Legacy Health strike | Amazon to pay $3.7mil | Rotschy fined, again

Thursday, December 4, 2025

STRIKES

► From KOIN — 135 Legacy Health workers strike over pay, patient care — The Oregon Nurses Association, which represents about 135 providers in this bargaining unit, said its members offered to meet with Legacy every day to avoid a walkout, but Legacy declined. Leigh Warsing, a physician assistant on the picket line, said “inequitable practices” at Legacy are forcing experienced providers to look elsewhere for work. “We cannot recruit nor retain our providers with the offer Legacy currently has on the table,” Warsing told KOIN 6 News. “APPs are leaving for OHSU and Kaiser because the pay there is 15-20% higher.” She said Legacy hasn’t spoke with providers since they issued their 10-day strike notice and added the administration told them they would not meeting during the strike.

Editor’s note: Join ONA for a rally in Portland on Saturday, Dec. 6

► From Starbucks Workers United:

Today, baristas are bringing their ULP strike to Starbucks’ NYC corporate office, housed inside the Empire State Building.

Workers and allies are demanding the company resolve 100s of unfair labor practices, end the union-busting, & finalize fair union contracts. Let’s go! $SBUX pic.twitter.com/YiWjItQZVc

— Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) December 4, 2025

LOCAL

► From the Seattle Times — Amazon to pay $3.7M to settle Seattle labor law investigation — Amazon is paying a more than $3.7 million settlement after the Seattle Office of Labor Standards investigated allegations that the company’s Flex business violated the city’s protection law for gig and app-based workers. The settlement is the second-largest in the office’s history, director Steven Marchese said. Amazon Flex contracts with thousands of workers in Seattle who deliver packages using their own vehicles, the city office said. Nearly 11,000 affected workers will see their settlement payments starting around Jan. 1.

► From KOIN — 3,000-pound equipment bucket crushed Washington worker twice, labor officials say — The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries has issued a $170,136 fine on Rotschy Inc., claiming the construction company could have prevented an incident that resulted in a worker being hospitalized for more than a month…According to the labor department, investigators have since found that both excavators on the Woodland job site held quick coupler attachments that help operators remove or connect certain attachments without leaving their cab. However, the agency alleged that neither excavator was equipped with the safety latch that aims to prevent buckets from falling…In a statement, L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health Assistant Director Craig Blackwood said removing safety latches “certainly isn’t” standard in the industry. “These actions demonstrate a blatant disregard for the rules designed to keep workers safe,” Blackwood said. “This young man’s life will be forever impacted by this incident that was entirely preventable.”

► From the Seattle Times — An ‘atmosphere of fear’ surrounds child care after ICE detention — The immigration enforcement action has hit close to home for the child care industry in Washington, where many of the workers and many families include immigrants. Not only was the mother detained outside the preschool, but an armed agent rang the doorbell a few minutes later…Child care providers often have ties to immigrant communities. In Washington state, 26% of early educators were born outside the U.S., according to the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley. The anxiety is also being felt by families who fear getting stopped by immigration authorities while taking their children to child care. This affects young children, too, who absorb what’s happening in their environment like sponges, experts say.

► From KING 5 — Washington’s Somali community speaks out after president’s criticism — Washington is home to one of the largest Somali populations on the West Coast, concentrated in South Seattle, Tukwila, SeaTac and other parts of south King County…“For any community that is targeted, it feels like any move they make can be twisted or punished,” said Shueib Farah, a Seattle native and community advocate. “I worry not for myself, but for the greater community as a whole.” Farah said he felt compelled to speak publicly because others in the community were afraid to. As a member of CAIR-Washington — the state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations — he said he has seen firsthand how national rhetoric can affect daily life. According to the organization, 2024 marked the highest number of discrimination complaints it has ever received in a single year.

► From the Olympian — Olympia’s Flock cameras will be suspended, interim police chief says — Parker told The Olympian that OPD contacted Flock on Tuesday night and requested that the system be deactivated. She said Wednesday morning Flock confirmed they received the request and advised that the cameras would be turned off within 24 hours. She said city staff had covered all the cameras by Wednesday afternoon, and that there’s currently no timeline for when the Flock company will be removing them.

► From the Everett Herald — New Climate Commitment Act spending report released — The Department of Ecology’s dashboard allows residents to see where dollars have been invested, allowing viewers to change filters to highlight certain projects, from geographic location to pinpointing involved agencies. During the 2023-2025 biennium, Snohomish County invested almost $2oo million in 295 projects, with 56% of projects benefiting vulnerable populations in overburdened communities. Overall, the state invested $1.5 billion, with 60% of investments supporting vulnerable communities.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the New York Times’ Athletic — WNBA CBA proposal includes mandatory draft combine, new revenue-sharing model: Sources — The latest proposals from the WNBA allow total compensation to rise with increased revenue, tie the salary cap to revenue growth and feature massive jumps in player compensation. However, sources said the WNBA’s current salary structure proposal would result in the players receiving less than 15 percent of total league revenue. That percentage would decrease over the life of the CBA, based on the league’s revenue projections.

ORGANIZING

► From Politico Pro — Environmental Defense Fund staffers launch union — Employees at the Environmental Defense Fund on Tuesday announced the formation of a new staff union. The union, named EDF Together, has the support of a supermajority of eligible employees at the green group and will represent nearly 500 workers, organizers announced. The EDF unionization follows staff layoffs at the green group, which — like other environmental nonprofits — has seen its budget cut in recent years. The launch follows a wave of other environmental nonprofits that have unionized, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the National Audubon Society, Greenpeace USA and others.

NATIONAL

► From the Ohio Capital Journal — OPINION: Hardworking Ohio auto workers are paying the price for EV tax credit rollback — In 2019, when the last Chevy Cruze was built at the Lordstown Ohio Assembly plant, the Mahoning Valley community responded with a simple demand to GM: “Invest in us.”  Last month, Ohio’s Mahoning Valley was hit once again with job cuts at the Ultium Cells battery plant; around 500 jobs lost, and 850 workers temporarily laid off. The community spent years working to bring manufacturing jobs back to the area. Workers and the United Auto Workers (UAW) spent additional years organizing the Ultium plant to ensure safety and living wages. It is difficult to see the gains of these workers and this community lost again, and that basic ask from our community years ago, “invest in us” stays top of mind.

► From the Seattle Times — Apple, Tesla accused of profiting from horrific abuses, environmental destruction — Apple and Tesla are accused in a pair of lawsuits of engaging in “deceptive marketing” of their products, by suggesting to consumers that they’re manufactured ethically and sustainably, while both companies allegedly use raw materials linked to child labor, forced labor, gang rape, torture, killings, poisoned rivers and ruined crops. The allegations in the lawsuits filed by Washington, D.C.-based International Rights Advocates in District of Columbia Superior Court differ in certain details but each focus on Democratic Republic of Congo, where large reserves of minerals used in many consumer-technology products have led to bloody conflict and a massive humanitarian crisis.

POLITICS & POLICY

► From Politico — Schumer announces health care plan – Live Updates — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer officially unveiled Democrats’ plan for a health care vote next week, saying Thursday on the chamber floor his caucus will propose extending soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act subsidies for three years. “This is the bill, a clean three-year extension of ACA tax credits, that Democrats will bring to the floor of the Senate for a vote next Thursday, and every single Democrat will support it,” Schumer said. “Republicans have one week to decide where they stand.”

► From the AP — Affordable Care Act premiums are set to spike. A new poll shows enrollees are already struggling — About 6 in 10 Affordable Care Act enrollees find it “somewhat” or “very” difficult to afford out-of-pocket costs for medical care, such as deductibles and copays. That exceeds the roughly half of enrollees who find it challenging to afford health insurance premiums. Most also say they could not afford a $300 per year increase in their health insurance costs without significantly disrupting their household finances…KFF’s poll reveals that marketplace enrollees — most of whom say they would be directly impacted by the subsidies expiring — overwhelmingly support an extension. The survey found this group is more likely to blame Trump and Republicans in Congress than Democrats if the tax credits are left to expire.

► From the Hill — House cancels vote on the SCORE Act amid GOP opposition — House leadership canceled a vote Wednesday on a bill designed to regulate the compensation college student-athletes earn from their name, image and likeness (NIL), following opposition from a few hard-line conservatives in the lower chamber…“The SCORE Act was pulled from consideration because it simply didn’t have the votes, a clear sign that Members on both sides saw it for what it was: a gift to the NCAA and Power Two conferences at the expense of athletes,” Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) wrote on X.

► From the AFL-CIO:

More than ever, college athletes need a voice in how they’re treated. The SCORE Act would stifle their voices, strip them of workplace rights, and open the door to more exploitation by schools and the NCAA.

Congress must reject this anti-athlete bill. https://t.co/fw7f0FkKPJ pic.twitter.com/pa43y0iGql

— Liz Shuler (@LizShuler) December 3, 2025

► From Reuters — US Senate committee clears Boeing lawyer’s stalled NLRB nomination — A U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday approved President Donald Trump’s nomination of Boeing’s chief labor lawyer for a seat on the National Labor Relations Board, teeing up a confirmation vote that could restore the paralyzed board’s ability to decide cases. The 12-11 vote by the Republican-led Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee came after the panel in October tabled a planned vote on Scott Mayer’s nomination at the last minute, raising uncertainty about its status.

► From Stateline — Dozens of cities, states hiking minimum wages in 2026 amid federal inaction — Though the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour has not increased since 2009, many state and local governments continue to increase minimums through legislation or scheduled increases tied to inflation. An annual report from the National Employment Law Project, a nonprofit advocating for workers’ rights, found that 88 jurisdictions will raise their minimum wages by the end of 2026…Lathrop said research increasingly finds that higher wages improve educational outcomes, mental and physical health. “Things that are going to benefit not just the workers, but also the communities and society as a whole,” she said. “I think that’s an important thing to keep in mind.”

► From NW Public Broadcasting — Tacoma City Council proposes changes to Landlord Fairness Code –Tacoma For All said they support exempting nonprofit housing providers from the law’s eviction prohibitions. The ordinance the council will vote on next week exempts non-profits from having to comply, according to Rumbaugh. But Tacoma For All and others are still worried about changes to cold weather eviction protections…Proposed changes would also require that someone prove they make 120% or less of the area’s median income to qualify for the cold weather eviction protections. Moore said his group hopes the council will get rid of that income requirement. Council member Olgy Diaz is planning to introduce an amendment on that before the council takes a vote on the ordinance.

INTERNATIONAL

► From the AP — Luxury fashion firms asked for documents as part of Italian labor abuse probe — According to the documents obtained by The Associated Press, the investigation highlighted episodes of “heavy exploitations” of Chinese workers at subcontractors’ workshops, where the brands involved produced some of their products. The 13 fashion firms didn’t immediately comment on the prosecutors’ requests and allegations. The fashion companies that received the orders are: Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Prada, Adidas Italy, Missoni, Ferragamo, Givenchy Italia, Alexander McQueen Italia, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent Manifatture, Pinko, Coccinelle and Off-White Operating.

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