Northwest Labor Press

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.

Oregon, Washington labor weigh election results

Nov 5, 2010

Oregon voters mostly returned labor-backed Democrats to office, bucking the national Republican tsunami in the midterm elections. But for Washington’s union movement, election night was bittersweet.

Home for the holidays: There ARE union travel options

Nov 5, 2010

By flying unionized airlines, workers and their families can say “Union, Yes” when they travel.