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.
Training the Next Generation
“Earn while you learn.” It’s one of the untold stories of the labor movement: State-of-the-art union apprenticeship programs turn out some of the best-trained workers anywhere. And instead of graduating in debt and with uncertain prospects for work, journeymen trades workers have a direct line to a career with good pay, benefits, and job satisfaction. In this section we report on those union training programs.
2025 Oregon Tradeswomen Career Fair
More than 2,000 potential trades workers visited the NECA-IBEW training center May 16 and 17 for Oregon Tradeswomen’s 30th annual career fair.
A Local 49 roofer at the top of his trade
Jose Parra Pineda, a fourth-year apprentice in Roofers Local 49, took first place in a national apprentice competition May 13-15 in Minnesota.
Champion apprentices
Bricklayers Local 1 apprentices gathered for a friendly skills competition judged by members of the joint apprenticeship training committee.
Ambassadors for the electric trade
To recruit the next generation, IBEW Local 48 enlists members in a program of outreach.
Roofers compete
An apprentice member of Roofers Local 49 is advancing to the national championship.
Celebrating the launch of their careers
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades’ Regional Training Center in Portland honors a new class of graduating journeymen.
Glaziers 740 opens new training center
The new Estacada facility has been in the works for more than 15 years, as members have gradually raised enough to fund the project.
Women on the Rise
Oregon Tradeswomen — a nonprofit that recruits and prepares women for careers in the trades — held its annual Build With Us gala Sept. 13.
Sheet metal worker takes charge of apprenticeship standards
Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industry is hiring 10 new staff to make sure programs comply with requirements.
Roofers Local 49 apprentice declared # 1 in national competition
Dylan Butler went to the union's national event in St. Louis after winning the West Coast apprentice competition.
Girls, there’s a future for you in the trades
An estimated 1,500 girls from 86 schools attended Oregon Tradeswomen’s annual career fair May 17, which showcases careers in the trades.
JobCorps crew leaves mark on Oregon Labor Center
Oregon AFL-CIO’s Portland headquarters got a spruce-up in early April thanks to a paint crew from Timber Lake Job Corps in Estacada.
Biden cabinet official drops by UA Local 290
U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su visited Oregon for a whirlwind two-day tour of training programs Feb. 22-23.
Handcuffs to Hardhats
A new program in Oregon gives women prisoners a chance to prove themselves in a skilled trade and enter promising career upon release.
They got a free education. Now they get a free degree.
Mt. Hood Community College now offers associates degrees to journeymen sheet metal workers.
A place to call their own
At their massive training center in Canby, operating engineers are skilling up and readying the next generation.
For Portland-area plumbers and fitters, no more night school
A switch to daytime classes is leading to dramatic gains at the Plumbers and Fitters Local 290 training center in Tualatin.
Tradeswomen fair is back
NOT JUST FOR MEN: Over 2,000 students and hundreds of job seeking adults attended the Oregon Tradeswomen career fair, back after the pandemic.
Apprentice tells her story at the Capitol
Culture change in construction is real, and it’s happening, Local 290 member Kasey Finegan told lawmakers and their staffmembers.
Handcuffs to hardhats?
Three locals are launching a pre-apprenticeship program for inmates in the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility.
