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:
SEIU Local 49
Union Organizing
They help riders in crisis — Now TriMet safety workers want a union
Most TriMet workers are unionized. Now the agency’s crisis-response safety team wants recognition from its private contractor.
Analysis
2025: The rest of the story
Since the start of 2025, we’ve reported over 400 stories. Here's an update about what’s happened since we last reported on some of them.
Jobs
Wheelchair attendants keep jobs at PDX
No lost paychecks at PDX: SEIU 49’s master contract protects wheelchair agents as Alaska Airlines switches vendors.
Collective bargaining
Reed campus rallies for custodians
Reed College custodians are without a new union contract, and the sticking point is a stumper: a proposal that sounds uncontroversial.
Union Organizing
Providence St. Vincent staff unionize
A unit of nearly 1,100 medical technicians and service workers at Providence’s largest Oregon hospital voted join SEIU Local 49.
Union Organizing
Security guards unionize at Multnomah County
The security officers work for Inter-Con Security Systems, which started a five-year, $40 million contract with Multnomah County last year.
Union Organizing
NLRB: Medford hospital must recognize union
Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center breaches labor law; NLRB says the hospital must recognize (and bargain with) SEIU Local 49.
Collective bargaining
Contracts raise wages for janitors and security guards
Service Employees International Union Local 49 represents about 800 security guards and 1,400 janitors in the Portland metro area.
Jobs
‘¿Justicia para los janitors? Sí señor!’
Union janitors with SEIU Local 49 are protesting a decision at the Brewery Blocks to hire a non-union janitorial firm.
Collective bargaining
Strike Stories
2023 was the biggest strike year in decades. We asked readers who struck last year to tell what it was like.
Collective bargaining
The biggest health care strike in U.S. history
75,000 workers struck Kaiser Permanente for 3 days. Now a 4-year agreement brokered by the U.S. Secretary of Labor provides 21% raises.
Collective bargaining
Biggest ever Kaiser strike starts with pharmacy workers
Northwest pharmacists walked out Oct. 1, and 75,000 other Kaiser workers in five states began their own strike Oct. 4.
Collective bargaining
Pickets back up at Kaiser Permanente
SEIU Local 49 picketed three hospitals July 24-28 to protest unsafe staffing and draw attention to difficulty getting a new union contract.
Union Organizing
Airport wheelchair attendants for United added to union
As of last month, every wheelchair attendant at Portland International Airport belongs to a union — SEIU Local 49.
Workers Rights
At Portland airport, sitting for the right to sit
Airport contractor Bags Inc. orders wheelchair attendants to remain standing when not assisting passengers.
Workers Rights
Workers petition for a prayer room at the Portland airport
The Port of Portland is exploring the possibility of dedicating a temporary space for prayer at the airport in time for Ramadan.
Workers Rights
PDX tells service contractors to increase PTO
More than 1,000 service workers at Portland International Airport will get a bump in their paid time off accrual this summer.
Labor History
SEIU Local 49 celebrates 100 years
The union's history began in Portland's performance venues in 1922, when theater and dance hall janitors decided to improve their working conditions.
Collective bargaining
Oregon Coast hospital workers ratify contract
A group of 115 workers at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln City have a new three-year contract.
Union Organizing
Providence Medford hospital techs want union
A group of 118 technical employees at Providence medical facilities in southern Oregon is petitioning to join SEIU Local 49.
