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
🏤 Rally: Save the Postal Service & Postal Jobs
Monday, January 8, 2024 | East Portland Post Office, 1020 SE 7th in Portland (map)
Join APWU Local 128 and the Oregon Labor Movement to protest a massive transformation to the Portland area’s Postal Service that will cost workers their jobs and even close some neighborhood Post Offices.
Take Action
📩 Tell the University of Oregon Board of Trustees: Don’t Cut Off Employee Healthcare!
Take action to stand with the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation at the University of Oregon who are fighting hard for a fair contract and may face cuts to their healthcare by the Board of Trustees.
🔬 Support OHSU Graduate Researchers
OHSU isn’t paying Graduate Researchers the wages they bargained for and are denying the union's grievances. It’s time to tell OHSU to pay Graduate Researchers what they’re owed!
🚫 Tell Intuit Mailchimp: No Monkey Business! Quit Union Busting!
Intuit Mailchimp recently decided to walk away from a podcast project with Pineapple Street Studios. Why? Because workers at Pineapple Street Studios workers chose to unionize with the WGAE. Now is the time for more union-made media, not less.
Oregon Labor
December 15, 2023 | Northwest Labor Press
From Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor: “As we close out the year, it’s important to take stock in what made the year so special, so meaningful for working people, and so historic. But now it’s up to each of us to dig deep and use 2024 to harness what’s in front of us and realize the kind of transformational growth and gains that are within reach. Because history will look back on this era to tell its story. What will you do in 2024 to ensure that the story is Union Strong?”
December 18, 2023 | Oregon AFL-CIO
“At the December 7, 2023 meeting of the Oregon AFL-CIO’s Committee on Political Education (COPE) Board, leaders and representatives from unions in every community and sector of Oregon’s economy voted to endorse Oregon Speaker of the House Dan Rayfield to be Oregon’s next Attorney General.”
December 15, 2023 | Northwest Labor Press
“About 20 Multnomah County dentists represented by AFSCME Local 88 ratified a new contract Dec. 6 after several months of negotiating and a strike authorization vote. The two-year agreement provides bonuses totaling $10,000, as well as a 5% raise retroactive to July 1, 2023. Dentists will receive 1% to 4% cost of living raises on July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, based on the local inflation rate.”
December 15, 2023 | Northwest Labor Press
“Mechanics who maintain equipment at the Coffin Butte Landfill in Corvallis ended their strike Nov. 13 after two months on the picket line. The seven workers — who voted Dec. 21, 2022, to join Operating Engineers Local 701 — walked out Sept. 11 to protest stonewalling by Republic Services in contract negotiations. They ended their strike with an unconditional offer to return to work and they continue to try to negotiate a first union contract.”
Politics
December 18, 2023 | Common Dreams
"The labor movement is putting high-wage, high-road labor standards into action and workers are rebuilding America, union strong," said the AFL-CIO. About 200,000 U.S. construction workers will benefit from new collective bargaining requirements announced by President Joe Biden and Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su on Monday, as the administration unveiled a final rule implementing an executive order that was introduced last year.”
December 18, 2023 | North America’s Building Trades Unions
““North America’s Building Trades Unions applaud today’s announcement. This final step for the executive order on project labor agreements is welcome news for the responsible use of taxpayer dollars. Project labor agreements ensure that large-scale projects are completed on time, with the highest quality, efficiency, and safety.”
December 17, 2023 | AFT
From AFT President Rani Weingarten: ”Let’s start with a thought experiment: A candidate for president is asked to reassure voters that he has no plans to abuse his power, break the law or use the government to go after people. The answer is a no-brainer, right? Of course, this isn’t a thought experiment; it’s the exact question Fox News host Sean Hannity recently posed to Donald Trump, to which Trump replied that he would be a “dictator,” but only on “day one.” Many in his party shrugged off the statement or dismissed it as a joke. Americans may be desensitized to Trump’s words, even when he says he would be a dictator, given the maelstrom of shocking statements he makes. But he has doubled down on this troubling declaration—the latest in a pattern of his authoritarian leanings.”
December 14, 2023 | AFSCME
“Public health nurses played a critical role in our country’s response to COVID-19, and they’ve been helping fight deadly diseases, expand health care equity and increase life expectancy throughout our history. That’s why AFSCME supports federal legislation to strengthen our nation’s public health nursing workforce. The twin House and the Senate proposals would help public health departments across our country recruit, hire, train and pay licensed registered nurses.”
What 2023 Meant for Labor
December 13, 2023 | Newsweek
"That stereotype of the sort of industrial, hard-hat labor movement is an old stereotype," Shuler told Newsweek in an exclusive interview in which she shared new details of the AFL-CIO's plans to expand into the South and target clean energy and other emerging markets. "That's where the labor movement's challenge is. We're trying to actually expand and modernize, so we can be relevant and meet the needs of the future workforce."
December 18, 2023 | Yahoo Finance
“Labor unions enjoyed an extraordinary year in 2023. The president joined a picket line for the first time in history, the public broadly supported unions through a volatile economy, and a wave of high-profile strikes won significant bargaining victories for workers, signaling a resurgence of the US labor movement.”
Collective Bargaining
December 18, 2023 | WSHU
“After a fight that lasted more than 30 years, graduate workers at Yale University approved their first union contract over the weekend. It passed with support from 99.4% of those voting. Local 33 of the union UNITE HERE will now represent the university’s 3,200 grad student employees. The contract, which runs through July 2028, includes improvements to health care, major raises, a comprehensive grievance procedure and improved benefits for families and dependents, among other gains.”
December 16, 2023 | NBC
“Workers at 10 hotels in Los Angeles and Orange counties have signed tentative agreements to end a long contract dispute that led to rotating work stoppages this year, union officials said Saturday. More than 1,700 housekeepers, cooks, dishwashers, servers and front desk workers signed the deal, according to Unite Here Local 11, which said 20 high-end Southland hotels have now signed new contract agreements.”
December 15, 2023 | AFL-CIO
“Our latest roundup of worker wins includes numerous examples of working people organizing, bargaining and mobilizing for a better life.”
Strikes
December 19, 2023 | CNBC
“Between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, there were 393 strikes in the U.S. involving more than 500,000 workers, according to Johnnie Kallas, a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and director of the university's Labor Action Tracker. This year saw more work stoppages involving 1,000 or more workers than any year since 2013, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”
December 19, 2023 | AFA-CWA
“Alaska Flight Attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), will take a strike vote after mounting frustrations in mediated negotiations. This is the first time since the historic 1993 CHAOS Strike that Alaska Flight Attendants will vote on strike authorization. The vote announcement coincides with demonstrations at eight major airports nationwide as holiday travel takes off.”
Renewable Energy
December 18, 2023 | Long Island Press
“Working in renewables could be a great job, but the industry needs a healthier balance of power between management and labor to make growth sustainable. These are the jobs of the future. They ought to pay a living wage, be safe, and be unionized.”
Honoring Veterans
December 14, 2023 | IAMAW
“The IAM Veterans Monument has been dedicated to IAM members who have served their country with a ceremony attended by members, staff, veterans, local officials, and community members. “The IAM is proud to have among the highest percentage of veterans in the entire labor movement,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr., a U.S. Naval Air veteran. "
Labor Law
December 19, 2023 | Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA)
“Region 3 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has found merit with elements of the Unfair Labor Practice charges filed by Communications Workers of America (CWA). The NLRB’s decision affirms that eBay and TCGPlayer have broken the law in their responses to worker organizing.”
Child Labor in America
December 18, 2023 | NBC
“In towns across America, children working in dangerous jobs in slaughterhouses is an open secret. Data from the Labor Department says that children are illegally working at alarming rates. NBC News takes you inside these slaughterhouses in an investigation that spans six states, two countries, dozens of interviews and thousands of pages of public records.”
Buy Union
December 15, 2023 | Northwest Labor Press
“Looking for gifts this holiday season? Buying union-made helps keep good jobs in the community, and lets you vote with your dollars for businesses that pay fellow workers a living wage with benefits. Union-made can be hard to find. Here are some ideas.”
November 20, 2023 | Alliance for American Manufacturing
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The Alliance for American Manufacturing is thrilled to unveil the 10th anniversary edition of our Made in America Holiday Gift Guide, our annual list of American-made gift ideas from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.”
