With high inflation, high interest rates and an overall higher cost of living, one key market figure has been trending with record lows since the Covid-19 pandemic ended: the unemployment rate.
At 3.6%, the rate for the Tri-Cities area is well under the area’s typical historic range of 5%...
The union representing hundreds of workers who recently were laid off from the Packaging Corporation of America plant in Wallula is offering support and assistance, a top union official said.
The Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workersand the Washington State...
Teamsters affiliate to advise rideshare workersDrivers Union, a Tukwila nonprofit associated with Teamsters Local 117, has inked a $5.4 million, two-year contract with the state of Washington to support drivers who provide ride services for passengers through transportation network companies such as Lyft and Uber.The Department of Labor & Industries...
The Tri-City chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is preparing to build a Joint Apprentice Training Center in Kennewick.IBEW 112, together with the Spokane-based Inland Empire chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association, expects to solicit bids from contractors in early 2023 and break ground next spring. The...
Washington State University Tri-Cities is rolling out professional training focused on the needs of Tri-City businesses.The expanded workforce training program is offered in partnership with the city of Richland, Port of Benton and Visit Tri-Cities and falls within the professional development offerings at the WSU Tri-Cities Carson College of Business.Classes...
What’s at stake over a once obscure economic measure – the labor force participation rate? The quick answer: A lot for the current and future economy of the greater Tri-Cities.Machines and robots are replacing labor in some occupations. But growth of an economy still largely depends on the growth of...
A top priority for Washington’s public sector employees will be lobbying the 2023 Legislature to fund contracts negotiated this year by Gov. Jay Inslee’s office.The contracts cover a wide variety of activities, ranging from professional and technical workers to Teamsters, educators, judges, lawyers, state patrol officers and troopers, fish and...
A profitable Kennewick technology business is being closed by its parent as part of a global reorganization blamed on the pandemic.Bruker Inc. is merging Bruker’s Nano Handheld-Mobile Portable XRF unit, which employs about 50, with a sister company in Berlin and closing the office at the end of December. It...
L&I proposes 6% hike for contractor feesThe Washington State Department of Labor & Industries is considering raising the fee to register, renew or be reinstated as a contractor by 5.79% for 2022.L&I is required to charge a fee and to revise the fees at least once every two years. The...
