We Are Here | SPEEA to vote | Union candidates

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

LOCAL

► From KIMA — Yakima Valley immigrants united in a 25-mile solidarity walk — The walk totaled roughly 25 miles, and organizer Indira Trejo says that through all the fatigue, the group has an overarching mission of bringing attention to wrongful deportation…”We need a just and fair system of immigration that we don’t have now,” Trejo said. “This is just bringing fear; it’s such a cruel way to kidnap people.” Trejo highlighted the immense impact that immigrant workers have on the Yakima Valley and said that agricultural work has been more difficult as a result of mass deportations.

► From the NW Labor Press — ILWU pickets cruise line in Seattle — The company operates a multi-day cruise that stops at towns around the Puget Sound. Public port authorities on the route — including Olympia, Everett, and Anacortes — have made statements of support for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).

► From the Seattle Times — Microsoft layoffs hit hundreds in WA again, Xbox roles included — The Redmond-based tech giant told employees Tuesday morning that it was cutting roles that would mostly fall under the Xbox banner. Across the company, 268 gaming employees were let go. The move comes two months after the company laid off 4,800 gaming and sales team employees companywide, including 605 in Washington.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the Everett Herald — Boeing unions to begin voting Thursday on latest contract offer — Boeing’s engineering and technician unions will vote Thursday on what union representatives say are the aerospace company’s final contract offers, following the previous contracts’ rejection and approval of a strike authorization measure…Boeing’s new offer would raise the professional unit’s average base salary from $152,000 to $208,000 and the technical unit’s base salary from $119,000 to $163,000, according to a Boeing press release. Compared to the initial offer, this is an increase of $11,000 and $8,000, respectively. A proposed 10% guaranteed wage increase would be effective in October, [SPEEA’s] Corliss said. Another 4% increase would come in March 2027.

► From the Salem Reporter — Marion County strike called off after tentative agreement — The county union announced early Tuesday morning it reached an agreement the night before hundreds of employees were set to go on strike…Melissa Unger, executive director of SEIU Local 503, which includes the county’s union, confirmed the agreement early Tuesday morning…“The county had finally passed something back – they hadn’t done that in a while, so I think everyone was at the table trying to see if we could get to the core issues,” Unger said.

ORGANIZING

► From Labor Notes — AutoZone Workers Are Trying to Form the Company’s First-Ever Union — A new calculator from workers’ rights watchdog LaborLab estimates that the parts retailer AutoZone has paid $210,696 to managers and lawyers to crush a union drive by 11 workers in one store in White Plains, New York. The workers went public in July with their drive to join United Auto Workers Local 259…AutoZone CEO Phil Daniele III has also been skulking around [union supporter] DuCongé’s Instagram posts, screenshots shared with Labor Notes indicate. Daniele’s total compensation last year was $9.64 million, 331 times the median salary of an AutoZone worker, which is just $29,017.

► From OPB — Should college athletes be considered employees? OSU’s women’s basketball players argue ‘yes’ in potentially groundbreaking case — The board’s eventual decision — which could take months and is likely to be challenged — could have significant effects beyond Corvallis. It’s the latest chapter in an ongoing and complex debate, five years after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed college athletes to receive compensation beyond scholarships. During the first of two sets of hearings earlier this month in Corvallis, Oregon State players told an administrative law judge about the discrepancy in compensation for some college athletes. They described the demands of college athletic participation as the same as paid employment.

NATIONAL

► From Variety — Paramount-Warner Bros. Settlement: What the Guilds, AGs and Activists Are Saying — [WGA] acknowledged that their own active litigation against the ParaBros. merger could no longer continue once the state AG’s settled, largely over the cost of duking it out in court…The Directors Guild of America highlighted protections that the AG’s negotiated…’the AG agreement contains important binding and enforceable commitments that protect theatrical film and television markets and domestic film jobs. Equally important, it brings clarity and stability to the industry during a period of decreased production.'”

► From the AP — AP Exclusive: ICE hides locations of thousands of detainees with final removal orders –Nearly 16,000 people who were arrested and booked into ICE detention in July were subject to final removal orders…As a result of the change, lawyers and relatives lost track of their clients and loved ones without explanation, which is especially concerning because detainees are frequently moved to new facilities before deportation, said Greg Chen, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association…Some with final removal orders also have legal protections against deportation to their countries of origin based on the likelihood they would be tortured or persecuted. Many of them are facing removal to third-party countries where they have no ties and their disappearance in ICE’s system will make legal challenges harder, lawyers said.

► From USA Today — DoorDash to pay $131M for underpaying delivery workers — The move helps address the city’s longstanding accusations DoorDash and competitor Uber Eats, another online food delivery service, shortchanged workers more than $550 million in tips.

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the Guardian — Revenge of the labor movement: Democrats with union backgrounds aim to retake Congress — More than three dozen nominees for open House and Senate races across the US have backgrounds as labor union representatives or members…“In a political environment that’s been dominated by wealthy elites for decades, union candidates provide a level of trust and credibility that’s simply unmatched,” Steve Smith, a spokesperson for the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the US, told the Guardian. “These candidates are at long last returning the levers of power to the people.”…Americans overwhelmingly favor labor unions, according to recent annual Gallup polls, with 68% approving labor unions in 2025.

► From Semafor — Murphy pushes for athlete unionization rights in college sports bill — The price for Senate Republicans to finish the college sports bill quickly this week might be a roll call vote on allowing NCAA athletes to organize…The amendment, from Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., would replace a portion of the bill that is neutral on employment status with Murphy’s College Athlete Right to Organize Act. The college sports bill is splitting Senate Democrats; many aren’t backing it because it is not seen as labor-friendly, and labor groups like the AFL-CIO oppose it.

► From the Spokesman Review — Parental rights debate makes its way to ballot amid concerns Washington initiative could weaken protections — Opponents argue the initiative is poorly written, could weaken protections in certain scenarios and adds ambiguity on when a parent must be notified that their student is a victim of a crime. “Initiative 001 is opposed by the Washington State PTA. That is the largest organization representing public school parents in our state, with over 80,000 members,” said Jen Estroff, a PTA board member from Puyallup…According to the Washington state Voter’s Guide, the initiative would remove a specification that parents are entitled to be notified when a crime occurs on school property during school hours. The initiative would remove a right to be immediately notified when a child is alleged to be the victim of physical or sexual abuse, sexual misconduct or assault by a school employee.

► From KUOW — New signs are coming for King County restaurants with labor violations — Last year, the King County Board of Health approved a new rule allowing additional safety inspections and adding a second sign at establishments with unresolved labor violations such as withholding pay, forced overtime, or limiting use of paid sick leave…“We want to make sure that everybody who is preparing our food… that they have access to handwashing breaks, rest and meal breaks, that if they’re sick they can go home,” said King County Board of Health Chair Teresa Mosqueda.

INTERNATIONAL

► From Labor Notes — Canadian Walmart Workers Make History: A Union Contract — The landmark collective bargaining agreement went into effect on July 1, nearly two years after workers won union representation, joining Unifor Local 252, motivated by low wages and unsafe working conditions. As punishment two years ago, Walmart bumped the pay of every logistics worker in Canada—except those who unionized…But now, the new contract prevents Walmart from raising wages at other warehouses without doing the same at this one. The unionized workers have received a matching raise, and back pay for the months when other warehouse workers received raises that they didn’t.

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