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.
🪧 TAKE ACTION: SUPPORT STRIKING WORKERS
Benton County workers represented by AFSCME Local 2064 and Franz workers represented by BCTGM Local 114 both reached tentative agreements yesterday!
That means there are still three unions on strike in six cities across Oregon right now: Graduate workers at OSU, Teamsters at Bigfoot Beverages, and Albany educators are still walking the line and fighting for fair contracts. The Oregon AFL-CIO Strike Map is updated with the latest information about where active picket lines are in Oregon.
If you can’t walk a line this week, please consider taking action online as soon as possible. Here are some ways to support the strikes:
Sign this pledge to withhold support and donations to OSU until CGE has a fair contract.
Take action right now to support Greater Albany Educators, click here to sign onto a letter to the Greater Albany Public Schools Superintendent.
📖 MUST READ
November 15, 2024 | NW Labor Press
From Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor: “No matter who is in the White House, we stand united to fight for a brighter future for working families. We know the attacks are coming, through the Project 2025 agenda, and Oregon labor is committed to resist these attacks on our unions, our communities, and our fundamental freedoms. No one — not Donald Trump or J.D. Vance, nor any boss or CEO — can stop the solidarity of the labor movement.”
November 18, 2024 | Labor Tribune
From national AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler: “Organized Labor is the path forward. In unions, people have power to build a stable foundation for themselves and their families. To say, “It’s Better in a Union,” is not simply a slogan—it’s the way to level the playing field and create a path to economic security for every working person.”
📣 OREGON LABOR
November 20, 2024 | OPB
“The most promising developments are at Benton County, where workers reached a tentative deal on a contract and return-to-work agreement late Tuesday evening. AFSCME represents more than 300 county workers, spanning multiple departments. As recently as Monday, the county was announcing how it was continuing services in the absence of striking workers, such as processing passports and marriage licenses.”
November 20, 2024 | KEZI
“At about midday on November 20, Benton County employees are expected to vote in favor of approving a tentative contract that was reached in overnight negotiations with the county government, signaling an end to the strike that started earlier in the month.”
November 20, 2024 | Willamette Week
“Three labor unions representing 2,000 employees at the city of Portland, including plumbers, park rangers, 911 dispatchers and financial analysts, have reached an impasse with the city over contract negotiations.”
November 19, 2024 | Rogue Valley Times
“Rally held outside Medford hospital; nurses at five hospitals and clinics have authorized another round of nursing strikes with more votes pending.”
November 16, 2024 | KEZI
“There have been at least four different strikes across Douglas, Lane, Linn and Benton Counties over the past 2 months, and there may be an economic indication as to why it's happening, according to a local labor economist.”
November 20, 2024 | People’s World
“In a dramatic show of working-class power, Portland’s labor movement has achieved what many deemed unattainable: the election of 11 labor-friendly candidates to the city’s new 12-member council. Laurie Wimmer, executive secretary-treasurer of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, expressed her delight at this unprecedented victory, which stands as one of the most significant triumphs for organized labor in recent Portland history.”
November 15, 2024 | NW Labor Press
“Laborers Local 737 Business Manager Zack Culver said he hopes the new benefits will encourage more women to apply to join the Laborers union and that they’ll help retain female members who may otherwise leave the workforce when they have children.”
🏛️POLITICS
November 20, 2024 | Boston Globe
“Chrissy Lynch, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, whose union unanimously endorsed Kamala Harris, is also worried about a new strain of power that will keep the working class fighting for scraps. “Billionaires already know how to game the system, and now they have the keys to the most powerful government and economy in the world,” Lynch wrote in an email. “Government is supposed to be a check to unlimited corporate power, not an arm of it.”
November 18, 2024 | The Guardian
“AFGE Local 1003, which represents non-supervisory Environmental Protection Agency employees in Texas and surrounding states, is braced for a tough four years. During the first Trump administration, the union at the EPA was operating under an expired contract, and it only reached a new one this summer.”
November 18, 2024 | Labor Tribune
“The voters have spoken. While we hoped and fought for a different outcome, we respect both their will and the peaceful transfer of power. At this moment, the country is more divided than ever, and our democracy is in jeopardy.”
🛒 BUY UNION-MADE PRODUCTS
November 21, 2024 | AFL-CIO
“When you buy union, you’re supporting good jobs in America’s communities, jobs that provide living wages and benefits, safe working conditions, and dignity and respect for work. Look for these quality products, produced by union members, when preparing for your Thanksgiving feast.”
🖥️ LABOR & TECHNOLOGY
November 18, 2024 | LawFare
The power of organized tech workers, it turns out, rivals that of the government when it comes to effecting change in Silicon Valley. From ensuring AI is not used in warfare to pushing regulation requiring transparency of AI-generated content, a thriving Silicon Valley labor movement could help create the guardrails for Big Tech that are desperately needed.
🫱🏼🫲🏽 ORGANIZING & COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
November 20, 2024 | Reuters
“A majority of workers at a Ford Motor (F.N) battery plant in Kentucky have signed cards indicating their support for the United Auto Workers, the union said on Wednesday.”
November 20, 2024 | Editor & Publisher
The Chicago Tribune Guild won its first contract from Alden Global Capital after six years of bargaining, securing substantial economic gains and 21st-century workplace protections for members as they continue to keep Chicago informed and accountable.
November 20, 2024 | The Philadelphia Inquirer
A tentative contract deal between SEPTA and its largest employee union, Transport Workers Local 234, on Wednesday derailed a strike that would have snarled travel in the Philadelphia region, disrupting schools, workplaces, and commerce.
November 19, 2024 | Dayton Daily News
While health care has traditionally been an area of low union representation, growth in labor unionization in general has started to reach health care workers who want to have more of a voice in their organization.
November 19, 2024 | Times of San Diego
Thousands of patient care and service workers at the UC San Diego Medical Center and other University of California campuses across the state will stage a two-day strike starting Wednesday, alleging unfair bargaining tactics, allegations the UC system denies.
November 19, 2024 | KSNV
“The Culinary Union strike outside Virgin Hotels Las Vegas has reached its fifth day, with union members addressing the Clark County Commission on Tuesday to explain their reasons for striking and to seek support.”
November 19, 2024 | Game Developer
“Performer union SAG-AFTRA has responded to the reveal of The Game Awards nominations by imploring people not to forget about striking workers during awards season.:”
👷WORKERS’ RIGHTS
November 18, 2024 | Jacobin
“On Tuesday of last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that mandatory meetings in which employees are forced to listen to employer diatribes concerning their labor rights are unlawful. The mandatory meetings are often referred to as “captive audience meetings.”
November 18, 2024 | The American Prospect
“One of the many ways that employers intimidate workers from joining unions is via the captive-audience meeting, in which those workers are subjected to their boss’s arguments against their unionizing. Employers require their workers to attend these meetings; not attending may be, depending on the boss’s mood, grounds for being penalized, demoted, or even discharged.”
November 18, 2024 | NPR
“In the nearly four years that Joe Biden has been president, the National Labor Relations Board has taken an assertive — some say overly aggressive — approach to protecting workers' rights to organize and collectively bargain. Now, SpaceX and Amazon are at the forefront of a corporate-led effort to monumentally change the labor agency.”
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