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MN labor responds to ICE killing | Another shutdown?! | Sports contracts

Thursday, January 8, 2026

 

STRIKES

► From Starbucks Workers United:

Editor’s note: support a SBWU picket line this week in Seattle at the University District and Elliot Ave. locations. Details at NoContractNoCoffee.org. 

 

LOCAL

► From the Tri-City Herald — WATCH: WA study finds Hispanic workers suffer high rates of long COVID — A study of Hispanics in frontline positions in Washington state found nearly half reported experiencing long COVID symptoms after being ill with the virus. They had high rates of exposure and relatively little access to care.

► From KREM — Medical care, oversight questioned again at Tacoma ICE facility after congressional visit — Washington Rep. Emily Randall said concerns about medical care inside the Northwest ICE Processing Center persist, even after repeated visits and months of questions from lawmakers…Last month, Randall joined other Democratic lawmakers in signing a letter asking federal immigration officials to explain ongoing concerns at the facility, including reports of inadequate medical care. She said what she heard during her latest visit suggests those problems remain unresolved. Randall said detainees who are taken off-site for specialized appointments are not allowed to meet privately with doctors. “Individuals who are being sent out to community care — to hospitals, to providers in the district — are not able to access health care privately. ICE or GEO staff are in the room with them at every appointment,” Randall said.

► From KING 5 — Report: Federal immigration agents continued using Washington driver data through state-run system — According to the report, agents used a Washington State Patrol system called ACCESS — a messaging “switchboard” that connects to a national law-enforcement network known as Nlets. Through ACCESS and Nlets, officers can enter a license plate number and receive driver and vehicle information from DOL within seconds. Godoy said the center reviewed multiple cases where agents appeared to stake out locations, run plates, and then make arrests shortly afterward. “A significant percentage of the arrests we corroborated happened near places like Home Depot, Lowe’s, or Latino markets,” Godoy said. “It enables racial profiling when you go where you think a certain ethnicity congregates and then run the plates of everyone you see.”

► From the Yakima Herald — Advocates respond to community fears as immigration arrests grow in Yakima area — David Morales is a volunteer with the Yakima Immigrant Response Network, a nonprofit that provides support to people and families impacted by ICE arrests. The group coordinates with the Washington Immigration Solidarity Network to report and respond to immigration enforcement action in the community, often recording ICE interactions to try to ensure people’s rights are protected.

► From the Cascadia Daily News — After sweeping cuts, PeaceHealth pauses patient feedback council — In October, PeaceHealth cut 2.5% of its systemwide workforce across Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. Locally at St. Joseph, multiple positions on the hospital’s human experience team were cut. The staff who were cut helped oversee the Patient and Family Advisory Council, a volunteer group comprising patients that met monthly with hospital staff to share patient feedback with the hospital. With the human experience staff cut, PFAC has no internal liaison or champion to facilitate meetings or change…“There are amazing people really trying to do the best they can, and it’s all undermined by the environment health care is in, and the style of leadership within PeaceHealth that has not been inclusive,” said Bruce Hostetter, a current PFAC member.

 

AEROSPACE

► From My Northwest — Alaska Airlines places largest fleet order in history with 110 Boeing planes — The airline has ordered 105 737-10 MAX planes and five 787 widebodies. In its purchase agreement, Alaska Airlines also included an option for 35 additional MAX planes on the same timeline over the next 10 years…This record-breaking order brings Alaska’s total order book with Boeing to 245 aircraft, in addition to the 94 MAX aircraft the airline is currently operating.

► From KUOW — Alaska Airlines pilot who safely landed plane after panel blew out says Boeing unfairly blamed him — The Alaska Airlines pilot who has been universally praised as a hero for safely landing a jet after a door plug panel flew off shortly after takeoff is suing Boeing because he believes the plane maker wrongly tried to blame him and the rest of the crew. Captain Brandon Fisher was commended by the heads of the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration and even Boeing executives for helping ensure none of the 177 people aboard flight 1282 were killed when the blowout happened in January 2024.

 

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the New York Times’ Athletic — AHL and players’ union reach tentative deal on collective bargaining agreement — The American Hockey League (AHL) and Professional Hockey Players’ Association (PHPA) announced a tentative collective bargaining agreement Wednesday afternoon. The CBA must still be ratified by the PHPA’s membership and approved by the AHL’s board of governors. The AHL has been playing without a new CBA this season. The new AHL agreement will be for five seasons, carrying until 2029-30.

► From Aviation Week Network — United Flight Attendants Seek Immediate Economic Improvements — As United Airlines flight attendant contract negotiations continue, discussions are currently focused on pay and work rule provisions. Improvements being sought by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) target issues raised by the carrier’s 28,000 flight attendants after rejecting an initial tentative agreement (TA1) over the summer. Federally mediated negotiations are ongoing Jan. 6-9, with additional sessions scheduled for February and March.

► From Yahoo Sports — WNBA CBA: Where things stand with league, union proposals as latest deadline nears — The six-week extension is set to expire on Friday, again setting the stage for what would be the league’s first work stoppage. The union voted overwhelmingly last month for the WNBPA executive committee to call a strike “if necessary,” a decision they could make at any time after the deadline expires. Players, including WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike and WNBPA vice president Napheesa Collier, have said since that vote that they believe a deal will be done. The sides could also agree to another extension, or enter a “status quo period” during which operations and negotiations would continue in good faith without a work stoppage.

 

ORGANIZING

► From Variety — DreamWorks Remote Team, Netflix and ‘Ted’ Show Production Workers Vote to Unionize With the Animation Guild — DreamWorks Animation (DWA) remote workers across the United States, feature production workers at Netflix Animation Studios and production workers on the show “Ted” have officially voted to unionize with the Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) and the Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700), in an effort to ensure fair pay and treatment for all animation workers. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ballot count for DWA remote workers resulted in a majority “yes” vote in favor of union representation with the Animation Guild. DreamWorks Animation studio will formally recognize the remote bargaining unit under TAG and begin the process of negotiating a contract.

 

NATIONAL

► From the New York Times — Minn. Officials Say They’re Being Blocked From Investigating Fatal ICE Shooting — A top state law enforcement official said Thursday that federal agencies were denying Minnesota investigators access to evidence from a fatal shooting by an immigration enforcement officer the day before, preventing them from participating in the inquiry into an incident that officials have described in starkly different terms…Tim Walz, the governor, said at a news conference that “Minnesota must be part of this investigation.” “I say that only because people in positions of power have already passed judgment,” Mr. Walz added. He said that some of the federal government’s statements regarding the circumstances of the shooting had been “verifiably false.”

► From the Minnesota AFL-CIO:

► From the Washington Post — More workers are stuck in part-time jobs in warning for the economy — The number of part-time workers who say they would prefer full-time positions jumped sharply in November to an eight-year high. Meanwhile, those with multiple jobs — 5.7 percent of the workforce — is at its highest level in more than 25 years, according to monthly figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In all, a record 9.3 million Americans worked more than one job in November, a 10 percent increase from a year earlier…But economists also point to a broader shift in Americans’ finances and rising concerns about affordability that is driving them to pick up more work. Of particular note: The number of Americans with two full-time jobs jumped by 18 percent in the past year, with women making up the bulk of that increase.

► From the Guardian — Top union accuses Texas of targeting teachers over Charlie Kirk posts — A major Texas teachers’ union filed a federal lawsuit against the state on Tuesday challenging what it describes as unconstitutional investigations into hundreds of educators who posted comments on social media following the September killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The Texas American Federation of Teachers, which represents approximately 66,000 public school employees, is asking a federal court to block the Texas Education Agency and its commissioner, Mike Morath, from continuing investigations that the union argues violate teachers’ free speech protections.

► From the Tri-City Herald — Avelo Airlines to stop flying ICE deportation flights — Avelo Airlines, an ultra-low-cost airline, announced it will end its contract with the U.S. government to conduct deportation flights. The airline had been flying deportees for the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security since May. The company announced Tuesday that it’s closing its Mesa, Ariz., operations, which is from where ICE flights depart, and it will lay off people based there.

 

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the Washington Post — Congress has four weeks to dodge another shutdown — Lawmakers are back in Washington this week for a four-week sprint to finish funding the government before the current spending law runs out on Jan. 30. If they fail, they will need to pass another short-term extension or spark another government shutdown just two and a half months after the last one, the longest funding lapse in U.S. history. Funding the government usually requires passing 12 individual bills. Lawmakers approved three as part of a deal to end last fall’s shutdown, and they also extended current funding levels for the rest of the government into January. Those levels were last set in March 2024.

► From Politico — Senate group nears deal on Obamacare subsidies — The deal being discussed by the senators would reestablish the enhanced tax credits that expired Jan. 1 for two years, with new restrictions including minimum premium payments and income caps. The developing agreement would pair that with new cost-sharing reduction measures and expanding access to health savings accounts…Even if the fluctuating group of roughly a dozen lawmakers is able to come to a consensus, there’s no guarantee it will get the votes to pass. Senators have been keeping their leadership in the loop on the talks and will meet this week with House lawmakers to update them on their progress.

► From the New York Times — Trump Wants to Bar Wall St. Investors From Buying Single-Family Homes –Mr. Trump’s announcement, which he made in a social media post on Wednesday, is aimed at Wall Street-backed firms that for years have bought up homes and rented them out. Critics say this business has driven up prices in some markets and made it hard for first-time buyers to purchase homes. His post contained few details, though Mr. Trump promised to say more about his plans during a speech this month at the World Economic Forum, where some of the world’s richest and most powerful gather for policy discussions. But if the plan that emerges has teeth, it will face stiff resistance from Wall Street and its allies in Congress.

► From the Washington State Standard — Ferguson backs income tax on WA residents earning over $1M — Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson on Tuesday threw his support behind a proposed income tax on residents earning more than $1 million annually, and said he’s prepared to sign the policy into law next year. Some legislative Democrats are eyeing a 9.9% “millionaires tax” on adjusted annual gross income over $1 million. Ferguson endorsed this version of the proposal. Less than 0.5% of Washingtonians would be subject to the tax, and it’s expected to raise $3 billion per year. The revenue wouldn’t hit state coffers until 2029, Ferguson said.

► From the Seattle Times — A budget ‘rat hole’? Political fight over WA climate money intensifies — Gov. Bob Ferguson wants to tap into the climate account — one of the few still in the black these days — despite protests and admonitions from the policy’s chief architects. And now others are lining up to take a bite out of the apple. To date, the CCA has raised some $4.3 billion since 2023 from some of the state’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. That money has largely been intended for work to reduce fossil fuel emissions and help mitigate the effects of climate change. But Ferguson wants to take $559 million from the account and direct it toward working family tax credits. State Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, on Monday proposed taking another chunk for schools, while others are eying the cash for transportation needs.

► From OPB — Conservative think tank asks court to block Oregon union fraud law — Oregon AFSCME Executive Director Joe Baessler said the law protects hardworking Oregonians from false union representations. “Any organization objecting to such a law should probably rethink their tactics and mission if they’re worried about falling out of compliance with such a basic concept as ‘don’t do fraud,’” he said in a statement.

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