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.
Secretary-Treasurer Aida Aranda Celebration of Life
Please join the Oregon & S. Idaho Laborers-Employers Training Trust & JATC, LIUNA Local 737, the Oregon and S. Idaho District Council of Laborers and the Oregon AFL-CIO to celebrate the incredible life of Aida Aranda. The memorial will be held on Saturday, March 25 from 11:00am to 2:00pm at the Oregon & S. Idaho Laborers’ Training Center & Campus at 17242 NE Sacramento St. in Portland. Please RSVP if you plan to attend by clicking here by Wednesday, March 22.
Upcoming Events
2023 OREGON LABOR ORGANIZING SUMMIT: We’re excited to announce that the 2023 Oregon Labor Organizing Summit will be held on Wednesday, May 24 at IBEW Local 48 in Portland! This one-of-a-kind event will feature National AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler as our keynote speaker! We’re planning engaging panel discussions, inspiring workshops, and ways for Oregon’s unions to come together and share resources about union organizing. Please note this event is only for union members, leaders, and staff of unions. Click here to register for this event.
Take Action
CANNABIS WORKERS’ RIGHTS: House Bill 3183 would require that a cannabis business in Oregon adhere to a "labor peace agreement." These agreements are commonly used to ensure that employers respect the ability of workers to make their own informed decision on unionization. In return, the union attempting to organize that workplace agrees to refrain from picketing, work stoppages, or any other interference with the business. Click here to take action.
PASS THE RICHARD L. TRUMKA PRO ACT: If we want to build up worker power, our outdated labor laws must keep up with the times. Support our workers. Take 30 seconds to add your name in support of the PRO Act. Click here to add your name.
Women’s History Month
MEMBER PROFILES: The National AFL-CIO has compiled a list of Women labor leaders from across our movement to highlight during Women's History Month. Click here to view the profiles.
Oregon Labor News
March 15, 2023 | Northwest Labor Press
From Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor:“The Oregon labor movement suffered a great and devastating loss on Feb. 27 when our sister and Oregon AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer, Aida Aranda, passed away suddenly.“
March 13, 2023 | KOIN 6
“According to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations that she currently serves, Milwaukie native Liz Shuler “grew up in a union household.” Her parents both worked for Portland General Electric, and her father was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Shuler later began working for IBEW’s Local Union 125, before joining AFL-CIO.”
March 16, 2023 | Northwest Labor Press
The strike shut down production at the company’s asphalt roof tile plant at 6350 NW Front Ave. for two and a half weeks.
March 15, 2023 | Northwest Labor Press
“Hospital techs at Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles have ratified their first-ever union contract, almost 18 months after they voted 45 to 4 to join Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals in September 2021.”
Right to Work
March 15, 2023 | The Washington Post
“This is what happens when we elect union members to halls of power,” Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, tweeted on Tuesday evening after news broke of the bill’s passage. “We fight and we WIN for working people.”
March 15, 2023 | Michigan Advance
“House Bill 4004 and Senate Bills 34 and 6 passed along party lines in the Senate, 20-17, amid hours of floor debate that stretched into the evening. The House bill will now head to Whitmer’s desk for her likely signature. Senate Bills 34 and 6 still require final passage by the state House before going to the governor, which is expected next week.”
Labor Law
March 10. 2023 | The Wall Street Journal
“A new Arkansas law that makes it easier for minors as young as 14 to work without a permit is part of a nationwide effort by states to loosen child-labor restrictions.”
Economy
March 14, 2023 | PBS Frontline
“As the documentary explores, the prospect of potential layoffs stemming from interest rate hikes doesn’t sit well with members of the organized labor movement. While acknowledging that part of the Fed’s mandate is to fight inflation — and that inflation, too, is a threat to workers — Liz Shuler, who leads America’s largest labor organization, the AFL–CIO, told FRONTLINE she’d been urging the Fed to slow down its rate hikes. “We can’t take aggressive moves that are gonna throw people out of work and basically balance the economy on the backs of working people,” Shuler said.”
March 14, 2023 | VIce
“Over the past week, bank runs have caused multiple U.S. institutions serving the technology and crypto industries to collapse. Two banks, Silicon Valley bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, have been placed into receivership with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which will put all deposits into bridge banks run by the FDIC until they can be sold in an effort to quell panic about the stability of the banking system.”
March 14, 2023 | Jacobin
“Economic inequality undermines democracy, hastens environmental destruction, fosters anxiety, and erodes social trust. We can start to solve these problems by taxing the rich, as progressives and socialists in New York State are now proposing.”
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