Monthly Archives: July, 2020

Introducing IUPAT Local 101

Drywall finishers in Oregon and Southwest Washington now have their own union local.

McMinnville rubber plant workers vote to go nonunion

Despite gains in their one-and-only union contract, workers at RB Rubber voted July 17 to decertify the United Steelworkers.

Congress to debate further COVID relief

A months-long impasse over a next round of COVID relief is threatening workers, businesses, state and local governments, and the U.S. Postal Service.

Green jobs, but not for you

Oregon construction unions say state-subsidized clean energy work is going to nonunion out-of-state firms and out-of-state crews.

Climate justice group goes antiunion

When workers at the Center for Sustainable Economy announced their union, the last thing they expected was to be confronted by a union-busting law firm.

Furloughed workers tighten belts waiting for WorkShare benefits

It seemed like a win-win when unions approved the furloughs, but Workshare benefits promised by the Oregon Employment Department have been slow to arrive.

No childcare means parents can’t work. What can be done?

As over a third of family child care providers have closed the last seven years, there's demand for a childcare system that serves working class families.

A Tale of Two Worlds

The world where President Trump and his allies live couldn’t be further from the world we live in. 

AFSCME Local 88 ratifies 1-year contract extension with Multnomah County

The contract covers 3,200 County workers and the extension provides for a 2.9% cost of living adjustment effective July 1.

Union-community coalition asks City Council to break impasse over labor standards for Broadway Corridor

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty will meet July 20 with the developer and the coalition to see if the impasse can be broken.

Over 800 Providence hospital workers lose their union over one smudged ballot

It’s the latest decision by Trump appointees on the NLRB who seem determined to reverse labor rights reforms of the Obama era.

Beating the odds, free public preschool ballot initiative turns in signatures

Aimed at the November 2020 ballot, it would provide free preschool to all 3- and 4-year-olds in Multnomah County, and living wages for preschool teachers.

Police unions come in for questioning

Police unions have almost always been an awkward fit in the House of Labor.

Noose incident leads unions to call for culture change in construction

When an apprentice encountered a noose on the job, no action was taken for weeks. Building trades unions say that's got to change.

Wages rise over $3 an hour in new Painters contracts

The July 1 raises are the culmination of a ready-to-strike strategy the union set in motion in 2017.

In the era of COVID-19, the union hall is going virtual

Unions are finding that holding meetings online is actually increasing attendance. One union is even holding its national convention online.

Collective bereavement?

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler gives all city workers 40 hours paid bereavement leave, to grieve 400 years of oppression.

Nude dancers picket Portland clubs

In the group PDXStripperStrike, dancers borrow some union tactics, and get some union wins.

Union sours on Scottie’s Pizza

COVID forced the union pizzeria to close. Now laid-off union workers fault owner Scottie Rivera for reopening with a skeleton crew.

National day of action to save USPS

Portland supporters rally and march over the Hawthorne Bridge.

Columbia Gorge behavioral health workers join AFSCME

For Oregon AFSCME, it’s an unbroken string of organizing wins at behavioral health agencies.

Rat visits PGE

Portland General Electric’s new lineman training facility is being constructed at least in part by nonunion labor.