Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh, where Payday is wrapping up a ton of projects here before our multimedia editor Amos Wolf goes on parental leave.
65% Towards Parental Leave Goal
Good news, folks, we are now 65% of the way towards our parental leave goal. Amos is getting ready to take off on Friday for the birth of his first child and it would soothe everyone’s anxiety if we could hit this goal today.
ICE Arrested 50 Immigrant Workers in PA Hospital Raid
Last week, ICE raided a construction site at the new Geisenger hospital facility in the central Pennsylvania community of Danville. Now, it’s been announced that at least 50 immigrants were detained in the raid, making it the largest workplace ICE raid in Pennsylvania this year.
Immigrants’ rights advocates were horrified. Activists say that Danville local police assisted ICE in the raid.
“ICE monitored us with drones, watched our vehicles, and intercepted us on the roads. Alongside local police, they waited for us. With the support of local police, they used their power to intimidate us, to let us know we have no rights and that they will take anyone away they encounter,” one eyewitness told the Patriot-News. “Since then, my fellow co-workers are terrified, and no one wants to work. I am afraid and filled with uncertainty.”
For more, check out the Patriot-News.
ICE Raids Pittsburgh’s Latino Beechview Neighborhood
Beechview is the largest Latino neighborhood in Pittsburgh and for the past two days, reports indicate that ICE has been on a rampage throughout the neighborhood. ICE targeted the popular Mexican grocery store Las Palmas.
Now, neighborhood businesses are saying that business is down as immigrants fear shopping there. Our partners at Frontline Dignity are calling people to show up and shop in the district.
“When fear makes people afraid to leave their homes, our neighborhood businesses feel that impact too,” said Jaime Martinez, the founder of Frontline Dignity. “We can respond by making sure our immigrant neighbors and the businesses that serve this community know they are not standing alone.”
For more on how to respond, check out friends at Frontline Dignity.
Report: Immigrant Workplace Threats Double Under Trump in California.
A new report from the California Labor Commissioner’s Office shows that workplace threats against immigrants have more than doubled under Trump. From KQED:
Supervisors threatening to call ICE? That’s nothing new. But with federal agents dramatically detaining so many people under the Trump Administration, workers are taking the threat seriously. And many decide it’s not worth the risk to complain about wage-theft, harassment or other workplace issues.
“But it doesn’t have to be real, it can just be said and the people are fearful,” said Jaime Arteaga with the North Coast States Carpenters’ Union. “It can be a rumor. Somebody might say we might get deported and that shuts everything down. The workers are not going to come forward.”
State figures show complaints of retaliation involving immigration threats have spiked under the first and current Trump administration. Relatively few workers will go to the authorities, but the California Labor Commissioner’s Office reports about 200 complaints involving immigration threats since 2025. That’s nearly as many as during the entire four years of President Joe Biden’s administration.
For more, check out KQED.
Labor Lab Launches New Union Busting Cost Calculator
The anti-union busting website Labor Lab has launched a new calculator that allows workers to find in-depth profiles of the anti-union lawyers working against them and how much they are being paid.
Drawing on filings from the National Labor Relations Board and Department of Labor, the tool has data and background on more than 800 consultants, 8,000 law firms and 21,000 attorneys working in union busting.
“These tools advance LaborLab’s vision of providing resources that can help directly empower workers to organize their workplaces,” said Bob Funk, executive director of LaborLab. "We envision worker-organizers, union staffers and labor attorneys using the search tool to identify unions that have previously dealt with a particular anti-union attorney or consultant, learn from their experience and share that information with other workers.”
For more, check out the new tool at Labor Lab.
Eiffel Tower Workers Strike Over Visit That Excluded Female Staff
Finally, workers at the Eiffel Tower went on strike today after female workers were forced to leave the tower so that a right-wing sect of Hindus associated with Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) could visit.
"Instructions were given to female employees of the Eiffel Tower and to female employees of contractors to make themselves invisible in order to welcome this delegation," the staff union said in a statement. “Some were asked to leave their posts and withdraw to other areas. In some posts they were replaced by men. And all female employees were instructed not to go through or cross certain areas while the delegation was present."
News & Headlines Elsewhere
- Argentinian universities on strike against Milei as he dodges funding law
- 1,300 Encore Boston Harbor workers have gone on strike
- Machinist Union opposed restriction of Bombardier aircraft sales in the United States
- The Boeing engineer strike vote that could wipe out the 737 MAX's 42-per-month rate
- Toledo NewsGuild on Block Communications’ decision to cease operations of the Toledo Blade
- Labor unions are growing, but where depends on state politics
- Watchdog report: ex-Labor Secretary Chavez-DeRemer oversaw hostile work environment, misused funds
- Kenya's doctors threaten to join strike by nurses, citing increased workload in hospitals
Alright folks, that’s all for today. Keep sending tips, comments and complaints to melk@paydayreport.com
Support our mission
Donate Yearly
Donate Monthly
One-Time Donation
Patreon
Venmo
