Nonsensical RTO order | Labcorp contract | Supreme Court & mail ballots

Monday, March 23, 2026

STRIKES

► From Labor Notes — In 57 Languages, Meatpackers Strike for the First Time in 40 Years — Strikers say JBS has been increasing the speed of the production line while cutting work hours from 40 a week to 35, squeezing out more work for less money. A thousand Haitian workers at the Greeley plant have filed a class action lawsuit against JBS for discriminatory practices that push them to work at dangerously fast line speeds…Meatpacking jobs are among the most dangerous in the country. Workers on the picket line showed cuts, deep callouses, and chemical burns on their hands from years at the plant. Repetitive motion injuries are also common. Slips, falls, and machinery crushes can even be fatal; in 2021, a worker at the Greeley plant died after falling into a vat of chemicals.

LOCAL

► From KUOW — King County staffers say new executive’s return-to-office push ignores crucial details — In another county department, Natural Resources and Parks, employees said this change is even more wrenching, because 1,200 staffers are fully remote and have no dedicated space waiting for them. Some of those workers now live outside King County and said they’re accustomed to visiting work sites, but going to downtown Seattle would take hours each day. One DNRP employee far outside King County said she applied for her current position when it was advertised as teleworking….[Teamsters Local 117’s] Mattson said employees packed a recent meeting at King Street Center, sitting on the floor and elsewhere, highlighting the space constraints.

► From KING 5 — SEA Airport ‘monitoring situation’ after Trump threatens ICE in airports over shutdown affecting TSA — “SEA, in partnership with TSA and the airlines, already provides staffing for non-screening positions mentioned by the administration as possible jobs for immigration agents,” the airport said. “SEA will continue to work with TSA and airline partners to ensure the airport is prepared to provide a safe and efficient travel experience.” Aviation journalist Colleen Mondor said she believes what TSA workers are experiencing is “brutal” and that ICE does not have the training to properly do the job of a TSA officer. “They haven’t been paid. Their budget is being held hostage because of an ICE problem, not a TSA problem,” Mondor said. “And now we’re bringing in ICE agents who are going to get paid to do their job with absolutely no training.” She added that the move could further hurt the morale of TSA officers.

► From OPB — Lane County physicians sue to block PeaceHealth deal with staffing company — A group of physicians in Lane County has filed a lawsuit trying to block the nonprofit PeaceHealth from switching to an out-of-state management company to staff its emergency departments. It’s the first civil suit filed under a 2023 Oregon law that gave physicians the power to sue over management agreements that impinge on their power to run medical practices and direct patient care…The lawsuit asks the court to void the deal between PeaceHealth and ApolloMD, and block the company from operating in Oregon. They’re also asking that the judge allow the contract with the current providers to stay in place as the litigation moves forward.

► From the Everett Herald — South County Fire welcomes its first openly transgender firefighter — Toward the end of his time in the academy, Vaughn remembers pulling out his driver’s license when he was sitting next to his friend. His friend saw it, and Vaughn told his friend he was transgender. “He was like, ‘That’s sick,’ and gave me a handshake and a hug, and that was the end of it,” Vaughn said. South County Fire Capt. [IAFF Local 1828’s] AJ Johnson was Vaughn’s first adviser after he finished the fire academy. He said that from the very first day, he was impressed with Vaughn’s ability to work under stress and quickly transfer his paramedic skills to a new state. When Johnson found out Vaughn was transgender, he thought of him as just another person working at the fire department, he said. “I just thought, ‘Okay, this is a person who works here, and as long as they can meet the standards, they’re going to do just fine,’” Johnson said.

CONTRACT FIGHTS

► From the New York Times’ Athletic — WNBA, WNBPA release additional financial details of new CBA — As The Athletic reported earlier, the salary cap will be $7 million in the first year of the deal and adjust annually based on changes in league and team revenue. In 2026, per a release from the league, the minimum salary will be $270,000, the average salary will be $583,000, and the maximum will be $1.4 million. Those figures are projected to grow to $340,000, over $1 million and $2.4 million, respectively, by the final year of the agreement. Rookie salaries will grow substantially in the new CBA. The No. 1 pick in the upcoming WNBA Draft is scheduled to make $500,000, compared with $78,831 for top pick Paige Bueckers in 2025. Players who are currently on rookie contracts as the CBA comes into effect, such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, will have their salaries right-sized, unlike with the 2020 CBA.

► From the NW Labor Press — Breakthrough first contract at Labcorp — Ratified March 9-15 by 86% of members voting, the contract between Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) and Laboratory Corporation of America (Labcorp) provides wage increases and a $800 signing bonus. Minimum starting pay will now be $20 an hour, up from just over $18. The first set of pay increases take place July 1 and come from placement on a new step pay schedule that rewards workers for sticking around. All workers will see raises of at least 2% and some will get much more.

► From the Daily Bruin — United Auto Workers units finalize agreements with UC, avoid strike — The three units – UAW Local 4811’s academic student employees unit, Research and Public Service Professionals-UAW and Student Services and Advising Professionals-UAW – represent more than 40,000 UC academic and research employees, including teaching assistants. The ratification marks SSAP-UAW and RPSP-UAW’s first contracts with the University, while UAW Local 4811’s previous contract expired Feb. 28. About 89% of academic student employees across the UC – and 85% at UCLA – voted to ratify the contract, as well as 98% of RPSPs and 99% of SSAPs, according to an email sent to UAW Local 4811 members.

NATIONAL

► From Business Insider — The largest federal workers union says ‘untrained, armed’ ICE agents should not replace TSA — “ICE agents are not trained or certified in aviation security. TSA officers spend months learning to detect explosives, weapons, and threats specifically designed to evade detection at checkpoints — skills that require specialized instruction, hands-on practice, and ongoing recertification,” Everett Kelley, president of American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement posted online on Sunday.

► From IAM:

Why would you bring in untrained ICE officers to do TSA workers’ jobs when you could just pay TSA workers?

Trump’s order to deploy federal immigration officers for airport security is a distraction. PAY TSA WORKERS NOW. https://t.co/pQLhlNrQt2

— IAM Union (@IAM_Union) March 23, 2026

► From Deadline — Writers Guild Of America Condemns CBS News Layoffs, Including Shutdown Of Radio Service: “Recklessness And Greed”  — The layoffs affected about 6% of the CBS News workforce of about 1,100 employees, or 60 to 70 positions. One of the biggest cuts was to CBS News Radio, which is being shuttered on May 22, ending a service with origins dating nearly 100 years to the birth of the network. All of the employees of the radio service are being laid off. In a joint statement from the WGA West and East, the guilds said, “Once again, our members have lost their jobs due to the recklessness and greed of their bosses.”

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the New York Times — Live Updates: Supreme Court Hearing Mail-In Ballots Case — The justices appeared divided along partisan lines, with the court’s six conservatives expressing deep skepticism with Mississippi’s law during arguments held on Monday. The state’s law allows ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day but received within five business days afterward. At least 18 other states and territories also allow ballots to be counted so long as they are postmarked by Election Day…The three liberal justices pushed back strongly on arguments by the Republican National Committee and the Trump administration that such mail-in ballot laws are invalid, noting states are allowed to set their own election regulations.

► From the New York Times — White House Unveils A.I. Policy Aimed at Blocking State Laws — Meta, OpenAI, Google and other A.I. giants have argued that a patchwork of state laws could slow down their progress. The companies have repeatedly pointed to regulation as the biggest hindrance to the nation’s success in leading the world in A.I. Some companies and their leaders have contributed to super PACs that are spending tens of millions of dollars aimed at blocking the election of candidates who favor A.I. regulation in the lead-up to the November midterm elections.

► From the Hollywood Reporter — The U.S. Has Been Losing Movie and TV Production for Years. Where Have Lawmakers Been? — To some, film incentives are seen as an engine for jobs creation. When a production comes to town, it’s not just the crew members, hair stylists and electricians on the set that are hired. Money trickles down to workers from caterers to carpenters to dry cleaners. IATSE has long advocated for a federal film and TV tax credit. While state subsidies are helpful, president Matt Loeb said, they’re not enough. “Without a comprehensive federal policy response, the U.S. risks turning its back on a signature American industry,” he added.

► From the NW Labor Press — Labor tallies gains in the 2026 Washington Legislature — Washington lawmakers wrestled with some major proposals in the legislative session that ran Jan. 12 to March 12, and organized labor was in the Capitol to push those that would benefit working people. Like Oregon, Washington holds a short legislative session in even-numbered years. Washington’s short session runs 60 days. Here are some of the top wins identified by the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO:

► From the Washington State Standard — Environment and climate bills that passed and failed in WA’s legislative session — One of the most notable energy bills to pass this year was Senate Bill 6355, which will establish the state’s own electrical transmission authority. As new technology like data centers and electric vehicles plug in, some energy forecasts predict blackouts in coming years due to grid strain. The idea of the bill is to change that trajectory. The bill “really allows Washington to play a more active role in building the infrastructure that the state needs to actually deliver on the climate goals that it has set as law,” said Emily Moore, a senior director for Sightline’s climate and energy program. “Without more grid capacity… we won’t be able to wind down our reliance on polluting natural gas and coal.”

► From NW Public Broadcasting — Workers for Washington’s Department of Corrections could soon bargain for supplemental retirement benefits — “ We don’t want people that are well into their seniority, when they’re not able to do that kind of work anymore, just [to] be forced to be on the job because they can’t afford healthcare,” Fosse said. “That’s not safe for the people who are incarcerated. That’s not safe for the workers and that’s not good for the state.” Most DOC employees that are part of a union are represented by the Teamsters. Brenda Wiest, vice president and director of Government Affairs for Teamsters Local 117, said this will not create a separate pension or benefit program for state workers. “ This is not going to create two taxpayer funded pensions or healthcare systems for these workers, that’s not what this is about. This is really a supplemental benefit,” Wiest said.

► From the Stranger — Seattle’s CCTV Vendor Has Received $126 Million in ICE and CBP Contracts — Asked at her press conference why the city has contracted Axon for its surveillance camera program, given its lucrative deals with ICE and CPB over the past year, instead of some other company, Wilson said: “I mean, what other company—military industrial complex, right? We got like, not that many companies that provide services like this, so I don’t know that there’s like a … do you want to point us to a squeaky clean company to do this instead?” Critics have called on the mayor to halt a proposed expansion of the surveillance network and remove cameras due in part to fears ICE and CBP could access the footage and use it to track, detain and deport immigrants. Wilson herself said she opposed CCTV expansion on the campaign trail, but has refused to take Axon’s cameras offline since being elected.

INTERNATIONAL

► From NPR — Far from home, millions of migrant workers in the Gulf are trapped by war — Even though Guevarra is a Philippine national, getting back to her home country would not be easy. This is the reality for millions of migrant workers across the Middle East and the Gulf. Some, like Guevarra, are in high-skilled jobs in health care and business – but the vast majority work in critical, mostly invisible, jobs that quietly keep the luxury societies of the region humming…Conception says the “lack of urgency” to ensure the safety of Filipino migrant workers during a war only increases their vulnerability. “Many foreign governments exploit Filipino labor and treat them essentially as disposable,” she said. “Anytime that the contract ends or the workers speak up for their rights they’re immediately terminated and just treated as criminals and slaves.”

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