A Labor Notes Workshop On Winning Past Practice Grievances

Past practice grievances can be difficult to understand, difficult to write up and file, and difficult to win. Taking on past practice grievances can be controversial in some unions and in some sitruations. If we accept the necessary logic that our union contracts actually get negotiated every day in the workplace according to what union members and stewards organize around and what employers try to win or take back from workers, winning or losing past practice grievances can have special meaning and weight.

Labor Notes is offering this steward's workshop on Zoom to help:

How to File and Win Past Practice Grievances (a Labor Notes Steward's Workshop)
Tues. June 18, 4-5:30pm (zoom)

This workshop is for stewards and elected officers who work with stewards - not staff.
Past practice is one of the most powerful arguments in the union toolbox. It is also one of the most misunderstood. This workshop, led by author and labor educator Robert Schwartz, will explain the five tests of past practice, the three main categories (clarifying, free-standing, and conflicting practices), and the rules applying to each. It will give you a roadmap to use when arguing past practice grievances and preparing labor board charges. REGISTER: https://labornotes.org/events/2024/stewards-workshop-how-file-and-win-past-practice-grievances-june-2024

Portland Solidarity Actions with Global Garment Workers

From Portland Jobs with Justice:

In 2020, millions of Asian garment workers, mostly women, experienced massive wage losses during the COVID pandemic. At the same time workers were pawning their belongings and eating only one meal a day, the Knight family paid themselves $74 million in dividends. Instead of paying their fair share of taxes, wealthy Oregon billionaires like Phil Knight and Tim Boyle have continued to acquire wealth at the expense of communities in Oregon and beyond.

Next week, join a coalition of over 20 garment unions across six garment-producing countries in South and Southeast Asia that are organizing with worker allies in Portland to fight for justice and decent wages!

June 4th Action:
On Tuesday, June 4th, join GTFF, Portland Jobs with Justice, Portland DSA and other worker allies in Portland who will crash the American Apparel and Footwear Conference's Networking reception at Ground Kontrol and bring workers' voices directly to brand leaders.
Meeting Place: NW Davis St. & NW 8th St.Time: 5:15PM

June 5th Action:
On Wednesday, June 5th, we'll be staging banners outside of the conference to demand that attendees respect the workers that make their success possible – in Oregon and across the garment supply chain.
Meeting Place: Home Depot parking lot (13700 NW Science Park Dr, Portland, OR 97229)
Time: 7:30am

Legacy Mt. Hood Healthcare Workers Go Union With SEIU Local 49!

Victory! Huge congratulations to Legacy Mt. Hood healthcare workers who have overwhelmingly voted YES to join SEIU Local 49 SEIU Local 49! #UnionStrong

Thanks to Portland Jobs with JusticePortland Jobs with Justice for the update!

Upcoming Communications Workers of America Union Town Hall on AT&T

Dear AT&T Local Presidents and RMC National Board Members:

As you know, last year AT&T transferred payment and administration of our retirees’ pensions to Athene, a life insurance company. We believe that this transaction threatens the retirement security of our members, and are supporting our AT&T retirees in their class action complaint against AT&T.

We are holding a town hall meeting via Zoom on June 5 at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT so that you, your members, and retirees can learn more about the transaction and the legal complaint. To register, please visit cwa.org/ATTtownHall.

We will be emailing the message below to our AT&T members and retirees, but we know that we do not have contact information for everyone. I would appreciate it if you also reached out to your AT&T members and retirees to let them know about this important meeting. In addition to the email, we are providing a flyer with a QR code and a social media graphic to assist in your outreach efforts.

Thank you for everything you do on behalf of our great union.

In Unity,


Claude Cummings Jr.
President

National Writers Union Statement on the Attacks on Rafah

The National Writers Union is devastated by the recent Israeli airstrikes on Rafah, where more than 1.2 million people are currently sheltering. We are outraged at the dozens of Palestinians who were burned to death by U.S.-made bombs in tent encampments that were designated “safe zones.” These actions violate the International Court of Justice’s recent order that Israel end its military operations in Rafah, following the court’s January ruling that Israel is plausibly committing genocide in Gaza. Since the attack on October 7, 2023, that left nearly 1,200 dead, Israel has killed over 35,000 Palestinians and over 100 of our fellow media workers, most in targeted killings.

The mass murder of journalists and media workers is especially troubling and is an attempt to conceal what is happening in Gaza. Foreign journalists have been barred from entering Gaza except those embedded with the Israeli Occupation Forces. Palestinian journalists are the only ones reporting on the ground—and paying the ultimate price. On May 5, 2024, Israeli authorities raided Al Jazeera’s office in Jerusalem after the government ordered a shutdown of the station’s local operations. On May 21, 2024, Israeli officials seized broadcasting equipment from the Associated Press and cut its live feed of Gaza (the equipment has been returned).

Earlier this month, we published Red Lines, a report detailing retaliation against media workers for speaking critically about Israel’s war on Gaza. In it, we called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of all political prisoners, a halt to U.S. military funding for Israel, and guaranteed access and protection for journalists in the region. We reiterate these demands in light of the attacks on Rafah and renew our commitment to acting in solidarity with our sibling union, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, and with the global labor movement following the urgent call from Palestinian trade unions.

May we continue to find hope and strength in one another.

Workers at the University of California represented by UAW Local 4811 are striking & need our support

The following is a loose recap from several sources of the rolling strike movement underway in the University of California university system and led by UAW Local 4811:

Academic workers led by UAW 4811 are going on an unprecedented strike to protect their rights to free speech, protest, and collective action. Members voted overwhelmingly in favor of authorizing a ULP strike over the violation of basic workplace rights like safety. The University of California system allowed counter-protestors to assault peaceful demonstrations and called riot cops on its students and workers. In the coming days, campus by campus, these workers will be standing up and walking out.

The union has stated their case with these words:

On the night of May 1-May 2, LAPD police in riot gear arrested more than 200 peaceful student protesters and academic workers exercising their legal right to demonstrate against the death, destruction and human suffering directed at the people of Gaza. Many of those arrested had spent the previous night seeking medical care or hospitalization after being physically attacked and maced by a group of anti-Palestinian counter-protesters . Though UCLA and LAPD were on notice of the attacks, they deliberately failed to respond.

An explanation of the Unfair Labor Practice charges that are being filed are here.

The strength of this movement lies in its ability to build solidarity between labor and social movements, deepen union organizing, defend and build upon social justice principles, and find new ways to protect workers who want to stand for social justice even when our rights are under attack. Some of the workers who are active in the strike movement were on strike in 2022 and come to the current strike with strike and organizing experience. This strike movement is being built in part in solidarity with Palestnian trade unionists. Other unions are respecting the picket lines and strike participation is increasing as the strike takes hold. The dangers here are that this is a spontaneous movement and that we need to keep focused on demands for a ceasefire in Palestine and not let this moment become primarily about the right to protest peacefully here in the United States. The main weaknesses here are that UAW Local 4811 is going into this fight without enough solidarity from others, that this is largely uncharted territory, and that the local needs more rank-and-file involvement in order to back up the threat of rolling strikes. And the same people who will attack an encampment might well attack picket lines.

Aside from the positives and negatives mentioned here, the strike movement that Local 4811 is leading depends on deep internal organizing that union activists have been engaging in for several years. That means that the union's leading activists are building structures that can respond to the current crises and other ones that will evolve in time, but it also means that what is happening in California with Local 4811 cannot be easily copied. If you want a local union that can take on big fights, you have to work towards that and doing that can take years. Mass strike movements hit a wall when the rest of us aren't also in motion.   

An article in Labor Notes written by Caitlyn Clark under date of May 14 gives us some helpful context for what is going on:

As campus protests—and violent police repression—continue to roll across the country, some unions are getting involved.

More than 2,700 protesters have been arrested on 64 college campuses since the initial arrests at Columbia University in New York on April 18. Encampments have appeared at 184 campuses worldwide. The protesting students are calling for full disclosure of their universities’ finances and divestment from all financial ties to weapons manufacturers and Israel’s war on Gaza.

Unionized academic workers are demanding decision-making power over their work and what it’s used for. For instance, academic workers in the astronomy department of the University of California Santa Cruz have organized to refuse to apply for or accept funding from the U.S. Department of Defense, weapons manufacturers, and military contractors.

In an open letter published by the magazine Science for the People in January, they wrote, “UC has received $295 million in research funding from the Department of Defense in FY 2022 alone… Technology that astronomers have developed for science is being misused to surveil and target people both within and outside the U.S.”

For others, the police assaults on protestors and university administrators’ attacks on campus free speech have become issues of contract violations and workplace safety. Auto Workers (UAW) Local 4811, representing 48,000 academic workers across the University of California system, filed unfair labor practice (ULP) charges against their employer over violent police attacks on the UCLA student encampment.

“UCLA unilaterally changed its workplace free speech policies without providing notice or bargaining,” Local 4811 said in a statement. “In so doing it violated its policy of content neutrality toward speech by favoring those engaged in anti-Palestine speech over those engaged in pro-Palestine speech.”

The local will hold a strike authorization vote over the ULP May 13-15. The vote could lead to thousands of academic workers striking for free speech and in solidarity with the student movement for Palestine. READ MORE HERE.

This video from Humboldt Freelance Reporting also gives some needed context:

The university system has seemed to be unwilling to meet with the union and resolve the issues at hand. The California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) has asked the University of California to meet with the union to work through what is motivating the filing of the Unfair Labor Practice charges, but UC instead asked the Board for an injunction against the strike. PERB has denied the injunction. This denial is going to help grow the strike movement. 

Rafael Jaime, the President of Local 4811, has been quoted in the media as saying, “It’s unfortunate that UC has not made progress toward remedying the unfair labor practices they have committed. Rather than put their energies into resolution, UC is attempting to halt the strike through legal procedures. Academic workers are united in our demand that UC address these serious ULPs, beginning with amnesty for our colleagues who are facing criminal or disciplinary proceedings because they spoke out against injustice.”

Common and popular ways to support the strike movement are:

1. Donate to the UAW 4811 Hardship Fund at UAW 4811 Hardship Fund,

2. Pass a Support Resolution – The Democratic Socialists of America have a template here at “Solidarity with 4811” to help you do this. Please feel good about crafting resolutions in your own words, and please send them to Loal 4811.

3. Show up at the picket lines, listen to the strikers, and provide what is needed if you can.

Vice President Harris warns of threat of fascism under Trump at SEIU convention

 This post comes from People's World: 

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an event at Discovery World 

Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. | Morry Gash/AP---People's World

PHILADELPHIA—In some of her sharpest words ever on the campaign trail, Vice President Kamala Harris warned the Service Employees—and, by extension, the country—of the fascist impact of a White House takeover by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Harris ended her 20-minute address on May 21 with that warning to the 3,500 union delegates meeting at their convention in Philadelphia. Her speech was repeatedly interrupted by chants of “Four more years!” And she urged the union to “get out in the streets to defend the country.”

Historically, vice presidential nominees, including incumbents, have been used as what much of the media described as “attack dogs” in both presidential and off-year campaigns. Two Republican examples: VP Spiro Agnew blasted the media as “nattering nabobs of negativism” in 1970 and Republican VP nominee Bob Dole, a badly wounded World War II veteran, called it and other conflicts “Democrat wars” in 1976.

Given Trump’s track record, and his “I’ll be a dictator on day one” statement, Harris went further with strong words that reflected the actual threats the country faces.

But before discussing the impact of a Trump triumph, Harris ran through a long list of accomplishments for workers by President Joe Biden. They included better pay for home healthcare workers, a $15 hourly minimum wage for federal contractor employees, mandatory nurse-patient ratios at nursing homes that get Medicaid money, and more job safety enforcement. Those issues were of particular importance to workers represented by SEIU. The White House posted the entire speech on YouTube.

READ MORE HERE.

For additional coveraage by People's World of the SEIU Convention, read more here.

SEIU Local 1 members march through Philadelphia during the union's national

 convention this past weekend. | Baily Koch / SEIU Local 1 via X--People's World

Economic Policy Institute: Operation Dixie failed 78 years ago. Are today’s Southern workers about to change all that?

The Economic Policy Institute's website has a great article on union organizing in the South and the questions and possibilities that that organizing raises for all of us. Included in that article is a chart showing union density in the South, Central Appalachia and the Upper South and measuring that density against national union density. The article correctly situates current-day union wins in a historic context but unfortunatly misses some of Labor's key mistakes in the 1946 efforts to organize Southern workers, and it entirely misses or avoids discussing union organizing in the South in the late 1960s and 1970s. Authors Chandra Childers, Dave Kamper, and Jennifer Sherer have union impressive credentials but they do not come to their work with backgrounds in labor history. Still it's a good article to begin discussions with, and the article helps us make the case that organizing the South means increasing Labor's reach and helps win everyone better conditions regardless of where we live. The article opens with the following paragraphs:

Volkswagen workers’ decisive recent union election victory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, makes them the first Southern U.S. auto workers to unionize a foreign-owned auto factory. Their success could also mark a historic turning point for generations of Southern workers seeking to improve their jobs and transform their states’ economies.

There are also signs that vigorous enforcement of federal labor law and other pro-worker federal policies, bolstered by the Biden administration, are contributing to a more level playing field for workers attempting to organize in the South.

But a long history of exploitation will take a strong, national labor movement to overcome. For decades, Southern state governments have promised corporate employers the opportunity to profit from the exploitation of local workers. The promise has hinged on a package of state policies designed to enrich the powerful few and maintain economic and racial inequalities, at the expense of all workers. As detailed in a new series of EPI reports, this Southern economic development model has been characterized by low wages, low corporate taxes, lax regulation of businesses, and extreme hostility toward unions.

Despite this hostility, generations of Southern workers have fought to organize unions, at times achieving important but limited success. More often, intense employer repression of unions has blocked or crushed Southern workers’ organizing efforts, while state lawmakers have enacted policies to restrict collective bargaining rights in the South. As a result, Southern states have some of the lowest rates of union coverage in the country. Figure A shows that, while union coverage rates stand at 11.2% nationally, rates in 2023 were as low as 3.0% in South Carolina, 3.3% in North Carolina, 5.2% in Louisiana, and 5.4% in Texas and Georgia.

Read more here.

Your Solidarity Needed: 100 pensions at risk of elimination

From the AFL-CIO:

More than 3,500 people sent a letter to support striking Gemtron workers whose hard-earned pensions are at risk of unilateral elimination, and it helped move negotiations forward. But now management is dragging its feet.

Can you help support the workers? Call 262-235-7524 to ask management at Trive Capital, the venture capital firm that owns Gemtron and its direct parent company, SSW Advanced Technologies, to do the right thing and stop using pension funds to attack Gemtron workers’ hard-earned retirement.

Gemtron workers are holding an unfair labor practice strike to protest management’s attempt to eliminate their pensions. For years, they accepted concessionary contracts to protect their hard-earned retirements.

Private equity firms like Trive routinely beg for union pension dollars to fund their ventures, but then turn around and spend those same dollars to attack the very unions and pensions that are funding them in the first place.

It’s ironic and disturbing, and it is hurting middle-class working people. That’s why we need your help. Thank you for making a call to help these workers.

In Solidarity,

Team AFL-CIO

UFCW Local 555 ends dispute with Kaiser

 From the Northwest Labor Press---Article by Don McIntosh

HOLDING THE LINE: UFCW Local 555 member Marquialla Trump, a 

pharmacy tech at a Kaiser Permanente facility on NE 138th Ave., Portland, 

did her strike picket duty right up to the final minute of the strike, which ended 3 p.m.

 Nov. 18. | PHOTO BY DON McINTOSH

About 950 Kaiser Permanente pharmacy and imaging department workers in Oregon and Southwest Washington have new union contracts at last. As of April 13, five months after a strike by workers in the two units, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 members ratified new four-year collective bargaining agreements with the health system.

The pharmacy tech and warehouse agreement runs Oct. 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 2027, and the imaging services agreement runs Nov. 1, 2023 to Oct. 31, 2027.

Local 555’s contract settlement means an end to the company’s listing as an “unfair” employer. Oregon AFL-CIO and Northwest Oregon Labor Council designated Kaiser as unfair last October and discouraged unions from entering into new health care agreements or renewing existing agreements with Kaiser until Local 555 members ratified a new contract. Local 555’s joint union-employer health trust itself dropped Kaiser Permanente as a health care option for about 10,000 of its members. Meanwhile, DropKP.org — a website the union created Oct. 18 to encourage patients to drop Kaiser — has been taken down.

The agreement is the first in decades to be negotiated by Local 555 on its own. Starting in the late 1990s, Local 555 members at Kaiser bargained as part of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, but in 2018, 22 locals — including Local 555 and 10 other UFCW locals — left and formed a separate coalition called the Alliance for Health Care Unions. Local 555 left that breakaway alliance in 2020 and rejoined the original coalition, only to leave it again in October 2024.

The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions then waged the largest-ever health care strike in the United States Oct. 4-6, with nearly 75,000 workers, and ended the strike with new contracts that provide 21% raises over four years. That settlement includes 4,140 members of Portland-based SEIU Local 49.

By email, Local 555 spokesperson Miles Eshaia said members at Kaiser approved the new agreements near-unanimously. Eshaia said Local 555 does not typically share details of its contracts publicly.

“These agreements will help ensure we remain a best place to work and receive care,” said Kaiser Permanente in an emailed statement. “We look forward to working with UFCW 555 to advance our mission of providing high-quality, affordable health care services and improving the health of our members and the communities we serve.”

Medical university research workers seek to build power through Oregon AFSCME

 From Oregon AFSCME:

PORTLAND, Ore. – Citing pay and job security, nearly 2,000 eligible biomedical research workers at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) are looking to form a union through Oregon AFSCME.

A strong majority of those workers submitted union authorization cards to the Oregon Employment Relations Board (ERB) on April 26.

OHSU research workers at OHSU are on the cutting edge of live-saving biomedical research focusing on a range of topics, including cancer, ALS and seizure disorders, coronaviruses and mental health disorders. Eligible workers who signed cards range from scientists to clerical staff to software/analytical tool makers.

“In choosing to focus on academic research instead of going to the private sector where we could make several times our wages, we’re helping drive revolutionary advances in medicine that will have a lasting effect on the health and well-being of people in need,” said Madeline Hedberg, a pancreatic cancer researcher in the Department of Surgery.

“We organized our union in order to raise standards in our industry so that our jobs can be seen as stable careers and not just ‘stepping stones.’ Up until now, we haven’t been listened to, but now with our union, we’re stronger together,” added Hedberg.

Like so many OHSU researchers, Hedberg started off barely scraping by.

“My starting wage was about $36,000 a year, while at the same time I had about $300 a month in private student loan payments and another $200 in federal student loan payments to make — on top of the cost of living in Portland,” Hedberg said.

Prior to submitting authorization cards, OHSU Research Workers United asked OHSU to voluntarily recognize their union or remain neutral in the ERB election process and allow workers to use their voice freely without coercion. OHSU declined to voluntarily recognize the union, choosing to rely on the formal ERB process for verifying that a majority of research workers did indeed sign authorization cards.

“These workers are conducting and supporting cutting edge research, which is the foundation of work done at OHSU and literally saves lives. However, they’re barely able to afford to live in the community they’re such an important part of,” said Joe Baessler, executive director of Oregon AFSCME.

“In joining the over 8,000 Oregon AFSCME-represented workers at OHSU, these research workers have the power to make their voices heard in the decisions that affect themselves and their research. They are standing up to make sure the work they do is supported for the benefit of patients,” added Baessler.

In forming their union with Oregon AFSCME, Research Workers United join the House Officers (AFSCME Local 4820), Graduate Researchers (AFSCME Local 402), Postdocs currently bargaining their first contract, as well as OHSU workers represented by Local 328.

The Characters and Parades Cast Members at Disneyland have a union!

From Stefanie Frey of the Actors' Equity Association:

The votes have been counted, and with 953 voting yes, representing 79% of ballots cast, the Characters and Parades Cast Members at Disneyland have a union! I hope you’ll join me in congratulating Magic United on this huge win.

The National Labor Relations Board still needs to formally certify the vote before we’re officially recognized, which should take about a week, but soon we will begin preparing to go to the bargaining table to negotiate Magic United’s first collective bargaining agreement with Disneyland!

This is the largest new unit we’ve welcomed to Equity by a longshot – more than 1,700 workers! Everyone in the entertainment industry who wants a union should have a union, and Magic United got theirs. Who will be next? Remember, if you know someone in the live entertainment industry who is ready to organize their workplace, get them in touch with us.

In solidarity,

Stefanie Frey

 

Why Libraries Still Matter---Oregon State Senator Deb Patterson

Why Libraries Still Matter

In this day and age, when most folks hold information in their hands every moment through smart phones or other devices, it might be easy to ask if libraries even matter anymore. However, our public libraries continue to play a crucial role in our communities, and we must find ways to help both school libraries and community libraries have the funds to maintain their staffs and budgets for needed services.

Libraries provide free access not just to books, but to a wealth of information and resources, along with assistance on how to access them. The staff at libraries promote literacy for people of all ages and provide resources for learners of other languages.

Libraries maintain documents that help to preserve our history. They offer space for community meetings and classes. They also provide a safe space where everyone is free to read, study, or just rest, and this is provided to all, regardless of ability to pay.

I was thrilled recently to be able to participate in the announcement that the State has allocated funds to match those from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, an initiative that I co-sponsored with House Majority Leader Ben Bowman. This program delivers one book a month to every child who takes part from birth to age five, and it will soon be available across Oregon. Please tell your neighbors and friends about this wonderful opportunity. Every child deserves the opportunity to develop a love of reading, which can be nurtured lifelong by our public libraries.

Thank you for reading this – and please stay in touch!

All the best,

Deb

UPDATED REPORT FROM THE PALESTINE GENERAL FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS (PGFTU) ON CONDITIONS OF PALESTINIAN WORKERS IN GAZA AND THE WEST BANK

UPDATED REPORT FROM THE PALESTINE GENERAL FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS (PGFTU) ON CONDITIONS OF PALESTINIAN WORKERS IN GAZA AND THE WEST BANK (as of May 1, 2024 - translated from Arabic)

This report is based on the cases that the General Federation of Trade Unions of Palestine was able to monitor -- those prevented from working, those targeted, persecuted, and detained, and those murdered at their workplaces or while in transit to or from work.

Since the start of the aggression against Gaza on October 7, 2024, Palestinian workers have received no income because they have been prevented from working.

In the Israeli labor market, there are 235,000 Palestinian workers, some of whom have started selling their furniture to feed their families. Their monthly losses are estimated at more than 1.35 billion shekels ($362,737,091), which has paralyzed the economy in the West Bank, resulting from the dismissal of more than 100,000 workers from their jobs inside Israel. Most of them were employed in agriculture and construction.

One hundred thirteen workers lost their lives in 2023, simply traveling to and performing their jobs as workers.

Palestinian Workers inside Israel in 2023:

79 died going to/from or while performing their jobs, 12 of whom were from Gaza
2 targeted by settlers
2 killed by the Israeli Occupation Forces
3, including Majed Ahmed Zaqoul and Mansour Nabhan and Rash Agha from Gaza, as a result of torture during interrogation in the occupation prisons after they were detained while they were at their workplaces.

Palestinian Workers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2023:

27 killed from the West Bank, among whom -
1 from the West Bank, targeted by settlers while he was picking olives on October 28, 2023;
1 a taxi driver was targeted by the occupation forces in Hebron governorate on November 13, 2023;
1 targeted by the occupation forces at the Beit Einoun junction in Hebron while working as a distributor of parcels on December 23, 2023;
5 while trying to reach their workplaces
10 died while performing their jobs since the beginning of 2024, including:

- Abd al-Rahim Abd al-Karim Amer from Qalqilya was killed on April 14,2024. At the same time, he and his son were detained In the occupation detention center Hadarim for more than two months under the pretext of working without a permit.

- Fayez Ahmed Awadalla Shahin, from Gaza, was martyred on April15, 2024 in the Nuweima shelter in Jericho as a result of the oppression he was subjected to due to his family's difficult situation in Gaza.

- Hassan Rabhi Khalil Mansiya from Dhahiriya, south of Hebron, was intercepted by the occupation forces, chased, arrested, assaulted, and then thrown off a building while he was returning from work inside the West Bank. (April 29, 2024)

Confirmed arrests of workers:

The General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions confirms that the number of Gaza workers in the Israeli labor market was approximately 19,000, whose permits have been revoked since the beginning of the events on October 7, 2023.

PGFTU monitored approximately 10,000 workers from Gaza at their workplaces, of whom 5,838 were provided with all their needs related to housing, food, and clothing by PGFTU.

80 workers were detained of 1,488 whose homes are in Gaza while returning from their jobs in the West Bank. The occupation forces arrested about 4,000 workers at their worksites in Israel; 3,200 of them were released and returned to the Gaza Strip. 800 remain detained.

PGFTU was able to monitor the total number of workers of 5,100 arrested since October 7th from the West Bank and Gaza, whether released or not, who work in the Israeli labor market.

For example:

* The arrest of three workers from Gaza in the town of Aqraba, southeast of Nablus, at dawn on Saturday, December 2, 2023;
* The arrest of 67 workers from Gaza in the town of Faroun, south of Tulkarm, at dawn on Thursday, December 7, 2023;
* 15 workers from Gaza were arrested in the municipality of Bidya as the occupation forces stormed the PGFTU headquarters and ransacked its contents on Sunday morning, January 14, 2024;
* The Israeli police arrested on Tuesday, 16/1/2024, at least 50 Palestinian workers from Hebron who have been stuck at their workplaces since the events of October 7, 2023;
* 40 Gazan laborers were arrested in their residences in Qalqilya governorate at dawn on Wednesday, 2024/1/17;
* Occupation forces arrested dozens of Gazan workers in the occupied territories from their workplaces in Barta'a, northwest of Jenin, at dawn on Saturday, February 17, 2024 ;
* The occupation forces arrested 50 Gazan workers from inside the shelter center in Nablus at dawn on Monday, February 26, 2024;
* 30 Gazan laborers were arrested after raiding the apartment building where they live in the town of Barta'a, south of Jenin, at dawn on Tuesday, February 27, 2024;
* 65 were arrested and transferred from their workplaces in raids that took place in the occupied city of Jaffa on Friday, March 15, 2024;
* 10 Palestinian workers from the West Bank were arrested in Ashkelon on Mar;

- The occupation forces killed 10 workers while entering Jerusalem from the Al-Zaim checkpoint, despite their having paid for their entry permits on April 14, 2024;
- Occupation forces arrested several workers while they were working inside a synagogue in the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem on April 16, 2024;
- The occupation forces arrested 10 workers from Hebron inside a construction workshop in Caesarea, in the occupied territories south of Haifa, under the pretext of working without a permit April 17, 2024;
- Several West Bank workers were arrested inside an apartment in Tel Aviv on Saturday, April 27, 2024;
- Arrests of 2,000 workers from Gaza who were released from the Kerem Shalom crossing in November 2023.

Note: During the war, the occupation authority followed a policy of arresting and interrogating workers and then releasing them or keeping them under detention.

Note: These workers live in harsh detention conditions due to the physical abuse, torture, and starvation practiced against them during interrogation by the Israeli police in Abu Kabir and Anatot detention centers in the occupied territories.

There were 5,838 workers from Gaza working in towns and villages across the West Bank, of whom 1,488 were returned to Gaza.

Note: According to a report by Hebrew Channel 12, the Shin Bet security service of the occupation government confirmed that there were not any charges against the Palestinian workers, and after interrogating about 3,000 workers from Gaza who held permits to work in Israel, it turned out that they had nothing to do with any event since and before the events of October 7, which confirms the arrogance of the occupation and its force in continuing to abuse workers in all ways to deprive them of their livelihood.

We in the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions demand the following:

- Cease the persecution of workers in all places where they are located in the occupied territories and the West Bank;
- Allow workers to return safely to their homes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and protect them while going there;
- The immediate and urgent release of all detained workers from the West Bank and Gaza;
- Pressure the Israeli government to compensate Palestinian workers working in the Israeli labor market who have been out of work for more than seven months.

Salem-Keizer: Emergency BackPacks Needed for Oregon Farm Workers

The Oregon Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Oregon's Farm Worker Union PCUN invite Willamette Valley churches and ecumenical community groups to participate in "Solidarity Summer 2024," collaborating to provide 500 equipped backpacks for farm worker families in the 2024 wildfire season:

July, August and September. Emergency supplies cost about $45 per backpack to protect against smoke, dehydration, dust and loss of communication in outdoor work and evacuation in an extreme wildfire event. You may make tax-deductible cash donations before July 1.  Give online:  oregonsynod.org, text field "PCUN Solidarity" or by mail: checks payable to "Oregon Synod," Mail to Oregon Synod, 2800 N. Vancouver Ave., Suite 101, Portland, OR 97227.

Solidarity Summer 2024 Backpack Celebration & Workshop -- Save the Date:  July 18, 2024, 1:00 P.M.--4:00 P.M., PCUN union office, 300 Young St., Woodburn, OR 9707.  Join faith and labor allies to acknowledge the land, fill backpacks and share blessings with PCUN staff leading farm worker summer wildfire preparedness workshops during July & August. Learn more by contacting Sarah Loose, Director, Oregon Synod Director of Disaster & Climate Resilience, email sarahl@oregonsynod.org or in the midWillamette Valley: Ed Brandt, Saint Mark member, Social Ministry Committee, 503-917-1326 (call / text), edgarbrandt74@gmail.com (email), for details about tax-deductible cash donations & car-pooling (meet July 18 @ 12:00 P.M. noon, at Saint Mark Lutheran Church). 

Editor's note: Readers are invited to read this short but challenging and radical article providing context for why the backpacks are needed.

Photo from Links.

Another grerat source for learning about union organizing, worker rights, labor history & why unions matter

There have been a lot of important gains for labor over the last few months, although corporate resistance remains strong. And there is a lot to learn from both our victories and temporary setbacks. So, when you have some time, check out the Portland Rising Why Unions Matter Library to get the latest.

New articles have been added on Worker Organizing, Labor and the Climate Crisis, Anti-worker Threats and Actions, and Labor Law and Worker Rights. The library is always open—rain or shine!  

Portland's Fried Egg Workers Union

From Portland Jobs with Justice:

Join us in welcoming the young, upstart new union, the Fried Egg Workers Union, F.E.W.U! Around May Day of this year, the community of workers at Portland breakfast staple, Fried Egg I'm in Love, submitted union authorization cards to the NLRB to seek a formal election! (Update: the union election will be held on May 28th & 29th!)

As described in Eater PDX, "Fried Egg Workers Union, affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World, noted that their main goals in unionizing were to protect the rights workers have already established within the company, and to give employees more of a voice in the 'internal decision-making process.'" This union effort is notable in that the workers decided to proactively organize, rather than reactively -- for instance, in response to a workplace issue. "Living in Portland, with Doughnut Workers [United], the Burgerville union, with these successful models of food worker unions, we thought we could do it, too.” Love to hear it!

Tune in to hear more about their union journey on It Could Happen Here Pod. Support their GoFundMe to help them get on their way. Follow @friedeggwu on insta/x/tiktok! 

DO YOU MAKE ART ABOUT WORKING CLASS STRUGGLE?

Portland Jobs with Justice First Annual Art Gallery & Auction

Ashes of the Old: A Labor Movement Reinvigorated

One Grand Gallery

Art Display September 21 to September 28, 2024

Opening night reception ft. music by YOITSVO

In the last few years, there has been an upsurge in labor activism, led by workers who want more out of life than what the corporate controlled society has to offer. This September, we will celebrate this new militant working class movement with a gallery exhibition.

DO YOU MAKE ART ABOUT WORKING CLASS STRUGGLE?
We want art that explores themes of rebirth, militancy, and solidarity as they relate to the labor movement.

All entries will be donated to be auctioned off and all proceeds from the auction will go to support the work of Portland Jobs with Justice. Entries are considered tax-deductible as in-kind donations to Portland Jobs with Justice Education Fund, a registered 501(c)3.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
We are open to artwork in all visual media (2D, 3D, photography, mixed media, digital media, & more).

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS:
Submissions are free of charge. Please only apply with images of works that will be donated.

Please include the following in your PDF:
Your name and email
Images of up to 4 works that are available for this exhibition, with a maximum of 10 images total to allow for detail images of the work
Include in each image: title, size, materials, and any special hanging considerations/instructions
Prices or estimated value of pieces
Artist Statement 200 words max

Submissions Due: July 29, 2024. Artists will be notified of their acceptance by August, 19 2024. Email submissions to tyler@jwjpdx.org

 

American Friends Service Committee---Migration Justice Webinar Series: Employment and Worker Rights

Migration Justice Webinar Series: Employment and Worker Rights

May 28, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT

Please join AFSC staff from Oregon and from the Central Valley in California to learn about issues faced by immigrant workers in various sectors.  We will offer an analysis of the current conditions and some ideas and opportunities for advocacy to ensure that all workers are able to access labor protections. This webinar will be bilingual in English and Spanish.

Register here;

https://afsc.org/events/migration-justice-webinar-series-employment-and-worker-rights

Unions are the Mycelial Network of the Environmental Movement

 

Breach is proud to be a part of Green Union Hall, a network and education center for unionized and union-curious climate and environmental workers.

Back in March, several Green Union Hall organizers presented a panel, “Unions are the Mycelium of the Environmental Movement,” at the University of Oregon’s Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC). The panel rippled through the conference: according to one participant it “was standing room only and was heralded as one of the most interesting and meaningful PIELC panels… ever”. Earlier this month, the panel was reprised at the Decolonizing Economics online summit.

If you weren’t able to catch the panel at those events, you’re in luck! You can now check out the PIELC recording on our YouTube page.

Stay tuned for more Green Union Hall events in the coming months!

In solidarity,

Danny + the Breach Team

Some Short Takes On Labor In Our Region From The Oregon AFL-CIO & Other Sources

 Upcoming Events

NALC Branch 82 32nd Annual MDA Labor Bowl Sunday May 19, 2024 at 9:30AM to 12:30PM | Kingpins, 3550 SE 92nd in Portland Theme: Superheroes! There will be prizes for top fundraiser, top men's and women's total score, lowest total score and best superhero costume. Food: Pizza and sodas. All are welcome. Contact Branch 82 to join a team or submit your team of five. Call Branch 82 to pre-register (503)493-5903 or pay at the door. Bring donations for a silent auction from 10AM to 12PM. Cost: $60.00 minimum per bowler (with a goal of each bowler raising $100.00) 2024 Oregon Labor Organizing Summit Thursday May 30, 2024 at 9:00AM to 4:00PM | 17230 NE Sacramento St. in Portland The 2024 Organizing Summit is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for union members, leaders, and staff to come together to strategize and build community with other unionists, laying the foundation to organize. This year’s theme is Work, Life, Democracy: It’s Better in a Union because we know that when workers are members of a union, they are a part of something transformational that can create powerful change at work and in the community. AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler is the keynote speaker of the event, and we will be joined by organizing experts from across the country. Participants at this year’s summit will have the opportunity to attend workshops on a wide range of topics related to organizing, learn best practices and strategies from organizers and workers. Registration fee: $50 per person. Registration is limited to union members, leaders, and staff of unions. To request registration information, please email us at communications@oraflcio.org

Must Read

May 30: You won’t want to miss it
May 16, 2024 | Northwest Labor Press

“In 2023, Oregon saw more NLRB union election filings per capita than any other state, only narrowly surpassed by Washington D.C. Organizing campaigns have taken root in Oregon in countless sectors — game workers, student workers, healthcare workers across a growing number of classifications, cannabis workers, and baristas to name a few — and they each provide lessons for our movement to learn and evolve. One of those lessons is that the labor movement must be doing everything in our power to invest in and prioritize organizing and growth, and that is precisely why we’re so excited to host our annual Oregon Labor Organizing Summit on May 30 at the LiUNA Local 737 union hall in Portland."

Oregon & Regional Labor

PROVIDERS AT LEGACY'S PRIMARY CARE CLINICS CALL FOR A UNION ELECTION

The group is the latest in a wave of union organizing at Oregon’s second-largest health system as rumblings of an OHSU and Legacy merger continue.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - On May 7, physicians, physician associates and nurse practitioners at Legacy’s Primary Care clinics announced their intent to unionize with the Pacific Northwest Hospital Medicine Association (PNWHMA). The 150 providers are unionizing to ensure patient safety; increase retention, recruitment and respect of caregivers; implement safe staffing that will decrease burnout while improving caregiver wellbeing; and have a voice at the table as the details of the OHSU and Legacy merger unfold. The group submitted union authorization cards to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) May 8. The NLRB is expected to hold a hearing and set an election date in the coming weeks.

“As a group we feel we can have a much more unified and constructive approach for meaningful healthcare change by unionizing. We have seen many negative changes to the healthcare system. Primary care has a significant level of burnout, as evidenced by the numbers of primary care providers leaving this profession,” said Dr. Angela Marshall Olson at Raleigh Hills Primary Care. “Patients must be our first concern. It’s vital for us to have a place at the table to discuss provider retention strategies, which will elevate patient care and staff satisfaction.” Read lots more here. 

Montessori schools in Portland, Tigard shutter after teachers launch union effort
May 8, 2024 | KOIN

“Teachers and parents at two locations of Guidepost Montessori found out their day care facility was closing with less than 24 hours notice. The abrupt closures of the Tigard and Portland locations were announced April 7, shortly after staff at both locations announced they intended to unionize with ILWU Local 5.”

University of Washington student workers go on strike
May 14, 2024 |The Hill

“Thousands of academic student employees at the University of Washington (UW) went on strike on Tuesday, after union representatives and university officials failed to reach an agreement on wages Monday night. The union, United Auto Workers Local 4121, has held bargaining sessions with university officials since February, and all but one provision in the contract — wages — has been resolved.”

NURSES VOTE TO APPROVE CONTRACT WITH PEACEHEALTH SACRED HEART HOME CARE SERVICES

From the Oregon Nurses Association:

(Springfield, Ore.) - After 16 months of negotiations, home health and hospice nurses at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services voted to ratify a four-year contract agreement with PeaceHealth May 13.

Nurses at the region’s largest home health and hospice provider care for many of Lane County’s most complicated patients and deliver hospital-quality care directly to patients’ homes. They have spent the last year-plus fighting for a fair contract to improve patient care; address record turnover and vacancies; and hold PeaceHealth accountable to their community.

The new contract includes several important care improvements.

Contract Highlights:

* Protects community health by ensuring nurses who are exposed to communicable diseases can isolate to avoid compromising vulnerable, home-bound populations.

* Raises safety standards by empowering an interdisciplinary workplace violence prevention committee to address workplace violence and prevention; physical and verbal abuse; and harassment issues unique to home care environments.

* Promotes advanced training and education to bring health care innovations to Lane County. The contract increases support for nurses’ professional development--allowing more RNs to take advantage of continuing education opportunities to learn and deliver the latest best practices to local patients.

* Creates accountability around health care costs by establishing a health benefits task force to explore workers’ and families’ health needs and make recommendations to keep care accessible and affordable.

* Increases wages up to 16% over four years and raises pay for nurses with advanced degrees and skills.

* The contract also includes a one-time bonus for nurses still with PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services in Jan. 2025.

While nurses are proud of what they were able to achieve, they remain concerned that inequitable wages will continue negatively impacting their community by accelerating record turnover and limiting recruitment opportunities.

Even with contractual improvements, nurses at every other local PeaceHealth hospital and home care service will receive significantly higher wages than nurses at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services–including workers at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center in Springfield; PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center in Florence; and PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Home Health in Florence. This pay gap will continue to make it difficult for PeaceHealth to address vacancies and attract or retain experienced providers.

ONA and our members remain concerned about the corporatization of healthcare systems like PeaceHealth in Oregon and its impacts on the workers and communities. We will continue fighting to advocate for patients and providers. PeaceHealth has extensive work to do to repair its relationship with health care providers, patients and the local community–whose support for nurses was critical to the success of these negotiations.

“I want to send a sincere thank you to the many elected leaders, union allies, community groups and supporters from all walks of life who signed a petition, attended a rally, marched with us on the picket line and showed their appreciation for nurses. I’m touched by the support nurses and our patients received from people in every part of Lane County,” said Jo Turner, ONA bargaining unit chair and nurse at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services. “We know there’s more work to be done to expand access to health care and to keep holding PeaceHealth accountable to our community. I believe we can build on the work of our community coalitions and continue raising standards to make sure everyone in our community has access to high-quality, affordable health care.”

The ONA represents more than 90 frontline nurses at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services and nearly 1500 nurses at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center Riverbend.

Nurses began negotiating with PeaceHealth executives in February 2023. Their previous contract expired in April 2023. Nurses reached a tentative agreement April 24 and voted on the agreement May 6 - 13.

IBEW 46 brings the fight to NECA

From The Stand:

SHORELINE, Wash. (May 16, 2024) — Striking IBEW 46 Limited Energy electricians converged on National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) Puget Sound headquarters in Shoreline on Wednesday, escalating their pickets after more than a month on strike. Labor siblings and supporters from all over the region joined the electricians on the line, demonstrating the strong support standing with the Limited Energy unit.

The strike by Limited Energy (LE) Electricians in the Puget Sound area began April 11. The union reports that NECA negotiators have refused to significantly improve its contract offer that was unanimously rejected by the IBEW 46 members.

LE electricians install and maintain multiple life-safety systems, such as fire and security alarms, building access and HVAC controls, computers, phones, emergency radios, and more. However, they are paid significantly less that other Puget Sound-area unionized electricians and NECA negotiators have refused to grant them something that most workers have: paid holidays.

Check out more photos from the line on the IBEW 46 facebook page. You can support the strike effort by calling NECA’s offices at (206) 284-2150 and urging them to settle a fair contract including paid holidays, and by signing the workers’ petition.

CWA District 7 Hosts Annual Meeting

From the Communications Workers of America:

Earlier this month, CWA District 7 hosted its annual meeting in Vancouver, Wash. Workers, activists, and retirees from across the district gathered to celebrate victories, share skills, and strategize for the upcoming year. The meeting also included workshops and breakout sessions dedicated to such topics as internal organizing, human rights, and advanced grievance arbitration.

During the opening session, attendees heard from several speakers, including CWA President Claude Cummings Jr.; CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam; Public, Healthcare, and Education Workers Vice President Margaret Cook; Western Region At-Large Executive Board Member Keith Gibbs; and Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor.

“Unity is the key, and I don’t just believe it is; I know it is,” said President Cummings. “It’s not enough to ‘dream big.’ You’ve got to bring enough people together to get the job done, or big dreams fade away into nothing. Unity means we understand how connected we are and the simple truth: we will either succeed together or we won’t succeed at all.”

Secretary-Treasurer Salaam said, “As a 32-year, proud CWA member, I can testify to the difference a union makes: the difference in wages, the difference in benefits, the difference in respect, having a collective voice, and just feeling secure. The difference in being CWA. I want all of these things for all workers.”

CWA District 7 Vice President Susie McAllister kicked off the general session, followed by CWA National Political Field Director Curtis Hierro and CWA District 7 Administrative Director of Organizing Katie Romich.

"We need each and every one of us to be fighting and winning for our fellow working people,” said McAllister. “We do this by working the whole CWA triangle.”

That hard work has paid off. CWA District 7 has welcomed approximately 2,500 new members into the union since the last District 7 Meeting in 2022.

Activision Quality Assurance United (AQAU-CWA Local 7250) leaders shared a 20-minute presentation about their historic organizing campaign. They spoke about overcoming union busting from Activision Blizzard management while helping create the leverage for the groundbreaking neutrality agreement between CWA and Microsoft. They also shared how they collaborated with workers in Texas and California to move swiftly once the neutrality agreement was in place to certify their 575-member unit. They closed the presentation to thunderous applause by borrowing from the Call of Duty slogan that "the ultimate weapon is team,'' while displaying a graphic from the game combined with the CWA, CODE-CWA, and AQAU-CWA logos.

Three Upcoming Oregon AFL-CIO Get Out The Vote Events

From the Oregon AFL-CIO:

Labor 2024 Events

Canvass for Phil Chang for Deschutes County Commissioner and Anthony Broadman for State Senate
Saturday May 18, 2024 at 10:00AM to 1:00PM | Meet at SEIU 503 Bend Office in Bend.
Join Oregon Labor at a canvass for Phil Chang for Deschutes County Commissioner and Anthony Broadman for State Senate. Coffee, lunch and training provided. Sign up to volunteer.

Get Out the Vote Canvass with Willy Chotzen for HD 46 and Dan Rayfield for Attorney General
Saturday May 19, 2024 at 10:00AM to 1:00PM | Meet at the Oregon Labor Center in Portland
Join Oregon Labor at a canvass for Willy Chotzen for State Representative in HD 46 and Dan Rayfield for Attorney General. Coffee, lunch and training provided. Willy Chotzen and Dan Rayfield will be there to kick off the event!
Sign up to volunteer.


Get Out the Vote!
Monday May 20, 2024 and Tuesday May 21, 2024 | Meet at the Oregon Labor Center in Portland
Volunteer to knock on doors and make calls for a last push to get out the vote before the May 21st 8PM voting deadline. Sign up to get a phone list or stop by the Oregon Labor Center to grab a turf on Monday anytime between 11 and 5 or Tuesday between 11 and 4. Sign up to volunteer.

Please Join A Canvass To Support State Senator James Manning For Secretary Of State

Please join me in supporting State Senator James Manning forSecretary of State.

Friday, May 17: Door Knocking

Eugene: door knock for James Manning for Secretary of State
2:00 - 5:00 pm
@ Amazon Community Center: 2700 Hilyard St, Eugene, OR 97405
Sign up here

Portland: door knock for James Manning for Secretary of State
5:00 - 8:00 pm
@ CORE food cart pod: 3612 SE 82nd Ave, Portland, OR 97266
Sign up here

Saturday, May 18: Door Knocking

Salem: door knock for James Manning for Secretary of State
11:00 am - 2:00 pm
@ Ike Box: 299 Cottage St NE, Salem, OR 97301
Sign up here

Eugene: door knock for James Manning for Secretary of State
12:00 - 3:00 pm
@ Amazon Community Center: 2700 Hilyard St, Eugene, OR 97405
Sign up here

Sunday, May 19: Door Knocking

Eugene: door knock for James Manning for Secretary of State
4:00 - 7:00 pm
@ Amazon Community Center: 2700 Hilyard St, Eugene, OR 97405
Sign up here

Monday, May 20: Door Knocking

Eugene: door knock for James Manning for Secretary of State
3:00 - 6:00 pm
@ Amazon Community Center: 2700 Hilyard St, Eugene, OR 97405
Sign up here

Monday, May 20: Phone Banking
Make calls for James Manning for Secretary of State
5:00 - 7:00 pm
@ Virtual
Sign up here

Photo from The Eugene Weekly