Workers say ‘ICE out’ | USL protest | WNBA CBA

Monday, March 9, 2026

STRIKES

► From Labor Notes — Keep ICE out of Stores, Say Starbucks Workers — Days later, workers at six unionized Starbucks locations in Minnesota held a one-day unfair labor practice strike in response to “the company’s labor law violations committed in recent months.” Many joined the 50,000-strong “ICE Out of Minnesota” march later that day. Other Starbucks baristas have since followed suit: workers in Ann Arbor, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and St. Louis have since held marches on the boss or other workplace actions demanding that ICE be barred from their worksites in the absence of a signed judicial warrant. “It’s very possible I’ve served a customer who is now being targeted by ICE, and that’s not okay,” said one worker who participated in a workplace action. They asked to remain anonymous due to their immigration status. “It might not even be customers. There’s plenty of immigrants who work at Starbucks. How is Starbucks keeping them safe if they’re just letting ICE agents in?”

LOCAL

► From the Washington State Standard — Judge blocks Portland ICE facility agents from using tear gas leaking into nearby apartments — A federal judge on Friday barred federal agents outside Portland’s waterfront Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility from using tear gas and chemical munitions in a manner that could seep into a nearby affordable housing complex unless there is an “imminent threat to life.” Residents and Reach Community Development, which operates the apartment complex Gray’s Landing, in December filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From KOIN — PCC employees ‘pushing back,’ hold march for better wages ahead of possible strike — An ocean of blue t-shirts was seen during a march in downtown Portland Saturday afternoon as hundreds of Portland Community College employees and their supporters demanded better pay to keep up with the cost of living. This comes ahead of employees possibly going on strike next week if their demands aren’t met. Two of PCC’s largest unions announced 94% of their 2,000 members across the four main campuses voted for a walkout. Members disagreed with the university’s cost-of-living adjustments on top of usual pay raises. They’re asking the university to allow salaries to keep up with inflation.

► From Sports Illustrated — United Soccer League Opens With On-Field Player Protest Over CBA Talks — The 2026 USL Championship season opened Friday with a protest, as negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the USL Players Association (USLPA) continue to stall. The players of Louisville City FC and Lexington SC stood motionless and silent for one minute upon the game’s opening whistle. “This is not symbolic,” the USLPA wrote on Instagram after Friday’s protest. “Negotiations have reached a decisive stage where players have to take a stand. Players will continue to speak up until a fair agreement is reached. The next move belongs to League headquarters.”

► From the AP — WNBA sends CBA proposal to players as March 10 deadline nears, AP source says — The league’s response to a union proposal from Friday comes a few days before a Tuesday deadline set by the league, which said it would need at least a handshake agreement with the union to start the season on time. It’s unknown what changes the league and union made in their latest proposal. Revenue sharing is the key sticking point between the sides. The union’s previous proposal from a week ago had asked for an average of 26% of the gross revenue — revenue before expenses — over the course of the CBA. That would include only 25% in the first year of the new deal. The league has said that number was unrealistic.

► From the Hollywood Reporter — SAG-AFTRA and Studios Extend Contract Negotiations One More Week — SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s studios and streamers have extended negotiations on their next film and television deal one more week, the parties disclosed Friday. The performers union and the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of companies like Netflix and Paramount, issued a short joint press release noting that their talks would continue. Both remain under media blackout during the negotiations, which began Feb. 9.

► From the Hollywood Reporter — Writers Guild Negotiations Priorities Approved by Members: Health Plan Funding, AI and Compensation — Members of the Writers Guild of America have approved a slate of contract priorities in upcoming labor negotiations with studios and streamers that includes shoring up the union’s health plan, expanding AI protections and improving compensation. More than 97 percent of participating union members voted to approve the bargaining slate ahead of negotiations starting with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on March 16, the union said on Friday.

ORGANIZING

► From AL.com — Mercedes-Benz settles alleged Alabama union-busting case — Mercedes-Benz has agreed not to make anti-union threats as the result of a deal to resolve a U.S. labor board case stemming from the UAW’s failed 2024 effort to organize at the German automaker’s Vance plant. Bloomberg News is reporting a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board that compels Mercedes to distribute a notice about employees’ union organizing rights, which the company says it will honor. The notice states “WE WILL NOT threaten you with the closure and/or relocation of the facility to a non-union location, like Mexico, or anywhere else, if you choose to be represented by a union.”

► From the LA Times — Sylmar haunted venue becomes first escape room to unionize — This week, the Basement’s union voted unanimously to ratify its first working contract, making it the first and only escape room to have a union and operate under a collective bargaining agreement. The group is recognized as part of the Actors’ Equity Assn., which represents more than 51,000 actors and managers in live entertainment.

NATIONAL

► From the AP — On 61st anniversary of Bloody Sunday, worries about the future of voting rights and calls to action — “I’m concerned that all of the advances that we made for the last 61 years are going to be eradicated,” said Charles Mauldin, 78, one of the marchers beaten on Bloody Sunday. Former and current Democratic officeholders, civil rights leaders and tourists descended on Selma to pay homage to the pivotal moment of the Civil Rights Movement and to issue calls to action. Speakers warned of the looming court decision and criticized the Trump administration’s actions on immigration and efforts to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion.

► From Labor Notes — Postal Workers Demand to Kick ICE Off Postal Property — As workers who serve our community and are out walking every day, we wanted to make it clear to our customers that postal workers are not associated with ICE, and that we want them off of postal property. ICE operations in Minneapolis have made our working conditions unsafe. The chaos and violence they bring to our streets puts letter carriers at risk: unmarked cars flying through neighborhoods at high speeds, tear gas and flashbangs deployed wantonly, and deadly shootings. We organized not only for our own safety, but also to stand in solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters who are most impacted by this state violence.

► From Oregon Live — Energy prices soar to levels not seen in years — Oil prices spiked near $120 per barrel before falling back Monday as the Iran war intensified, threatening production and shipping in the Middle East and pummeling financial markets…The surge in costs for oil and natural gas is pushing fuel prices higher, cascading through other industries and jolting Asian economies that are especially vulnerable due to the region’s heavy reliance on imports from the Middle East.

► From the New York Times — A Year After His Arrest, Mahmoud Khalil Lives in Limbo and in Fear — Mr. Khalil cannot work a regular job. Few employers are willing to take the risk of drawing attention from the Trump administration. And he will not go out alone with his 11-month-old, Deen, for fear that he will be detained and that the baby, an American citizen, will be taken…Mr. Khalil’s case is proceeding along two separate tracks — in federal court and immigration court — and in both venues, he has recently suffered losses. While Michael E. Farbiarz, the federal judge who ordered him released, has a standing order prohibiting the Trump administration from deporting Mr. Khalil, that ruling could be mooted in the coming months.

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the Washington State Standard — With rewrite, WA income tax on track to approval — House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon, D-West Seattle, chief sponsor of the tax bill in the House, acknowledged they had to overcome a few significant hurdles the last few days. “We still have more work to do. We think the mood about the proposal is more positive than it’s been,” he said, adding the “goal” is to pass it Monday. If successful, it would be sent to the Senate to concur in the revisions. Time is short as the session ends next Thursday, March 12.

► From the Hill — Trump says he won’t sign any bills into law until SAVE America Act passes — The White House did not respond to a request for comment on whether the president will sign a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security amid the partial government shutdown.

► From the New York Times — Judge Voids Mass Layoffs at Voice of America — A federal judge on Saturday ruled that the appointment of Kari Lake, the head of Voice of America’s oversight agency, was invalid, voiding mass layoffs that she had carried out at the federally funded news group last year. The decision from Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia was a major rejection of President Trump’s attempts to dismantle the storied government-funded news group, which was founded to combat Nazi propaganda.

► From CNBC — GOP ‘big beautiful bill’ poised to deliver ‘shock’ to ACA marketplace, health policy experts say — A series of policy changes in the so-called “big beautiful bill” are undermining the Affordable Care Act marketplace, in ways that may at first seem relatively subtle but which add up to a major change, health policy experts say. That, in turn, has important implications for consumers and the broader health care system for years to come, they said. The law — a multitrillion-dollar package that the Republican-led Congress passed in July — contains a series of administrative measures that make it harder or more expensive for many people to sign up for health insurance on the ACA marketplace, experts said.

► From Reuters — Trump cannot end protections for 350,000 Haitians, US appeals court rules — A ‌2-1 panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit late on Friday rejected the administration’s bid to pause a February 2 ruling that blocked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from ending ​Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status…Reyes found that ​Noem’s November move to end the Haitians’ legal protections likely violated TPS termination procedures and ​the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law.

► From Strength In Numbers — Six data-driven reasons Texas could actually go blue in 2026 — I have compiled six data-driven reasons Texas could actually go blue in 2026. They have to do with concerns over Ken Paxton’s electability, Talarico’s support among independent voters, Democratic enthusiasm, and a few other factors. Add them up, and it’s easy to see how Talarico could pull off a win (though it would not be easy to do)…Now, consider recent elections in Texas have shown Latino voters moving away from the Republicans. A special election to the state’s Ninth Senate District on January 31st is a good example. Then, Democrat Taylor Rehmet beat Republican Leigh Wambsganss 57-43 — a 14-point margin in a district Trump carried by 17 points just 14 months earlier. That’s a 31-point swing.

► From Courthouse News — Home care and campus workers fight for inclusion in Virginia collective bargaining bill — Home care and campus workers urged Virginia lawmakers Wednesday to include them in an effort to give state employees the ability to bargain collectively. State and local government employees are poised to gain the right to collectively bargain thanks to a Democratic majority in the General Assembly and a newly elected Democratic governor, Abigail Spanberger. Two large groups of state employees, home care workers paid through the government and campus workers, however, are worried about being left behind.

INTERNATIONAL

► From KFF Health News — ‘You Aren’t Trapped’: Hundreds of US Nurses Choose Canada Over Trump’s America — The Millers are part of a new surge of American nurses, doctors, and other health care workers moving to Canada, and specifically British Columbia, where more than 1,000 U.S.-trained nurses have been approved to work since April. As the Trump administration enacts increasingly authoritarian policies and decimates funding for public health, insurance, and medical research, many nurses have felt the draw of Canada’s progressive politics, friendly reputation, and universal health care system…Both the U.S. and Canada have a severe need for nurses. The U.S. is projected to be short about 270,000 registered nurses, plus at least 120,000 licensed practical nurses, by 2028, according to recent estimates from the Health Resources and Services Administration.

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