Educator, caregiver bargaining | Cancer risk | Gov. for the rich

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

LOCAL

► From the Seattle Times — Crews in Longview begin removing failed tank months after disaster — Nippon Dynawave said Friday it expects the tank work “to take a matter of weeks,” but hasn’t given an estimate for a full restart of shuttered mill, which made pulp for papermaking and packaging material for food containers and other products. Company documents filed Monday indicate the temporary tanks could be in use for up three months. And state investigators say it may be late November before they release findings…Still, “it’s a positive indication that the intent is to get that mill restarted,” said Josh Estes, spokesperson for the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, which represents many of the mill’s employees.

► From the Spokesman Review — Spokane-area firefighters look to detox harmful toxins consumed in destructive fires — Many firefighters battled flames without respiratory protection and were exposed to toxins, which de Ruyter described as the “worst of the worst,” emanating from the wildland and structure fires. He said firefighters dispatched to the brush fires didn’t have time to go back to their stations to retrieve proper breathing equipment and vehicles to fight the full-blown wildland-urban interface fires…Two California-based nonprofits provided hope through treatment last week for hundreds of local firefighters and members of law enforcement exposed to the three Spokane fires and other Eastern Washington blazes that continue to burn…In 2025, nearly 80% of International Association of Fire Fighters member line-of-duty deaths were from occupational cancer, according to the IAFF.

► From Range — Last week, the Spokesman-Review benched its top editor. Now, its union has voted no confidence — Rob Curley, the long-time executive editor of the Spokesman-Review, has been placed on administrative leave following the paper’s comprehensive coverage of the Spokane Complex wildfires…On Monday night, the union approved a vote of no confidence for Curley, according to the statement.“While we acknowledge the results of the no confidence vote, the circumstances behind it are part of an ongoing personnel matter,” [union president] Clouse wrote in the release. “Out of respect to those processes, we cannot comment further at this time.”

► From the Everett Herald — Everett hospice workers concerned for patient care after private equity takeover — Union members say staff have left largely because of unsustainable patient load requirements and fear of losing their licenses. Throughout Washington, employees have filed dozens of complaints with federal and state agencies regarding what they say are inadequate patient care, wage theft and unsafe practices…On Friday, the Washington Department of Labor and Industries confirmed with The Herald that it has started investigating 47 workers’ rights complaints from 38 workers in the Snohomish County and Lacey locations.

► From the Seattle Times — King County employee will monitor ICE flights from Boeing Field — The newly hired flight monitoring and outreach coordinator started recently at King County International Airport, aka Boeing Field, after a month of training. Her job is not exclusively focused on flights chartered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement but all those with more than 18 passengers or involving buses taking passengers to and from planes, as well as various other duties, said county spokesperson Barbara Ramey…La Resistencia, which opposes detention and deportation, has waited for King County to strengthen county oversight of ICE flights. In May, it came out with a report accusing local officials of rarely engaging “in anything beyond performative decrees.”

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From KING 5 — Seattle educators, district continue contract talks as deadline approaches — Seattle Public Schools and the union representing thousands of educators remain at the bargaining table as they work toward a new labor agreement before the current contract expires Aug. 30…Davina Diaz, vice president of the Seattle Education Association and a special education instructional assistant for the district, said the union’s primary focus is improving student outcomes. “The biggest focus is student learning and success,” Diaz said. “We want to make sure that the district listens to our voices in the classroom and in learning spaces so we can get to student success together.”

► From the Stranger — After Odyssey Walkout, SIFF Cinema Workers Union Is Back at the Negotiating Table — In interviews with The Stranger, union leaders and workers say that, while they feel SIFF is bargaining fairly, there’s not much concrete movement yet on staff cuts and wage increases…Union chair Adrienne Tippins says workers want more guaranteed hours. Initially, SIFF proposed a weekly minimum of 12 hours, but only if the union agreed to one fewer staffer on shift at a time, an idea the union considered unacceptable…Thursday, the union proposed reducing staffing levels at the SIFF Cinema Uptown and the SIFF Cinema Downtown by one person each shift to get $30 an hour by 2029.

► From the Willamette Week — Union Report Finds Oregon’s Universities Hired Administrators as Instructional and Classified Staff Lagged — The white paper, titled “The Cost of Administrative Bloat,” was deployed as universities and the union engage in contract negotiations that have dragged on…Melissa Unger, executive director of SEIU 503, told reporters Wednesday the report is meant to flag the dissonance between universities’ financial turmoil and their spending choices. She says that even though growing administrative spending cannot fully explain budget crises, where money is prioritized can affect classified employees’ morale. Unger says the report is meant to spark a conversation around oversight of public university spending.

NATIONAL

► From the AP — Flight attendants and pilots have highest risk of dying from radiation-linked cancers, study says — Among more than 500 occupations, flight attendants had the highest percentage of deaths from radiation-related cancers, and pilots were second, the researchers found. For those two occupations, the odds of dying were unusually high for each type of radiation-related cancer. Neither group showed higher-than-normal death rates from cancers that aren’t tied to radiation exposure, noted the commentary writers, Catherine Olsen and Ken Karipidis…Sara Nelson, who leads a union representing 55,000 flight attendants, said the report reinforces that radiation exposure needs to be taken seriously, as the union has suggested for years.

► From the New York Times — Waymo Is Growing Faster Than Ever. So Are Its Glitches. — Amid that growth, Waymo has issued three federal recalls since December for software problems — including one where the cars drove into flooded roadways — compared with three recalls in the previous 22 months. Some edge cases have drawn headlines, including a December power outage in San Francisco that left nearly 1,600 Waymos frozen for at least two minutes…“This technology struggles to know when it’s in a novel situation,” Dr. Koopman said. “And when it’s in a novel situation, it’s prone to overconfidence and spectacularly stupid failure.”

POLITICS & POLICY

► From Common Dreams — ‘A Government of the Rich, by the Rich, for the Rich’: Nearly 60 Top Trump Officials Worth $100 Million or More — The analysis by the watchdog group Public Citizen found that 57 officials working for the Trump administration are worth over $100 million, while eight of them are worth a billion or more. Seventeen of them are ambassadors, while the other 40 occupy senior posts, including over a third of Cabinet positions. More than half of them were donors to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, giving a combined $65 million in campaign contributions to him or his associated political committees…The Trump administration has more than 10 times as many “ultra-millionaires” as previous administrations, the report found.

► From Bloomberg Law — Third GOP Labor Board Member Sworn In, Heralding Caselaw Changes — James Macy officially joined the National Labor Relations Board, giving the agency the needed three Republican members to begin reconsidering Biden-era precedents. Macy was offically sworn in Monday, according to a post on the NLRB’s website . The Senate confirmed both Macy and David Prouty, the panel’s sole Democrat, on Aug. 7. The board now has the votes needed to overturn board law from the previous administration — which includes worker friendly standards on union elections and workplace policies.

► From the Washington State Standard — As WA caregiver union pushes for pay hike, state seeks wage freeze — Caregivers from Service Employees International Union 775 initially asked for a 12% hike over two years — 6% next year, and another 6% the year after. This position would’ve reportedly cost the state around $367 million. Since the state balked, the union dropped its request to a 3% increase next year and 5% the year after. “We were certainly deeply disappointed by the state’s proposal,” said Adam Glickman, secretary-treasurer for SEIU 775. “This will have a broad impact on the ability of seniors and people with disabilities to find caregivers, to keep caregivers.”…Glickman called the state’s position “penny-wise and pound foolish,” noting state data shows increases in people going from in-home care to nursing homes would push up other costs for the state. For example, a 25% shift would be worth $1.2 billion annually.

► From the Yakima Herald-Republic — Calls for changes to foreign guestworker program grow across the country — Not all welcome the idea of expanding the program. The United Farm Workers contend that the rapid expansion of the program has led to job loss for American-based workers…Arteaga said the UFW also is concerned about the letter sent by members of Congress. “I find it disheartening that while Newhouse has had a track record of supporting all of his agricultural constituents, that he is through this letter solely advocating for agricultural employers,” Arteaga said. Arteaga said that the UFW continues to support the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship, which the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act does not provide.

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