Providence slashes tech unit workers’ sick leave benefit Providence Health System, one of the country’s richest hospital chains, has eliminated sick leave for workers in its nine tech units at St. Peter Hospital. To protect this and other benefits, the technicians have unionized and are represented by UFCW 21. They…
Posts published in “Issue: March 2021”
This month’s theme is what’s been revealed by the pandemic. If you’ve ever been played in a shell game, you know things move very fast. You think you know where the hidden object will be when the shells stop moving, but you almost never do. Sometimes, there’s nothing under any of the shells...
West Bay Yards West Bay Yards Development Project was initially presented to Olympia’s Community Planning and Development staff (CP&D) in May. At a “presubmission conference” the architect provided 19 pages of detail, including a site plan, designs showing the location of all elements of the project, numerous renditions of the…
They should have had Olympia SWAT at the Capitol … More homeless in the making … Cancel culture comes in handy!
I’m torn between Merlot and Chardonnay—those houses in that new Lennar development behind the Auto Mall. I mean, they both have the Shaker-style wood cabinets with crown molding. All the bathrooms have the elongated comfort seat toilets. And a whole list of other luxury features. There is one difference—would it…
WIP has received a grant to print book reviews in 2021. How will it work? Each month we’ll publish a list of books (listed below). If you’d like to be considered to review one of them, contact us at olywip@gmail.com and put BOOK REVIEW in the subject line. We will…
This was Anne Feeney’s theme song. The singer and labor activist who was a familiar face and voice in the South Sound, died February 6 of COVID 19, at age 69.
A reinvigorated safety and health (S&H) movement is taking on the long historic injustice of work-related illness, injury and death. It’s also digging deep into structured inequality to reveal the race/class/gender discrimination that shapes that inequality in both small and screamingly obvious ways...
Now that the campaign to vaccinate the planet for COVID-19 is well underway, news of effective, affordable treatments—and deterrents—is finally coming to light. Studies on ivermectin, colchecine and hydroxychloroquine, published in the US, Spain, India, Iran, Egypt, Argentina and elsewhere indicate that these drugs, used prophylactically and in early and…
In Olympia’s City Manager system, Council members exercise little direct control over decisions that shape the City and its neighborhoods. The Council delegates land turnover decisions to the City staff. The Council states they can’t interfere in the planning process. They send citizens to the Hearing Examiner who reinforces staff decisions.…
On January 17, the Olympia community came together to clean up a tent encampment adjacent to Marathon Park by Capitol Lake. The camp had been devastated by a recent storm that left belongings and trash scattered all around. Leaders of several activist groups jumped in to help support the folks living in the encampment....
Early in February, some of the wet, cold people living outside in Olympia tried to take rooms in the downtown Red Lion, aided and encouraged by activists from Oly Housing Now. Staff members of the hotel fled to the basement and called the police....
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in November of last year issued new mitigation requirements for nearshore developments — like West Bay Yards, for example. The opinion includes significant increases in mitigation necessary to protect juvenile chinook salmon and the Southern Resident Killer Whale from extinction.
Last summer George Floyd, many others, and the BLM movement reminded us that we haven’t made much progress against racism worldwide or locally over the last several hundred years, or maybe forever. Corporations rushed to cloak themselves in noble statements about their support of Black Lives Matter and the value of…
MOVIE REVIEW: Kiss the Ground, a documentary, now screening on Netflix, is a breath of fresh air among the constant bad news about climate change. Not only is it highly informative and educational, it also reveals a plausible solution to the global warming crisis.
The Community Sustaining Fund (CSF) provides grants to support progressive, community-oriented projects across Thurston County. Their goal is to empower individuals and organizations that advance social justice, environmental health, and community activism. For over 30 years, the CSF grants have supported local innovation and creative collaboration potential....
Trump is out and Biden is in. Where do we go from here, in combating the cancer of Trumpism and working to transform our society in a socialist direction?
Growing up with tales of the American Dream pouring out of books, TV, and radio so steadily that the psyches of many young Americans are imbued with the belief that if you worked hard, you would grow-up to be a successful adult—owning a home and having a spouse, 2.5 children, and a dog—or a close variation.
The OlyDSA DefundOPD committee has been researching and organizing around cutting the police budget, reinvesting in community and increasing accountability. They reviewed 19 bills related to policing in the legislative session, and identified this annotated list of bills to support.
Our unemployment insurance system has failed the country at a moment of great need. With tens of millions of workers struggling just to pay rent and buy food, Congress is now forced to consider a third emergency spending bill, providing stimulus payments, special weekly unemployment insurance, and temporary unemployment benefits…
Safe Rides Community Survey • New Overnight Winter Shelter • Olympia Indivisible • “Women rise up globally • The Estuarium • Thurston Conservation District election • Olympia Seafood: The F/V Terry F • Nominations open for Evan Ferber Peacemaker Leadership Award • Defund OPD