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.
Strikes
IAMAW Boeing Machinists Strike
24 hours everyday | Airport Paint Hanger 4635 NE Cornfoot Rd. & The Boeing Co. 19000 NE Sandy Blvd
On September 13 at midnight, over 30,000 workers represented by IAMAW at Boeing plants in Oregon and Washington walked out on strike after voting down a tentative agreement. Support the strike by joining a picket line. For a strike map, times, and more go to: https://www.oraflcio.org/strikemap.
Teamsters Local 324 and 206 Bigfoot Beverages Strike
24 hours everyday | Eugene, Coos Bay, and Winston OR
Bigfoot Beverage workers represented by Teamsters Local 324 and 206 are on strike for a fair contract and secure retirement benefits. Support the strike by joining a picket line. For a strike map, times, and more go to: https://www.oraflcio.org/strikemap.
Events and Actions
APWU Day of Action Rally
Tuesday October 1, 2024 at 12:00PM | 1020 SE 7th Ave in Portland.
On October 1st, we will stand together and make our voices heard from coast to coast to demand that postal management listens to our voices. At stake is not just our jobs, but the fate of the People’s Post Office. RSVP and get more info here.
Union Women Get it Done Virtual Summit
Tuesday October 1, 2024 at 7:00PM Eastern | Zoom
Union women have never been more important than we are right now in mobilizing for the November 5 election. That’s why we’re inviting you to join us on Oct. 1 as we host a nationwide virtual event where union women from across our movement will hear from each other, speak their truth and affirm that this fight unites us rather than divides us.
Fred Meyer Workers Call for a Boycott
The strike is over but the fight for a fair contract continues. UFCW Local 555 Fred Meyer workers are asking the community to shop somewhere else. Don’t shop at Fred Meyer until a fair agreement is reached and Fred Meyer’s admitted price gouging has stopped. Sign the pledge to boycott Fred Meyer here.
Boeing Workers Solidarity Pledge
33,000 members of IAM District 751 and IAM District W24 just voted by 94% to reject Boeing's contract offer. We want to get back to the negotiating table ASAP to get a contract that this membership accepts and deserves! This is Our Future and Our Fight. Stand with these workers as they hold the line until Boeing offers a deal our members deserve. Show your support by signing this solidarity pledge and spreading the word! We need to raise our collective voice and show Boeing that America's workforce stands with Boeing workers in this fight. Sign the pledge.
Support OSU Graduate Workers Strike Fund and Pledge
The Coalition of Graduate Employees (CGE) are ramping up for a potential strike and need your help. Since August 2023, OSU has continually refused to negotiate in good faith. While CGE would prefer to work with OSU to compromise on a contract that benefits both employee and employer, they must be prepared to strike if necessary. Show your support by contributing to their strike fund and signing a pledge to withhold donations to OSU until a fair contract is reached.
Labor 2024 Events
Find more Labor 2024 events and volunteer opportunities on our solidarity calendar.
Phonebank for Ricki Ruiz for House District 50 and Dan Rayfield for Attorney General
Thursday September 26, 2024 at 5:30PM | Zoom
Talk to union members and likely voters about Rep. Anessa Hartman who is running for re-election as State Representative in House District 53 and Dan Rayfield who is running for Attorney General. Sign up to volunteer.
Canvass for Anessa Hartman for House District 40 and Dan Rayfield for Attorney General
Saturday September 28, 2024 at 10:00AM | Meet at the Oregon Labor Center in Portland
Join Oregon Labor at a canvass for Rep. Anessa Hartman who is running for re-election as State Representative in House District 53 and Dan Rayfield who is running for Attorney General. Coffee, lunch and training provided. Sign up to volunteer.
Phonebank for Andrea Salinas for Congress and Dan Rayfield for Attorney General
Monday September 30, 2024 at 5:30PM | Zoom
Talk to union members and likely voters about Rep. Andrea Salinas who is running for re-election to Congress and Dan Rayfield who is running for Attorney General. Sign up to volunteer.
Phonebank for Tobias Read for Secretary of State, Elizabeth Steiner for State Treasurer and Dan Rayfield for Attorney General
Thursday October 3, 2024 at 5:30PM | Zoom
Thursday October 10, 2024 at 5:30PM | Zoom
Talk to union members and likely voters about Tobias Read for Secretary of State, Elizabeth Steiner for State Treasurer and Dan Rayfield for Attorney General. Sign up to volunteer.
Canvass for April Dobson for House District 39 and Dan Rayfield for Attorney General
Saturday October 5, 2024 at 10:00AM | Meet at the Oregon Labor Center in Portland
Join Oregon Labor at a canvass for April Dobson who is running for re-election as State Representative in House District 39 and Dan Rayfield who is running for Attorney General. Coffee, lunch and training provided. Sign up to volunteer.
Canvass for Emerson Levy for House District 53 and Anthony Broadman for State Senate District 27
Saturday October 5, 2024 at 10:00AM | Meet at SEIU Local 503, OPEU in Bend
Join Oregon Labor at a canvass for State Representative Emerson Levy and Anthony Broadman. Emerson Levy has been a champion for working families and we’re excited to help City Councilor Anthony Broadman get to the State Senate where he’ll continue to be a pro-worker voice for Central Oregon. Coffee, lunch and training provided.
Phonebank for Zach Hudson for House District 49 and Dan Rayfield for Attorney General
Monday October 7, 2024 at 5:30PM | Zoom
Talk to union members and likely voters about Rep. Zach Hudson who is running for re-election as State Representative in House District 49 and Dan Rayfield who is running for Attorney General. Sign up to volunteer.
Remembering William “Bill” Lucy
September 25, 2024 | AFL-CIO
“Today, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond joined other leaders of the labor movement to pay tribute to the extraordinary life and career of longtime labor, civil and human rights leader William “Bill” Lucy.”
September 25, 2024 | AFSCME
“William “Bill” Lucy, who served as secretary-treasurer of AFSCME for nearly four decades and was one of the most respected and revered Black labor leaders in the world, died at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 90 years old. Lucy was a heavyweight of the American labor movement in the second half of the 20th century and a fierce defender of civil and human rights.”
Boeing
September 25, 2024 | Quartz
“The union representing striking Boeing machinists is criticizing the company’s efforts to rally support for a contract that workers deem insufficient. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) says that it wants to work toward an agreement at the bargaining table or nowhere.”
September 24, 2024 | The Stand
“Machinists will not vote on the contract offer abruptly delivered by Boeing on Monday morning. Per the union, this offer was not negotiated with the bargaining team; moreover, Boeing has refused to engage in negotiations since the last meeting with the federal mediator on September 18. Those talks broke down after Boeing refused to make an offer that addressed the priorities of membership, per IAM District 751.”
September 19, 2024 | OPB
“Brian Bryant is the international president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. He visited striking workers outside of Boeing’s facility in Gresham. He spoke to OPB “All Things Considered” host Geoff Norcross from the picket line.”
September 19, 2024 | KGW 8
“Workers and union members are quickly approaching the one-week mark of striking in response to Boeing not meeting their demands for a fair contract. Members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) and Aerospace Workers voted against the latest proposed contract earlier in the month. It offered pay raises of 25% over a four-year contract, but many employees described it as insulting, and said they need something more that will make up for the last several years.”
Fred Meyer
September 24, 2024 | People’s World
“Portland, Ore. seldom sees so many suits and ties. But for three weeks, Judge Adrienne Nelson’s 14th-floor federal courtroom there was wall-to-wall with lawyers, national grocery executives, and hedge fund representatives. In a lockdown environment where smartphones and even laptops were banned, they were there to attend round one of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) effort to block the largest grocery acquisition in U.S. history—and one that could endanger workers’ jobs while increasing food prices.”
September 20, 2024 | Northwest Labor Press
“Roughly 4,500 grocery and meat workers struck Portland-area Fred Meyer stores from Aug. 28 through Labor Day weekend. They returned to work Sept. 3, at which point their union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, issued a press release calling for customers to not shop at Fred Meyer “until a fair agreement is reached and Fred Meyer’s admitted price gouging has stopped.”
Oregon Labor
September 24, 2024 | The Rogue Valley Times
“U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are putting a firm stamp of disapproval on U.S. Postal Service consolidation efforts in Southern Oregon.“
September 23, 2024 | Bottle Raiders
“Teamsters announced on Thursday that 206 employees walked out at Bigfoot Beverages over unfair labor practices at the major beverage distributor’s facilities in Eugene, Roseberg, Newport and Coos Bay, Oregon. The main reason Teamsters filed a strike action appears to be over pensions. According to Teamsters, Bigfoot “is trying to force workers to move from a defined-benefit pension plan to a riskier, more costly 401(k) plan.“
September 19, 2024 | AFT
“More than 60 behavioral health therapists at Legacy’s Unity Center for Behavioral Health voted to join the Oregon Nurses Association on Sept. 16. The behavioral health therapists will join an existing ONA bargaining unit at Unity Center that includes clinical and recreational therapists, crisis intervention specialists, counselors, social workers and other workers.“
September 19, 2024 | Salem Reporter
“A new report from Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries spotlights the hurdles barring the agency from enforcing critical protections for workers, from wage theft to civil rights and paid leave. The agency, which is tasked with overseeing myriad worker rights, may need to dismiss more than 460 claims related to wage theft and minimum wage violations per year merely because it doesn’t have enough investigators. In the civil rights division, 400 cases are on track to be thrown out by the end of the fall for the same reason. Oregonians are losing an estimated $283 million to $405 million every year in minimum wage violations alone, according to an analysis cited in the State of the Worker report that the labor bureau released this month.“
September 19, 2024 | Oregon Business
“When Providence nurses walked off the job for three days in June in what was billed as the largest nursing strike in Oregon history, it was far from the end of the story. Though nurses at six of eight Providence hospital systems around the state returned to work under the terms of their old contracts, negotiations continue and further strikes are possible. Nurses belonging to the Oregon Nurses Association say their pay and benefits lag and staff-to-patient levels are still unmanageable, even after a new Oregon law was passed adopting minimum nurse-patient ratios.“
Politics
September 25, 2024 | ABC News
“Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday contrasted her economic agenda and that of former President Donald Trump, in a high-profile speech in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. Harris told an audience of about 400 people, including billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh that her economic philosophy is "rooted in her middle-class upbringing" while Trump's comes from a "gilded path to wealth." “For Donald Trump, our economy works best if it works for those who own the big skyscrapers. Not those who build them. Not those who wire them. Not those who mop the floors,” she said.”
September 25, 2024 | The Guardian
“Even as Donald Trump seeks to disavow Project 2025, he and the rightwing effort’s authors have voiced similarly hostile plans for the US’s 2 million-plus federal employees – to replace many of them with political appointees. These plans are stirring alarm among federal employees, with many warning that “politicizing” the civil service will hurt not just them, but also millions of Americans across the US by undermining how well the US government provides services and enforces regulations that protect the public.”
September 25, 2024 | Michigan Advance
“When Biden dropped out July 21, the national executive council of the 12.5 million-member AFL-CIO endorsed Harris the next day “because we knew that the administration that has been fighting for working people for the last three and a half years, we know what they’ve delivered, and we knew that her record spoke for itself,” said Liz Shuler, national AFL-CIO president, in an interview with NC Newsline. Union messaging to members has emphasized the document and its ties to Trump, despite his repeated disavowal of the agenda and claims of ignorance about its contents. “It is absolutely his plan,” the AFL-CIO’s Shuler told NC Newsline. “He’s had over 100 former administration officials and the Heritage Foundation basically writing the blueprint for his next term, which would eliminate unions as we know it.”
September 20, 2024 | People’s World
“AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond is repeating a somber warning to workers, union and non-union alike: This November’s election is not just about the presidency, but about democracy. Redmond told a panel discussion at the Labor Department on September 17, the anniversary of the founders’ signing the Constitution, that organized labor must lead the fight to preserve the republic. “Unions thrive in democratic countries and in countries where you have democratic principles. They don’t survive in autocracies and dictatorships,” Redmond declared. “So we have the responsibility to fight for democracy and it should be the responsibility of the entire labor movement to lead that fight.”
Health and Safety
September 23, 2024 |12 News NBC
“A Wells Fargo employee in Tempe was found dead at her desk four days after she clocked in. The Wells Fargo Workers United-CWA said her death is "the most tragic example" of their employer's lack of transparency. The union released a letter in response to the death of Denise Prudhomme, a Wells Fargo Business Execution Consultant based in Tempe, who died on Aug. 20. She had clocked into work four days earlier."
September 19, 2024 | Economic Policy Institute
“Absent federal action, states and localities have expanded workers’ ability to earn paid sick leave to care for themselves and their families. The results of these efforts over the past dozen years are clear: there have been significant gains in access to paid sick time among private-sector workers."
AFL-CIO Partnership with the NSF
September 24, 2024 | Politico
“The AFL-CIO’s Technology Institute will announce today an ongoing collaboration with the NSF, in which the two groups will explore how labor can consult on the foundation’s cutting-edge research projects in fields like AI, quantum computing and semiconductors, among others, to better ensure those innovations help American workers."
September 24, 2024 | AFL-CIO
“As part of our mission to ensure that worker perspectives are included in STEM research and innovation, the AFL-CIO and our Technology Institute announced today the launch of a historic partnership with the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). Over the course of five years, the AFL-CIO Technology Institute will lead a collaboration with NSF to build programs where researchers work together with the STEM workforce and unions to ensure that the innovations of the future support and include America’s workforce."
The Union Difference
September 23, 2024 | The Providence Journal
“At a time when Americans are increasingly divided along political lines with both sides demonizing the other, one institution continues to provide a model of uniting people from diverse political backgrounds around common goals: the trade union."
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