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.
In Memoriam
Former labor council leader Ron Fortune dies
Fortune, a 59-year member of UFCW Local 555, led NOLC from 1985 to 1998.
Robert G. Crumpton, 1935-2015
A longtime leader of OEA, he helped pass Oregon's public employee collective bargaining law.
William Martin Fast, 1918-2015
The MEBA rep was a Port commissioner and Oregon labor chair for Nixon’s 1968 presidential run.
William James “Billy” McNicholas, 1926- 2015
The longtime Plumbers union officer was an Irish tenor and a WWII-era vet.
Bruce Zimmerman 1944-2015
Zimmerman was president of IBEW Local 48 and assistant director at the NECA-IBEW Training Center
Ed Whelan, 1926-2015
The former Oregon AFL president was a Korean War vet, fire fighter, legislator, and PGE executive.
Helen Nickum, 1928-2015
The longtime ATU Local 757 secretary formerly worked for a Congresswoman and U.S. Senator
Robert Stanfill, 1923 – 2015
The Plasterers leader and WWII vet led the state building trades for 16 years
John C. Wagoner, 1946 -2014
The Camas native was active in AWPPW, and lobbied in Olympia for fellow mill workers
Steven Fritz, 1960-2014
The OSH psychiatrist was head of his AFSCME local and husband to Portland Commissioner Amanda Fritz
Jim Gallagher, 1934-2014
Gallagher worked in public sector unions and retired from UO LERC in 1992.
Ralph Rigdon, 1928-2014
The longtime UAW member was active in union and Democratic politics
Jerry Greer, 1943-2014
Greer was a Machinists union rep and active in the Oregon AFL-CIO.
Ed Beechert, 1920-2014
The retired University of Hawaii professor was an active historian of Northwest labor history
Phil Parker, 1946-2014
The retired IBEW Local 48 officer was head of the SW Washington Labor Roundtable
Jim Zuffrea, 1931-2014
The UFCW Local 555 union rep started as a union meatcutter in New York.
Jerry Krahn, 1936-2014
Krahn was a longtime business agent at United Brotherhood of Carpenters
Garner Pool, 1923-2014
Pool was a union barber in Albany, Oregon for more than five decades.
Tom Worley, 1935-2014
The Navy veteran was business manager of Portland Iron Workers Local 29.
Lloyd Knudsen, 1926-2014
The former Oregon AFL-CIO political director was a longtime member of IBEW Local 48