Hanford halt | Free speech | GOP v. social safety net

Friday, April 3, 2026

LOCAL

► From the Tri-City Herald — Work halted over emergency response concerns after Hanford worker dies — Work was halted at the Hanford nuclear site tank farms in Eastern Washington for much of Thursday over emergency response concerns following the death of a worker last week. The Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council reportedly called a halt to work midmorning Thursday. The union group could not be reached for comment late Thursday afternoon. The stop-work order was lifted in the late afternoon after concerns were resolved…The issue was resolved with an agreement to add buildings associated with certain tank farms to the dispatch system to make sure emergency responders have the best possible location information on the sprawling, 580-square-mile site north of Richland. Hanford workers may call a stop to work if they believe conditions exist that pose a danger to the health and safety of workers or the public.

► From NCW Life — U.S. Forest Service to close Wenatchee Forestry Sciences Laboratory — The U.S. Forest Service announced this week that it will close the Wenatchee Forestry Sciences Laboratory as part of a “sweeping restructuring” of the agency…A research lab in Seattle is also set to close…The Forest Service Council of the National Federation of Federal Employees will take over negotiations for the local bargaining units, according to NFFE Local 34 President Katijo Maher. NFFE Local 34 represents employees on the Okanogan-Wenatchee, Colville, Olympic, and Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forests. “The press seemed to know about it before we did,” Maher said about the notification of the news.

► From KING 5 — State says study of mops designed to protect janitors, reduce costs — The Washington Department of Labor & Industries is conducting what is believed to be the first-ever scientific study of janitorial services, observing how janitors use mops in an effort to reduce workplace injuries and save taxpayers money…The study shines a spotlight on a workforce that often goes unnoticed, said another Senior Research Ergonomist Ninica Howard. “Janitors do a job that is incredibly important to our workspace, but yet they don’t share the space at the same time we do. So we don’t see their work. They’re invisible,” said Howard.

► From KUOW — The K-shaped economy: Why diners are dying but yachts are booming — Blue Star was one of many businesses that cater to middle-class customers cratering under the weight of the affordability crisis. They are casualties of what economists are calling the “K-shaped economy,” a phenomenon in which consumers sort into high- or low-income groups and the middle hollows out…Businesses that cater to wealthy customers are insulated from those challenges. Oasis Luxury Yacht Charters has been profitable since Greg Holloway bought the 70-foot, 1,800-square-foot boat early on in the pandemic. Charters start at $1,000 an hour, more when customers want to sail-gate a big Husky game.

► From the Seattle Times — Why Seattle tech companies are still laying off workers — Artificial intelligence, the technology powering valuations growth for many tech companies, was the leading cause of workforce reductions across the economy, according to the report. About a quarter of all job cuts tracked across multiple industries were blamed on AI. That may feed fears that rising automation is displacing workers in industries like health care, media, finance and even tech, although experts are skeptical that the masses of laid-off workers are being replaced by robots. Caroline Walsh, a managing vice president in research firm Gartner’s human resources practice, said she isn’t seeing AI-related productivity boosts driving mass layoffs. “These layoffs may be more related to AI costs,” Walsh said. “We’re not seeing large companies lay off people just because of productivity gains.”

► From KING 5 — Deported in days: Seattle emerges as major hub for ICE transfer flights — KING 5 analyzed ICE-related flight records and found Boeing Field has become a major hub for transferring detainees across the country, often within days of arrest, making it difficult for families and attorneys to track them…The data helps explain what happened to Ivan Guzman, a Shoreline father arrested by immigration agents while on his way to drop his toddler off at daycare…Castaneda quickly raised more than $40,000 through a GoFundMe to hire an attorney, but by the time legal help was secured, Guzman had already been transferred to El Paso, Texas and then deported to Nogales, Mexico — a total of six days after his arrest.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From OPB — Klamath Falls support staff union files third unfair labor practices complaint against school district — The union representing support staff in the Klamath Falls City School District has filed a third unfair labor practices complaint, alleging district leaders tried to undermine the union and discourage participation…The new complaint follows two earlier filings. A 2021 complaint was decided in the union’s favor, though Weyand said the district appealed. The ruling found the district violated state law by threatening a union member’s job security because she engaged in protected activity and by disciplining union President Lisa Danskin for using the district’s email system for union communications…The union and the district have been negotiating a new contract for more than a year. The dispute centers on wages, with union leaders arguing that the current pay has not kept pace with the cost of living. The two sides have begun mediation.

► From Capital & Main — ‘We Just Want Life to Be Sustainable’: LAUSD Workers Near Strike in Contract Fight — As a food service worker at a charter high school in West Los Angeles, Tinesha Wirt is well aware of the importance of her job…The thought of going on strike — and potentially cutting off that critical supply of freshly made food — puts a chill in Wirt, who has worked in the Los Angeles Unified School District for 12 years. “We love our jobs,” Wirt said. “We love taking care of these kids, and we know how they need the service that we’re providing.” But when Wirt leaves school each day, she returns home to a studio apartment that she shares with her 22-year-old daughter — what she can afford, Wirt says. By her account, she’s had two raises in more than a decade. She earns less than $23 an hour, well below the estimated $50.23 an hour that an adult with one dependent and a fulltime job needs to make in order to meet the basic cost of living in Los Angeles.

NATIONAL

► From the Seattle Times — Starbucks rolls out performance bonuses, tipping changes for baristas — Starbucks said the program is “subject to collective bargaining as required by federal law” at the U.S. stores that belong to the union. Starbucks Workers United, the union representing thousands of baristas, said the news is “clearly a reaction to our organizing and demands for higher take-home pay for baristas.”…For nonunionized stores, the change will take effect in July. That month, employees will also begin receiving tips from additional ordering and payment methods, such as credit and debit cards for mobile order and pay. At present, workers can only get tips in cash or through Starbucks card payments used at point of sale and for drive-thru orders. However, Workers United said: “It’s notable that these bonuses and tips will be largely out of baristas’ control, relying on customer tipping and store performance metrics as determined by Starbucks management.”

Editor’s note: making tipping easier has been a core demand from Starbucks Workers United for years. 

► From On Labor — Can Workers Have Free Speech Rights? — When the news of former FBI Director Robert Mueller’s death broke, Donald Trump wrote, “Good, I’m glad he’s dead.” Just a few months ago, workers across the country were fired for making similar remarks related to Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Reuters found more than 600 instances of individuals who were punished for criticizing Kirk after he was killed. Public sector workers generally have First Amendment rights that protect them from being fired when they speak out on matters of public interest. But, in most states, private sector workers can be fired for stating an opinion that their boss doesn’t like, or for joining a “No Kings” rally or an anti-ICE protest.

► From KGW — After 9 years on the job, TSA worker says he quit rather than keep working unpaid — As of Thursday, an ongoing partial government shutdown had reached its 48th day. Though some received backpay this week, thousands of federal workers continue reporting to work without any promise of pay going forward — and for some, the damage was done weeks ago…For nine years, Echeverria was a lead transportation security officer with TSA, working at Salt Lake City International Airport. Workers there are represented by the same union as those at Portland International Airport, AFGE Local 1127…Since last fall’s record-long full government shutdown, Echeverria said, his team has lost more than 100 officers. Recently, he became one of the ones who left. “My wife was actually really stressed, and there were nights that she would go to sleep crying — literally crying — because we didn’t know what to do the following day for food,” he said,

► From the Guardian — US jobs market surpassed expectations in March but February losses were worse than first reported — The unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. In February, the economy lost 133,000 jobs, according to revised figures. Job figures for January were revised up, from 126,000 to 160,000. With revisions, total employment in January and February is 7,000 lower than previously reported. Previous data painted a mixed picture of the US labor market, which economists say has been in a static “low-fire, low-hire” state, where both layoffs and new hires are down.

► From Raise Up the South & Labor On The Line:

POLITICS & POLICY

► From In These Times — More Than A Slogan: Labor’s New Gambit to Tax the Rich — That push has already found success in Washington State, which, until March, was one of just nine nationwide to eschew personal income taxes entirely. A new ​“millionaire tax,” championed by a community-labor coalition and signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson on March 30, is expected to generate at least $3 billion for K-12 education, healthcare and other essential services. Before 2021, when Washington passed a 7% tax on capital gains over $250,000, it ranked as the most regressive tax state in the nation…“We’re a union of 84,000 educators,” [WEA President] Delaney says. ​“So it’s our role to educate our members, who are in every community in the state, to then go to soccer games and church socials … and talk to people about what this is and what it isn’t.” That role could again prove critical as conservative groups line up to stop the millionaire tax from taking effect in the 2028 tax year.

► From the Guardian — Billionaire fortunes have reached all-time highs under Trump. So has the movement to tax them — Sanchez is volunteering to collect signatures to put a contentious “billionaire tax” on California’s November ballot, sponsored by her union, SEIU – United Healthcare Workers West. The proposal would impose a one-time 5% wealth tax on the state’s 200-plus billionaires to cover lost federal funding for California hospitals and emergency services and to fund public education and food assistance programs. She says most people have been eager to sign on – and want to see more of it. “You’ve got the people who were like, ‘Why just one time, why aren’t we taxing them more often than that?’ Other people are like, ‘Why just 5%?’” said Sanchez. “A lot of people are like, ‘This should be happening on a bigger scale more often.’” In at least 10 states, residents are organizing campaigns to tax wealth in order to fund schools, prisons and other social services. In March, Washington state passed its first-ever income tax that targets about 20,000 millionaire households.

► From Talking Points Memo — ICE and War Funding Can Now Become the Latest Excuse to Gut the Social Safety Net — The reality is, a possible second reconciliation bill will become a vehicle for more social safety net cuts — which Republican lawmakers will spin as necessary as they hide behind the made up need for offsetting their spending on these other priorities like ICE and war funding and possibly the Save America Act, experts tell TPM. “They want to cut social spending, not because of deficit concerns — although they’ll say there are deficit concerns — but because that’s not the kind of spending they like,” Linden said…There is, of course, also the political question of trying to pass a second reconciliation bill ahead of the midterms, especially one that includes priorities that may be harder to sell to voters, even some members of Trump’s far-right, MAGA base. “You’re really going to cut health care to pay for an unpopular war?” Linden inquired in a conversation with TPM. The question becomes, he later added, “Are they willing to do such a politically toxic vote this close to the midterms?”

JOLT OF JOY

Today’s chuckle courtesy of the Boilermakers:

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