president of UFCW Local 1776 Keystone State. “The path forward is simple: Recognize the union, come to the table, and negotiate a contract that respects the dignity of the people who make your stores successful.”

 

NATIONAL

► From the Nation — If Condé Nast Can Illegally Fire Me, No Union Worker Is Safe — Condé Nast illegally fired me from Bon Appétit for posing questions to a human resources manager. On November 5, I was part of an effort by our union to get answers about layoffs. Two days earlier, Condé announced the near-shuttering of Teen Vogue, which entailed letting go of eight people. My termination and that of three of my coworkers were clearly retaliatory, and if Condé can get away with this—and with President Donald Trump sabotaging the National Labor Relations Board, the company appears to be betting that it can—it will send a message to unions and employers across our industry that the foundations of labor law are collapsing.

► From the Los Angeles Times — California’s child farmworkers: Exhausted, underpaid and toiling in toxic fields — Jose said that some days he didn’t fill many boxes and earned less than minimum wage for the hours he worked, which would be a violation of state child labor laws. He described toiling under the hot sun in fields where employers failed to provide shade for workers, as required by state law. He and his sister said they harvested strawberries in a field where a tractor had sprayed a liquid with a strong chemical odor…Jose and thousands of other children and teenagers are part of a faceless legion of underage workers in California who put fresh fruit and vegetables on America’s tables. In California, laborers as young as 12 can legally work in agriculture. But many of them toil in punishing and dangerous conditions, and the state is failing to ensure their health and safety, an investigation by Capital & Main has found.

► From the American Prospect — Panic Tears Through U.S. as Health Insurance Costs Spike — A retiree in Colorado, Jeff Rowan, described how this year’s open enrollment is driven by a sense of fear. His 2026 premium for a health plan on the state insurance exchange went from $350 a month to around $900. So he switched to a plan offered by his pension, which is $700, still a 100 percent increase. Last year, Rowan concluded that was “an outrageous amount.” Not anymore. At one point, Rowan seriously contemplated dropping health insurance completely, he said. “But the fear of something unexpected happening and my moderate savings being wiped out is forcing me to pay the piper. It’s a completely fear-based decision.”

 

POLITICS & POLICY

► From Politico — Obamacare premiums are skyrocketing. Republicans can’t figure out what to do. — Republicans have said for months they had plenty of time to figure out what to do about Obamacare subsidies expiring at year’s end. During a six-week government shutdown that ended last week, they said they’d talk about it after. Now, with five weeks to go before New Year’s, they’re scrambling and divided. Moderates and lawmakers in competitive seats are anxiously throwing bills together, worried about the political fallout that could await them if the subsidies expire and premiums skyrocket. Other Republicans simply want to have some bill to offer when the Senate votes next month on a likely Democratic plan to extend the subsidies as is.

► From the Federal News Network — More than 3,600 feds get notice their shutdown RIFs are rescinded — Last week’s conclusion of the record-breaking government shutdown was great news for federal employees in general. But for a few thousand specific feds, it was even better news. They’d been told they were about to lose their jobs completely, and as of Friday, almost all of them have now had those notices formally rescinded. Filings the Justice Department submitted to a federal court in San Francisco on Friday indicate that each of the more than 3,000 federal workers who had received reduction in force (RIF) notices after the shutdown began have now been formally notified that those RIFs have been cancelled.

► From the Guardian — Workers inside Department of Education say Trump’s latest bid to dismantle agency ‘makes no sense’ — On Tuesday afternoon Linda McMahon, the education secretary, held an all-staff meeting and announced plans to press ahead with dismantling the department. Key operations are set to be handed off to a string of other agencies, including the departments of interior, health and human services, labor and state. While the move is technically temporary, the administration intends to seek approval from Congress to make the changes permanent. “Not one person applauded,” said one employee who attended the meeting. “Morale is completely lost,” they added. “Staff are furious about the way we are being treated.”

► From the New York Times — What to Know About the Nearly 10% Climb in a Key Medicare Expense for 2026 — If you’re enrolled in Medicare, you know that the cost has been hitting your wallet harder lately. But the program’s rapidly rising premiums and out-of-pocket charges came into sharp relief last week when Medicare officials announced that the standard Part B premium, which covers services such as physician visits and hospital outpatient care, will be $202.90 a month — up 9.7 percent. Next year is the first time the monthly premium will exceed $200 — and it will be 66 percent higher than a decade ago. The annual Part B deductible will also climb, to $283, up 70.5 percent over the past 10 years.

► From Reuters — Trump administration cannot expand rapid deportations, US appeals court rules — A federal appeals court on Saturday declined to clear the way for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to expand a fast-track deportation process to allow for the expedited removal of migrants who are living far away from the border. A 2-1 panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined, opens new tab to put on hold the central part of a ruling by a lower-court judge who had found that the administration’s policies violated the due process rights of migrants who could be apprehended anywhere in the U.S.

► From the Washington State Standard — WA Legislature to consider requiring union talks over government use of AI — “Public sector bargaining covers wages, hours and working conditions and agencies are already required to bargain any change that touches those areas, but without legislation, that bargaining happens after implementation,” said Washington State Labor Council President April Sims. “With legislation like House Bill 1622, it would happen before.” A state law passed in 2002 prohibits bargaining over technology for classified employees of state agencies and higher education institutions.

► From Range Media — Spokane City Council keeps staff and the public alike in the dark at budget meetings — If your boss was holding a public meeting about whether you should be laid off, would you want to know? On Veteran’s Day, Spokane City Council staffers weren’t given the option after they were kicked out of just such a meeting — an open, public one —  by council members who preferred to discuss firing them behind their backs…Though the council website states that “All study sessions will be streamed live on CityCable5 and Facebook,” and the meeting was held in the briefing chambers equipped for live video streaming and recording, the body had chosen to not record the meeting, making it “open to the public in person only.”

► From Cascade PBS — The Newsfeed: Why WA voters swung left in the November election — As Republicans came up short in many state races, Fincher says it was a clear rejection from voters, and to win in the midterms, they must adjust. “We’re seeing that in areas that had traditionally been really purple, swing districts. Things like being anti-choice, the attacks that we saw on immigrants and trans people in the community, not governing for all of the constituents in your jurisdiction, is something that voters are just no longer in the mood to hear or see. I think they really have some soul searching to do,” she said.

 

INTERNATIONAL

► From Labor Notes — We Can’t Bridge the U.S.-Mexico Wage Gap Without Supporting Organizing in Mexico — The Mexican government is failing to prosecute violent retaliation and threats against workers who organize, says a new report, putting Mexico out of compliance with its trade agreement with the U.S. and Canada…A group of Mexican independent unions, including the unions at Audi and Volkswagen, and the UAW each issued their own recommendations in October. Both groups advocate for a continental wage floor in the auto industry—also a recommendation made in the IMLEB report. The Mexican unions advocate for a starting floor of $16 (U.S.) per hour, phased in over five years. Currently, the USMCA requires that 40 to 45 percent of the content of a vehicle be made by workers earning this amount to qualify for preferential tariff treatment.

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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