Union democracy

The executive secretary-treasurer leads a local council of the AFL-CIO with 76 local union affiliates totaling 53,000 union members.

It's the top position at an organization that represents the interests of 17,000 members of 51 affiliated local unions.

Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former member of the Black Panther Party, was a radio journalist who had exposed police abuses in Philadelphia.

In August, he got an offer he couldn’t turn down: return to his former home of Philadelphia to work for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

On Travis Hopkins' agenda: hiring a new organizer, growing the workforce, and securing work in the renewable sector.

Shannon Myers' decision leaves Cherika Carter unopposed for the number two office at the Washington State Labor Council.

Union actor Harold Phillips is wrapping up a run as a Portland-area labor activist after close to three decades in the city.

Operating Engineers Local 701 business manager Jim Anderson ran unopposed for re-election this year, the second time in a row.

Sarah Wofford is the new top officer at the Oregon School Employees Association, replacing former president Lisa Gourley.

AFSCME Local 2619 member Christy O’Neill resigned as secretary-treasurer of the Oregon AFL-CIO at the Sept. 7 meeting of its executive board.

Dave Jacobsen has been elected president of IBEW Local 48 and Garth Bachman was reelected as business manager.

Robert Larzalere, a second-generation member of the union, was sworn in as the new business manager April 14.

Delegates to the American Association of University Professors’ biennial meeting voted to affiliate with the American Federation of Teachers.

Thomas Mosher succeeds Bob Tackett, who retired, as executive secretary-treasurer of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council.

The Oregon AFSCME Executive Board has named one of its members, Fred Yungbluth, Jr. as president until the union’s April 2023 convention.

Some local labor organizations see an argument for hybrid meetings, which incorporate in-person and virtual attendance options.

Jonathon Baker has taken office as president of Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP).

Fiona Yau-Luu, Eva Rippeteau and Thomas Spisak-Mosher are running to be the next secretary-treasurer of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council.

Local 555 represents grocery workers. Both before it left and now that it’s back, Local 555 was NOLC’s largest affiliate.

The March 18-20 Oregon AFL-CIO convention was the first since the pandemic, and the first union event at the Hyatt Regency Portland.