Other LanguagesOLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy will conduct testing and, if successful, begin implementing a new system to treat or capture hazardous tank vapors at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation within the next three years, under the terms of an agreement submitted to a federal court today.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced that eight additional corporate, fast-food chains will end no-poach practices nationwide, joining 15 others. The 23 account for more than 67,000 locations nationwide and employ millions of workers. The companies will remove all no-poach clauses, which put downward pressure on wages and restrict worker mobility, from all current and future franchise contracts.
SEATTLE — In a second major announcement as part of an initiative to eliminate no-poach clauses nationwide, Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced that eight more corporate fast-food chains will remove “no-poach” provisions from their franchise contracts nationwide. No-poach clauses put downward pressure on wages and restrict worker mobility.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson issued the following statement after a federal appeals court agreed today with Ferguson and 10 other attorneys general that the Trump Administration’s delay of the Chemical Disaster Rule violated the Clean Air Act. The Chemical Disaster Rule updates important safety requirements for large industrial facilities that handle hazardous chemicals.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced that in order to avoid a lawsuit from his office, seven large, corporate fast-food chains will immediately end a nationwide practice that restricts worker mobility and decreases competition for labor by preventing workers from moving among the chains’ franchise locations. The companies will no longer enforce provisions included in franchise agreements that stop workers from moving to potentially better positions and wages, and will remove the language from current and future contracts.
The Washington Supreme Court agreed today with Attorney General Bob Ferguson that agricultural workers who are paid on a “piece-rate” basis by what they pick are also entitled to hourly compensation for time they spend on other aspects of their jobs.
OLYMPIA — A federal judge today rejected an effort by the Northwest Detention Center’s operator, GEO Group, Inc. (GEO), to dismiss Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s lawsuit against the company for allegedly violating Washington’s minimum wage laws.
TACOMA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced a lawsuit against The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO), the second-largest private prison provider in the country, for not paying its workers the minimum wage, netting the company millions in ill-gotten profits. The state’s lawsuit asks the court to order the company to give up these profits.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a “friend of the court” brief arguing that agricultural workers who are paid on a “piece-rate” basis by what they pick are also entitled to compensation for time they spend on other aspects of their jobs.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson issued the following statement regarding reports of potential tank vapor exposures today near the Hanford Tank Farm. He filed a lawsuit in September 2015 regarding worker safety issues at Hanford.