Strike leverage | $1.2 trillion | Wage complaint backlog

Thursday, July 16, 2026

STRIKES

► From Labor Notes — World Cup Leverage: California Stadium Workers Win the Right to Strike Over ICE — Allowing workers to stay home if ICE were on the premises would “just show a little bit of humanity, if Hilton was to do that,” Eyerly said. “We’re just trying to preemptively prepare for anything that could happen here in Seattle like we’ve seen in other parts of the country.” During the strike, Seattle has hosted five World Cup games at Lumen Field stadium, which sits just across from the hotel. “We’ve had fans get on the picket line and start doing chants,” Eyerly said. “We’ve had some bring drums.”

► From Becker’s Hospital Review — 16 healthcare strikes in 2026 — Union activity in healthcare continues in 2026, with 16 reported strikes since the beginning of the year. Some of these actions involve healthcare workers and leaders across hospitals and clinics in multiple states. Below are the strikes tracked by Becker’s so far this year.

LOCAL

► From the Yakima Herald Republic — Farmworker wage complaints caught in state agency backlog, report finds — Over half of farmworker wage complaints Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries received last year went unresolved past a 60-day statutory limit, according to a new report. The preliminary findings presented by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee indicate that the department’s investigative units are severely understaffed, contributing to backlogs…In 2024, there were only two staffers in a unit that investigates allegations of employers retaliating after workers assert their right to minimum wage. The agency has hired three additional investigators for that unit and is looking to hire two more.

► From KOIN — Union asks Nippon to extend Longview worker pay as deadline approaches  — “As part of our ongoing representation of our membership, and with the current continuation of pay period extending through at least August 8, we felt it was important to formally encourage the company to consider extending that support while investigations continue and collaborative efforts remain focused on identifying a safe path forward,” said Josh Estes, spokesperson for the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers…Estes said the company has not formally responded to the letter, but said conversations with the company remain active.

► From KING 5 — Advocacy group alleges safety violations on ICE deportation flights at Boeing Field — In a new report released this week, Tacoma-based advocacy group La Resistencia says it documented multiple instances in which deportation flights were fueled while detainees were boarding aircraft in shackles, a practice the group argues violates King County International Airport regulations…King County International Airport’s supplemental rules and regulations state: “Passenger loading or unloading shall not occur during Fuel Handling unless the flight is for a military operation or emergency medical transport of a patient.” Airport officials say they have added this extra layer of precaution, knowing the detainees are limited in mobility due to shackles while boarding deportation flights.

ORGANIZING

► From Computer World — How to unionize your tech workplace — The best time for tech workers to unionize was 20 years ago, when they had plenty of leverage. The second-best time is now, when they don’t…Here’s how organizers and labor experts describe the pros and cons to organizing — and how you can get started. The single biggest benefit of a union contract for most tech workers isn’t pay — it’s protection against arbitrary termination, especially in the wake of recent mass layoffs in tech. In the United States, nonunion “at-will” workers can be fired at any time without a stated reason, while unionized workers negotiate protections written into their contracts.

NATIONAL

► From the Guardian — Tripling US union membership would shift $1.2tn to workers annually — Tripling union membership in the US would lead to a 14.5% raise for the median US worker, shifting $1.2tn to workers annually and significantly narrowing racial wage gaps, according to a new report released on Wednesday…Union density in the 1950s was more than 30% before it started to decline in the 1960s. By the 1980s, union density dropped to 22.2% only to decline even further in recent decades, to 10% in 2025. Despite the lower union density, public approval of labor unions has remained high in recent years, with more than 68% of Americans viewing unions favorably in 2025. More than 50 million US workers would join a union if they could.

► From Rock Paper Shotgun — As unionised Microsoft workers rally against Bethesda layoffs, Fallout 4’s been filled with protest signs and OneBGS logoed vault suits by modders — For those who wish to show the workers support, but can’t make it to any of these rallies, a couple of modders have created a means of showing solidarity in Fallout 4. Having draped OneBGS union logos over Skyrim last week, veteran modder Emmi ‘Elianora’ Junkkari’s since worked alongside fellow modder greenFoxel to give the wasteland a similar treatment. Across their two mods, ‘Unified Front – save our devs‘ and ‘One for All and All For One – Support the Devs‘, the duo have added the likes of pro-union protest signs, OneBGS union-logoed vault suits, and an array of pro-union banners/posters for settlements to the RPG.

POLITICS & POLICY

► From the Los Alamos Daily Post — Heinrich, Schatz, Senate Democrats Host Roundtable With Labor Leaders To Discuss Future Of Energy Workforce — “The Trump administration’s attacks on clean energy are costing working people in lost jobs and higher bills all across the country. Clean energy is cheap energy, and we need durable policies that lower costs for Americans and provide certainty for the workers who power our energy infrastructure,” Schatz said.

► From the AP — Trump is taking longer to approve disaster aid and denying Democratic states more frequently — Trump has taken longer on average to approve disaster requests than any other president, according to an Associated Press analysis of data dating back to 1989, when a federal law setting new parameters for disaster determinations was implemented. And no other president has such a disparity in denials between states that supported him politically and those that did not.

► From KUOW — ‘Millionaires tax’ repeal effort will hit WA ballots this fall — The effort has been led by hedge fund founder Brian Heywood and his conservative interest group Let’s Go Washington…Proponents of the tax – including union leaders and Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat – anticipated that the repeal effort would make it to the ballot. On Tuesday, they launched a campaign to save the tax.

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