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.
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👉🏼 Must Read
January 18, 2024 | Northwest Labor Press
From Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor: “What lies ahead for labor in 2024? Will the momentum gained by working people in 2023 continue into the new year? Was last year just the beginning of even more exciting and powerful wins for the working class? Much has been discussed about 2023 being such a historic year for working people and the labor movement, and now all attention has turned towards the coming year and what it will hold.”
Oregon & PNW Labor
January 18, 2024 | Northwest Labor Press
“Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) announced Jan. 5 that another unit of employees at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) is ready to join. The unit consists of over 600 nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, and physician associates (conventionally known as physician assistants). Collectively the workers are referred to as “advanced practice providers.” They work at OHSU locations across the state, including Portland, Eugene, The Dalles, and Klamath Falls. ONA already represents more than 3,000 registered nurses at OHSU.”
January 18, 2024 | Northwest Labor Press
“Construction union members, officers, and staff packed the Columbia County Courthouse Jan. 10, completely filling a hearing room and an overflow room. They were there to send a message of support for a proposed renewable diesel refinery at the Port Westward Industrial Park in Clatskanie. Rainier Mayor Jerry Cole and other community members also spoke in support.”
January 17, 2024 | The Stand
“...Academic Student Employees at Washington State University hit the picket lines at all campuses and extension centers after they failed to reach agreement with WSU Admin by their strike deadline. Soon after the strike began, the WSU Coalition of Academic Student Employees-UAW (WSU-CASE/UAW) bargaining team announced they reached a Tentative Agreement with Washington State University, after WSU administration made key, last-minute concessions that secured a fair agreement.”
January 16, 2024 | Daily Emerald
“On Monday, Jan. 15, GTFF announced that it had reached a tentative agreement with the University of Oregon on a new 3-year contract, avoiding a large-scale graduate employee strike that was slated to begin on Wednesday, Jan. 17. According to GTFF, the deal will bring a substantial pay raise to graduate employees, raising the minimum wage of half-time GE’s to $2,550 a month in the first year. Those raises are set to be retroactive to the beginning of fall term back in September 2023.”
Keeping MLK’s Dream Alive
January 15, 2024 | Raw Story
“This Martin Luther King Day comes just weeks after a year that’s been dubbed "the year of the strike" because in 2023 there were well over 300 such work stoppages involving 450,000 union workers willing to take the risk of walking out on their employer — a 900 percent increase from just a few years earlier.”
January 16, 2024 | People’s World
“Unionists at the AFL-CIO’s annual Martin Luther King conference, held January 12-14 in Montgomery, Ala., tackled what one panelist called a decades-long problem for the labor movement: Organizing the South.”
January 12, 2024 | Forward Kentucky
The AFL-CIO’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference began on Friday “at a crucial moment for the labor and civil rights movements, as workers across the country are organizing at historic rates for dignity, respect and justice, both on the job and in our communities,” says the AFL-CIO. “We are facing unprecedented attacks on our rights from politicians and judges who would rather put the interests of corporations over the needs of working people.”
Department of Labor
January 17, 2024 | People’s World
“It’s a presidential election year, and that means Cabinet secretaries often deviate from official duties to laud their presidential bosses, while the secretaries speak out on the hustings. Which is what Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su did on January 12 in addressing the AFL-CIO’s Martin Luther King commemorative conference—but with a difference.”
Bargaining
January 12, 2024 | Los Angeles Times
“The new year has brought more progress in contract talks between Southern California hotels and the union that represents their workers. Unite Here Local 11 this week secured tentative agreements with four more properties in Los Angeles County. The union announced a deal with the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica on Monday. The union said Friday it had also secured deals with Sheraton Universal, Line Hotel and 1 Hotel West Hollywood.”
January 12, 2023 | The Hollywood Reporter
“The American Federation of Musicians will soon go into contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers with asks that cover many of the same subjects as actors and writers. The negotiations are set to take place on Jan. 22 through Jan. 31, excluding the weekend, with a rally planned for the first day of talks in front of the AMPTP headquarters. The contract under discussion, which covers musicians working on dramatic TV and film scoring, was originally set to expire in November, but was extended by six months amid the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.”
January 9, 2024 | The Hollywood Reporter
“IATSE international president Matthew Loeb did not rule out a potential 2024 crew strike when several of his union’s contracts come due this year in an appearance on Tuesday. “Nothing is off the table, and we’re not going to give up our strength and our ability because they [studios] think they sapped us and everybody’s bank account got sapped because they were unreasonable for months and months,” asserted the crew union leader of his organization’s upcoming Basic Agreement negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, set to start in early March. “”
The Courts
January 16, 2024 | U.S. News & World Report
“The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday turned away Alaska's bid to revive a Republican-backed policy to make it easier for state workers to opt out of paying union dues in the latest case aimed at limiting the influence of unions representing public-sector employees.“
Workplace Safety & Workers’ Rights
January 18, 2024 | AFL-CIO
“Every worker, regardless of immigration status, deserves a safe and fair workplace free from exploitation. This announcement supports our efforts to ensure that immigrant workers who take action to help enforce our labor laws will be protected from retaliation.”
January 15, 2024 | Yahoo! News
“Nurses at University of Chicago Medicine held an informational picket Monday, calling for their demands to be met. They are calling for action on staffing, safety and the settlement of some additional contract disputes. The nurses union says it has been at the bargaining table for three months with no progress.”
Organizing
January 16, 2024 | ArtForum
“Workers at the Denver Art Museum (DAM) on January 11 publicly announced their intention to unionize under the auspices of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Cultural Workers United Council 18.”
January 12, 2024 | Reuters
“Wells Fargo (WFC.N) employees at a branch in Daytona, Florida, voted in favor of joining a union on Thursday, making it the second branch at the bank to do so. Last month employees at Wells Fargo's Albuquerque, New Mexico, branch voted to join the union.”
January 12, 2024 | The Hollywood Reporter
“Animation workers at Disney‘s Traveling Lab have voted to unionize with the Animation Guild in a move that continues to expand the union’s membership outside of the L.A. area. Out of nine ballots counted in a National Labor Relations Board election on Thursday, nine workers at the Lab — who live outside of L.A. County but work on Walt Disney Animation Studios projects — voted to join the subsidiary of crew union IATSE.”
Labor & Community
January 18, 2024 | Northwest Labor Press
“Labor’s Community Service Agency (LCSA) collected more than 200 bags of toys in December for the annual Presents from Partners Toy Challenge — with more than half of the donations coming from the top-two donors.”
