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.
Don McIntosh
Editor Don McIntosh has been with the Northwest Labor Press since 1998. Born in Baltimore, he moved to Portland in 1985, and first practiced journalism at the Daily Vanguard, Portland State University's student newspaper. After earning a bachelor's in history, he served as an underground union organizer (salt) with Teamsters Local 174 in Seattle. Back in Portland, he wrote for the Portland Business Journal and Willamette Week and was editor of the Portland Alliance, a monthly community newspaper.
Labor History
Looking back at the late great Labor Day parade
Parades were once a big part of what it meant to celebrate Labor Day.
Culture
2026 Labor Day picnics
Labor’s holiday is celebrated by union members, families, and allies. Here are this year's Labor Day picnics in Oregon and Washington.
Portland
City of Portland to contract out 350 union jobs
As Metro exits management of the Schnitzer and Keller venues, the “City that Works” doesn’t want the work either.
Oregon
Public employees union takes aim at bloated college administration
SEIU says an increasing share of state university budgets goes to a swelling army of administrative staff and excessive executive pay.
Union Organizing
Workers unionize at Sliders PDX Williams
PDX Sliders hired Ogletree Deakins, a management-side labor law firm that specializes in “union avoidance.”
Collective bargaining
Engineers reject contract, authorize strike at Boeing
Union negotiators favored a yes vote, but found that rank-and-file members lack trust in the company.
Jobs
Oregon Labor Federation calls for ‘high-road standards’ in developing data centers
A new board resolution calls for state policies that ensure that digital infrastructure advances the interests of working people.
Analysis
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.
Collective bargaining
Linemen strike at Oregon Trail Electric Coop
The utility serves rural Oregonians from La Grande to Burns.
Jobs
$573 million in public funds? Now the Blazers decide
Multnomah County and Portland City Council approved tentative commitments totaling $208 million in taxpayer-funded arena renovations.
Union Organizing
OSU women’s basketball players form a union
The Lady Beavs filed for union recognition the same day a new national college player union launched.
Washington
A labor look at Washington 2026 primary election results
Candidates running with endorsements from organized labor in Southwest Washington had mixed success in Washington’s Aug. 4 primary election.
Jobs
Judge orders Pentagon to halt wind turbine obstruction
The Trump administration can’t continue blocking all wind energy projects. That’s what a federal judge in Oregon ruled Aug. 6.
Union Organizing
Crisis hotline workers will vote on union
Hundreds of remote workers will decide whether to join OPEIU Local 11.
Union Organizing
Parking workers at Moda Center join Laborers Local 737
Attendees pay $37 to park at events. Parking workers make $19.50 an hour ... and park their own cars in a gravel lot by the railroad tracks.
Union democracy
Local 483 re-elects Sotomayor as another contract fight looms
In ways both positive and negative, the local is still feeling the effects of its strike at the city more than three years ago.
Culture
Chavez Boulevard renaming to go before Portland City Council
The ordinance directs PBOT to absorb the roughly $200,000 cost of replacing the signs but doesn’t spell out what work to put on the shelf.
Collective bargaining
Washington state employees union plans lunch protest
The state of Washington told Washington Federation of State Employees there's no money available for state employee wage increases.
Training the Next Generation
Local 49 once again takes ‘Best in West’ roofing title
For the third time in four years, a Roofers Local 49 apprentice took first place at the regional skills competition.
