Unions

108 Stories

Sustainable sandwich business proves unsustainable

Workers at the local sandwich chain Homegrown say the company's plan to close 10 out of 12 stores amounts to union busting. The announcement came not long after the company’s union ratified a contract promising better pay and benefits.
Joshua McNichols
A motorcycle rally and a rock show. Boeing machinists vote to strike

On Wednesday unionized Boeing machinists voted to strike if they cannot agree on a contract with the company by this fall. Members of IAM District 751 rallied into downtown Seattle, demanding better pay and benefits from Boeing in their new contract.
Casey Martin
UW student employees win big pay boost, improved benefits in tentative deal

After a one-day strike, 6,000 University of Washington teaching and research assistants have reached a tentative new labor agreement with school officials.
Sami West
Striking Seattle electrical workers demand better pay, improved safety

Striking electrical workers from IBEW Local 46 have shut down eight work sites after negotiations broke down with the Puget Sound Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA).
Kamna Shastri
Starbucks union negotiations resume after long impasse

Unionized Starbucks stores sent more than 150 delegates to Atlanta Wednesday to resume talks between Starbucks and Workers United, the union representing more than 400 stores.
Monica Nickelsburg
Paraeducators strike in Port Angeles. But can strapped school districts afford to pay them more?

The Port Angeles School District's more than 3,500 students are getting an extended spring break, as schools remained closed as of Thursday afternoon because of a paraeducator strike.
Sami West
Just 1 in 10 workers in the U.S. belonged to labor unions in 2023, a record low

In 2023, labor unions added 139,000 members, but the share of the workforce that's unionized declined from the year before due to even faster growth in nonunion jobs.
Andrea Hsu
From 'unreasonable scrutiny' to hope: Why Seattle's police union president is optimistic

The Seattle Police Officers Guild has hope that things will get better around town for the first time in a long time. Why? There's a new City Council at City Hall.
Dyer Oxley
Amazon, Starbucks worker unions are in limbo, even as UAW and others triumph

Amazon workers formed their first union. And at Starbucks, 380 stores are unionized, but not one has a contract. But the big, established unions have won big raises for workers.
Andrea Hsu
It was a big year for labor in Seattle

Strikes, layoffs, worker shortages. There’s been a lot going on in the labor market this year. And unemployment has stayed low which means there’s work out there for job seekers. KUOW’s labor and economy reporter Monica Nickelsburg talks us through some of Seattle’s top labor stories of 2023.
Patricia Murphy

Jennie Cecil Moore

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