PeaceHealth layoffs | NLRB hobbled | Multicare strike

Thursday, February 12, 2026

STRIKES

► From the New York Times — Nurses at 4 N.Y.C. Hospitals Vote to End Strike, but It Continues at One — On Wednesday, the nurses’ union, the New York State Nurses Association, announced that members at Montefiore Medical Center and Mount Sinai Hospital, along with two other medical centers in the Mount Sinai system, had ratified the tentative deal, which includes salary increases and modest improvements to nurse staffing levels. But nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia hospital voted against the proposal and said that they were prepared to carry on their strike, which began Jan. 12. Beth Loudin, a neonatal nurse and union leader at NewYork-Presbyterian, said that the proposed deal did not include sufficient protections against layoffs, nor would it put enough new nurses into understaffed units.

► From the Teamsters:

LOCAL

► From the Bellingham Herald — Bellingham caregivers hit in another round of statewide PeaceHealth layoffs — PeaceHealth plans to layoff 94 employees across Washington — including 26 positions in Bellingham, seven in Sedro-Woolley and one in Lynden — come April, the company notified the state on Wednesday. Still, seven positions will be cut directly from St. Joseph Medical Center staff. Another 19 positions will be cut from other offices and clinics in Bellingham, including the Squalicum Surgery Center, the St. Joseph Cancer Center and the Hospice House, according to a Feb. 11 letter PeaceHealth sent to the Washington Employment Security Department…PeaceHealth layoffs will also impact employees at facilities in Longview and Vancouver, Wash., the letter shows.

► From Investigate West — Most WA federal rulings found immigrant detentions flouted due process — With most immigrants across the region being sent to Washington for detention, InvestigateWest reviewed judges’ orders in every habeas case that was resolved last year to get a snapshot into how President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign is sweeping up people who have lived in the U.S. for years, have U.S. citizen family, and built careers and communities here. Despite the president’s purported focus on deporting criminals, the review sheds light on the extent to which Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the Pacific Northwest are disregarding the constitutional rights of immigrants, most of whom have no criminal record, as they carry out his marching orders.

► From the Idaho Statesman — What Idaho’s top CEOs make — and how that compares with their employees’ pay — In 2024, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra had the highest compensation among the CEOs. Idacorp, the parent company of Idaho Power, had the highest-paid median employee. Albertsons had the largest disparity between what its CEO and median worker made. Here’s how the top executives of Idaho’s publicly traded companies rank in order from highest to lowest compensation in 2024, according to their disclosures. Micron: Total [CEO] compensation: $30,060,126 Median employee pay: $64,042 Pay ratio: 469

► From KUOW — ICE eyes new Tukwila office near hub for deportation flights — Federal records show the building is leased by the General Services Administration. That’s the U.S. agency that manages government facilities…A few minutes north of the Riverfront Technical Park is the King County International Airport, more commonly known as Boeing Field. ICE operates privately chartered deportation flights from the airport. To the south is another ICE field office about a mile away housed in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security building. That’s the site where immigrants who haven’t been locked up regularly check in while their cases are pending.

► From KING 5 — What it took to clean up after the Seahawks parade in Seattle — Official crowd numbers for the Seahawks parade through downtown Seattle haven’t been released yet, but the party of the decade brought out hundreds of thousands of people. Fans waited hours for their chance to see the Super Bowl winning Seattle Seahawks drive (and even walk) by. What did it take to clean up? About 20 Seattle Department of Transportation crew members alongside street sweepers got the job done in just a few hours.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the Las Vegas Sun News — As MLB gears up for new season, union fight and potential lockout loom — Pitchers and catchers are reporting to spring training facilities this week amid sunshine and optimism, but storm clouds gather over Major League Baseball’s 2026 season. The current collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, and negotiations between owners and the players union have reached what many describe as an impasse over the sport’s economic structure. The central dispute centers on a familiar flashpoint: owners advocating for baseball’s first salary cap, while the MLB Players Association has firmly rejected the proposal.

ORGANIZING

► From the Nevada Independent — Sex workers at Pahrump brothel are unionizing, alleging unfair contracts and conditions — If successful, it would be the first time brothel workers unionized in the U.S. The effort came after the brothel requested the workers sign a new contract that would give the business perpetual control over workers’ intellectual property rights and power of attorney. A majority of the brothel’s 74 sex workers, or courtesans, have agreed to join the union. Managers of the brothel, Sheri’s Ranch in Pahrump, have fired at least three of the workers involved in the union drive since last week and have threatened other women with termination if they do not sign the new contracts, according to union lawyers.

► From the Nevada AFL-CIO:

Sex workers at one of Nevada’s legal brothels are unionizing with the Communications Workers of America (@CWAUnion), organizers told The Nevada Independent on Tuesday. If successful, it would be the first time brothel workers unionized in the U.S. https://t.co/3eQDB8Boja

— Nevada State AFL-CIO // Pass the #PROAct (@NVAFLCIO) February 12, 2026

► From NBC Right Now — Oregon union growth defies national decline with SEIU Local 49 — Union President Meg Niemi reported that they added 1,500 members last year, including workers from Providence St. Vincent, Legacy Mt. Hood Medical Centers and Inter-Con Security. Niemi expects this growth to continue…Oregon is countering the national trend of declining union membership, which has halved since the 1980s. 16% of Oregon’s workforce is now unionized, surpassing the national average of 10%. This growth is largely driven by organizing in healthcare, education and the public sector.

NATIONAL

► From the Guardian — US union elections declined in 2025 after Trump hobbled labor board — The number of union elections overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) dropped 30% in 2025 after the Trump administration left the federal labor watchdog powerless, according to an analysis released on Wednesday. The number of workers participating in union elections dropped by 59,000, a 42% decline compared with the year prior, according to the report from the Center for American Progress. The total number of union elections fell from a 10-year high of 2,124 in 2024 to 1,498 in 2025.

► From CNBC — American Airlines flight attendants picket as CEO tries to calm frustrated employees — The picket comes days after the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents American’s 28,000 cabin crew members, issued a vote of no confidence in Isom, which the union said was its first such move. The chief executive was also criticized by the pilots’ union, which sought a meeting with the airline’s board, of which Isom is a member, to discuss the problems. Unions for pilots, flight attendants and mechanics have all recently said the company needs to do better to improve reliability and financial results.

► From the ICE Out of Minnesota Coalition — Minnesota Labor, Faith, Community Groups Issue Statement on Announcement of ICE Plan To End Surge Minnesota, Make Clear Need for Justice for Those Detained and Harmed By Surge — “These masked agents leaving our state can be spun any way people want, but history will show what this was: regular people, clergy and teachers, janitors and soccer moms, people across all of our complicated differences, simply refusing to let our neighbors be attacked and abducted without a fight. The level of solidarity shown by Minnesotans should be an example for everyone and we couldn’t be more proud of our state. While we are thrilled that this wave of attacks is seemingly being significantly scaled back, we must acknowledge the deep harm and trauma these last few months have brought to our state.”

► From Wired — Salesforce Workers Circulate Open Letter Urging CEO Marc Benioff to Denounce ICE — The letter, which has not been reported on previously, is being organized amid Salesforce’s annual leadership kickoff event this week in Las Vegas. During an appearance at the event earlier today, Benioff asked international employees to stand to thank them for attending. He then joked that ICE agents were in the building monitoring them, according to current and former Salesforce employees who spoke to WIRED. Benioff’s remarks sparked immediate backlash among employees. “Lots of people are furious,” says one source, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.

► From AFSCME — After 14 Years at the Helm, AFSCME President Lee Saunders to Retire in August 2026 Following a Historic Tenure — President Saunders said, “It has been an honor to work on behalf of America’s public service workers. Leadership changes hands, but the power stays exactly where it has always been, with the workers. Worker power endures, and AFSCME is built for the fights ahead.” President Saunders’ retirement will take effect at the conclusion of the next AFSCME International Convention in August 2026, where delegates will elect new leadership to carry forward the union’s mission. AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Elissa McBride announced that she will also step down from her position at the conclusion of the August 2026 convention, noting that she will continue to work within the labor movement.

► From the AP — Several ICE agents were arrested in recent months, showing risk of misconduct — Investigators said one immigration enforcement official got away with physically assaulting his girlfriend for years. Another admitted he repeatedly sexually abused a woman in his custody. A third is charged with taking bribes to remove detention orders on people targeted for deportation. At least two dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and contractors have been charged with crimes since 2020, and their documented wrongdoing includes patterns of physical and sexual abuse, corruption and other abuses of authority, a review by The Associated Press found.

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the Washington Post — Partial government shutdown looms as ICE negotiations stall — Large swaths of the Department of Homeland Security are set to shut down Saturday unless lawmakers strike a last-minute deal to fund the agency, with Democrats threatening to oppose any legislation that does not include new restrictions they are seeking regarding federal immigration agents…“They have not addressed most of our major concerns at all,” Sen. Patty Murray (Washington), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters.

► From the New York Times — House Passes Strict Voter ID Bill, Amplifying Trump’s Claims of Fraud — It had no chance of passage in the Senate, where one Republican has already expressed major concerns about it and the majority leader, Senator John Thune of South Dakota, has said he will not lower the 60-vote filibuster threshold to try to ram it through that chamber on a simple majority vote over Democratic opposition…studies have consistently shown little, if any, evidence that such fraud is happening on a large scale, and even the Trump administration’s own voter verification initiative has so far turned up no evidence of widespread fraud…Research from the University of Maryland Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement and the Brennan Center for Justice has found that more than 21 million Americans lack easy access to documents like a birth certificate or a passport, and about half of Americans do not even have a passport.

► From the AP — What independents think of Trump’s recent immigration actions, according to a new AP-NORC poll —  About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say President Donald Trump has “gone too far” in sending federal immigration agents into American cities, according to a new AP-NORC poll that suggests political independents are increasingly uncomfortable with his tactics…“What he’s doing with ICE is the worst thing right now. I would say the economy is the second worst thing,” said Shaw, the human resources manager from Michigan. “I’m getting ready to retire and I’m wondering how I’m going to make it.” “But I’m blessed,” she added. “I don’t have to hide in the basement because my skin is brown.”

► From the New York Times — After Trump’s Cuts, Some Former Federal Workers Are Now Seeking Office — The unusually large collection of former federal workers who have jumped into political campaigns — many but not all as Democrats — illustrates one of the byproducts of the administration’s aggressive attacks on the bureaucracy. While many employees left their posts feeling deeply demoralized, others say the attacks mobilized them to try to serve in new ways…Twenty-three of the former civil servants are running for Congress this year, and of them, 14 are trying to unseat incumbents. Many face steep odds and big learning curves.

INTERNATIONAL

► From AeroTime — Air New Zealand cancels 46 long-haul flights as cabin crew begin strike action — As of February 12, 2026, international cabin crew at Air New Zealand have commenced a two-day strike over stalled contract negotiations. As a result, the airline has canceled 46 widebody long-haul flights, affecting approximately 9,500 passengers. The strike, by flight attendants working on the airline’s long-range aircraft, will continue through February 13, 2026, marking the culmination of nearly 10 months of negotiations over pay and working conditions.

► From Deutsche Welle — Germany: Lufthansa strike grounds hundreds of flights — The some 4,800 pilots working at Lufthansa and its freight arm, Lufthansa Cargo, are seeking to pressure their employers into paying higher contributions to their retirement benefits. A clear majority of members of the German pilots’ union VC declared their readiness to strike in a vote last year. The president of VC, Andreas Pinheiro, said that “we would very much have liked to avoid an escalation” and that the union had always been ready to talk.

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