SAG-AFTRA contract | ‘Bagging rights’| Debunking myths

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

LOCAL

► From the Olympian — Union calls for investigation of Timberland library budget amid layoff concerns — The Timberland Regional Library staff union raised concerns about future layoffs and called for an independent investigation into the library network’s budget problems in a Feb. 6 news release…According to the union release, library workers are frustrated that TRL’s administration said that the budget was in good health just a few months ago. “TRL’s Board of Trustees must have believed those assurances when they approved the 2026 budget on December 30th, since they approved 15% budgeted increases for the two top administrators below the director, as compared to the 2025 budget,” Gawne said in the release.

► From UFCW 3000:

AEROSPACE

► From Leeham News & Analysis — Despite some turbulence, SPEEA exec sees progress under Boeing’s Ortberg — Next up is the contract with Boeing’s engineers and technicians, also represented by SPEEA. This contract expires this fall. The union’s negotiating teams will be appointed this month. Procedural meetings with Boeing will begin afterward before proposals are exchanged and negotiations begin. SPEEA has been at odds with Boeing before and after Ortberg’s appointment as CEO.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From Deadline — SAG-AFTRA & Studios Kick Off 2026 Contract Talks; Nolan’s DGA Links Arms With Actors’ Guild Over Pursuit Of “Sustainable Careers” — The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers met with union leadership Monday to formally begin talks on a new TV/Theatrical minimum basic agreement. Deadline understands the two parties have been communicating informally for several months to signal priorities and prime the pump ahead of time. On Saturday, the SAG-AFTRA national board approved the union’s official proposal package…“The Directors Guild of America stands in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA as they begin negotiations with the AMPTP,” the guild said in a statement via a spokesperson. “Directors, directorial teams, performers, and all creative workers share a common goal to secure fair compensation, world class retirement and health benefits, meaningful workplace protections, sustainable careers, and a future in which all our contributions are respected and valued. ”

NATIONAL

► From Labor Notes — How to Debunk Anti-Immigrant Myths at Work — Framing the issue in union language is key. Maybe “one guy is not gonna be sympathetic to the immigrant struggle because he believes American borders need to be protected,” said Francisco “Paco” Arago, a journeyman wireman and member of IBEW Local 11. “But if this guy’s wearing a hard hat like you, you want to speak to the issues that are relevant to them.” He often brings up the union’s founder, Henry Miller. “His parents were German immigrants, and English was his second language,” Arago said. “He found guys that would speak Polish and Irish and German to folks to get them into the union, because we were hungry and wanted to build a base of power.” For the same reasons, he advocates for making union materials available in several languages today.

► From Wired — ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next — Federal records obtained by WIRED show that over the past several months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have carried out a secret campaign to expand ICE’s physical presence across the US. Documents show that more than 150 leases and office expansions have or would place new facilities in nearly every state, many of them in or just outside of the country’s largest metropolitan areas…The September memorandum citing “unusual and compelling urgency” for office expansion states that OPLA will be “expanding its legal operations” into…Spokane, Washington and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho…The memorandum also states that the existing offices are at maximum capacity and will “require additional space” to accommodate the new employees hired.

► From Reuters — UAW says Ford worker who heckled Trump kept job, not disciplined — The United Auto Workers union said on Monday a Ford worker who heckled U.S. President Donald Trump during a visit last month to a Michigan auto plant was not disciplined and kept his job.

► From the California Federation of Labor:

► From the New York Times — Immigration Judge Says Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts Student, Cannot Be Deported — The decision by the judge, Roopal Patel, came last month and was disclosed in federal court by lawyers for the student, Rumeysa Ozturk, this week. It effectively means that the government has no legal justification to deport Ms. Ozturk, a graduate student at Tufts University. Judge Patel, who as an immigration judge is a Justice Department employee, blocked any further proceedings against Ms. Ozturk, but the government can appeal the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals.

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the New York Times — Trump Live Updates: ICE and Immigration Officials Face Questions Over Crackdown Across U.S. — Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, and Rodney Scott, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, repeatedly refused to answer questions about the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens last month by federal agents in Minneapolis during testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday. Mr. Lyons refused to apologize for the Trump administration’s rush to describe the victims, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as domestic terrorists.

► From the New York Times — Pockets of Republican Pushback to ICE Facilities Point to MAGA Fissures — Efforts to convert warehouses into detention facilities are drawing pushback from unlikely corners, including some Republicans. “I strongly oppose DHS’s proposed plan to turn a warehouse in Byhalia, Mississippi, into an ICE detention center,” Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi wrote on social media last week, later suggesting that the Department of Homeland Security had agreed “to look elsewhere.” “This site was meant for economic development and job creation. We cannot suddenly flood Byhalia with an influx of up to 10,000 detainees.”

► From E&E News — Federal union aims for ‘comeback’ after Trump turmoil — The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 800,000 federal and District of Columbia government employees, kicked off its annual legislative conference in Washington. Members, many of whom work at agencies across the government, piled into a Capitol Hill hotel ballroom to hear from their leaders. “This year is about organizing. This year is about growth. It is about power. It’s about AFGE’s comeback,” Everett Kelley, the union’s president, told attendees Sunday. “We got to do it together in strength, in strategy and in solidarity because AFGE isn’t just coming back. It’s already happening.”

► From the Washington State Standard — WA income tax on higher earners clears first legislative hurdle — Democrats advanced controversial income tax legislation out of a key Washington state Senate committee on Monday after pledging more proceeds to local public defender costs and increasing a tax break for small businesses…The tax rate and income threshold at which it applies did not change. And the bill continues to use a portion of the tax revenue for expansion of the state’s Working Families Tax Credit, which provides some relief for lower-income families…Another change in the income tax bill is the increased tax break for smaller businesses. Originally, the legislation called for exempting companies grossing less than $250,000 a year from paying the state’s main business tax. That’s double the current threshold. Pedersen’s amendment would boost the level of the full exemption to $300,000, with companies enjoying partially reduced tax liability up to $600,000.

► From the AP — Trump administration’s changes to the CFPB cost Americans $19B, a new report says — One year after the Trump administration took control of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the consumer watchdog has largely retreated from enforcement and regulatory work, changes that consumer advocates and Democrats now estimate have cost Americans at least $19 billion in financial relief…The administration assumed control of the CFPB in February 2025 after Rohit Chopra, the bureau’s director under President Joe Biden, resigned, leaving White House budget director Russell Vought as acting director. Since then, few new investigations have been opened, many employees have been ordered not to work and several pending enforcement actions against financial companies have been dropped.

► From the Fire & Safety Journal Americas — IAFF-backed Railway Safety Act aims to expand HazMat training — General President Edward Kelly commented: “Millions of Americans live and work along HazMat railways. “We need to protect them. And, ultimately, we need to protect every firefighter who responds to a derailment.” The remarks came at a press conference marking the third anniversary of the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

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