Northwest Labor Press is an independent union-supported newspaper founded in 1900. Our print version is mailed twice a month to about 45,000 members of over three dozen local unions in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Our online version has been maintained here since 1997.
Tag:
Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries
Workers Rights
Underfunded and Overwhelmed: Oregon’s labor commissioner will make the case for a big budget boost
Christina Stephenson, Oregon’s top labor law enforcer, says years of underfunding have created a crisis for her agency.
Workers Rights
Tina Kotek agrees: BOLI needs a boost
In the two-year budget she proposed on Dec. 2, Kotek is calling for a 30% increase for Oregon’s tiny labor law enforcement bureau.
Training the Next Generation
Sheet metal worker takes charge of apprenticeship standards
Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industry is hiring 10 new staff to make sure programs comply with requirements.
Workers Rights
BOLI head: Oregon labor law enforcement needs fix
Oregon Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson took charge of an agency with chronic underfunding and heavy case backlogs.
People
Labor commisioner picks deputy straight out of the house of labor
Oregon AFL-CIO political and legislative director Jessica Giannettino Villatoro will serve as deputy to incoming BOLI Commissioner Christina Stephenson.
Workers Rights
Nurse union asks district attorney to prosecute Providence for wage theft
Multnomah County DA Mike Schmidt says he’s ready to prosecute employers who commit wage theft. Oregon Nurses Association has one in mind.
Workers Rights
Wage thieves will soon face criminal prosecution in Multnomah County
District Attorney Mike Schmidt is teaming up with Val Hoyle’s labor bureau to go after employers who steal from workers.
Politics
Casey Kulla enters labor commissioner race
The first-term Yamhill County Commissioner became the second labor ally to throw his hat in the ring for Oregon labor commissioner.
Oregon
Union ally announces run for Oregon Labor Commissioner
Civil rights attorney Christina Stephenson is running for Oregon Labor Commissioner. That likely comes as a relief to Oregon labor leaders.
Workers Rights
Oregon labor commissioner won’t let employers fire workers who lack child care
A temporary rule interprets state law to say that employers with over 25 workers must allow up to 12 weeks unpaid leave for workers to care for their children whose school or daycare has been closed.
Oregon
Isn’t it about time for a budget bump for BOLI?
Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries has half the staff it had two decades ago, and newly installed commissioner Val Hoyle says it's time to restore funding.
Politics
Questions for Labor Commissioner Candidate Val Hoyle
Hoyle talked about why she's running, and what the labor bureau needs: More enforcers.
Jobs
Portland’s model Community Benefits Agreement could be replaced with ‘CEIP’
Building trades officials say City of Portland managers want to bypass a union-backed agreement that provides more opportunities for women and minority construction workers.
Workers Rights
Oregon judge in bakery lawsuit rules against double overtime
The lawsuit against Portland Specialty Baking will still go forward.
Worker safety
Abhe & Svoboda fires union salt amid safety complaints
Nonunion paint contractor Abhe & Svoboda faces civil rights, labor and safety complaints on a $22 million Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) painting project underneath the Ross Island Bridge.
Workers Rights
Long day AND long week? For Oregon factory workers, double the pay
180,000 Oregon factory workers can now earn time-and-a-half twice.
Workers Rights
Oregon’s ‘incredible’ crackdown on wage theft
Oregon legislators passed a law that will make wage thieves tremble.
Workers Rights
Southern Oregon University pays $2.5 million wage settlement to workers who built new campus dorms
The settlement wasn’t about cheating workers, but about how the university handled bidding.
Politics
Starr tells a Republican audience he’d lower prevailing wages as labor commissioner
A BOLI survey sets wage rates on public construction projects, but Starr says it's out of whack.
Politics
Candidate for Labor Commissioner wants to make Oregon a ‘right-to-work’ state
It would make the state more attractive to business, Bruce Starr tells radio host Lars Larson.
