The Oregon Labor Dispatch is a weekly email and blog series designed to keep Oregon’s workers informed of the latest news about unions, worker power, and much more. Each week, we bring you a curated selection of news stories, graphics, and information about upcoming events and actions. When Oregon’s Labor Movement is connected, updated and informed we are able to be stronger advocates for all working Oregonians.
If you have a news story, event or action you’d like to see featured in the Oregon Labor Dispatch please email us at communications@oraflcio.org.
Upcoming Events
📢 NATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH WGA & SAG-AFTRA
Tuesday, August 22, nationwide
In cities across the country, the labor movement is coming together for a National Day of
Solidarity on August 22 for WGA and SAG-AFTRA members ON STRIKE for a fair contract.
🏛️ SUPPORT THE OCWCOG WORKER RALLY FOR RESPECT
Thursday, August 24, 11:30am - 1:30pm
A Worker rally for OCWCOG (Oregon Cascades of the West Council of Governments) workers as the bargaining for a fair contract. Staff at the COG provide critical public services like Adult Protective Services, Aging and people with Disability services, Meals on Wheels, Ride line and more in Linn, Lincoln and Benton counties. Workers are fighting for a fair wage and standing up to cuts management has proposed. Click here to RSVP for the OCWCOG Worker Rally on 8/24
🎵 AUGUST FAIR TRADE MUSIC MEETING
Tuesday, August 29, 7:00 - 8:00pm, Workers Tap (basement) 101 SE 12th Ave in Portland
Musicians Union (AFM) Local 99 is building solidarity between freelance musicians, clubs, and concert-goers to raise standards in the sector. Share your experience as a freelance musician at the monthly fair trade music meeting 5:30-7 p.m. on the last Tuesday of each month. Contact info@fairtrademusicpdx.org to sign up or for more information!
🏞️ LABOR DAY 2023
Monday, September 4: Picnics in Canby, Salem, Springfield, Bend and Phoenix
Join union members, local elected officials, and working families in communities across Oregon to celebrate Labor Day! Click here to find out more information about the picnics and events happening throughout Oregon.
Find more upcoming events on the Oregon AFL-CIO Solidarity Calendar. Do you have an event you’d like us to share? Send an email to communications@oraflcio.org and we’ll make it happen!
Take Action
➕ HELP THE SURVIVORS OF HAWAII WILDFIRES
Devastating wildfires are raging in Hawaii. At least 111 people have died and many others have lost their homes, and rebuilding will cost billions. Many union members are affected by the fires, and here are the ways to help if you can. Please donate to the Hawaii State AFL-CIO Labor Community Services Program/Hawaii Employees Lifeline Program. Payments must be made by check to: Hawaii Employees Lifeline Program, attention Cathy Lederer at 888 Mililani Street, Suite 501, Honolulu, HI 96813.
Alternatively, you can donate to the Union Community Fund. Credit card contributions can be made at: go.aflcio.org/relief. For checks made payable to the Union Community Fund, note in the memo line: “Disaster Relief Efforts." Send by mail to: 815 Black Lives Matter Plaza NW, Washington, DC 20006. Please take a moment to toss a lifeline to our union brothers, sisters and siblings during this tragic time.
🔧ARE YOU ‘ALL IN’ WITH UAW AUTOWORKERS?
There are only weeks left before union contracts for 150,000 UAW autoworkers at the Big Three expire on September 14. It’s going to take the unity and strength of every UAW member, union, community and political ally to win what autoworkers and every worker deserves. Click here to take action.
🏳️🌈 SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR GRINDR UNITED
Now, more than ever, Grindr employees believe it is crucial to stand united and push back against these assaults on equality and inclusivity by joining together to exercise their power at work. Rather than recognize the union, the company has escalated its union-busting tactics by issuing a new return-to-office policy requiring staff to relocate to other cities or be fired. This is not only unacceptable, but illegal!
Oregon Labor
August 16, 2023 | KTVZ
“With the leadership and collaboration that we saw across the health care landscape this session, I am confident that Oregon will continue to lead the way in building a more equitable health care system that centers patients and supports workers and providers,” Governor Kotek said. House Bill 2002: Creates protections for patients seeking reproductive and gender affirming care and for providers administering that care, and closes insurance coverage gaps for gender-affirming care. House Bill 2697: Creates a minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratio and establishes committees for hospital care providers to improve staffing. “
August 16, 2023 | OHSU Graduate Researchers United, AFSCME
“We have reached a Tentative Agreement! Your bargaining team and OHSU's team worked hard to come to an agreement that we believe represents a fair compromise between the team's positions.”
August 9, 2023 | American Federation of Teachers
“Ballots in a union election for more than 70 physicians at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Ore., were counted on Aug. 1. Despite vocal opposition from Providence executives in the run-up to the vote, 87 percent of the doctors voted in favor of unionization. Hospitalists at St. Vincent will now gain collective bargaining rights—meaning the hospital administration will be obligated to meet and negotiate in good faith with the doctors over their wages, benefits and working conditions.”
Strikes
August 15, 2023 | WBUR
“Over the last decade, the entertainment industry has shifted away from legacy distribution models like film and television and embraced a streaming-first model. The move has been a lucrative one, bringing billions of dollars in revenue to the industry. But those profits haven’t reached working actors and writers. Some 87% of actors earn less than $26,000 per year; many writers have to work second jobs to make ends meet. And so, for the first time since 1960, members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) are on strike simultaneously — and Hollywood has effectively shut down.”
August 15, 2023 | Deadline
“Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator, said today that “we remain very eager to get back to the table with the AMPTP, as we’ve said every day” since the actors’ strike began 33 days ago.”
August 12, 2023 | Deadline
“Striking members of the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA who live in New York and New Jersey have a distinct financial advantage over their counterparts in California and elsewhere in the country: They are eligible for state unemployment insurance benefits even though they’re on strike.”
August 9, 2023 | CNN Business
“Striking hotel workers in Southern California filed a complaint on Monday with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the hotels were “committing and/or condoning violence” after a fight on the picket line, their union announced.”
August 9, 2023 | Los Angeles Times
“In America, unprecedented success begets unprecedented wealth. When Michael Jordan wins six championships or Mark Zuckerberg invents social media, they earn billions.And not only them but also their teammates — the people whose contributions weren’t just meaningful but necessary. In success, they get paid, too.”
Organizing
August 15, 2023 | WTTW
“More than 500 staffers at the Art Institute of Chicago and its school approved their first union contract with the renowned museum, organizers announced Tuesday morning.Art Institute of Chicago Workers United, an AFSCME affiliate, was the first in a unionization wave that’s swept across local museums and cultural institutions. After unionizing in January of last year, the union’s bargaining team reached a tentative deal with management on July 31 that workers approved over the past week.”
August 12, 2023 | The Philadelphia Inquirer
“The singers of the Philadelphia Orchestra have unionized. After members of the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir signed union authorization cards indicating their desire for the American Guild of Musical Artists to bargain on their behalf, a “card check” on Thursday determined that a majority answered in the affirmative, and now the singers will be represented by the union.”
August 10, 2023 | Syracuse.com
“The National Labor Relations Board on Thursday rejected eBay’s request that it invalidate a March 10 vote by workers at eBay-owned TCGplayer in Syracuse to unionize. The board said the company raised “no substantial issues warranting review” of the 136-87 vote by workers in favor of joining Communications Workers of America Local 1123.”
July 21, 2023 | Polygon
“The game industry is changing. After years of groundwork over the past decade, laid over social media and in the halls of gatherings like the Game Developers Conference, workers are organizing into unions in their fight against a history of overwork, low pay, and harassment. Unions are on the rise in the game industry as workers seek to make meaningful, sustainable change.”
Collective Bargaining
August 15, 2023 | The Detroit News
“With one month to go until the United Auto Workers' contracts with the Big Three expire, the union is preparing to escalate its fight to achieve its demands at the bargaining table. UAW President Shawn Fain, citing what the union described as a "slow pace of negotiations" with Stellantis NV, General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., on Tuesday announced that the union will hold strike authorization votes next week ahead of the contracts' expiration at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14.”
Corporate Greed
August 10, 2023 | People’s World
“What can one corporate honcho do with a quarter of a billion dollars? That’s the question about Steve Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone Holdings, who topped all poohbahs last year in the AFL-CIO’s annual Executive Paywatch list.”
Young Workers
August 9, 2023 | Center for American Progress
“Unions today are enjoying a surge of support across generations, particularly among Generation Z, and policymakers have a lot to learn about this pro-union generation. Typically defined as adults born in 1997 or later, Gen Z distinguishes itself from previous generations in a number of ways, most prominently in their attitudes toward the workplace, including a higher approval of unions than even older generations had at their age.”
Politics
August 15, 2023 | Wis Politics
“Stephanie Bloomingdale, President of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, released the following statement on President Biden’s visit to union manufacturer Ingeteam Inc. in Wisconsin’s Menomonee Valley: “President Biden’s economic agenda is working. On behalf of Wisconsin’s union men and women, I am proud to welcome President Biden to Wisconsin on the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act.”
August 11, 2023 | Work-Bites
“Missing from the New York Times narrative, was the central role of Ohio’s unions in the unprecedented August mass voter mobilization which is seen by some as a possible 2024 bellwether. The newspaper did go into great detail about the sources of millions of dollars spent by both sides on the highly unusual summertime electoral contest it described “as a test of efforts by Republicans nationwide to curb voters’ use of ballot initiatives.”
Civil & Economic Rights
August 16, 2023 | People’s World
“Union support for the Aug 26, 2023, MLK 60th anniversary “March on Washington” is growing. Billed as “Not a commemoration, a continuation,” the event is seeing enthusiasm grow within the ranks of organized labor. With the addition of the National Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the list of endorses now has a significant union presence.”
Graphics to Share
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