Oregon had a slow month for labor in April, seeing fewer wins and new campaigns but more labor actions than in March.
The usual industries — health care and education — made strides in April. Nurses at two Portland health care centers filed to join unions, and nurse assistants in Milwaukie won an election. Montessori educators announced a new campaign and Ethos Music Center workers held a vote.
Outside the usual, workers at Portland General Electric, or PGE, the Portland Japanese Garden and a local funeral home seek union representation.
A set of pickets led hotel workers to reach a tentative agreement, while Oregon Health & Science University postdoctoral workers are still fighting for theirs.
New campaigns and elections
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, or IBEW, Local 125, filed an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board, or NLRB, on April 3 to add more operators at PGE in Tualatin to IBEW’s existing bargaining unit.
Licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and psychiatric technicians at Albertina Kerr Centers in Portland filed to join the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, Local 503 on April 9.
Guides at Guidepost Montessori locations in Tigard and Portland announced their plans to unionize with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, or ILWU, Local 5 on April 9. Shortly after going public, ILWU says Guidepost Montessori retaliated against the workers by shutting the locations down and furloughing the unionizing teachers.
Gresham workers at Service Corporation International, a funeral services company, filed to join the Teamsters Local 305 on April 15.
Nurse assistants at the Providence Milwaukie Hospital voted 12-0 to join SEIU Local 49 on April 16.
Registered nurses at Shriners Hospital for Children in Portland filed to join the Oregon Nurses Association, or ONA, on April 19.
Cafe and gift shop employees at the Portland Japanese Garden filed to join the Laborers International Union North America Local 483 on April 22.
After announcing a campaign in March, Ethos Music Center workers in Portland voted to join Musicians Union Local 99 on April 24.
Teachers at Ethos initially sought voluntary recognition from the company, but the union says the executive board instead hired Littler Mendelson, a union-busting law firm, prompting teachers to file for an official election.
Hunter Communications & Technologies LLC workers in Central Point filed for an election to join the IBEW Local 659 in February. However, April election results show a split vote of 9-9, meaning workers will not be joining the union at this time.
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 also experienced a loss last month, with Northwest Confections, LLC workers in Clackamas voting 12-22 against joining the union.
Providence Immediate Care Clinic registered nurses, medical assistants and patient services specialists in the Portland metro area voted to join ONA on April 25.
“A strong majority” of 2,000 biomedical research workers at OHSU submitted union authorization cards to join Oregon AFSCME on April 26, the union said in a press release.
Labor actions
Hilton Downtown Portland workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 8 held pickets to pressure the company amid bargaining April 3 and April 5. The union said the company had not given workers a raise in two years. A week later, the two parties reached a tentative agreement to increase wages by 50 cents twice yearly through 2027.
After unionizing with Teamsters Local 206 in August 2022, White Bird Clinic workers in Eugene held an April 5 rally to demand White Bird reach a fair first contract agreement with the union.
Providence Hood River nurses held an April 10 informational picket due to “disappointing counter proposals” in bargaining, ONA said in a press release.
The Oregon American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, or AFSCME, held a rally for postdoctoral workers at OHSU on April 16. Unionized in April 2023, workers are struggling to reach a fair first contract agreement, the union said. The main sticking point is wages, with OHSU staunchly holding to a 0% cost-of-living-adjustment for all three years.
“This lack of respect disproportionately affects the 52% of OHSU postdocs who are international workers, incurring additional expenses due to visa status and relocation,” David Kreisman, Oregon AFSCME public affairs manager, said in a press release.
United Auto Workers, or UAW, members held a Global Day of Solidarity to demand fair distribution of Daimler Truck’s increasing profits, including at Daimler’s North American Headquarters in Portland on April 23. American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations Oregon and UAW Local 492 helped host the rally.
Home health and hospice nurses at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services in Springfield held an April 24 solidarity action ahead of a mediation session with the hospital. ONA said nurses spent over a year bargaining a contract. Nurses voted to authorize an open-ended strike April 16, though the union hadn’t announced any strike dates as of April 24.
Negotiations
After a first-of-its-kind campaign in 2016, the Burgerville Workers Union (BVWU) says it is “in the thick of (its) fight” for a second contract.
“Since our founding in 2016, we’re thrilled to say we are no longer the only fast food union in the (United States),” the union said in a GoFundMe statement. “However, we are still breaking new ground because our second contract will be a true first for the fast food industry.”
BVWU didn’t state what the union hopes to include in the new contract but posted a GoFundMe campaign asking for funding for bargaining, legal expenses and its strike fund.
Magic Tavern dancers in Portland voted to join Actors’ Equity last September, becoming the second currently unionized strip club in the United States. However, since then, dancers say club management has refused to bargain. As a result, the union said the NLRB ruled Magic Tavern must begin the bargaining process or face legal repercussions.
Dancers said they will remain on strike until a first contract is settled.
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