Posts tagged Seattle
Unions, cities, nonprofits sue to block Trump workforce cuts
May 1, 2025 // Musk has tempered his original goal for DOGE to slash $1 trillion from government spending, saying this month it was on track to cut $150 billion this year. The Trump administration has faced more than 200 lawsuits challenging its policies, with a significant number calling the president's directives unconstitutional. The case is American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO et al v Trump et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 25-03698.
What would a general strike in the US actually look like?
April 10, 2025 // But organized labor can plan for a general strike in the future that may not break the terms of their contracts. The UAW has called to align all union contract terminations for the same date in 2028 as a way to promote united action and perhaps even a general strike by circumventing the prohibition on striking during a union contract. That call has already promoted wider discussion of general strikes in labor and social movements. Of course, different unions striking at the same time does not guarantee a united front around issues of common concern: The first half of 1946 saw nearly 3 million workers simultaneously on strike, including auto, steel, coal, railroad and many other industries, but unions pursued separate demands, made little effort to pool their strength, and settled with little consideration of the impact on those remaining on strike.
Higher minimum wage levels help many workers, but there are tradeoffs
April 7, 2025 // At the same time, a lot of supporters of the increase at the time were hoping this would be really a dramatic, life-changing thing for a lot of workers that would really help reduce income inequality in Seattle. And we see that income inequality is still a big issue. Wages went up, but so did the cost of living. And it's still pretty hard to make ends meet out here for people, even with that increased paycheck.
Op-ed: Rantz: Seattle unions planning ‘fight-back training’ to push back against Trump’s immigration plan
March 31, 2025 // “This training seeks to equip labor and community organizers and advocates with the necessary information to navigate escalating attacks on immigrant workers and their families and equip them with tools to fight back,” the event page reads. “It includes Know Your Rights information, best practices for unions to implement, model contract language, as well as specific guidance related to a range of policy changes and enforcement actions we must expect as part of the mass deportation agenda.”
Starbucks workers strike in six cities across the US with multiple supporters arrested
March 14, 2025 // In Chicago, 11 employees were arrested after staging a sit-in at one of the city’s first union Starbucks locations. Five people were arrested in Pittsburgh as well. Chicago police told the Seattle Times that strikers were arrested for criminal trespass “on signed complaints from an affected business.”
VIDEO: King Soopers, union agree to two-week contract extension
January 5, 2025 // “Workers are tired. They have been so overworked and really disregarded through this whole attempted merger that failed,” said Cordova. King Soopers representatives said they are prioritizing their commitment to invest in their associates with an improved wage offer, which shows that top-rate clerks would receive a 5.41% increase during their first year of the contract. A company spokesperson said their latest negotiation offer also removed a proposal to reset hours in the wage scale, which would allow employees to keep their hours within their progression as they move over.
SEATTLE: Popular Restaurant Unable to Survive Even One Day of New $20.76 Minimum Wage Law
January 3, 2025 // As the city of Seattle, Washington, hiked minimum wages to $20.76 per hour on New Year’s Day, some businesses had to close their doors, including one restaurant whose owner somehow still supports the new law.
UNIONIZED GUARDS STRIKE AT SEATTLE ART MUSEUM
December 13, 2024 // Among the concessions sought by SAM VSO, which represents roughly sixty-five employees, are higher hourly wages, better health care benefits, the restoration of retirement benefits that were cut as the Covid-19 pandemic raged, and a union security clause, which would mandate all department employees to join the union and pay dues, thus ensuring the future of the union and protecting against union-busting efforts.
Seattle Art Museum security staff goes on strike
December 2, 2024 // About two dozen picketing security staffers — or Visitor Service Officers — and supporters shouted slogans and handed out flyers as downtown tourists looked on, visitors entered the museum and passing vehicles honked. “After more than two years of unsuccessful negotiations, SAM VSO Union workers are striking now until the board and museum leadership recognize their needs and offer a fair contract,” the flyer reads.
Boeing strike ends as workers accept new contract
November 5, 2024 // Boeing has said the average annual machinists' pay at the end of the new four-year contract will be $119,309, up from $75,608 previously. The pay increase may add $1.1 billion to Boeing's wage bill over the four years, while a $12,000 ratification bonus for each union member could result in another $396 million in outflows, according to analysts at Jefferies. More than 26,000 union members voted, putting turnout near 80%.