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.
Cameron Crowell
Cameron Crowell is a writer and reporter based in Portland. See more of his work at his blog (In)Action — inaction.substack.com.
Collective bargaining
New Seasons workers ratify their first union contract
Three years after a first union vote, New Seasons has a union contract that raises wages 6% to 16.5% and sets rules for humane scheduling.
Collective bargaining
Starbucks boycott called as strike spreads to 120 stores
Strikers are demanding real bargaining that leads to a first-ever union contract.
Union democracy
New Seasons Labor Union votes to join UE union
Members also considered affiliating with Teamsters Local 162 but in an online membership vote held July 31, 65% chose UE over Local 162.
Workers Rights
Unionist reinstated at Fried Egg I’m in Love
A week after he led a one-day walkout to protest treatment of a coworker, Colin John was fired after three years of working at the company.
Workers Rights
Outraged by a coworker’s firing, New Seasons workers strike
Randy Foster, a 19-year employee, was fired for helping a blind coworker. Was it retaliation for union activity?
Collective bargaining
Teamsters strike at Amazon
Amazon has argued that Teamster-represented delivery drivers are employed by subcontractors, so it doesn’t have to bargain with the union.
Collective bargaining
After Thanksgiving eve strike, New Seasons union announces boycott
Nearly two years into contract bargaining, the company revealed its wage proposal: a 25 cent raise — in exchange for dropping health benefits.
Union Organizing
No to union at McMenamins
IATSE Local 28 says concert production company Monqui Presents chilled union support when it fired two union supporters.
Union Organizing
Workers at Peet’s Coffee Broadway shop join IWW
It’s the fifth win in the IWW’s Peet’s Labor Union effort, after four coffee shops unionized in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Union Organizing
McMenamins stagehands to vote on union
The stagehands are employees of concert promoter Monqui Presents, which is a major force in the Pacific Northwest music industry.
Collective bargaining
Portland-wide strike shuts 10 New Seasons stores for a day
As bargaining drags into its 20th month, the union has no choice but to escalate.
Workers Rights
NLRB seeks court order against strip club owner
The owners of Magic Tavern are thumbing their noses at U.S. labor law. Strippers, and the NLRB, are not amused.
Jobs
Unionized childcare shuts down after paychecks bounce
The owner stopped paying bills, leaving 16 teachers without final paychecks and around 50 families scrambling to find childcare.
Union Organizing
At Oaks Amusement Park, union campaign fizzles
The union vote among amusement ride operators was 4 to 26, and less than half of the 66 workers who were eligible to vote cast ballots.
Collective bargaining
Will New Seasons workers get a union contract?
The union and New Seasons have met 21 times since January 2023 to negotiate and are still without a first collective bargaining agreement.
People
Portland NLRB’s Dietz out indefinitely
Seattle-based NLRB agent Janet Little will be stepping in to handle the management duties and correspondence.
Collective bargaining
Second contract ratified at Grand Central
The new three-year agreement raises wages and modifies an attendance policy workers felt was unnecessarily harsh.
