Jobs

How to get unemployment benefits while you’re still employed

Up to 10,000 Portland-area workers are getting paid more while working less thanks to a layoff prevention program.

Mask-wearing supporters call on Congress to rescue USPS

The COVID-19 crisis has caused a 30% drop in mail volume. The Postmaster General says USPS will run out of money by September.

Mondelēz pays $33,493 to settle grievance over outsourcing Machinists work

The settlement ends a two-year battle over subcontracting work on a Portland bakery production line that makes Ritz crackers.

Back to work at Daimler

Daimler Trucks North America reopened its Swan Island Western Star truck plant April 20 with lots of measures in place to prevent COVID-19 virus.

No low-road employers in PERS new ‘responsible contractor’ policy

Only contractors that provide fair wages and benefits can bid on construction and janitorial work when the pension owns majority.

IATSE 488 faces near total job loss

Several hundred Oregon members of IATSE Local 488 were already facing a scarcity of work. COVID-19 made matters worse, shutting down projects statewide by mid-March.

FERC approves Jordan Cove project

The proposed $10 billion liquid natural gas terminal and pipeline project would be built union, but it still faces state hurdles.

COVID-19 prevention leads Daimler to close Portland truck plant

The closure impacts roughly 700 members of four unions, and comes amid concerns that workers can't all maintain six feet distance.

Swan Lake Energy Storage signs project labor agreement

The $800 million project near Klamath Falls would enable storage of solar and wind energy and would be union-built.

Jordan Cove liquid natural gas project withdraws application for permit to dredge in Coos Bay

The Oregon Department of State Lands denied the company’s request for an extension and indicated the permit would likely be denied. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is expected to make a final determination on the project next month.

Congressman Blumenauer hears of late and missing mail as a result of postal speedup

A U.S. Postal Service pilot project called “Consolidated Casing” was supposed to speed up mail carriers and decrease the number of routes.

TriMet awards transit project to union-signatory minority contractor

Raimore Construction will be the general contractor on the $60 million construction portion of the Division Transit Project, which will be the largest construction contract awarded to a minority contractor in Oregon history.

Now open to the public, the Portland Hyatt Regency Convention Center was largely union-built

The hotel opened Dec. 19– on budget, and ahead of schedule.

Tilesetting jobs were the one union sore spot on the Hyatt project

Bricklayers Local 1 warned Mortenson that there’d be problems with non-union contractor.

Close to 100 layoffs at Owens-Brockway glass

A new factory in Mexico, and a decline in local bottle orders, are factors in idling a furnace.

Shipping returns to Portland’s Terminal 6

South Korea-based container carrier SM Lines will get a state subsidy to ship to Portland. A longshore union slowdown has been blamed for shippers pulling out, but other factors increasingly make container shipping to Portland a challenge.

On the Job with IUEC Local 23

A combination electrician, iron worker and finish carpenter, elevator constructors are highly-paid specialists among building trades workers.

Backers of Major League Baseball sign ‘harmony agreement’ with labor

Once a baseball team is secured, a stadium built, and workers hired, unions in the harmony agreement will have access to workers within their jurisdictions, and can organize them via card-check.

Union employer Vigor Industrial sold to private equity firms

As part of the deal, Vigor will merge with an 800-employee ship repair and maintenance company in Norfolk, Virginia.

Oregon AFL-CIO files ballot initiative to reduce self-checkout at grocery stores

The Oregon AFL-CIO filed a prospective ballot initiative July 18 to regulate the number of self-checkout stations in Oregon’s grocery stores. “The goal of our...

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