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
(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
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.
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
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.
CWA District 7 Hosts Annual Meeting
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.
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