Week in Review: Same-sex marriage, unionization, and aquatic life

Bill Radke discusses the week’s news with Seattle Times Isabella Breda, Crosscut’s Mai Hoang, and South Seattle Emerald’s Marcus Green.

On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass legislation to protect same-sex and interracial marriage. The measure now goes to President Biden to be signed into law. This comes on the same week as the 10-year anniversary of same-sex marriage becoming legal in Washington state. What do we remember from becoming one of the first states to legalize same-sex marriage?

CNN Business reported this week that roughly 300 workers at ZeniMax, a gaming studio owned by Microsoft, are voting to form the first union at Microsoft. The tech giant said that if a majority of the workers vote in favor of it, it agrees to recognize the union. Who wants to unionize and why? How is Microsoft’s reaction different from some other tech companies?

Workers at Ostrom Mushroom Farms have been working on unionization efforts to improve working conditions for months. They are also taking issue with Ostrom’s decision to fire local workers and replace them with H-2A guest workers. They recently held a rally at Metropolitan Market in Lower Queen Anne. Why did the workers demonstrate in Seattle?

On Monday, the city of Port Townsend proclaimed that Southern Resident Orcas have legal rights. Only 73 individual Southern Resident Orcas remain in the wild. The resolution also recognizes that existing legal protections are not enough. How is the mayor going beyond the Marine Mammal Protection Act and listed under the Endangered Species Act?

In 1972, seals and sea lions were granted sweeping protections under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Since then, populations for both have exploded, and the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission is saying this is having a detrimental impact on tribes’ fisheries and salmon fishing. What are the rights of the seals and sea lions, the salmon and the tribes?