State worker contract | Whole Foods union | OSHA penalties

Monday, June 15, 2026

LOCAL

► From the Spokesman Review — ‘Deemed essential’ and left behind: How community leaders and physicians are helping Latino farmworkers navigate long COVID — Armida Rivera was working as a supervisor at Monson Fruit Company near Yakima during the COVID-19 pandemic, when workers asked her to strike with them. She didn’t hesitate to say yes. But not long after, she was fired. “They didn’t have any protection against the virus. We didn’t have soap for us to wash our hands,” Rivera said in Spanish. “I don’t regret saying yes. I wholeheartedly would do it again.”…She said most of the farmworkers she has stayed in contact with still have lingering symptoms of dizziness since getting COVID. Others have been left with no sense of taste, she said. “Anybody that has worked in agriculture knows how dangerous it is to feel dizzy and be on a ladder picking fruit,” Rivera said.

► From the Seattle Times — I used to work at an ICE detention center. Here’s what I learned  — While employed there, I observed the harms of detention and deportation extend beyond its walls into the public. I witnessed parents, many of whom have been in the local community for several decades, say goodbye to their heartbroken children and grandchildren, to spouses and other loved ones…What shocked me most in the years after leaving was how unnecessary detention often is. Roughly 70% of the people detained over the last five years have no criminal convictions, and many of those who do have only minor violations. The majority of those are imprisoned at the discretion of agency officials, not legal mandates.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the Washington State Standard — WA state workers head into difficult wage talks as budget outlook darkens — “All of our bargaining teams have been preparing for negotiations with a clear understanding of the financial challenges,” said Ashley Fueston, vice president of the Washington Federation of State Employees, which represents 50,000 state government, higher education and public service workers. It has more than a dozen contracts funded in the current budget. “We also know that state employees have faced years of increasing workloads, staffing shortages, and retention challenges,” Fueston said. “Those issues remain real regardless of the state’s budget outlook.”…Seamus Walsh Petrie, legislative and organizing director for the Washington Public Employees Association, said the extent to which budget concerns constrain contracts will become clearer after release of the next revenue forecast on June 26.

► From the Seattle Times — ICE presence at World Cup gets cold reception from Seattle protesters — As she stood in Judkins Park waiting to speak, Eunice How, a lead organizer for Unite Here Local 8, said she worried agents could use the games to round up local workers. “We see what’s happened in Minneapolis and Los Angeles and Chicago, around the country, and we’re worried,” How said. The union represents 9,000 hospitality and hotels workers in Oregon and Washington, and recently authorized a strike at the Embassy Suites Hilton Hotel, located near Lumen Field, according to How. As they negotiate a new contract, workers are asking for among other things, to have protections from ICE added into their contract, How said.

ORGANIZING

► From the Seattle Times — Whole Foods Unionization Upheld By US Labor Board  — The US labor board ruled against Whole Foods Market’s objections to a landmark Philadelphia unionization vote, teeing up a likely yearslong legal battle over whether the Amazon.com Inc. grocery chain must collectively bargain with US employees for the first time. In a brief, unanimous order Monday, the members of the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Whole Foods had raised “no substantial issues warranting review.”…The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is currently slated to consider Amazon’s challenge to an NLRB ruling requiring the e-commerce giant to collectively bargain with employees at a New York City warehouse, four years after those workers voted to unionize.

NATIONAL

► From Stateline — As ICE presence at World Cup looms, fans and local leaders prepare — Zamaro is a member of UNITE HERE Local 11, a union representing more than 2,000 bartenders, cashiers, dishwashers, cooks and other food workers at SoFi Stadium. On Wednesday, the union approved a contract that, along with wage increases, includes language giving workers the right to strike if ICE “threatens worker safety during the World Cup,” according to a news release. “It takes away your desire to get to work when you know that you might be harassed or you might be detained for no reason,” Zamaro said. Zamaro and other organizers say they are seeking a commitment from FIFA that they will be protected. Stateline reached out to FIFA but did not receive a response.

POLITICS & POLICY

► From Confined Spaces — White House Cancels 2026 OSHA Penalty Increases — Despite legislation passed in 2016 requiring certain federal agencies to raise their penalties every year to track the inflation rate, the Trump administration has decided to  give lawbreaking companies a break by cancelling this year’s OSHA and MSHA penalty increases, as well as penalties issued by other federal enforcement agency such as agencies such as EPA and the Department of Transportation…the Trump administration is further weakening OSHA’s deterrence and increase [sic] the likelihood that workers will be injured or killed in the workplace.

► From Axios — Unions prepare for battle over AI in 2028 elections — “You’re either with workers or you’re with millionaires,” AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler told Axios. “There’s just been a dearth of leadership in terms of elected officials really prioritizing this and putting workers at the center.”…[Massachusetts AFL-CIO President] Lynch also argued that “we can build data centers responsibly. These data centers I think are going to be both fueling the hospitals and the universities that need this stuff. It’s part of our digital infrastructure.”

INTERNATIONAL

► From Engadget — Rockstar developers go public with first union — Workers at Rockstar Games have announced the formation of the Rockstar Game Workers Union, the first labor union at the Grand Theft Auto developer. According to an explanatory video released alongside the announcement, the new union represents workers in Edinburgh, London, Leeds, Lincoln and Dundee, covering all of Rockstar’s offices in the UK.

► From the AP — Foreign workers say they were paid less than $2 an hour to build a new US Consulate in Milan — Italian prosecutors are investigating Montgomery, Alabama-based Caddell Construction, a major builder of U.S. diplomatic missions. Two of its managers in Italy were arrested this month on suspicion of labor exploitation, one while boarding a flight to leave the country and another planning to flee, prosecutors said…The consulate probe was launched about six months ago and involves some 70 workers, mostly from India. Prosecutors allege Caddell illegally deducted room and board from wages and forced them to work 10-hour days, six days a week.

► From the Canadian Press — Air Canada and IAMAW reach tentative agreement on new contract — The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers announced the deal as historic, with landmark wage increases for its members. Terms of the new agreement will remain confidential until the union’s membership has a chance to vote on ratification. The vote is expected to take place sometime in the next few weeks, followed by approval from Air Canada’s Board of Directors.

The Stand posts links to local, national and international labor news every weekday morning. Subscribe to get daily news in your inbox.