Posts tagged Portland
Schools in Portland, Oregon, reach tentative deal with teachers union after nearly month-long strike
November 27, 2023 // Students last attended school on Halloween. The deal would provide educators with a 13.8% cumulative cost-of-living increase over the next three years and about half of all educators would earn an extra 10.6% from yearly step increases, PPS said. The agreement would also add classroom time for elementary and middle grades starting next year and increase teacher planning time by 90 minutes each week for elementary and middle-aged classrooms.
Unions accept contract offer, ending strike at Northern Maine pulp manufacturer
November 27, 2023 // Other terms of the contract, according to the unions, are general wage increases of 4% in the first year and 3% in each of the second and third years; an end to a tiered vacation system, allowing all employees to cap out with a fifth week of vacation; an immediate "equity adjustment" of 30 cents to $1 an hour for employees in the bottom five water and steam plant classifications; and a contract ratification bonus of $750. The mill, which employs approximately 300 workers in total, is owned by St. Croix Tissue Co., based in Canada, whose parent company, The International Grand Investment Corp., is a U.S.-based company held by a Chinese investment firm.
Portland teachers use strike to demand racial equity trainings as schools stay closed
November 15, 2023 // Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos ripped the teachers unions in a statement to the Washington Examiner, saying, "Big school unions love closing schools." "They’re holding nearly 50,000 kids hostage to their radical demands, and families across Portland are paying the price," she said. "This is on top of Oregon recently removing basic math and reading competency requirements to graduate high school. It’s hard to argue kids are getting a great education there, and it’s a shame parents in Portland who want better for their kids can’t 'strike' themselves and take their kids out of the government schools."
PPS, PAT to exchange proposals; unfair labor practice alleged
November 13, 2023 // The district was upset after protesters rallied at the Oregon Convention Center where a school board member was attending a Metro retreat, according to a letter the district sent to the union. In the letter, sent Nov. 8, PPS claims an estimated 1,000 PAT protesters marched from PAT offices to the convention center where Metro was holding the retreat. The letter says PPS Board Member Andrew Scott was at the retreat in his role as Deputy Chief Operating Officer at Metro and as PAT protesters “surrounded” the convention center, they chanted slogans including, “’Andrew Scott you’re no good. Treat your teachers like you should!’” PAT members had early entry to the convention center and opened secured doors for PAT protesters to enter the secured wing of the building where Scott and other Metro members were meeting, the letter states. According to PPS, Scott evacuated the building and Metro members were traumatized from the protest.
‘A historic moment’: Oregon teachers launch first-ever strike
November 8, 2023 //
Portland Public Schools developing contingency plans before possible teacher strike
October 19, 2023 // With a teacher strike potentially coming, the Portland Public School District began to come up with contingency plans for kids on Wednesday night.
Oregon sees record-high unionization
October 9, 2023 // what’s happening here in Oregon is a little different: it’s driven by independent unions. Rather than join AFL-CIO, SEIU or other big unions, some Oregon workers are taking a “grow your own” approach to unionizing. Local chain Burgerville’s independent union, Burgerville Workers Union, won federal recognition in 2018 and signed its first contract in 2021. Seeing Burgerville’s success in organizing without the resources of a bigger union inspired workers at Voodoo Doughnut.
Thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers plan to stage 3-day strike Wednesday
October 4, 2023 //
Portland strippers vote to unionize, could get official recognition later this week
September 15, 2023 // Across the country, there’s been a wave in recent years of workers in industries like food service and manufacturing demanding better pay and benefits, voting to unionize or going on strike to compel management to address their concerns. But last week when Creature and 15 other Magic Tavern dancers unanimously voted to unionize, they became just the second active group of strippers in the country — and the only one in Oregon — to do so. The Actors’ Equity Association, which represents the strippers, expects the National Labor Relations Board to certify the vote by the end of the week. A spokesperson for the NLRB said in an email that if the results are certified, Magic Tavern must bargain in good faith with the union.
Labor Day weekend draws Portland workers out in droves to the picket lines
September 5, 2023 // Across town, in Northeast Portland, New Seasons Market employees walked off the job and took up signs to express their frustration. "We're out here today protesting against a union-busting tactic that New Seasons has sort of been leveraging," said Wil, a New Seasons Market employee. "They've used their very punitive attendance policy to pit union stores and non-union stores against each other." The New Seasons Labor Union is an independent workers union, and so are many of the groups that marched in downtown Portland on Saturday. “We’ve always had the larger unions representing us, but now working-class people are taking it into their own hands to form their own unions and take the power back in the workplace," said Samantha Medina with the Coalition of Independent Unions.