Northwest Labor Press

Republic Services, which operates the Coffin Butte landfill, cancels bargaining at the last minute and gave non-union workers a raise.

Workers at Kaiser Permanente hospitals in seven states and Washington D.C. are voting on a strike authorization through Sept. 16.

If they authorize a strike, almost 3,200 nurses represented by the Oregon Nurses Association could walk out as soon as Sept. 28.

Collective Bargaining

At a cement quarry in Eastern Oregon, a new four-year contract creates a worker training program and provides a 14% raise overall.

Their second contract provides a starting wage of $19. That’s a $2 increase from the previously negotiated salary floor.

About 2,000 union members and their families came out to the Labor Day picnic held at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds this year.

A City of Portland maintenance worker was impaled by a metal bar at work. His union has launched a fundraiser to support him as he recovers.

Journeyman Minna Long started a new job Aug. 28 with the Washington State Building Trades Council.

Longtime labor legislator Paul Holvey faces an Oct. 3 recall election in House District 8 in Eugene.

Larry Taylor is on a mission: training members on how to use the tools of democracy in their unions.