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.
Workers Rights
Homeless nonprofit fires whistleblower
Things aren’t ‘all good’ at All Good Northwest, which runs tiny house villages for the homeless in Portland.
The law that poisoned labor: Taft-Hartley turns 75
Taft-Hartley brought 12 years of explosive union growth to a sudden end, and it contributed to what has now been a 75-year decline.
AFL-CIO: Abortion rights are workers rights
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reverse its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision drew immediate opposition from national labor groups.
Local 16 finds prevailing wage violations at Vancouver Fire Station
Washington Labor & Industries is investigating, but similar cases have been ongoing for years without a resolution.
Fred Meyer settles child labor charges
An investigation by the Department of Labor found the company regularly allowing minors to load power-driven box balers at stores in Oregon.
Ontario, Oregon hospital trying to bust nurses union
A labor dispute between the Oregon Nurses Association and an eastern Oregon hospital intensified after management withdrew union recognition.
America’s top wage and hour law enforcer
Jessica Looman, former head of the Minnesota building trades union council, now leads the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.
Starbucks charged with extensive labor law violations
The complaint brings together a slew of charges the union Workers United filed against Starbucks from November 2021 through April 2022.
Eugene Starbucks workers go on strike
Baristas shut down stores to protest the company's anti-union stance in the Pacific Northwest and nationally.
High school students investigate union busting at Starbucks
For a class assignment, three Portland high school students formed a “workers’ rights board” and explored anti-union activity at Starbucks.
Teamsters battle with Hood River Distillery continues
Two years ago, workers at Hood River Distillers went on strike. HRD responded by illegally firing them. Company lawyers are still fighting.
Oh, the outrage! City Auditor investigates Portland firefighters washing their cars
On Jan. 6, Fire Chief Sara Boone declared on-the-job car washing to be unlawful, and ordered firefighters to cease and desist.
ILWU reefer case headed back to court
A jury in 2019 ordered ILWU to pay $93.5 million in damages to a Philippine terminal operator. Now a new trial is likely.
Construction workers on public assistance?
Low-wage non-union construction jobs aren’t just hard on the workers. They’re also a strain on public tax dollars, according to new research.
New year raises Washington minimum wage
More salaried Washington workers just got the right to overtime too. And Oregon minimum wage goes up July 1.
Multnomah County votes for labor harmony
At non-profit county contractors, union-busting is about to get a little harder.
Union campaign ramps up as 360 Sheet Metal fires supporters
Sheet Metal Local 16’s relationship with the newly unionized Vancouver firm has gone from bad to worse, with legal charges multiplying.
The return of Joy Silk
The NLRB is about to get tough on unionbusting. Its general counsel announced a policy that could stop employers from crushing union drives.
Case dismissed: Scabby the rat beats the rap
Scabby is 12' tall and has red eyes, fangs, and claws. It may be scary looking, but the beloved inflatable is not an outlaw, the NLRB says.
Union-busting bakery pays $580k to settle overtime case
Workers sometimes win when they raise the union banner, even when they lose the union.