Free speech | Sbux workers sue | Mechanic shortage

Thursday, September 18, 2025

STRIKES

► From St. Louis Public Radio — St. Louis unions rally alongside striking Boeing workers — Members of Missouri Jobs With Justice and St. Louis-area unions joined striking machinists on the picket line at Boeing on Wednesday night. “I’m simply here to support, to say I’ve been there, I’ve done it, and I know that feeling when you don’t have that paycheck coming in,” said United Auto Workers member Carol Johnson…On Friday morning, the union is set to vote on a contract proposed by its own negotiating committee. If union members approve the contract, it will be submitted to Boeing as a pre-approved agreement. If Boeing declines the proposal, the union said it will continue to strike and be ready to return to the negotiation table with the company.

LOCAL

► From My Northwest — Seattle Children’s Hospital layoffs affect 5 WA locations — Seattle Children’s Hospital has announced a round of layoffs Wednesday that will affect 154 employees at five of its Washington hospitals, according to a state filing with the Employment Security Department. The layoffs will take effect on Nov. 15, cutting down on staff across locations in Seattle, Bellevue, Everett, Federal Way, and Kennewick. Seattle Children’s will also eliminate 350 of its open positions, a move that the company claimed was caused by federal funding losses…The healthcare industry had seen similar layoff announcements last month, with Providence Health cutting 131 positions in two layoff filings on Aug. 8 and 28. Providence pointed to rising costs, insurance delays, and policy changes as prompting the layoffs.

► From the Spokesman Review — ‘Proudly Brown’: Latinos head into Hispanic Heritage Month with resilience amid immigration crackdowns — While multiple Washington organizations have canceled or adjusted their Hispanic Heritage Month events amid ongoing immigration crackdowns under the Trump administration, Palacios and other Latinos are heading into the month feeling empowered. They hope people will look into the importance Latinos hold to the country’s history. Hispanic Heritage Month, which began Monday and goes until Oct. 15, first started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under former President Lyndon Johnson. It expanded to a full month under former President Ronald Reagan in 1988. The monthlong celebration is intended to celebrate the history and culture of Latinos.

► From the South Seattle Emerald — One Veteran Returns, Another Detained: Zahid Chaudhry’s Future Remains Uncertain — The future of a U.S. veteran detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center remains uncertain, but his case is not unique. Many veterans have been deported, but very few have been able to return. Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry (commonly referred to as Zahid) is a community leader on disability and veteran issues and has limited options to remain in the U.S. after being detained and denied bond by an immigration judge…Tinajero, a formerly deported veteran, said that in most cases, “the only way we can come back as a deported veteran to the United States legally is in the coffin, because they could not take away that right to be buried in the National Cemetery as a veteran. Once you’re dead, they can’t stop you from coming back in that box.”

AEROSPACE

► From Reuters — Trump’s DEI crackdown further strains US supply of aircraft mechanics, industry officials say — Plans to combat a U.S. shortage of aircraft mechanics are in limbo after funds aimed at training a mostly male workforce are being held up by government efforts to remove mention of diversity, equity and inclusion from its own notices of available grants, industry officials told Reuters…The delay in the FAA Workforce Grant program’s funds comes as industry faces an expected 10% shortfall in certified mechanics required to meet commercial aviation needs in the United States this year.

► From the New York Times — Newark Airport Crisis Has Eased but Tech and Staffing Issues Persist — Recent staffing for controllers at Newark has been down compared with last spring. New managers appointed after the technology glitches that peaked in April and May have been trying to deny requests from controllers and their supervisors for time off, an effort to apparently boost attendance but has been hurting already-sagging morale. And despite upgrades made by the F.A.A., some of the same equipment issues that hampered controllers in the spring have remained. As a result, controllers overseeing Newark’s traffic, most of whom work out of an office in Philadelphia, have at times found it hard to communicate with pilots in the air.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From People’s World — Low pay top issue in stalled talks between WNBA and players’ union — The Players Association saw some of labor’s solidarity as AFL-CIO members and supporters from two counties rallied outside the stadium and led chants of “Pay the Players” during the game…Tevita Uhutafe and Pauline Mims of the Tarrant Central Labor Council gave rousing talks and organized chants. They said that none of the increasing revenues from women’s basketball is going to the players. The Wings franchise has grown in value to $250 million.

ORGANIZING

► From Variety — Artists at Netflix Animation, SpindleHorse and ‘Ted’ Move to Unionize with Animation Guild — Production workers at Netflix Animation, animation artists at SpindleHorse and production workers at “Ted” have made the movie to unionize with Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839 (TAG). These campaigns underscore the significant momentum for labor organizing across the animation industry, from streaming features to prime-time productions to independent studios.

► From Reuters — US senators demand Wells Fargo welcome employee unions — A group of Democratic senators called on Wells Fargo (WFC.N) to end its alleged campaign against employee unions, saying a more constructive approach could address a toxic workplace culture and help the bank recover from scandals that prevented it from growing. In a Wednesday letter to Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf, 15 senators led by Arizona’s Ruben Gallego said the fourth-largest U.S. bank’s history of setting aggressive sales goals led to mistreatment of consumers, staffing shortages and substandard pay, providing an incentive to unionize.

NATIONAL

► From Variety — SAG-AFTRA, WGA, Producers Guild Blast Decision to Suspend Jimmy Kimmel: A ‘Type of Retaliation That Endangers Everyone’s Freedom’ — “The right to speak our minds and to disagree with each other – to disturb, even – is at the very heart of what it means to be a free people. It is not to be denied. Not by violence, not by the abuse of governmental power, nor by acts of corporate cowardice,” the WGA wrote late Wednesday.

► From the AP — Kimmel’s suspension is the latest display of Trump’s growing power over the US media landscape — Hours before ABC’s decision, Brendan Carr, Trump’s handpicked head of the Federal Communications Commission, warned that the broadcaster and its local affiliates could face repercussions if Kimmel was not punished. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

► From the AFL-CIO:

ABC’s decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an alarming case of powerful corporations helping the Trump admin suppress the freedom of speech among America’s working people.

America’s unions stand with the workers whose jobs are on the line from this chilling censorship. https://t.co/Sh3xOtgjJm

— AFL-CIO ✊ (@AFLCIO) September 18, 2025

► From the AP — Federal Reserve cuts key rate for first time this year — The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point Wednesday and projected it would do so twice more this year as concern grows at the central bank about the health of the nation’s labor market. The move is the Fed’s first cut since December and lowered its short-term rate to about 4.1%, down from 4.3%.

► From the AP — Starbucks workers sue over company’s new dress code — Starbucks workers in three states took legal action against the coffee giant Wednesday, saying it violated the law when it changed its dress code but refused to reimburse employees who had to buy new clothes. The employees, who are backed by the union organizing Starbucks’ workers, filed class-action lawsuits in state court in Illinois and Colorado. Workers also filed complaints with California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency. If the agency decides not to seek penalties against Starbucks, the workers intend to file a class-action lawsuit in California, according to the complaints.

► From Common Dreams — Slamming ‘Fascist Tactics’ of Trump, Mahmoud Khalil Fights Judge’s Deportation Decision — In addition to calling out the Trump administration for its unconstitutional conduct, Khalil’s lawyers expressed some optimism. “We have witnessed a constant lack of humanity and allegiance to the law throughout proceedings in this farcical Louisiana immigration court, and the immigration judge’s September 12 decision is just the most recent example of what occurs when the system requires an arbiter that is anything but neutral to do the administration’s bidding,” said Johnny Sinodis, a partner at Van Der Hout LLP. “As with other illegal efforts by the government, this too will be challenged and overcome.”

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the Government Executive — Bill to nullify Trump’s union executive orders introduced by 48 senators — A bipartisan group of 48 senators introduced legislation Wednesday that would nullify President Trump’s executive orders aimed at stripping two-thirds of the federal workforce of their collective bargaining rights and restore union contracts that agencies began cancelling last month…The Protect America’s Workforce Act, which has the support of all 47 Democrats as well as Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, would declare the two executive orders null and void, as well as restore all collective bargaining agreements between federal agencies and their unions that were in place on March 26, before the first edict was signed.

► From the New York Times — As Shutdown Looms, Democrats Outline Demands on Medicaid and Obamacare — Democrats put forward a bill that would fund the government through Oct. 31 and permanently extend Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. It would reverse cuts to Medicaid and other health programs enacted this year as part of Republicans’ marquee tax and spending cut legislation. The measure would also restrict the Trump administration’s ability to unilaterally claw back funding Congress previously approved, a power that President Trump has repeatedly invoked.

► From the Spokesman Review — In Senate hearing, CDC director fired by RFK Jr. tells Murray she is ‘very nervous’ about new vaccine panel — In response to questions from Murray, Susan Monarez, who was fired by Kennedy less than a month after the Senate confirmed her as CDC director, told the Washington Democrat she is “very nervous” about trusting federal vaccine recommendations after the health secretary disbanded an immunization advisory panel and replaced it with a hand-picked group that includes prominent critics of vaccination.

► From the Seattle Times — CA just aligned its carbon market with WA’s. Here’s why that matters — California’s lawmakers over the weekend extended the state’s carbon market for years — and rebranded it to mirror Washington’s landmark climate policy. The two West Coast states are pulling to the head of the national pack in their efforts to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions while the federal government boosts the coal, gas and oil industries…The move injects a sense of stability into the rocky political landscape of climate policy, an encouraging development as the two states consider whether to join forces, said Joel Creswell, who manages the climate pollution reduction program for Washington’s Department of Ecology. “We’re not waiting for the federal government to give us permission,” Creswell said. “This is the way we can make progress, and we’re not wasting time.”

INTERNATIONAL

► From the AP — Strikes and protests roil France, pitting the streets against Macron and his new prime minister — Strikes that hobbled the Paris Metro and disrupted other services, coupled with nationwide demonstrations that saw sporadic clashes with police who fired volleys of tear gas, gave loud voice to widespread complaints that eight years of leadership by France’s business-friendly president have benefited too few people and hurt too many.

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