workers Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

What will happen to employees at WestRock Paper Mill when it closes?

By Lauren Gallup September 5, 2023

About 400 workers were laid off from the WestRock Paper Mill in Tacoma last year. Now, the company's Seattle packaging plant is slated to close in March. (Credit: Lauren Gallup / NWPB)

With the impending closure of the WestRock Paper Mill in Tacoma, about 400 workers could be displaced. “It's really significant,” said Chelsea Mason-Placek, who is the workforce development director for the Washington State Labor Council. “This is a much larger layoff than we typically see.”Read More

Feds say Hanford’s 324 Building has more waste under it than previously known, float new plan for cleanup

By Anna King June 29, 2023

A large rectangular white, ware-house looking building is pictured on a paved strip of land.

The 324 Building on the Hanford Site (Courtesy: U.S. Department of Energy) Read A creepy old building used for 30 years to research radioactive materials from 1966 to 1996 has […]Read More

Washington Wine Industry: Breaking Ground

By Dori Luzzo Gilmour September 6, 2022

The multi-billion dollar wine industry in Washington state would not be what it is today without the field workers. The storytelling program Breaking Ground captures the stories about growers and winemakers and also the field workers.Read More

How New Federal Rules Could Make It Easier To Buy Hearing Aids Or Fix Your Phone

By NPR News July 9, 2021

A man displays an advertisement for repairing iPhone in New York on October 19, 2015. AFP PHOTO/JEWEL SAMAD (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images)

President Biden unveiled a new plan on Friday taking aim at powerful industries where a handful of players have so much market clout that they can drive up prices, depress wages and make it hard for small companies to break in.Read More

A $500 Sign-On Bonus To Deliver Pizzas? Here’s What To Know About Hiring Incentives

By NPR News July 6, 2021

In need of workers, a Domino's franchise in Washington, D.C., is offering a sign-on bonus for all positions. CREDIT: Andrea Hsu/NPR

With a record 9.3 million jobs open in the U.S. as of April, and a workforce in no hurry to get back to work, a growing number of employers are looking to hiring bonuses to fill their ranks. Long a tradition on Wall Street, sign-on bonuses are rare in low-wage work such as fast food, warehousing and food delivery. Now, as the economy has picked up, hiring bonuses are everywhere.Read More

Washington State To Create $40M Fund For Undocumented Workers Hurt By Pandemic

By NWPB News August 11, 2020

Sarbanand Farms farmworkers demonstrate after coworker's death in August 2017.

Undocumented workers who lost income because of the coronavirus pandemic, but were passed over for federal assistance, will finally be getting some help in Washington state, thanks to a new $40 million relief fund.Read More