Washington state is joining 20 other states in opposing the Trump administration’s move to increase the cost of H-1B visa petitions for high-skilled foreign workers to $100,000.
Even as the federal government withdraws support for clean energy projects and legal challenges against those same projects continue from tribal, environmental and community advocates, the industry is still expected to boom in the coming years.
A contractor with offices in Pasco has been fined by the state Department of Labor & Industries after a 3,000-pound piece of equipment fell and crushed a worker at a southwest Washington jobsite.
The long-operating packaging manufacturing plant in Wallula will cut 200 jobs by the end of March 2026 as it permanently shutters part of the facility to cut production costs.
A California union and a group of farmworkers from around the country—including one from Sunnyside and several others working in the state’s vineyards—are suing to stop new, lower-wage federal guidelines that save money for farmers but cut pay for temporary foreign agriculture workers, hurting local laborers as a result, the suit alleges.
Affectedpositionsrangefromthose working in IT, software, mechanical and nuclear engineering, as well as roles connected to national security, cybersecurity research, chemistry, earth science and administration.
Washington state’s top justice official is throwing more resources into enforcing the state’s worker protections, saying federal efforts have lapsed under the Trump administration.
