‘Blank check’ for landlords | Amazon’s safety record | Clean energy projects

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

LOCAL

► From the Seattle Times — King County workers return to the office — to protest RTO mandate — Protesters, organized by the PROTEC17 union that represents about 2,500 county employees, gathered during their noon lunch hour, to present Zahilay a giant blank check made out to “Downtown Landlords,” meant to symbolize the cost to taxpayers of the return-to-office mandate. “All of us know our jobs and what we do in our communities better than anyone,” said Brad Moore, a stormwater inspector with the county’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks, as workers presented the check to a representative from Zahilay’s office. “King County already had existing telework infrastructure that we felt worked really well for us, and we think that this mandate gets rid of that flexibility.”… The county does not currently have enough office space to house all the workers who would return to the office, [workers] said.

► From the Cascadia Daily — Update: BP refinery incident being inspected by state labor and air agencies — Labor and Industries said Tuesday it launched an inspection with BP and two contractors, Spectrum and Intertek. The inspection could take up to six months to complete and any findings will be made public…All three people who were injured in the incident have been released from the hospital, Cesar Rodriguez, a BP spokesperson, said Monday.

► From KNKX — Investigation into top Tacoma health official revealed ‘harsh’ conduct — Reed was accused of creating a toxic work environment by some health department employees. These allegations were brought forward by three unions representing health department employees. An official investigation was launched by the Tacoma-Pierce County Board of Health into her conduct, eventually concluding that Reed had not violated any laws or department policies…”There was case after case where staff told the investigator that Reed would show up late to meetings she called without reading the documents they were asked to prepare for her, only to have Reed speak over them, roll her eyes at them, demean them in front of their colleagues. Many witnesses said they didn’t speak up, even to correct misinformation, for fear of being a target of Reed themselves. And I think it begs the question, I mean, what does this say about the quality of our health department when the director is allowed to act this way?”

► From the Willamette Week — Home Forward Union Says It Has ‘No Confidence or Trust’ in Agency Leadership After Travel — The labor union that represents 205 staff at Home Forward says it has “no confidence or trust in leadership” of the agency after WW reported on CEO Ivory Mathews’ travel spending pattern over the past three years. AFSCME Local 3135 president Jennifer McMillan says most of the union’s members were “completely blindsided” by Mathews’ travel—and her annual salary, which this year is $342,000. “Employees are too busy trying to pay basic bills just to survive to even dream of what it would be like to use company funds to go to Hawaii with our families and play on the beach,” she says. Home Forward is the city of Portland’s housing authority.

► From Oregon Live — Researchers are losing jobs at OHSU’s cancer institute — even as it undergoes massive expansion — David Kreisman, a spokesperson for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said the union represents about 550 research staff at the Knight Cancer Institute, not counting management…In a letter addressed to OHSU’s board of directors, union officials argued that “expanding cancer care facilities while cutting research on early detection and precision oncology is contradictory to OHSU’s mission,” which they say is to turn scientific discoveries into real-world treatments.

AEROSPACE

► From CNBC — Boeing CEO says ‘all systems are go’ to increase 737 production as company narrows loss — Boeing said it still expects certification of the long-delayed 737 Max 7 and Max 10, the smallest and largest of the bestselling Max family aircraft, later this year, with deliveries starting in 2027. Boeing’s commercial aircraft unit handed over 143 airplanes in the first quarter, up 10% from a year earlier. The unit, Boeing’s largest, posted revenue $9.2 billion, up 13%, though it still posted a loss from operations.

ORGANIZING

► From Bloomberg Law — Google Tries for Circuit Lottery Win in NLRB Joint Employer Case — Google LLC and the Alphabet Workers Union-Communications Workers of America have filed dueling petitions in different circuit courts seeking review of an NLRB decision ordering the tech company to bargain with a union representing Accenture writers and analysts…The rival filings underscore the benefits of strategic venue selection when seeking review of NLRB decisions. As an employer, Google can file in any circuit where it does business, an advantage for companies with nationwide footprints.

NATIONAL

► From the Guardian — ‘Get back to work’: Amazon faces fresh scrutiny over workplace safety record — A training PowerPoint document obtained by the Guardian on “best practices” inside its AmCare in-house first aid unit, included slides on how to “maximize AMCARE Utilization”, which it defined as the percentage of employees who pass through without the need to see a workers’ compensation doctor. The presentation covers how to “prevent day 1 send outs”, where workers bypass the service and go to a doctor first. AmCare “CAN NOT send any one home or excuse time”, it said. If a worker is injured, it said, “do not recommend they take time to rest it away”, adding: “report to amcare and receive treatment early.”…AmCare won’t log reports, [a worker] claimed, until it’s completely apparent a worker cannot return to work. “Amazon really, really likes it when their injury rate looks low, so they will do their best and not have injuries logged,” the worker said.

► From the New York Times — A Year After U.S.A.I.D.’s Death, Fired Workers Find Few Jobs and Much Loss — When the Trump administration dismantled the sprawling global aid agency last year, it wiped out virtually an entire industry — international development — that had been based in Washington since U.S.A.I.D.’s creation in 1961 under President John F. Kennedy. Nearly all of the agency’s 16,000 employees were laid off. An estimated 280,000 contractors, partners and local hires worldwide lost their jobs as well. A year later, people have plowed through savings, cashed out retirement funds and moved in with friends and relatives. Former U.S.A.I.D. workers who have done informal surveys estimate that less than half have found full-time work, with many making less than before. An estimated third are unemployed.

► From the Hill — Worker satisfaction with pay, advancement at new low: Fed survey — Workers reported the lowest likelihood of moving to a new employer in five years, falling to 9.7 percent. Reported satisfaction with job pay, benefits and promotion opportunities also decreased in the recent survey. Additionally, the number of people who reported looking for a job in the last four weeks slightly declined to 22.5 percent from 23.8 percent in November.  The data follows a similar downward trend in polling about job satisfaction and hiring growth.

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the AP — Federal judge strikes down some Trump administration actions that have slowed clean energy projects — A federal judge in Massachusetts on Tuesday struck down several Trump administration actions slowing down development of clean energy, including a requirement that all solar and wind energy projects on federal lands and waters be personally approved by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. Chief Judge Denise J. Casper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that a coalition of plaintiffs representing wind and solar developers were likely to succeed on the merits of their claims that the administration’s actions violate federal statute and will cause irreparable harm if the court did not intervene.

► From KREM — Idaho Education Association members issue vote of no confidence in Gov. Brad Little after House Bill 516 signing — IEA President McInelly released the following statement after the bill was signed: “Gov. Little claims the mantle of a public education supporter, but he just signed a bill that could cement his legacy as anything but. In the eyes of public education’s most ardent and dedicated advocates for students and public schools — IEA’s members — he has certainly forfeited that claim. The governor had every reason to veto House Bill 516, including that it would simply be the right thing to do for Idaho’s students and educators. The governor even detailed how the new law could lead to discrimination against union members in the letter justifying his action…”

► From KBIA — Missouri cannabis workers could soon have protection to unionize — Both the Missouri House and Senate recently passed a bill that outlaws hemp-derived products. The Senate added a section to the bill that would give cannabis workers the right to organize, form, join and assist labor organizations. As the Missouri cannabis industry has grown, more workers have attempted to unionize. But employers have previously kept cannabis workers from unionizing as they have argued they are agricultural workers, which excludes them from organizing under the National Labor Relations Act.

► From the AP — Virginia voters approve redistricting plan that could boost Democrats’ seats in Congress — Virginia voters approved a mid-decade redistricting plan Tuesday that could boost Democrats’ chances of winning four additional U.S. House seats in November’s midterm elections that will decide control of the closely divided Congress. The constitutional amendment narrowly backed by voters bypasses a bipartisan redistricting commission to allow the use of new districts drawn by Virginia’s Democratic-led General Assembly. But the public vote may not be the final word. The state Supreme Court is considering whether the plan is illegal in a case that could make the referendum results meaningless.

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