Posts tagged Washington
WATCH: Questions about solvency, union membership remain regarding WA Cares
November 13, 2025 // Opponents of WA Cares argue that the program is not primarily designed to help all Washingtonians, but rather to benefit unions like SEIU 775, which advocates for more taxpayer-funded caregivers, particularly regarding the possibility of family caregivers being required to pay some of their income to a union. “We still don't have clear guidance on whether or not family members are going to be allowed to opt out of union representation,” said Elizabeth New, director of the Center for Health Care and the Center for Worker Rights at the free-market Washington Policy Center think tank. “They say that they will be. But I've been waiting for it for a couple of years now, and I keep asking at every opportunity.”
Washington’s State Capital Just Voted Against Increasing the Minimum Wage, Unemployment
November 6, 2025 // Yes For Olympia Workers, whose top five donors are all unions, described the longer phase-in for medium employers as minimizing "the risk and costs to…small businesses." Olympians didn't buy it—and with good reason: Setting phase-in schedules based on headcount would have discouraged smaller businesses from hiring more workers. If the proposition had passed, a medium-sized firm with 500 employees could only justify hiring another employee if he were worth more than $2 million to the company—the combined yearly cost of his $20 per hour wage and the additional $2 per hour paid to the other 500 employees.
WA political committees raise $66M, spend $52.8M ahead of 2025 general election
November 2, 2025 // The SEIU 775 labor union, which represents over 55,000 health care workers across three states, has a PAC called SEIU 775 Ballot Fund. That committee raised and spent the most out of any other PAC so far this year, with $7.1 million in contributions and $2.8 million in expenditures, according to the PDC. The labor union also registered several other PACs in Washington state this year, according to the PDC.
Starbucks workers union planning pickets, rallies through Nov. 2. See in which states
October 27, 2025 // Starbucks, for its part, says it is willing to bargain with the union, which the company says represents about 9,500 of its "partners," or employees. "Workers United only represents around 4% of our partners but chose to walk away from the bargaining table. If they’re ready to come back, we’re ready to talk," corporate spokesperson Jaci Anderson said in a statement to USA TODAY. "Any agreement needs to reflect the reality that Starbucks already offers the best job in retail including more than $30 an hour on average in pay and benefits for hourly partners," Anderson said. "We’re investing over $500 million to put more partners in stores during busy times. The facts show people like working at Starbucks. Partner engagement is up, turnover is nearly half the industry average, and we get more than 1 million job applications a year.”
Interior Department reveals plans to lay off more than 2,000 employees
October 21, 2025 // According to the documents, the RIF would involve: 474 employees in the Bureau of Land Management 12 employees in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 30 employees in the Bureau of Reclamation 7 employees in the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement 143 employees in the Fish and Wildlife Service 272 employees in the National Park Service 7 employees in the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 770 Interior headquarters and Interior Business Center employees 335 employees in the U.S. Geological Survey In an earlier filing last week, the department said it had been planning the staff cuts for months, and until they were blocked by a restraining order, officials had planned to abolish the positions “imminently” and issue RIF notices to the staff in those roles.
City of Everett Employee Appeals to Washington State PERC in Case Challenging Unconstitutional Money Seizures by AFSCME Officials
October 18, 2025 // Davidsen’s latest filing in her case, which is an appeal from a PERC Hearing Examiner’s ruling, maintains that after revoking her dues-deduction authorization, “on 14 separate pay periods…dues were nevertheless deducted from her paycheck.” According to the appeal, Davidsen requested that dues deductions end in June 2024, at which point union officials informed the City of Everett that it should cease remitting money from her paychecks into the union’s accounts.
The 15 Most Unionized Places in America
October 16, 2025 // To determine the most unionized locations in the U.S., researchers at Construction Coverage analyzed data from UnionStats.com and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The researchers ranked metropolitan statistical areas according to total union members as a percentage of total employment. In addition to union membership, the researchers also included statistics on union representation, which is the share of workers whose terms of work are collectively negotiated (whether or not they are union members). Only metropolitan statistical areas with available data were included in the analysis.
Kaiser Permanente workers strike in Oregon and Washington, join nationwide picket lines
October 16, 2025 // According to Kaiser's officials, the alliance wants a 25% payroll increase, but Kaiser has instead put a 21.5% increase on the table. Officials say they've been planning for the strike for months and told KATU all of their facilities will remain open, and adjustments are being made accordingly. Kaiser says it's bringing on up to 7,600 nurses, clinicians, and other staff to work during the strike and says more than 1,000 of their employees have volunteered to be reassigned to work in locations impacted by the strike.
WA state workers OK new contract with retroactive pay hikes
September 18, 2025 // Those affected work at 14 community colleges and in nine state agencies. Among them are the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Revenue, the Liquor and Cannabis Board and Department of Agriculture. By law, public sector unions in Washington must approve a new contract by Oct. 1 to be considered by the governor for funding in the ensuing two-year budget. The spending plan Ferguson signed in May funds multiple public employee union contracts with pay hikes of 3% on July 1 and 2% next July. These agreements contain other salary-related changes, including raising the starting wage for state workers to $18 an hour. But last fall, Washington Public Employee Association members voted down their tentative agreement in pursuit of larger wage hikes. They didn’t get them, eventually ratifying an accord on April 3 with pay provisions mirroring those they’d rejected earlier.
Spokane County library district unionizes, citing scheduling concerns
September 9, 2025 // Spokane County Library District is one of the last nonunionized public library districts in the state, according to Council 2 Director Michael Rainey. Unions are typically certified 60-90 days after filing for union recognition. Once the union is certified, the library district will meet with union members to start negotiations for the employees' first contract, which will likely include issues like scheduling concerns and compensation.