Rail strike | $5m owed | Selma

Monday, May 18, 2026

STRIKES

► From the AP — Talks to end a strike shutting down the largest US commuter rail system will resume Monday — Unions representing rail workers and the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, which runs the railroad, negotiated through much of Sunday and early Monday after some prodding from the National Mediation Board and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. The two sides came up short, but the talks went well enough that negotiators agreed to return to their work early Monday morning, according to a spokesperson for union workers…After the news conference, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Transportation Communications Union said in a statement that the union workers “are not asking for special treatment — they are simply fighting to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of living in the New York region after years without a raise.”

LOCAL

► From the Seattle Times — Seattle’s employee union won up to $5M. The city hasn’t paid it — So far, the raises and back pay have largely not been implemented as department staff await instructions from the city’s human resources department, which has frustrated union representatives…In a letter sent late last month to Wilson and the City Council, 18 unions with represented workers in the city called for creating an “empowered and independent” labor relations department outside of human resources. The letter criticized city bureaucracy for its drawn-out processes and for allowing city departments to ignore pieces of settlements and collective bargaining agreements. “We need a Labor Relations Department that city departments view as an authority figure, not a group that can be ignored at will,” the letter reads. “Labor Relations should be an entity that reflects the values of the Mayor’s Office toward its workforce.”

► From the Yakima Herald-Republic — OPINION: From Where I Sit: Agriculture’s fortunes ride on farmworkers’ rights — It was February in Yakima County. The overnight temperature in Sunnyside had dropped below freezing. Standing outside in winter weather, management told the workers they all were fired. The farm had been sold. Then, the same supervisors who fired them handed out employment agreements from the new owner. The paperwork included pay cuts and binding arbitration agreements. In the parking lot — literally between their former workplace and the road — the fired workers were told they needed to sign the contract and arbitration agreement or hit the road…Soon, the Washington Supreme Court will consider whether those signatures meant anything. The case is United Farm Workers of America v. Greenwood Mushroom Sunnyside. One question is the key to this lawsuit: Did the new employer pressure the workers into signing away their future rights for their next paycheck?

► From the Tri-City Herald — Tyson Foods worker dies in meat plant accident near Tri-Cities — A meat plant worker died Friday morning at the Tyson Fresh Meats processing plant at Wallula Gap, about 10 miles southeast of Pasco. The Walla Walla County coroner confirmed a 27-year-old man died after suffering a severe injury. His name is being withheld pending notification of his relatives. An autopsy will be performed Monday as part of the death investigation by Walla Walla County officials. No other details were released about the incident. Tyson said it is working with authorities and has notified the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

► From the Daily World — TRL trustees visit Hoquiam Timberland Library for Q&A — McQuarrie turned the focus to workplace culture and eight of the pending layoffs, which are set to proceed for probationary employees or disciplinary reasons. “We have a list of all of the things that people have been disciplined for, and they include things like spending too much time talking to patrons and not spending enough time talking to patrons. Insubordination is something that is frequently cited as a reason staff are disciplined, which is an insane thing to say about a library,” McQuarrie said.

► From UFCW Local 367:

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the NW Labor Press — No contract (yet) at PeaceHealth Southwest — On April 30, members of Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals took their frustrations to the sidewalks in front of the hospital with an informational picket. The group unionized in May 2024 and still doesn’t have a union contract two years later.

ORGANIZING

► From the Tacoma News Tribune — Labor advocates picket outside Tacoma REI amid its largest annual sale — Employees at the Tacoma REI, 3825 S. Steele St., have been trying to form a union in coordination with other stores around the United States, but REI has not bargained in good faith and is participating in unfair labor practices, said Tacoma resident Sarah Cherin…So far, 11 REI shops have unionized in the United States, and Bellingham is the only unionized store in Washington, Cherin said. There has been some talk about unionizing at the Tacoma REI, but Tacoma employees are “very scared of retaliation” and did not want to be interviewed, she said.

► From WGAL — Penn State faculty vote to unionize in one of Pa.’s largest union elections — Thousands of Penn State faculty members have voted to unionize, marking one of the largest union elections in Pennsylvania in decades, according to organizers. The newly formed union, the Penn State Faculty Alliance (PSFA), is affiliated with SEIU Local 668 and consists of more than 5,000 members.

NATIONAL

► From KUOW — Thousands of U.S. countertop workers could have damaged lungs, safety expert says — Thousands of countertop workers across the country likely have unrecognized lung damage, says Michaels. “We could easily have 10,000 workers here with silicosis and possibly far more,” he says, noting that an estimated 100,000 people work in this industry in the U.S., and studies done in Australia found lung disease in over 10% of the countertop workforce there. Many doctors aren’t familiar with silicosis, says Michaels, and they don’t always ask about a person’s job. So workers who do seek medical help often get misdiagnosed.

► From the NW Labor Press —  Union says it’s time to boycott REI — Rich Smith, communications director for UFCW Local 3000, says REI agreed to 25 parts of a first union contract but then walked away from negotiations over a $200,000 gap this March. That may be the equivalent of 100 hours of legal work by REI’s Morgan Lewis attorneys, who bill up to $2,000 per hour according to court records.

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the New York Times — The Fight for Voting Rights Returns to Selma — Yet many of the activists, clergy members and elected officials who took part on Saturday argued that the cause at hand transcended politics. It was a civil rights matter, they said — a spiritual and moral one, even. Standing from the pulpit of Tabernacle, a sanctuary steeped in civil rights history, the Rev. NaDine Rawls recalled growing up in Bossier Parish, La. She was 4 when the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965. Her father was 37, her mother 32. “They had already lived half their life without civil rights,” she said.

► From Reuters — US moves to end job protections for hundreds of health department workers — The Trump administration moved on Friday to strip hundreds of senior U.S. Department of Health and Human Services employees of civil service job protections, according ‌to an email reviewed by Reuters. HHS employees at several agencies received the email, which said members of their teams would have their jobs reclassified. The change means they can be fired at will. Previously, they could only be fired for cause and had appeal rights.

► From the Guardian — Workers racing to turn reflecting pool blue for Trump may be at risk, union warns — Visiting the site on a blustery day last week, Zaldivar said he had been contacted by union-affiliated companies anxious to know why the usual bidding process had been circumvented. “I’m here to verify if the company is in compliance and following the right guidelines,” the union representative said. “It’s very rare that a job like this, which is a publicly funded contract, doesn’t go to a competitive bid. “This didn’t go through the right processes, so we lost the chance for a union-affiliated contractor to be part of the competition.”…“The chemicals are hazardous. My concern is usually the level of risk when it’s rushed. Are workers taking the rightful steps to protect themselves?”

► From the Guardian — Labor leaders call collective bargaining veto a ‘betrayal’ by Virginia governor — The SEIU leaders April Verrett, LaNoral Thomas and Jaime Contreras said in a joint statement said the veto was a “betrayal of Virginia’s workers who were promised change”. “Collective bargaining is not a privilege – it is a right. Governor Spanberger looked workers in the eye, met with our members, affirmed her support, and made a promise. Today, she broke it,” they said. Edward Kelly, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, also said the veto “is a slap in the face to every worker who put their faith in her”. Of the state’s 11,000 firefighters, about 8,000 to 9,000 still do not have collective bargaining rights as their municipalities have not opted into having them. “Firefighters keep their word every single day on the job. It’s a shame the governor can’t do the same,” Kelly said.

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