Oregon AFSCME Archives - nwLaborPress

So-called “safe rest villages” in Portland are highly unsafe for staffers, leading workers to seek union representation with AFSCME.

More than 160 employees of nonprofit behavioral health provider Lines for Life are now members of AFSCME Local 1790.

After 16 months of negotiating, employees of the Mid-Columbia Center for Living will see pay increases totaling 13% over the next three years.

A new union program is skilling up behavioral health workers, and even lawyers are looking at apprenticeship as an alternative to the bar.

At Lines For Life, a Portland nonprofit led by former U.S. attorney Dwight Holton, a strong majority of the 160 employees want a union.

The Oregon Legislature’s “short session” begins Feb. 1 and ends by March 10. As ever, Oregon labor will promote a set of pro-worker bills.

At non-profit county contractors, union-busting is about to get a little harder.

Elizabeth Goetzinger, president of 430-member AFSCME Local 3580 at the Metro regional government, was elected president of Oregon AFSCME.

A recent vote adds 61 workers at Lifeworks NW’ Hawthorn Clinic to Oregon AFSCME, part of a wave of union organizing in behavioral health.

The 101 workers will next bargain a contract. Except for police and fire, the rest of the City of Hillsboro’s workforce remains non-union.