Each week on The Newsfeed, host Paris Jackson and a team of veteran journalists dive deep into one topic and provide impactful reporting, interviews and community insights from sources you can trust. Each day this week, this post will be updated with a new story from the team.
Starbucks union talks resume after long pause in negotiations
By Lizz Giordano
It’s been more than a year since Starbucks baristas and the coffee company last met at the bargaining table. And more than four years since stores began unionizing.
Negotiations, which are set to resume again this month, have been marred with unfair labor practice charges accusing the company of union busting, with many cases decided in the union's favor.
Starbucks has consistently said the company is committed to bargaining in good faith and for a reasonable contract that works for every partner.
Ready to finalize a contract, Starbucks Workers United plans to return to negotiations with a lower minimum wage proposal than they’d brought to the table previously.
“We wanted to put forth something that the company that we thought was reasonable, and this $17 wage is going to help hundreds bring hundreds of baristas up from $15.25, $16 an hour, up to $17 an hour, which would be life changing for so many people,” said Jasmine Leli, a Starbucks barista and a lead union bargaining member.
During the pandemic, Starbucks baristas sparked a wave of union organizing — one that spread to Amazon, REI, Trader Joe's, and other workplaces previously thought to be beyond the reach of the labor movement.
“What that organizing wave showed was that any, almost any company in the United States, no matter how progressive its reputation, will do almost anything lawful or unlawful in order to crush organizing attempts on the part of its workers," said John Logan, a Professor of Labor and Employment at San Francisco State University.
Logan, who has been tracking this unionization wave, said companies' progressive values only go so far — they stop when workers want to form a union.
“They would actually use the values of the company to say: This is why we don't need a union, because we're already one of the good guys. We do all of these things. You know, we're pro-LGBTQ rights, we're pro-environment, we're pro-black lives matter. We support all of these things already. We do not need anyone coming in that might actually undermine that culture,” Logan said.
Companies like Starbucks and REI, have historically led the way by offering higher wages and healthcare benefits than other similar workplaces.
For many Starbucks baristas, it was health benefits and college aid for anyone working over 20 hours a week that initially drew them to the job.
“In order to access those benefits, you need to have proper scheduling and proper staffing and livable wages, and we don't have those things right now, and so we need Starbucks to finalize this contract so they can actually be the progressive company that they claim that they are. These benefits should be accessible for everybody,” Leli said.
According to the Union, the two sides are close to finishing.
Things still left to be worked out: starting wages, minimum staffing numbers and a guarantee that the company offers hours to current workers before hiring more.
Starbucks did not return our request for comment. In its latest update to workers about union negotiations, the company says on average hourly employees earn more than $30 in pay and benefits per hour.
When bargaining started in 2024, it came with a commitment from the company to come to an agreement that year.
Over the last year Starbucks has closed hundreds of stores around North America, including more than 30 Washington locations.
The most recent wave came in March, when the company announced the closure of 5 stores in Seattle, 4 of which are unionized, laying off 69 workers. In response, baristas held a one-day stoppage at these locations.
Adele Wheeldon is one of those baristas losing her job and health care benefits.
“Accessing and mental health and accessing dental health is really hard to get. And, I kind of have just been fighting to try to get a transfer so hard and going to every store to ask. I haven't started to feel about what it would be like to lose my health insurance because it's terrifying,” Wheeldon said.
Laundry workers fighting for better wages and retirement benefits
By Jaelynn Grisso, story published 04/09/2026
A Washington state cleaning company that receives hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars, is in negotiations with its unionized workers over the employees’ contract.
The folks responsible for cleaning everything from table clothes to scrubs and uniforms say they deserve a better contract with their employer Vestis Services, previously known as Aramark.
“We feel we are someone who do something really good for the community,” laundry worker Ada Sadic said. “We feel dignity in our doing that job. But we don't get that dignity in return from the company.”
Workers and Vestis Services have been negotiating a new contract since August 2025. They’re asking for wage increases to better keep up with the cost of living, for changes to the pension structure and for the company to maintain its current health insurance. Workers said the company announced it planned to shift to an option that would be cheaper for the company and more expensive for workers.
Vestis Services has a contract for work for the State of Washington, among others. For the state contract alone, they received about $245,000 in the last biennium.
Two employees who work at a Kent facility said they are asking for higher wages and a better retirement plan largely because of the increasing cost of living.
“Everything is going up,” laundry worker Rosali Canalan said. “That's why we're asking [for] the wage that we deserve because everything is just expensive.”
“It's because we can't live like human beings without struggling so much,” Sadic added. “We are already struggling, but we don't want to struggle more.”
Vestis did not respond to a request for comment. Workers will vote next week to either ratify the contract or authorize a strike, depending on the company’s response.
Nurses push for safety measures amid rising hospital violence
By Lizz Giordano, story published 04/08/2026
Hospital workers face a higher risk of on-the-job violence than most other workers — and in many cases the threat comes from their patients. In response, nurses are taking the issue to the bargaining table and pushing for lower patient-to-nurse staffing ratios in their union contracts.
When nurses and other medical workers picketed last week outside MultiCare Hospitals in Seattle, Yakima and Puyallup, they brought demands for higher pay and less expensive healthcare coverage, but also for stronger safety measures.
“I've been kicked on the legs, in the stomach, in my arms. Luckily, they've missed my face,” said nurse Edna Cortez. “I've heard from, you know, many other fellow nurses from other facilities where they've had things thrown at them.”
Cortez, who also chairs Washington State Nurses Association’s Labor Executive Council, says workplace violence is one of the biggest issues she hears about on the picket line and says it goes underreported.
“I think a lot of it is ... shame, because it's workplace violence and it's towards themselves. But also, one of the biggest reasons is that; so they report to the to the hospital or the facility that they work at, and the hospital doesn't do anything about it, or it is not taken seriously,” Cortez said.
An internal survey by National Nurses United found 81.6 percent of nurses experienced workplace violence within the past year.
“It really makes me sad because we didn't go into nursing to defend ourselves that way. We went into nursing to take care, to provide care, to heal. So, it's, it's, it just really breaks my heart when I hear that nurses have to quit because they're afraid,” Cortez said.
Cortez says along with setting staffing ratios in contracts, some unions have also negotiated paid leave days for nurses who experience workplace violence and advocated for the installation of metal detectors.
Other Unions currently in negotiations are also proposing hospitals create workplace violence plans and form safety committees.
REI Union threatens boycott after retailer claims impasse
By Venice Buhain and Nate Sanford, story published 04/07/2026
The contract fight between Seattle-based outdoor retailer REI Co-op and its workers has taken place not only at the negotiating table, but also in public.
After four years of contentious negotiations for a first contract with organized workers at eleven stores, the company said last month it reached an impasse. The union threatened to organize a boycott during its annual sale in May.
“The boycott is just another signal that we are really serious about getting a contract, and we're not going to give up on our union being a union store,” said Sue Cottrell, a sales associate at the Bellingham REI store and a member of the REI Union bargaining team.
REI differs from other outdoor goods stores in that it’s a co-op that’s owned by members rather than shareholders. Theoretically, members have a say in who runs the board and how the company is run.
The union last year disrupted REI’s board election with a successful campaign to reject the company’s chosen slate of board members. Contract negotiations restarted after that campaign. But last month, REI cited declining profits and said it had made its last, best and final offer. REI says talks are now at an impasse, which the union disputes. The company also started cutting worker benefits.
Cottrell says there has been a shift in recent years – with more emphasis on increasing memberships and signing people up for credit cards than there has been training workers on good customer service. She says the company’s moves undermine the outdoor expertise that makes REI special to its members because it decreases the incentive for a worker to stay.
But Cottrell says she still encourages people to become members of REI.
“I haven't lost all faith in REI. That's why I'm still there after 11 and a half years. And I'm hoping to kind of bring it back to its roots,” Cottrell said.
REI declined to comment for this story, but in an earlier statement said:
“After extensive, good faith bargaining and prolonged discussions on both sides, REI presented its last, best, and final offer, which is designed to support our employees while protecting the future strength of the co-op.”
WA workers unions fare better as unions struggle nationally
By Paris Jackson, story published 04/06/2026
As major employers across the Northwest continue to slash staff and close stores, some workers allege those are a part of efforts to bust unions. Seattle companies like Starbucks, Amazon and REI are among those that have drawn scrutiny for their actions related to unions.
Nationally, unions are in a tough spot, according to the Associate Director of the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, Andrew Hedden at the University of Washington.
But Washington has the 3rd highest union density in the country. Hedden says that means the state is a comparatively good place for unionized workers.
“The union density in the United States, that's the percentage of members of workers who are in a union, is at a historical low. It's around 10% of the workforce in the United States belongs to a union. And the numbers are even lower for workers in the private sector. Washington state, however, is a bit of an exception to that. Its workforce is about 18% union,” Hedden said.
But Heddon says that doesn’t mean unionizing in Washington is any easier. Hedden says federal labor laws are outdated ,and the laws date back to 1930s when things were much different.
“The primary employer is no longer a single factory worker. Workers are all concentrated. You have workers decentralized across lots of different places. Service, healthcare, retail. Those are the some of the biggest industries in the United States,” Hedden said. “It's no longer manufacturing. So labor law is a bit - it's out of date. And companies have developed over decades ways of circumventing and getting around labor law.”
The Washington state legislature can make some difference. For example, in this last legislative session, it passed the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights for nannies, housekeepers, cooks, and other domestic workers.
As far as the future of unions? Hedden says unless there’s a big change in federal law – there will likely not be an increase nationally in union numbers in the private sector.
