Northwest Labor Press is an independent union-supported newspaper founded in 1900. Our print version is mailed twice a month to about 45,000 members of over three dozen local unions in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Our online version has been maintained here since 1997.
Analysis
There’s news and statistics. And then there’s putting it all together to get the big picture. In this section, we analyze trends and try to make sense of the world we live in.
Instacart responds to the Labor Press
The company charged its consumers different prices for the same goods, but now swears it no longer does that.
Union approval at highest level in 61 years
Americans mostly want more union power, but they don’t think it’s likely.
AI, meet CBA
Unions are grappling with the rapid rollout of AI in the workplace.
2026 guide to the local labor movement
Understanding the labor movement can be daunting. This guide is meant as a grand tour of labor organizations in the readership area we serve.
Good times for the ultra-rich
The number of individuals with a net worth of $30 million or more jumped by 14.4% in 2025, the biggest jump since 2017.
Unions are back up to 10% of U.S. workforce
The annual numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics are up just a bit from the historic low of 9.9% the year before.
Portland’s pro-labor City Council
One year into the newly reconstituted form of government, it’s clear there’s a dramatically improved relationship with labor.
2025 in labor
As reported in the Northwest Labor Press, here are the biggest developments for the labor movement in Oregon and Southwest Washington in 2025.
How AFT-AAUP stopped UO layoffs
A campus-wide revolt at University of Oregon (UO) last summer could serve as a case study about how to fight job cuts.
2025: The rest of the story
Since the start of 2025, we’ve reported over 400 stories. Here's an update about what’s happened since we last reported on some of them.
Union members have superior benefits
BLS data shows union employees are more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and retirement benefits than non-union workers.
Gallup poll: Unions are still popular
Poll results show union approval has been holding steady for the last five years, following a steady rebound over the previous decade.
A guide to the local union movement
Comprehending the vastness of the labor movement can be a challenge. This is as exhaustive a list of local labor unions as we could create.
CEO pay now 285 times the average worker’s
Starbucks tops the nation in the CEO-to-worker pay gap.
Support for unions at all-time high
Americans favor unions over big business by a record margin, according to the most recent in a series of annual surveys.
Growth industries
Oregon expects to see over 170,000 new jobs created by 2033, with big gains in the construction, warehousing, and healthcare workforce.
Fewer strikes in 2024
Major work stoppages were down in 2024, according the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, but still more than any year between 2001 and 2018.
STRIKE STORIES
Only two in a thousand U.S. workers took part in a strike last year. We asked readers who’ve experienced a strike to tell their stories.
Union membership down again in 2024
The U.S. union membership rate is now 9.9%, and just 5.9% for private sector workers, according to the latest annual BLS report.
Joe Biden: The best president labor ever had
He promised to be the most pro-union president in U.S. history. His administration went out of their way to keep that promise.
