NEWS ROUNDUP

Starbucks strike | Trades workers’ mental health | DOJ Probe

Friday, January 30, 2026

 

STRIKES

► From Prism News — Open-ended Starbucks Workers United strike highlights understaffing, limited-hours, anti-union allegations — Starbucks Workers United’s open-ended unfair-labor-practice strike has kept workplace complaints center stage as baristas press the company for more staffing, steadier hours, higher pay and resolution of what the union calls “hundreds of unfair labor practice charges.”…”A lot of people are like, ‘Why don’t you just quit your job?’ And it’s because I like my job. I just want to make it a little better for everyone.” Maria Zaki, a barista at the Highway 380 and Hinkle location, urged compromise, saying, “Starbucks could negotiate an agreed-upon contract with SBWU, with just around a day’s worth of income from all baristas,” and that the company “has not been meeting SBWU for a reasonable compromise at the negotiation table.”

► From Starbucks Workers United:

 

LOCAL

► From the Seattle Times — Amazon laid-off workers face stagnant job market in Seattle — Tech workers in the Seattle area and beyond are reeling from Amazon mass layoffs that saw a record-high 30,000 axed globally in just three months…The past year has been marked by heavy local layoffs at some of the region’s biggest employers. Since January 2025, Microsoft has laid off at least 3,200 employees across Washington. Meta also shed approximately 400 employees, and Expedia on Wednesday announced that it would cut 162 positions…“When there’s a tsunami of talent, the competition is very fierce,” said Timothy Thomas, a tech career coach in Seattle. For most, it’s hard to predict how long it’ll take to land a tech job in 2026. “The job market looks dire,” said a software development engineer who got laid off on Wednesday. He requested that his name be withheld to protect future job prospects at Amazon, where he plans to apply to transfer into other teams.

► From the Bellingham Herald — Bellingham students walk out of class to protest ICE deportations, violence — One protester who identified herself only as Maddy said her daughter helped organize the event. She said she felt fearful about ICE agents coming to Bellingham schools and recognized that students feel strongly about speaking out against their actions. “I know the kids are upset. I’m upset. They’re tired of seeing their classmates get disappeared, and it can be difficult to continue going to school while this is going on,” Maddy told The Herald.

► From KIMA — Several Yakima high schools doing walkouts in protest against ICE activity — Several Yakima high schools will be doing walkouts on Friday in protest against ICE activity across the United States. Students from Davis, East Valley, West Valley and Eisenhower high schools will be participating in the walkout, which will begin at around 1:30 p.m. at each school.

► From OPB — Oregon businesses and students join general strike Friday to protest immigration enforcement — “A lot of times I think adults say that youth, we are the voices of the future,” DeVigal said. “Through this event, I kind of want to show that we are the voices of today and we are the ones who are making change today that will inevitably better our future, and make it something to look forward to.” About 28% of McDaniel’s student body is Latino, and DeVigal said she’s heard from students afraid to come to school due to concerns about ICE agents detaining them en route. School district leaders in Minneapolis have reported absence rates as high as 40%. According to Minnesota Public Radio, families and staff there have been pulled into vehicles and detained by masked agents near schools.

► From KUOW — ‘If you hear something, say something.’ After ICE scare, Seattle Public Schools updates guidance –The new guidance instructs all school employees to alert their principal and safety and security staff if they observe or receive a report of ICE nearby. From there, the safety and security team and the principal can convene to decide how to respond…The new guidance comes a week after unconfirmed reports of ICE activity prompted four schools in south Seattle to shelter in place for several hours. Although district security staff never saw any ICE presence at or near those four schools on that day, the incident shook local leaders and left Seattle school communities on edge.

 

AEROSPACE

► From Aviation Week — Opinion: Why Boeing Remains A Work In Process — Boeing’s level of success five years from now will not hinge on a single airplane, program or leadership team. It will turn on something less visible and more consequential—whether engineering authority remains central when schedules tighten, quality metrics are protected when cash pressures return and bad news travels upward without penalty.

 

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the Navajo Times — Frontier, CWA reach 3-year deal with raises for Navajo Nation workers — Indeed, the rebound thus far has been nothing short of remarkable. But that is not the same as a turnaround…Frontier Communications and the Communications Workers of America have reached a new three-year union contract that includes pay increases for Navajo Nation workers after months of negotiations over a wage gap, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego said Jan. 27. The agreement covers Frontier employees working in the Navajo Nation who are represented by CWA. Gallego said the contract includes raises and brings their pay in line with Frontier employees elsewhere in Arizona who do the same skilled work.

 

NATIONAL

► From the AP — Protesters call for nationwide strike against Trump’s immigration policies — Protesters across the U.S. are calling for “no work, no school, no shopping” as part of a nationwide strike on Friday to oppose the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The demonstrations are taking place amid widespread outrage over the killing Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse who was shot multiple times after he used his cellphone to record Border Patrol officers conducting an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis. The death heightened scrutiny over the administration’s tactics after the Jan. 7 death of Renee Good, who was fatally shot behind the wheel of her vehicle by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

► From the AP — DOJ has opened a federal civil rights probe into the death of Alex Pretti — Blanche did not explain why DOJ decided to open an investigation into Pretti’s killing, but has said a similar probe is not warranted in the Jan. 7 death of Renee Good, who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis. He said only on Friday that the Civil Rights Division does not investigate every law enforcement shooting and that there have to be circumstances and facts that “warrant an investigation.”

► From the Financial Times — Big US companies set to lay off at least 52,000 workers as jobs market cools — Big US companies have this week revealed plans to lay off tens of thousands of workers, in the latest sign of how employers are trimming their workforces after years of robust hiring. Amazon, UPS, Dow, Nike, Home Depot and other companies said they would eliminate more than 52,000 jobs combined, with several saying they needed to slim their organisations amid lingering economic uncertainty and mounting pressure to invest in AI. The latest batch of lay-offs was concentrated among a small group of large companies, but it highlights concerns from some policymakers at the Federal Reserve and private economists that the once red-hot jobs market is weakening.

► From the AP — DHS ramps up surveillance in immigration raids, sweeping in citizens — Across Minnesota and other states where the Department of Homeland Security has surged personnel, officials say enforcement efforts are targeted and focused on serious offenders. But photographs, videos and internal documents paint a different picture, showing agents leaning heavily on biometric surveillance and vast, interconnected databases — highlighting how a sprawling digital surveillance apparatus has become central to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown….Over the past year, Homeland Security and other federal agencies have dramatically expanded their ability to collect, share and analyze people’s personal data, thanks to a web of agreements with local, state, federal and international agencies, plus contracts with technology companies and data brokers.

► From the Hill — ACA enrollment drops by 1M-plus after subsidies expire — The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reported Wednesday that 23 million people signed up for open enrollment, which concluded on Jan. 15. It marks a drop-off from the 24.2 million people who enrolled for insurance during the same period in 2025. Last year marked four consecutive years of record enrollment for ACA Marketplace plans. Gains were credited to enhanced premiums tax credits signed into law under former President Biden through the American Rescue Plan and extended by the Inflation Reduction Act.

► From the New York Times — Washington Post Plans Cuts to Reshape Newsroom — The newsroom, including many editors, remains largely in the dark on the specifics of the staff reductions and the long-term plan for the organization. Last year, The Post completed a round of buyouts that trimmed the newsroom by dozens of journalists. In the months since, many of the journalists who remain have grown increasingly frustrated about the lack of clarity from Mr. Bezos and the paper’s publisher, Will Lewis. Some of the staff members have raised concerns on social media in recent days that the looming cuts would affect The Post’s quality, and journalists from the international and local sections have circulated letters to Mr. Bezos. “Keep The Washington Post a place that covers Washington,” the metro staff wrote in its appeal to Mr. Bezos. “Watergate started as a local story,” they added.

 

POLITICS & POLICY

► From Politico — Capitol agenda: Senate shutdown deal hits a Lindsey Graham snag — A partial shutdown of multiple federal agencies is just 16 hours away as the Senate deals with a Lindsey Graham-sized snag and House Republicans face pressure from President Donald Trump to expedite whatever the other chamber sends their way…The Senate could move ahead as soon as Friday, though there are currently no votes on the schedule as leadership works to resolve holdups. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said there were issues coming from members of both parties, though Graham appears to be the main problem. “Hopefully by sometime tomorrow we’ll be in a better spot,” Thune said leaving the Capitol Thursday night. “Tomorrow’s another day, and hopefully people will be in a spirit to try and get this done.”

► From Bloomberg Law — NLRB Majority Will Wait to Review Biden-era Ruling on Remedies — The National Labor Relations Board will continue to apply a worker-friendly precedent that expanded the standard remedies for unfair labor practices at least until another Republican joins the board. Republican NLRB members James Murphy and Scott Mayer said in a ruling Wednesday that there’s “no need at this time” to weigh in on the legality of the 2021decision in Thryv, Inc., which requires employers to pay for the downstream economic harms stemming from their labor law violations.

► From AP — House Republicans propose voting changes as Trump administration eyes the midterms — The package released Thursday reflects a number of the party’s most sought-after election changes, including requirements for photo IDs before people can vote and proof of citizenship, both to be put in place in 2027. Others, including prohibitions on universal vote-by-mail and ranked choice voting — two voting methods that have proved popular in some states — would happen immediately. The Republican president continues to insist that the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden was rigged.

► From the Iron Workers District Council of the PNW:

► From KOMO — WA lawmakers debate shift to 32-hour work week, sparking mixed reactions across industries — Rep. Scott, a Democrat representing District 43, explained to his fellow committee members that he believes the bill would offer more flexibility for working families and improve work-life balance for all employees across the state. “Americans work, annually, 125 more hours yearly than workers in Canada,” he continued. “204 hours more, annually, than workers in Japan.” Scott said his office worked with trade unionists to create the language of the bill. One representative who spoke in favor of the 32-hour work week is Ashley Fueston, vice president of the Washington Federation of State Employees. “With necessities like childcare and groceries only getting more expensive, we must recognize that the status quo just isn’t working anymore,” Fueston said to lawmakers.

► From the Seattle Times — Mayor Wilson directs Seattle police to document immigration activity — Her orders focused on creating a community hotline, disseminating $4 million for local immigrant support organizations, restricting what property immigration officers can access and requiring officers with the Seattle Police Department to investigate, verify and document any reports of immigration enforcement in the city, she announced Thursday. Wilson said she intends to “protect city residents in the face of increased federal immigration enforcement activity.”

 

INTERNATIONAL

► From Oregon Live — Nike says its factory workers make nearly double the minimum wage. In Indonesia, workers say, ‘It’s not true’ — Through boom times and, more recently, slumping sales, Nike Inc. has stuck by a key claim about its overseas suppliers: They pay the average factory worker about twice the local minimum wage…When a reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive visited the country and interviewed roughly 100 workers from more than 10 factories that supply Nike, none said they made anywhere near twice the minimum wage. “Bullshit,” a union official said, in English, while sitting on a makeshift couch on the porch of his office near Jakarta, the Indonesian capital…“Nike is not paying double the minimum wage,” said a union official in Central Java, a lower-wage area where Nike’s contract factories have been expanding. “The fact is the opposite. Nike is seeking cheaper workers.”

 

JOLT OF JOY (& JUSTICE)

A new release from the only Boss worth listening to. Stay safe, see yall next week.

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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