Labor

Law & Courts

Seattle employer can sue workers over 2017 strike, U.S. Supreme Court rules

The U.S. Supreme Court said Thursday that a Seattle company has the right to sue the union representing its employees for damages arising from a 2017 strike. The company, Glacier NW, sued the Teamsters Local 174 after drivers walked off the job with concrete still spinning in their trucks.

Week in Review: Amazon, trees, and tacos

Guest host Mike Lewis discusses the week’s news with Publicola’s Erica Barnett, Insider’s Katherine Long, and KUOW’s Mike Davis.

Business

WA mushroom farm ordered to pay $3.4 million for discriminating against female workers

A little more than a year ago, a Sunnyside mushroom farm put a job posting on Facebook, looking for only male workers. The post was made by a lead employee of the then Ostrom Mushroom farm. Now, the farm will have to pay out 3.4 million dollars to settle allegations of discrimination against workers it fired.

Business

What to expect when you're expecting a grocery merger

Soundside host Libby Denkmann sits down with KUOW reporter Ruby De Luna to talk about what to expect with the potential merger of two national grocery chains — Albertsons and Kroger.

Business

Amazon settles with former employee over claims of union interference

Amazon settled a dispute with a former employee of an Amazon Fresh grocery store this week over allegations of unfair labor practices at the Seattle facility.

Business

Seattle employers beckon workers back to the office. Downtown can’t wait

The era of unlimited remote work is over, at least for some major Seattle employers.

Business

Amazon cuts 9,000 workers in latest round of layoffs

Thousands of Amazon employees learned they are out of job Wednesday morning as the company carried out its latest round of layoffs.

Business

Laid off? Tech workers are job hunting

The numbers keep going up. Layoffs in tech have put Seattle workers on edge. But the region’s shifting labor market is still looking pretty good for job seekers. UW Policy Professor Jacob Vigdor is here to help explain.

Business

What workers want: How industries hollowed out by the pandemic are getting folks back

We’ve all seen the help wanted signs, had slow service at our favorite restaurant, or maybe a long wait in the ER. The markers of the Great Resignation are inescapable. Nearly 100 million workers quit their jobs in the past two years. Now, employers are trying to figure out how to get them back. KUOW talked to hiring managers and workers in some of the industries hit hardest by the pandemic about what it takes to get folks back to work.

Government

Washington to adopt nation-leading family and medical leave for Uber drivers

Washington is poised to become the first state in the nation to mandate paid family and medical leave and unemployment benefits for Uber and Lyft drivers.