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.
ACTION ALERT: RALLY WITH PROVIDENCE WORKERS IN PORTLAND TOMORROW
Join striking Providence workers at a rally tomorrow, January 24, at Providence St. Vincent in Portland, 9402 SW Barnes Rd, from 12:00pm to 2:00pm.
This is a critical moment for Oregon Labor to stand behind Providence workers and demand the fair contract they deserve.
⚕️SUPPORT THE PROVIDENCE STRIKE
5,000 Providence workers including nurses, physicians, physician associates, certified nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, clinical staff, and other healthcare professionals are currently holding the largest healthcare strike in Oregon history. Here’s how you can take action right now:
Join a Picket Line
Picket lines are running from 7:00am through 5:00pm daily until a fair contract is reached in Providence locations in Hood River, Medford, Milwaukie, Newberg, Portland, Seaside and Oregon City.
Please visit the Oregon AFL-CIO Strike Map for specific location information and please be sure to sign up for your picket line shift by clicking here.
Donate to the Strike Fund
The duration of this historic strike is indefinite, meaning Providence workers will continue to strike until they win a fair contract. Donating to the strike fund enables workers to focus on bargaining and picketing efforts. Click here to donate today.
Sign & Share the Petition
If you’re unable to walk a picket line or make a donation today, public support can help leverage the bosses at Providence to return to the bargaining table with a sensible offer. Please click here to sign the petition and once you’re done, please share it on your social media pages.
📖 MUST READ
January 19, 2025 | The Oregonian
From Governor Tina Kotek: As governor, I have to make sure we manage time and money responsibly. That means public assets that will stand the test of time because skilled workers have done the work well and, during construction, projects that operate safely, efficiently and deliver economic benefit to the people and communities who make them happen. We need to know what we’re buying, every time.
January 19, 2025 | KGW
Providence healthcare workers entered their 10th day on strike Monday, joined by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, who questioned the hospital system's bargaining tactics. Wyden said he came out because "providers are on the front lines for the community, so I will be on the picket line with them until they get a fair shake."
January 16, 2025 | Northwest Labor Press
From Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor: Governor Kotek showed with this executive order that she gets it, and that she understands how important it is to do everything in her power to establish a high road future as the state spends taxpayer dollars on major construction projects. The Oregon labor movement stands ready to get to work to ensure the success of this new policy, and we look forward to continuing our track record of getting big things done well in the years ahead.
🏔️ OREGON LABOR
January 22, 2025 | OPB
Two Portland unions representing city employees are getting closer to walking off the job over a breakdown in contract negotiations. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 189, is the city’s largest union, representing more than 1,000 workers across nearly every city department. The District Council of Trade Unions, represents around 200 engineers, painters, plumbers, electricians, and other trade workers across city bureaus. Both unions, who have been negotiating new contacts with the city since April, have reached an impasse with city management over wages.
January 21, 2025 | KATU
The Oregon Nurses Association stated that discussions are ongoing but accused Providence of not taking the negotiations seriously. The union claims that Providence's stance is a form of punishment for healthcare workers who chose to strike.
January 21, 2025 | Public News Service
Alan Dubinsky, communications director for SEIU Local 49, representing Oregon and Southwest Washington, said the two unions have a history of working together and they share many of the same values. "We want to unite people across class lines no matter where they live, no matter the color of their skin, who they love, so we can stand up to billionaire interest and corporate greed," Dubinsky explained.
January 20, 2025 | Willamette Week
Technicians at a testing laboratory sold nearly two years ago by Providence Health and Services to a North Carolina company have now filed to join the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, a union spokesperson announced Friday. In a Jan. 17 filing with the National Labor Relations Board, more than 100 technicians at Labcorp gave notice of their intent to unionize. “We decided to unionize because we want to ensure a stable, well-trained, well-staffed medical laboratory is available to our community,” said Allister Brister-Smith, who works at Labcorp’s facility on Northeast Halsey Street.
January 17, 2025 | Northwest Labor Press
Workers at five nursing home chains with operations in Oregon ratified new contracts in November and December. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 503 represents roughly 4,200 workers at 59 Oregon nursing homes owned by six companies — accounting for around half of the nursing home beds in Oregon.
January 19, 2025 | The Oregonian
Most PLAs include goals for local hiring, workforce and contractor equity and participation of small or minority-owned businesses. PLAs establish standards that protect taxpayers and project owners while building a strong America.
🏛️POLITICS
January 17, 2025 | Northwest Labor Press
Having worked to elect pro-labor state legislators last November, Oregon unions are now gearing up to promote a pro-labor agenda in the 2025 session of the Oregon Legislature. State lawmakers are scheduled to convene on Jan. 25 and will consider hundreds of bills before adjourning on or before June 29.
January 22, 2025 | The New York Times
President Trump on Wednesday revoked a 60-year-old executive order banning discrimination in hiring practices in the federal government, his latest action aimed at gutting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. His order, which the White House called “the most important federal civil rights measure in decades,” revokes Executive Order 11246 signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. It prohibited discriminatory practices in hiring and employment in government contracting and asserted the government’s commitment to affirmative action.
January 22, 2025 | WUSA 9
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) President Everett Kelley says these rollbacks will impact veteran federal workers who’ve already given so much to our country. “Of the federal workforce, which is about 2.2 million [people], 642,00 of them are veterans,” Kelley said. “When you start thinking of taking away the ability for them to be accommodated in the work force, that’s what DEI does. Those are the employees that work and makes sure we can provide the accommodations for those 642,000 veterans if they’re handicapped in some way, so when you start thinking in terms of taking that function away, it’s a direct attack against veterans.”
January 21, 2025 | KCBY 11
Oregon’s former Republican U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer could be one of the few Oregonians in history in the president’s cabinet, according to political analyst Jim Moore. President Donald Trump nominated DeRemer for the U.S. Department of Labor back in November.
January 20, 2025 | OPB
“Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary,” the executive memo states.
January 20, 2025 | NPR
What will resistance to Trump's education policy look like this time around? NPR hears from Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. Randi Weingarten is the longtime president of the American Federation of Teachers. It's a union representing 1.8 million teachers nationwide. She joins us this morning by way of Skype. Randi, thanks for joining us. Now, how would the teachers you represent be affected by, say, a dismantled Department of Education if indeed he does that?
January 18, 2025 | The Guardian
Even as Donald Trump says he will battle for America’s workers, the acting secretary of labor, Julie Su, is voicing fears that Trump will undo many of Joe Biden’s pro-worker policies, which include protecting workers from extreme heat and extending overtime pay to millions more workers. In an interview with the Guardian, Su said that Trump might fall far short on delivering for workers considering the first Trump administration’s many anti-worker policies and in light of his having Elon Musk and other billionaires advising him. “It’s one thing to say you’re pro-worker, and it’s quite another thing to do it,” Su said. “You can’t be pro-billionaire and pro-working class. You can’t be pro-Elon Musk and pro-worker.”
January 16, 2025 | Willamette Week
Newly sworn-in Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield made a significant addition to his staff this week, hiring Portland lawyer Steve Berman as special counsel.
📣 STRIKES & COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
January 22, 2025 | Las Vegas Sun
The longest strike in decades by Culinary Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 is coming to an end after 69 days. A vote today among workers to ratify a five-year contract with Virgin Hotels Las Vegas was unanimous, according to a social media post from the Culinary Union. The post did not provide details about the new contract.
January 22, 2025 | The New York Times
Stellantis said on Wednesday that it planned to make a medium-size pickup truck in Belvidere, and that it would rehire some 1,500 union workers. The company also said it would move forward with plans to produce a new Dodge Durango sport-utility vehicle at a plant in Detroit. The U.A.W. had feared Stellantis was preparing to move production of the vehicle to Mexico, and the union had filed grievances on that issue as well. “This victory is a testament to the power of workers standing together and holding a billion-dollar corporation accountable,” the U.A.W. president, Shawn Fain, said in a statement on Wednesday. “We’ve shown that we will do what it takes to protect the good union jobs that are the lifeblood of places like Belvidere, Detroit, Kokomo and beyond.”
January 22, 2025 | PYOK
More than five months after flight attendants at Alaska Airlines rejected a proposed new pay deal, the union that represents crew members at the Seattle-based carrier is finally set to present a new tentative agreement to its members. The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) has now been trying to secure an updated contract for crew members at Alaska Airlines for over two years, but by the end of this week, we will learn whether the union’s master executive council will approve the latest offer and put it forward to members to vote on.
January 20, 2025 | FOX 12 Oregon
Roughly 18,000 Costco workers are preparing for a potential strike at the company’s warehouses in five states. Members of the Teamsters Union authorized a strike unless a new deal is reached with the retailer before Jan. 31, which is when their contract expires.
📊 THE ECONOMY
January 22, 2025 | Reuters
Boeing's engineering union is formally investigating claims from its members that the company is moving work to non-union locations in the United States and overseas. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) formally began investigating the allegations in December, when it requested relevant information from Boeing, the union's Director of Strategic Development Rich Plunkett said Wednesday.
🫱🏼🫲🏽ORGANIZING
January 22, 2025 | The Wrap
Less than two months after a restructuring at PS (formerly Pop Sugar) was announced, the Vox Media Union is now entering negotiations on their third collective bargaining agreement. The 300 Writers Guild of America East members at the company demand that the 20-employee PS unit be recognized under the union. As of Wednesday, PS remains Vox Media’s only non-union website in its portfolio. The union is also seeking “fair increases in compensation that account for inflation and cost of living, expanded worker benefits, a commitment to diversity initiatives, protections around artificial intelligence and enhanced protections in the event of layoffs or termination,” TheWrap has learned.