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Workers at the Amazon Fresh grocery store at 23rd Avenue South and South Jackson Street in Seattle’s Central District have unionized and are demanding higher pay and better working conditions, according to The Seattle Times.
Union member and Amazon worker Joseph Fink told The Seattle Times that workers at the store have been organizing for months to form Amazon Workers United, which they’ve declared an independent union without holding a formal union vote — a move the workers say speed up the unionization process while still offering them protections. Amazon doesn’t recognize the union, but the workers are nevertheless protected against retaliation for conducting union activities by the National Labor Relations Board.
Workers sent a list of demands to management this month including a $25 minimum starting wage, more training to prevent workplace sexual harassment, and the right to wear Black Lives Matter pins to work. They are threatening to strike if demands are not met in 60 days.
The union has filed charges three times to the NLRB for what it says are various acts of retaliation for organizing a union; Amazon says the allegations are false.
Two Oregon wineries are opening Woodinville tasting rooms
Oregon wineries Montinore Estate and Landlines Estates are joining Downtown Woodinville’s Wine Walk Row with two tasting rooms scheduled to open in August.
The tasting rooms will be part of The Schoolhouse District, a mixed-use development that opened last fall. It already includes tasting rooms for Walla Walla wineries L’Ecole No. 41 and Valdemar Estates, as well as McQueen Champagne Bar
Both wineries, located in separate parts of the Willamette Valley near Portland, are known for making pinot noirs and their other wines with biodynamic grapes.
A Seattle bar offers rooftop curling
If watching the Winter Olympics made you inspired to try your hand at curling, there’s a Seattle bar for that.
Frolik Kitchen + Cocktails in Downtown Seattle revealed a synthetic curling rink (made without ice) in February, which will stay open through April on its rooftop patio. Reservations cost $30 per person (for 45 minutes) and come with a cocktail.
