🚲 Burke-Gilman's missing link

Hotel Workers Authorize Strike Ahead of World Cup

Unionized hotel workers at the Hilton’s Embassy Suites in Pioneer Square are prepared to strike ahead of the World Cup. On Friday, 94 percent of the union workers, who are represented by Unite Here Local 8, voted to authorize a strike. The hotel is a short walk away from Lumen Field, which is hosting six World Cup games, giving the workers additional leverage. [The Guardian]

• What do workers want? About 100 workers at the hotel are bargaining for increased pay, consistent health insurance, better ICE protections, and improved staffing. For pay, Hilton’s current offer amounts to a less than $1 per hour raise on average over the next five years. Workers have also proposed that management tell employees when ICE or DHS is on the property, but so far, Hilton has rejected this proposal. [The Stranger]
• WA worker protections are expanding: Worker bargaining is happening just as House Bill 2105, protecting workers from immigration officials, takes effect on June 11. The bill requires employers to give workers at least five business days’ notice of any federal agency auditing their I-9 forms or any other worker records. The law is meant to protect against employers who might weaponize a federal audit to punish workers. [KUOW]
• How would the hotel handle a strike? Despite lower bookings than expected, the hotel still stands to make a profit. The lowest rate for a two-night stay in a room during the U.S. vs. Australia match currently costs around $2,430. In order to stay open, managers would likely initially do the jobs of unionized workers, and then Hilton could turn to temp staffing agencies to recruit scabs. [Seattle Times]

🚲 New route to close ‘missing link’? Construction to connect two sections of the Ballard Burke-Gilman Trail has been “paused” for more than 25 years due to ongoing litigation. Now, a newly proposed route could fix that. Maybe not the Link Ballardites are focused on, but this one seems a whole lot more likely. [SDOT]

🙈 Frugal budget proposals: Last week, Governor Ferguson’s office sent out a memo asking agencies to submit slimmed-down budget proposals for the 2027-29 biennium. State tax collection is projected to be insufficient to support new programs, let alone maintain current ones. This is in part because money from the 9.9% tax on incomes of more than $1 million won’t start flowing until 2029. [Seattle Times]

🥯 Westman’s retelling of bagel history is… limited: Friend of City Cast Seattle, Sean Keeley, decided to visit Westman’s Bagel & Coffee after learning they’ll be opening a new location along the waterfront and found a retelling of the bagel’s distinctly Jewish history on the downtown storefront’s windows that left him feeling strange. His discomfort with their erasure of Jewish history led him to write an essay on food and assimilation that’s worth a read! [It’s A Shanda]