Northwest Labor Press

Shop for union-made goods this holiday season — and year-round!

Nov 19, 2010

Buying union is about voting with your dollars to support enterprises that pay fellow workers a living wage with benefits. The AFL-CIO has designated the 10 days following Thanksgiving as Buy Union Week. To make that easier, the Labor Press has come up with 10 “Buy Union” gift ideas.

AFL-CIO Poll: Voters punished Dems, but no mandate for GOP

Nov 19, 2010

Though Republican victories in the 2010 elections will put the union Congressional agenda in jeopardy, labor leaders took some consolation from a pair of election night polls commissioned by the national AFL-CIO.

Transit Union pickets TriMet board meeting

Nov 19, 2010

Members of ATU Local 757 held an informational picket at a Nov. 10 TriMet board of directors meeting. ATU is trying to raise public awareness of a contract dispute it has with the transit agency.

Machinists host home foreclosure seminar

Nov 5, 2010

Labor’s Community Service Agency and Machinists District Lodge 24 sponsored a seminar Oct. 22 for people facing foreclosure on their homes. About 70 people attended.

Silver Eagle to lay off 55 Machinists

Nov 5, 2010

Portland-based Silver Eagle Manufacturing Co. will lay off 55 workers — members of Machinists Lodge 1005 — starting Dec. 17. Employment peaked at 134 bargaining unit members this year. The workers average $14 to $15 per hour, plus benefits.

Saturday mail delivery to continue — for now

Nov 5, 2010

Earlier this year, the U.S. postmaster general proposed eliminating mail delivery on Saturdays, but so far, Congress isn’t going along with it.

Transit Union 757 pushes back

Nov 5, 2010

TriMet board members got some heat Oct. 28 over the transit agency’s decision to impose terms on union members while it waits for an arbitrator to pick between union and management final contract offers.

Big Pipe project wraps up ahead of schedule

Nov 5, 2010

Rosie, the 530-ton tunnel boring machine, has finished tunneling on the East Side Big Pipe project, the largest public infrastructure project in Portland’s history. At its peak, more than 100 members of Laborers Local 320, and 150 members of Operating Engineers Local 701 worked on the project.

Fired pro-union teacher refuses two years salary to settle case

Nov 5, 2010

A French teacher terminated for supporting a union campaign at Portland French School turned down an offer of two years salary if she would drop her legal case and give up her right to return. In the trial that followed, a federal judge heard evidence about the termination and other labor law violations. On Oct. 26, a federal district court judge ordered the school to cease and desist further lawbreaking.

Back to work: Intel to spend nearly $4 billion to build Hillsboro fab

Nov 5, 2010

Microchip giant Intel’s announcement Oct. 19 that it will build a brand new development fabrication plant at its Ronler Acres Campus in Hillsboro was music to the ears of construction union officials. Intel said as many as 6,000 construction jobs will be created.