Union News

Wednesday, August 25, The Portland Alliance Editorial Committee is having a Dinner Party which includes the Editorial Committee and Interested Community Members:  The Alliance is ready to roll!  This event will take place at 6935 SW Merry Lane, in Beaverton, Oregon from 5:30-9:30pm.  This is an open community meeting, but please RSVP*  so we have plenty of food!  We invite writers, editors, photographers, copy-editors, columnists, artists, reviewers, journalists, activists, organizers, teachers, students, professionals, etc to enjoy, network, and discuss the publication and content of the August Lockout Issue and the September Organizing and Activism Issue.  Food and will include vegetarian delights ... and sirloin steak, prime rib, pot roast, BBQ chicken, & baked salmon! (Bring a side dish or desert if you want...) 

*  Visit us on Facebook to RSVP and join our Dinner Party, Writer's Meeting, Celebration...  

Location:at Tim's Place  Time:5:30PM Wednesday, August 25th

https://sites.google.com/site/theportlandalliance/  Any questions... 503-697-1670 Or theportlandalliance@gmail.com

Wednesday, August 25, 12pm, JWJ Faith-Labor Committee 6025 E. Burnside

Wednesday, August 25, 6pm, JWJ Global Justice Committee 6025 E. Burnside

A five-day Paint-Out and Write-Out onAugust 26-30, where works of art and writing are created at various outdoor locations in and around the Columbia River Gorge - the nation's first designated National Scenic Area.  http://www.columbiaarts.org/

Thursday, August 26, Noon-3pm Oregon ARA Annual Picnic,
                                          Laurelhurst Park, Site “B” RSVP: 503-224-4038

---

Also on Thursday, August 26, 

7pm: What Will It Take to End Israeli Apartheid?
Portland State University, Smith Memorial Student Union Room 296/8

All around the world people reacted with furious protests after Israeli commandos carried out an assault on a flotilla of boats carrying humanitarian aid and solidarity activists to the besieged Gaza Strip. In a historic moment for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement, nearly 1,000 activists picketed at the Port of Oakland and successfully stopped an Israeli Zim line ship from being unloaded for 24 hours. In an effort to mitigate the global outrage that followed its attack on the Gaza aid flotilla, Israel has (ever so slightly) eased its blockade on Gaza. While now permitting some consumer goods to enter Gaza, Israel continues to block chemicals, medical instruments, construction tools, aluminum, steel and cement, making it impossible to rebuild the homes, schools, hospitals, offices and factories destroyed by Israel in Operation Cast Lead of 2008-2009. What does this new phase of struggle mean?

THURS August 26th- 7pm
PCASC and AFSC presents the 1st annual PCASC benefit concert and NO SOY EL ARMY tour kickoff, featuring:
    2MEX  http://www.myspace.com/2mex
    MIC CRENSHAW     M4       UBUNTU    and more....

For more details on the No Soy El Army:  bilingual counter-recruitment tour see http://afsc.org/office/portland-or 

ANNOUNCING the PCASC’s first annual summer benefit concert. 

https://sites.google.com/site/pdxactivismnews/home/whatsgoinon/pcasc-update

A truly intercultural, intergenerational experience. Expect special guests artists, dancers, and speakers.  315 SE 3rd Avenue /  Show starts at 9pm. August 26 Ticket sales info to be announced shortly.
                                     For questions email megan@pcasc.net.

Friday, August 27, 5pm-2am ILWU Local 5 10^th Anniversary Party! Album Release Party,
                                             trike Fund Fundraiser, at the Cleaners, 1022 SW Stark
Next Friday August 27th, ILWU Local 5 will be celebrating their union's 10 year anniversary with a fundraiser for their strike fund. 
They'll be facing contract negotiations early next year, and are hoping to boost the fund before then. Join them at The Cleaners
and The Ace Hotel, SW 10th and Stark, on Friday, August 27th from 5pm until the party ends!  There will be live music, food and drink.

Saturday, August 28,   Jobs, Justice and Peace' march commemorates King’s 1963 visit to Detroithttps://sites.google.com/site/pdxactivismnews/home/whatsgoinon/martin

Fifth Monday Labor Radio

Labor Radio Collective:"Together We Make A Difference" http://laborradiocollective.blogspot.com/ Monday, August 30th, on Fifth Monday Labor Radio– at 6pm!http://sites.google.com/site/laborradiogroup/home/fifth-monday-labor-radio Third Party Representatives will talk with our listeners about why their parties matter for working people this election cycle. Here is the lineup for the August 30, 5th Monday, KBOO Labor Radio Collective show from 6pm to 6:30pm Hosts: Tim Flanagan and Lane Poncy The Independent Party of Oregon: Salvador Peralta The Oregon Progressive Party: Phillip Kauffman and/or Jason Kafoury and/or Alaina MelvilleThe Oregon Working Families Party: Cathy Highet and Steve Hughes The Pacific Green Party of Oregon: Michael Meo and James Nicita This should be a lively and useful conversation.

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 4pm March, 5pm Rally for the Bus, Portland City Hall, SW 4^th and Main.
                                        Bus riders are under attack, fares have risen 70% and on Sept. 1, service is being cut by 70,000 hours. OPAL is demanding that TriMet meet its mission and provide
                                        affordable and reliable service for working people.www.opalpdx.org

Pacific Northwest Plein Air 2010 September 3-26 in the Columbia River Gorge, is a series of art events & wine-tasting opportunities
featuring the art and literary works of accomplished painters and writers.
For additional information, please contact the Columbia Center for the Arts
website: http://www.columbiaarts.org

Monday, Sept. 6, 10am-5pm Oaks Park Labor Day Picnic:  (Please let us know if you can help  staff the Jobs with Justice table for an hour or two!)

Saturday, October 9th, 2010  (Also John Lennon's Birthday) 

International March for Peace! End the Occupations!

www.PeaceResource.org

"In Russia, in China, and here... very mediocre people

                                                     have the power to end life altogether."                                                                            ~~Saul Bellow

Antiwar and Anti-Occupation March and Rally

Instead of cutting needed funds for education and social services, we should reconsider much of our trillion dollar
military budget and establish a Department of Peace!

It is time for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan.  Most thinking people are
opposed to the US spending $3 billion a year to help fund a siege of Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank. 
We are sick and tired of military threats against Iran and the criminal CIA drone attacks on Pakistan. 
So, we are organizing.  Whether you are an experienced activist or new to the antiwar movement, it is past time
for a multinational antiwar march on Saturday, October 9th commemorating the 9th anniversary of the Afghanistan war. 
End the Occupations!  Secure the Peace we all seek!  Send a message to our leaders.

http://www.ActivismResource.org   www.Activeresource.org     https://sites.google.com/site/activismresource/home
Activism

Peace, Freedom, & Justice through Writing, Activism, Creative Arts, & Civic-Engagement

An activism blog  http://activismnewsletterat.blogspot.com/

ArizonaBoycott
Starbase Recruiting in our Schools

Contract Talks

State Worker Notebook

Next round of contract talks
likely will be contentious

Read more: http://unionresource.blogspot.com/2010/08/contract-talks.html

Most of Oregon's state workers will take another unpaid
day off this Friday, August 20, when the sixth scheduled
government shutdown will occur.


But as an AFSCME union rep recently said, it's not too
long before the political season kicks off — if it hasn't already.
And before the dust has had a chance to settle, the Oregon
Legislature will convene and the next round of collective bargaining will begin.

...
Are state workers going to be asked to take more
furlough days, if the economy doesn't improve?

...There's no denying the next round of contract talks
are likely to be contentious. A bulls-eye has been painted
on state employees' benefits by Gov. Ted Kulongoski's
Reset Cabinet. State workers could find themselves fighting
tooth-and-nail to maintain benefits such as no-premium
health insurance and the state agencies' pick-up of
employees' 6 percent PERS contributions.


What could turn contention into acrimony would be
continued demands by politicians that state workers
bear the brunt of balancing the Oregon state budget,
especially if those politicians don't make any attempt
to look at other areas of potential savings, Hershey said.




State employees constantly talk about different ways the
agencies could be saving money, different pools of waste
that are simmering out there unchecked. There's no small
amount of frustration that no one seems to be taking their
concerns seriously, particularly since they are in the front
lines and in a position to identify wasteful practices.

"We're hoping to participate in a solution to all the state's
issues, and we want to be in the conversation early,"
he said. "You can deal with the official reality, but it does
not have to be mean-spirited and it does not have to reflect
badly on either party."

A sentiment very suited to Oregon. Now let's see how it plays out.
dmthomps@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6719


Read more: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100816/COLUMN0105/8160319/1160/COLUMN#ixzz0wq881FNr

State Workers lose out to

Corrections officers lose labor decision

"Under the state contract, corrections officers
during the next 13 months will forgo holiday pay,
take four mandatory furlough days chosen by their
supervisors and have their latest pay increase rolled back. 
The ruling affects more than 1,800 corrections officers
at 11 institutions across Oregon.
"Our furlough proposal, even though it had more elements
in it than the state's did, was fairer to the employees,"
said Tim Woolery, the officers' AFSCME representative.
"The state's proposal is just stealing their employees' pay." 
Read more: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100525/NEWS/5250316/1001#ixzz0p3bEzAfi
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100525/NEWS/5250316/1001#ixzz0p3aE4Yfy

Copyright ©2010 Statesman Journal

Strategic Organizing

http://www.union-organizing.org/organizing-tactics/double-your-organizing-leads/
When you join a union your job is protected.  We make a difference!

Your Union News Update

Your Union News  Update

Take Action!  Register to vote!
http://www.unionresource.org/

Less than a week to register
to vote in the May election!

Why register? This may not
be a high-profile election,
but it is your chance
to elect fellow union members
to local offices,
where they make a difference.

For the first time ever you
can register to vote online this year.
http://www.sos.state.or.us/elections/other.info/clerk.htm
 

Already registered,
but you've moved
or changed your name?
Re-register at your county elections office.

Their websites and addresses are available online.

                                              http://www.unionresource.org/ 

Union History!

coming this June!  June 11-13, 2010
Pacific Northwest Labor History Association!
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, PORTLAND
http://www.writingresource.info/brochures/PNLHAConference.txt

takes place at 70 NW COUCH STREET
in PORTLAND, OREGON 97209
on JUNE 11-13, 2010

FRIDAY, 4:30-9:00 P.M.

SATURDAY, 8:00 A.M.-9:30 P.M.

SUNDAY, 9:00 A.M.-NOON

Union strength grows in Oregon

By Greg Stiles

of the Mail Tribune

While employment has declined
in Oregon, the percentage of
workers who are union
members has grown,
according to a U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statics
report released this month.


Although union membership dropped
slightly to 250,000 in 2009 from 259,000
in 2008, union membership rose to 17
percent last year from 16.6 percent in 2008.

Another 22,000 workers were represented
by unions, although they weren't members.
The highest percentage of union membership
on record in Oregon was 21.6 percent in 1989.

Oregon ranked No. 11
out of the 50 states
and District of Columbia
for union membership

percentage.

New York topped the list
with 25.2 percent of its
wage and hourly workers
belonging to unions.

Hawaii followed with
23.5 percent;
Alaska, 22.3 percent; and
Washington, 20.2 percent.
California was
No. 10 at 17.2 percent.

"The West tends to be heavily unionized,"
said David Kong, a statistician with BLS in San Francisco.

Nationally, the number of workers belonging
to a union dropped by 771,000 to 15.3 million
in 2009, reflecting declining employment overall
in the country. Union members accounted for
12.3 percent of employed wage and salary
workers, essentially unchanged from 12.4
percent a year earlier.

In 1983, the first year for which comparable
national union data were available, the union
membership rate was 20.1 percent. The BLS
reported Oregon has had union membership
rates above the U.S. average since 1989.

In the second quarter of 2009, Oregon ranked
No. 25 in average weekly wages, according to
the latest figures compiled by the BLS.

Oregon's latest unemployment figure remains
above 10 percent and Jackson County's
jobless rate is above 11 percent.

While mining, logging and manufacturing areas
have been hard-hit by job losses, public sector
employment dropped less than 1 percent, Kong said.

"The employment pie has gotten smaller,
but the decrease in the public sector hasn't
been as much as the private sector," Kong said.

While the West Coast, as well as Alaska and
Hawaii, have higher union membership, southeastern
states were on the low end: North Carolina, 3.1 percent;
Arkansas, 4.2 percent; South Carolina, 4.5 percent;
Georgia, 4.6 percent; Virginia, 4.7 percent; and
Mississippi, 4.8 percent.

Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or
e-mail business@mailtribune.com

Working Families Party Meeting in Portland!

www.UnionResource.org/

WFP is pleased
to invite activists
and progressives
to the first
Oregon Working Families Party meeting of 2010.
Since fusion voting passed in July of last year, WFP has been
working hard and we want you to be a part of it. We will be
having meetings around the State over the next few months,
but we're starting in Portland on March 30.

So, please join us on Tuesday, March 30th, at 6:00 PM,
for discussion about the issue campaigns we are working on,
our voter registration drive, and our plans to take full advantage
of the first year of fusion voting in Oregon. Most importantly,
please join us for the socializing (and even dancing if you are
so inclined) that will follow as soon as the business wraps up.
WFP will pass along full details of the event in the next week
or so. In the meantime, please let WFP know if you can make
it by email. "Barbara Dudley, Oregon Working Families Party"
info@OregonWFP.org   And please feel free to notify your friends,
especially folks who are interested to learn more about the WFP.
http://www.resourceresource.org/
http://www.unionresource.org/

Contact us.  General information and correspondence:
Oregon Working Families Party
2950 SE Stark Street, Suite 100
Portland, OR 97214

503-841-7161    info@OregonWFP.org

Website Problems and Suggestions
webmaster@OregonWFP.org

Register with the Oregon Working Families Party
Pick up a voter registration form at your local DMV office,
post office or library, fill it out and mail or deliver it to your
county elections office. The address of your county election
office will be found on the voter registration form,
Or simply fill out an online voter registration form
http://www.sos.state.or.us/elections/votreg/sel500.pdf
print it, sign it, and mail or deliver it to your county elections office.

Register Online

https://secure.sos.state.or.us/eim/vr/register.do?lang=eng
Update or start a new registration and check your registration status.
http://oregonvotes.org/