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Stand up for Occupy Portland, The Portland Alliance, KBOO & the 99%

2011-11-08T17:30:00.000-08:00

Breaking News!	Brutal Attacks on Peaceful Occupy Oakland gathering! http://www.theportlandalliance.org/occupation	Courage conquers fear.
Breaking News! OccupyPortland	The Portland Alliance and KBOO are sponsoring VOICES IN ACTION: HUMAN RIGHTS ON FILM NWFILM.ORG Download Poster! Download the Schedule!	Sunday, Nov. 13 Greg Palast at the Bagdad: 702 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
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Unions Endorse Wall Street Occupation: JWJ Endorses Occupy Portland

2011-10-04T23:42:00.000-07:00

Four NYC Unions Explain Why They Are Marching in Solidarity
with Occupy Wall Street by John Tarleton

The Indypendent, October 3, 2011
http://www.indypendent.org/2011/10/03/unions-in-solidarity-with-ows/
VIA labor-moderator@PORTSIDE.ORG

New York City labor unions will come out in support of
the Occupy Wall Street movement this Wednesday at 4:30
p.m. when they plan to rally in front of City Hall and
march down to Zuccotti Park. Here are statements from
four of the unions that will play a large role in the protest:

Transit Workers Union Local 100 [which also objected
to being commandeered by cops to drive bus loads of arrested
demonstrators to booking

The Transport Workers Union Local 100 applauds the
courage of the young people on Wall Street who are
dramatically demonstrating for what our position has
been for some time: the shared sacrifice preached by
government officials looks awfully like a one-way
street. Workers and ordinary citizens are putting up
all the sacrifice, and the financiers who imploded our
economy are getting away scot-free, increasing their
holdings and bonuses.

Young people face a bleak future with high
unemployment, and minimum wage jobs. Public sector
workers face Mayors and Governors who demand massive
wage and benefits givebacks or face thousands of
layoffs. That's not bargaining. That's blackmail.

One out of six Americans lives in poverty today, and
the richest one percent control more wealth than at any
time since the Gilded Age of the 1920's.

The TWU Local 100 Executive Board is united in our
determination that this state of affairs is dangerous
for America and destructive to its citizenry. We
support the Wall Street protesters and their goal to
reduce inequality and support every American's right to
a decent job, health care, and retirement security.

Local 100 is a local (or chapter) of the Transport
Workers Union of America, a union which represents
transportation workers in bus and subway lines, and
several airlines nationwide. It has about 38,000 members.

1199 SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East
The 1199SEIU Executive Council voted unanimously on
September 30 to give all-round support to the ongoing
Wall Street occupation. Monday, October 3, marked the
17th day of the occupation which has picked up
participants, supporters and media attention by the day.

Other labor support has come from the United Steelworker
and AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka.
A labor-community March on Wall Street
is set to leave New York's City Hall at 4:30 on
Wednesday, October 5, and end at Zuccotti Park (renamed
Liberty Park) which is the site of the occupation.

Sponsors of the Oct. 5 march include the Working
Families Party, United New York, New York Communities
of Change and the Strong Economy for All Coalition,
> which includes in addition to 1199SEIU, SEIU Local
> 32BJ, the New York AFL-CIO, United Federation of
> Teachers, Citizen Action, NYSUT, Communications
> Workers, and the NY Central Labor Council.
>
> 1199 members, families and friends are encouraged to
> take part.
>
> Among those who have joined the occupation for periods
> are Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, NAACP leader Ben
> Jealous, Professor Cornel West, filmmaker Michael
> Moore, Def Jam impresario Russell Simmons, actors Susan
> Sarandon and Mark Ruffalo.
>
> After the 1199 Executive Council heard a report on the
> Wall Street occupation by two of its young activists,
> President George Gresham offered the motion to support
> the action. Included in the motion, with friendly
> amendments, were the union's agreement to reach other
> to the rest of the labor movement to build support for
> the occupation, to support future marches and actions
> that grow out of OccupyWallStreet, to feed the
> occupation participants for a week, to have 1199 nurses
> help train those staffing the first-aid care station at
> the occupation, and to set up an 1199 "task force"
> charged with help in whatever ways possible.
>
> Representing more than 300,000 members and retirees in
> New York, New Jersey, Maryland, the District of
> Columbia, Florida and Massachusetts, 1199SEIU United
> Healthcare Workers East is the largest local union in
> the world.
>
> Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
>
> Today Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail,
> Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), released
> the following statement of support and solidarity for
> the Occupy Wall Street resistance effort on behalf of
> the union:
>
> "Occupy Wall Street has brought into sharp focus a
> reality that cannot be denied: corporate greed is
> responsible for harming the lives of millions of
> working people and unemployed people.
>
> "A small group of firms, banks, and corporations now
> hold trillions worth of our collective wealth and
> assets. That money should be invested in job creation
> on a massive scale and used to rebuild countless lives
> damaged by the recklessness that caused the recession.
> But Wall Street won't do it. Instead, the financial
> elite want to dictate the future of our entire economy
> and democracy in ways that will protect the wealthiest
> 1% at the expense of everyone else.
>
> Over the past few weeks, though, courageous men and
> women have been occupying Wall Street-not just the
> place but the starring role Wall Street likes to play
> in our public discourse, a point that much of the
> mainstream news coverage and editorializing has not
> fully appreciated.
>
> After hearing the top 1% lie for so long, they are
> speaking the truth known by the unheard 99%. That's why
> their message resonates so widely. They offer a clear
> perspective that rarely generates this kind of
> attention but that millions of regular people, not just
> activists and unionists, share: Wall Street should not
> control our economy, our democracy, or our lives. When
> Wall Street wields so much power and influence, we are
> fundamentally worse off.
>
> Every hour that Occupy Wall Street continues, it can
> help revitalize a progressive movement nationally and
> globally that aims to achieve new victories for all
> working people and the unemployed. It's up to us
> whether we harness their energy and commitment at the
> bargaining table, in the halls of government, and among
> the coalitions and alliances we try to sustain.
>
> Too many of the occupiers have been arrested
> unnecessarily and unfairly. I urge Mayor Michael
> Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to instruct
> the police force to show restraint, civility, and
> respect when dealing with the increasing number of
> peaceful people occupying Wall Street.
>
> In the days ahead, the RWDSU will do everything it can
> to learn from and assist Occupy Wall Street as we fight
> to raise standards in the industries where we organize
> and represent workers; as we fight to pass living wage
> legislation that will create more good jobs; as we
> fight for the fairness and justice that all working
> people and the unemployed deserve."
>
> RWDSU represents 100,000 members in the U.S. and Canada
> who work in a wide variety of occupations that range
> from food processing to retail to manufacturing to
> service and health care.
>
> Professional Staff Congress-CUNY
>
> The PSC Executive Council voted Friday (September 30)
> to endorse the labor support rally for
> #OccupyWallStreet on Wednesday, October 5, joining
> several other unions, CUNY students and community
> groups.
>
> In endorsing the labor support rally, the Executive
> Council cited the convergence between the PSC's
> campaign for a progressive tax structure and
> #OccupyWallStreet's focus on the huge economic
> inequities in this state. We hope that in bringing
> strong labor support to the October 5 rally we can
> elevate the statewide campaign not to give millionaires
> a tax break when schools are being starved of funds,
> CUNY students are paying more, thousands of state
> workers are facing layoffs, and hundreds of people
> across the state are in desperate need after massive
> floods.
>
> PSC members will gather at the intersection of Warren
> St. and Broadway at 4:15 PM before joining the rally at
> City hall. After the rally at City Hall, the
> demonstrators will march over to Zuccotti Park, site of
> the #OccupyWallStreet protest. The event will run until
> about 7:30 PM. We look forward to seeing you there.
>
> PSC-CUNY represent 24,000 faculty and staff who work at
> the City University of New York and at the CUNY
> Research Foundation.

visit the new photo gallery on my website
www.michaelmunk.com

Martin Luther King and Labor Unions

2011-03-24T20:35:00.000-07:00

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Labor

http://unionresource.blogspot.com/2011/03/martin-luther-king-and-labor-unions.html

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking in support of striking AFSCME sanitation workers at Mason Temple, Memphis, 4/3/68

Negroes are almost entirely a working people. There are pitifully few Negro millionaires, and few Negro employers. Our needs are identical with labor's needs — decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community. That is why Negroes support labor's demands and fight laws which curb labor. That is why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth.

AFL-CIO Convention, December 1961

I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream—a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man's skin determines the content of his character; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality. That is the dream...

AFL-CIO Convention, December 1961

New economic patterning through automation is dissolving the jobs of workers in some of the nation's basic industries. This is to me a catastrophe. We are neither technologically advanced nor socially enlightened if we witness this disaster for tens of thousands without finding a solution. And by a solution, I mean a real and genuine alternative, providing the same living standards which were swept away by a force called progress, but which for some is destruction. The society that performs miracles with machinery has the capacity to make some miracles for men—if it values men as highly as it values machines.

UAW 25th Anniversary dinner, April 27, 1961

As I have said many times, and believe with all my heart, the coalition that can have the greatest impact in the struggle for human dignity here in America is that of the Negro and the forces of labor, because their fortunes are so closely intertwined.

Letter to Amalgamated Laundry Workers, January 1962

It is in this area (politics) of American life that labor and the Negro have identical interests. Labor has grave problems today of employment, shorter hours, old age security, housing and retraining against the impact of automation. The Congress and the Administration are almost as indifferent to labor's program as they are toward that of the Negro. Toward both they offer vastly less than adequate remedies for the problems which are a torment to us day after day.

UAW District 65 Convention, September 1962

At the turn of the century women earned approximately ten cents an hour, and men were fortunate to receive twenty cents an hour. The average work week was sixty to seventy hours. During the thirties, wages were a secondary issue; to have a job at all was the difference between the agony of starvation and a flicker of life. The nation, now so vigorous, reeled and tottered almost to total collapse. The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress. Out of its bold struggles, economic and social reform gave birth to unemployment insurance, old age pensions, government relief for the destitute, and above all new wage levels that meant not mere survival, but a tolerable life. The captains of industry did not lead this transformation; they resisted it until they were overcome. When in the thirties the wave of union organization crested over our nation, it carried to secure shores not only itself but the whole society.

Illinois AFL-CIO Convention, October 1965

The South is labor's other deep menace. Lower wage rates and improved transportation have magnetically attracted industry. The wide-spread, deeply-rooted Negro poverty in the South weakens the wage scale there for the white as well as the Negro. Beyond that, a low wage structure in the South becomes a heavy pressure on higher wages in the North.

Illinois AFL-CIO Convention, October 1965

In the days to come, organized labor will increase its importance in the destinies of Negroes. Automation is imperceptibly but inexorably producing dislocations, skimming off unskilled labor from the industrial force. The displaced are flowing into proliferating service occupations. These enterprises are traditionally unorganized and provide low wage scales with longer hours. The Negroes pressed into these services need union protection, and the union movement needs their membership to maintain its relative strength in the whole society.

Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? 1967

Today Negroes want above all else to abolish poverty in their lives, and in the lives of the white poor. This is the heart of their program. To end humiliation was a start, but to end poverty is a bigger task. It is natural for Negroes to turn to the Labor movement because it was the first and pioneer anti-poverty program. It will not be easy to accomplish this program because white America has had cheap victories up to this point. The limited reforms we have won have been at bargain rates for the power structure. There are no expenses involved, no taxes are required, for Negroes to share lunch counters, libraries, parks, hotels and other facilities. Even the more substantial reforms such as voting rights require neither monetary or psychological sacrifice. The real cost lies ahead. To enable the Negro to catch up, to repair the damage of centuries of denial and oppression means appropriations to create jobs and job training; it means the outlay of billions for decent housing and equal education.

Teamsters and Allied Trade Councils, New York City, May 1967

When there is massive unemployment in the black community, it is called a social problem. But when there is massive unemployment in the white community, it is called a Depression.

We look around every day and we see thousands and millions of people making inadequate wages. Not only do they work in our hospitals, they work in our hotels, they work in our laundries, they work in domestic service, they find themselves underemployed. You see, no labor is really menial unless you're not getting adequate wages. People are always talking about menial labor. But if you're getting a good (wage) as I know that through some unions they've brought it up...that isn't menial labor. What makes it menial is the income, the wages.

Local 1199 Salute to Freedom, March 1968

You are demanding that this city will respect the dignity of labor. So often we overlook the work and the significance of those who are not in professional jobs, of those who are not in the so-called big jobs. But let me say to you tonight that whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity and it has worth.

AFSCME Memphis Sanitation Strike, April 3, 1968

Labor Union Quotations, Quotes, Sources, and Sayings...

"History is a great teacher. Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it. By raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production. Those who attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them."
Martin Luther King Jr.

"Although it is true that only about 20 percent of American workers are in unions, that 20 percent sets the standards across the board in salaries, benefits and working conditions. If you are making a decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts."   Molly Ivins

Samuel Gompers: You can't do it unless you organize.

Jimmy Carter: Every advance in this half-century: Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education... one after another- came with the support and leadership of American Labor.

Martin Luther King, Jr.: In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, as 'right-to-work.' It provides no 'rights' and no 'works.' Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining... We demand this fraud be stopped.   —Speaking on right-to-work laws in 1961

Martin Luther King, Jr.: We must learn to live together as brothers or we are going to perish together as fools.

John L. Lewis: Let the workers organize. Let the toilers assemble. Let their crystallized voice proclaim their injustices and demand their privileges. Let all thoughtful citizens sustain them, for the future of Labor is the future of America.

"The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress. Out of its bold struggles, economic and social reform gave birth to unemployment insurance, old-age pensions, government relief for the destitute and, above all, new wage levels that meant not mere survival but a tolerable life. The captains of industry did not lead this transformation; they resisted it until they were overcome. When in the thirties the wave of union organization crested over the nation, it carried to secure shores not only itself but the whole society." Martin Luther King Jr.
—Speech to the state convention of the Illinois AFL-CIO, Oct. 7, 1965

Clarence Darrow: With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in men, than any other association of men.

"Negroes are almost entirely a working people…. Our needs are identical with labor's needs: decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old-age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community. That is why Negroes support labor's demands and fight laws which curb labor. That is why the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature, spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth." MLK JR
—Speaking to the AFL-CIO on Dec. 11, 1961

Dwight D. Eisenhower: Only a fool would try to deprive working men and working women of their right to join the union of their choice.

Jimmy Carter: Every advance in this half-century-Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another -came with the support and leadership of American Labor.

"All that serves labor serves the nation. All that harms is treason. If a man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool. There is no America without labor, and to fleece the one is to rob the other."   --*Abraham Lincoln*--

Wendell Phillips:
The labor movement means just this: It is the last noble protest of the American people against the power of incorporated wealth.

Union News

2010-08-25T00:23:00.001-07:00

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

2010-08-16T23:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-25T19:02:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-04-11T16:57:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-03-02T16:43:00.000-08:00

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/

Eagle Point School Board Trashes Workers

2009-12-20T13:47:00.000-08:00

GRINCH HURTS WORKERS
RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
20.12.2009 01:56

Sodexo successfully gets the Eagle Point School Board
to turn over its nine food service managers to this greedy
company who makes money by paying workers less,
decreasing their benefits and taking away their voice at work.
This is what union busting is all about.

The December 17, 2010 School Board meeting was timely for
union busting since a new Oregon State law (HB2867) about
"transparent outsourcing contractual requirements" does not
take effect until January 1, 2010. This is just plain sleazy.

Wow--this is what being a Grinch looks like, trashing workers
just before Christmas. The vote was divided with 3 voting for
Sodexo and 2 voting for the workers. Three lumps of coal for
the three Board Members who voted to trash workers!

about the bills which were designed to
slow down greedy corporations like Sodexo

Achieving Government Accountability
and Transparency in Contracting
http://www.oregongovernmentaccountability.com/

In 2009 Oregon and Congress are going to invest in job
creation through updating our infrastructure and green jobs.
Much of this work will be done by private contractors,
providing jobs for thousands who need them. Over the past
15 years, state and local governments have shifted many public
services to private contractors, looking to save money, increase
efficiency, and maintain quality. At the same time, Oregon laws
regarding contracting have not kept pace to ensure quality and
cost-savings. While other states have increased their transparency
and accountability, Oregon has not. With an influx of infrastructure
projects to jump-start the economy, it is critical that Oregon can
show taxpayers how the money being spent and can evaluate its
effectiveness. Learning from other states, Oregon can increase
government accountability and transparency.

In 2009 a coalition of groups have come together to increase
transparency and accountability in contracting.
HB 2037 will increase transparency by requiring information
about contracts online and in a report
and HB 2867 will increase quality standards, accountability,
and oversight of contracts.

Here are the full bills, which start with a summary (pdf format):

HB2037- http://landru.leg.state.or.us/09reg/measpdf/hb2000.dir/hb2037.intro.pdf
HB2867- http://www.leg.state.or.us/09reg/measpdf/hb2800.dir/hb2867.intro.pdf

Thanks to Kevin Card for Submitting this information.
Tim

Labor Notes Update

2009-12-18T10:55:00.000-08:00

http://labornotes.org/blogs

Escalating the War in Afghanistan Is Wrong

Jim Cavanaugh December 2, 2009

President Obama’s decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan
is wrong for many reasons. At its October 15 meeting,
the Executive Board of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO
adopted a simple statement that sums up many of those reasons:
“We need to stop the war in Afghanistan
and focus the nation’s attention on the
fight for jobs, education, health care and pensions.”

And, as Wisconsin Rep. David Obey says:
“There ain’t going to be no money for nothing
if we pour it all into Afghanistan.”

Senator Russ Feingold correctly objects from a
foreign policy and national security point of view:
“It’s an expensive gamble to undertake armed nation-
building on behalf of a corrupt government of
questionable legitimacy.”

It’s wrong because the American people elected Obama,
with a mandate-sized majority, to end these wars,
reform health care, and ameliorate the effects of the
economic depression, and certainly not to escalate the war.

http://labornotes.org/conference

And finally, but absolutely not
least, it is wrong because it will
lead to many more serious
physical and psychological
wounds and deaths for Afghan
citizens and American soldiers.

[Jim Cavanaugh is president of the
South Central Federation of Labor in Madison, Wisconsin.]

http://labornotes.org/blogs/2009/12/escalating-war-afghanistan-wrong

Steve Novick praises the Boregonian

2009-12-16T12:19:00.000-08:00

Posted by: Unionresource at

Dec 16, 2009 12:12:30 PM
http://www.blueoregon.com/
2009/12/good-luck-peter-bhatia.html
?cid=6a00d8341c2c3f53ef012876585f55970c

The Oregonian is one of the
most regressive newspapers in the nation.

When in 2003, the majority of editors
and writers at the Oregonian refused to
endorse George Bush, the publisher of
the paper overruled them and endorsed him.

Those who own the presses control the news.

The Oregonian, as an institution, tends to ignore
progressive events and selectively delivers relatively
biased news which is most often favorable towards
corporate sponsorships and the Fortune 500.

This paper is generally unwilling and unlikely to
provide adequate, fair, or accurate progressive
community resources and information. The publication
is all about Wall street and not real concerned about
Main street. It is no friend to working people.

Steve Novick is a good man, but he is clearly not
a journalist. To say the Oregonian is relatively
no better or worse than most corporate whores would
be accurate. But to pretend the Oregonian is either
fair or unbiased is ridiculous. It is flat delusional
to claim the Oregonian is "a good paper."

The managment and owners of the Oregonian are
proactively anti-union. They endorsed Steve,
but this transparent tactic is no good reason to
begin kissing collective patooties. I wish the new
editor well, but I hope Mr. Novick reconsiders
his curious claims. Disappointing.

Tim Flanagan
local writer, editor, & organizer
http://www.unionresource.org/

D-5: Commemorate WTO Protests on Sat. December 5th in Portland

2009-12-03T15:38:00.001-08:00

Your Union News Weekly Update

Take Action: If you live in the Portland Metro area

As part of the global days of action against the new
World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial, people
from across the Pacific Northwest will be converging in
downtown Portland this Saturday to speak out against the
proposed expansion of failed “free trade” policies and to
demand the prioritization of human needs over corporate greed.

D5: Mobilization Against the World Trade Organization
Saturday, December 5th * Downtown Portland

12:00 Noon — Community Carnival
Gather at Tom McCall Waterfront Park under the
Hawthorne Bridge at SW Natio & Madison

Gather to live music from Oregon-based performers,
and browse information tables from some of the more than
75 labor, environmental, faith, immigrant rights and community
organizations that put this event together. Greet demonstrators
caravanning together from as far south as Ashland and as far
north as Seattle. Start getting fired up!

1:00 pm — March

Leaves from the Hawthorne Bridge and goes through downtown

Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain will kick off the
permitted, family-friendly march, led by a contingent of “Teamsters and Turtles.”
The No War Drum Corps and several large puppets will be on hand to keep
things lively. Street theater is planned for the World Trade Center,
Federal Building and Wells Fargo Center.
The march also includes the Amalgamated Transit Union bus, carrying anyone
who needs a lift. Bring your signs and banners!

2:00 pm — Indoor Rally & Concert

Portland State University’s Hoffman Hall (1833 SW 11th)

Hear short rally speeches by Lori Wallach (Global Trade Watch),
Francisco Lopez (CAUSA Oregon), Barbara Byrd
(Oregon Apollo Alliance), Brent Foster (Oregon Department of Justice),
Ken Allen (Oregon AFSCME) and Vandana Shiva (via video),
as well as musical acts by Jim Page and Dr. Atomic’s Medicine Show.
Take action before you leave, and learn how to stay involved!

7:30 to 10:30 pm — D5 After-Party

Opposable Thumb Cafe (3312 SE Belmont)

Celebrate the day’s successes and the
10-year anniversary of the Seattle protests at
the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign’s 5-year
anniversary party. Enjoy good food and spirits,
live music by Patrick Dodd and Lindsey Walker,
and rub shoulders with guest-of-honor Lori Wallach,
from Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch.
Party the night away, and help support the Oregon Fair
Trade Campaign continue its on-the-ground organizing
for many years into the future.

Get involved on Saturday!
Union members are turning
out to the anti-WTO rally and
to a Yes for Oregon canvass to
educate other Oregonians about
why we need to vote yes for
tax fairness in January.

Meet for the rally downtown
under the Hawthorne bridge at noon,
and for the canvass at the campaign
office, 411 NE 19th, at 10am.

Live elsewhere? Groups are carpooling
to the WTO rally, and the Yes for Oregon
campaign will have a canvass in your area soon!

Learn more about the rally or the canvasses
and we'll see you Saturday!
www.UnionResource.org/

http://thewordsmithcollection.blogspot.com/2009/02/lets-get-nation-back-on-track.html
D5: Mobilization Against the 2009 WTO Ministerial

March, Indoor Rally and Concert

Downtown Portland

Saturday, December 5, 2009

12 Noon – Gather at Tom McCall Waterfront Park (under the Hawthorne Bridge)

1:00 pm – March to the World Trade Center, Federal Building and Wells Fargo Building

2:00 pm – Indoor Rally and Concert at Portland State University’s Hoffman Hall

These are permitted events; we are striving for a family-friendly atmosphere.

The ATU bus in the march will be available to carry people who want to participate, but have difficulty walking long distances. If you need access to a wheelchair lift, please call (503) 736-9777.

This is one of more than 200 events across the country, and hundreds more around the globe, opposing the proposed expansion of the World Trade Organization.

A decade ago, tens of thousands of people converged in Seattle, Washington to protest the ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization. Directly confronting some of the planet’s most powerful corporations, governments and security forces, those activists made history by successfully derailing the WTO’s expansionist agenda.

Today, we find ourselves in the midst of the worst economic and environmental crises in generations. The same corporate interests activists confronted in Seattle are attempting to exploit these crises in order to concentrate their own power. Amazingly, they even have the gall to have scheduled a new WTO ministerial meeting in Geneva in late November and early December—the exact 10-year anniversary of the Seattle protests. At this meeting, government officials will undoubtedly promote market fundamentalism as a solution to, rather than a cause of, the global economic crisis.

We need to fight back. It is time to reclaim the “Spirit of Seattle,” come together as affected communities and take control over the policy decisions that affect our economic and ecological well-being. As part of this resistance, a broad coalition of labor, environmental, faith, human rights and community activists are organizing a large-scale march and rally in Portland for Saturday, December 5, 2009. Allies in Seattle, Geneva and around the globe are planning similar demonstrations.

On D5, people will come together to demand:

An end to the undemocratic, “free trade” model. We’ll let elected officials know we’ve had enough of trade agreements that lead to a collective race to the bottom for workers in the United States and across the world; that worsen global poverty; push small farmers off their land; force migration; increase carbon emissions; destroy the environment; deregulate banks; weaken consumer safety; and disappear the middle class.

The prioritization of human needs over corporate greed. From global trade to global warming, financial services to health care, “free market” corporate rule has been a disaster for most of the world’s people. Rich corporations have had their say. We’ll work together to take control of the decisions that affect our lives and the planet.

This is envisioned as a “big tent” event. It will be a time to highlight the connections between different progressive issues, and strengthen relationships between people working on those issues. The WTO protests famously brought together “Teamsters and Turtles.” Let’s use the anniversary of that historic alliance to work together again.

Communities across Oregon are beginning to plan local teach-ins, rallies and other events for the fall in the build-up to D5, and are encouraged to use this website as a platform for sharing information about their work. D5 organizers are making efforts to connect with other activists across the nation and beyond for “Local/Global Days of Action,” from November 27 to December 5.

For more info, please email info@december5.org

Union movement includes both liberty and justice

2009-09-10T20:45:00.000-07:00

GUEST VIEWPOINT:
Union movement includes both liberty and justice
from The Register-Guard
As Labor Day 2009 approached,
I began to think about the origins
of my lifelong commitment to the union
movement and recalled a quote I used in my book ...

By Bob Bussel

Appeared in print: Monday, Sep 7, 2009

Opinion: Editorials & Letters: Story

While driving the last few days, I have been listening
to conservative talk radio. Doubtless fueled by reaction
to the Obama administration’s response to the
economic crisis, several themes are being
passionately articulated:

a pronounced distaste for government playing
a substantial role in economic affairs,

and fears that personal freedom and
individual liberty are imperiled.

What I rarely hear in the conservative lexicon,
however, is the word “justice,”
even though it appears prominently in
the pledge of allegiance and the preamble to the
Constitution, two of our most compelling
statements of American ideals.

As Labor Day 2009 approached, I began to think about
the origins of my lifelong commitment to the union movement
and recalled a quote I used in my book about a 1930s labor activist:
“the union as the agency through which workers could get justice.”
It is this sentiment that has animated my loyalty to the union
movement, and I would like to reflect on both its personal
and social meaning.

I was first drawn to the labor movement nearly 40 years ago
when I learned about the injustices faced by migrant farm workers,
people whose labor put food on my table but suffered from abysmal
treatment and often could not afford the necessities of life.

For them, justice meant such basic things as cool drinking water,
rest breaks, toilets in the fields, and the elimination of the
short-handled hoe as a tool of labor.

Later, I worked on behalf of Southern textile workers.
For them, justice meant reducing the level of cotton dust that
their work produced and which caused far too many of them to
suffer from debilitating brown lung disease.

During the latter part of my union career, I helped nursing home
workers to organize unions. For them, justice meant increasing
staffing levels so they could provide their patients with
the quality care they deserved.

In spite of the different types of workers involved, unions played
a consistent and indispensable role: helping workers obtain justice
in the workplace and fulfill their quest for a dignified life.

The vocabulary of justice becomes especially important during
hard times. At the University of Oregon, workers believe they
are being unjustly asked to assume a disproportionate share of
sacrifices demanded by the state budget crisis and are seeking a
more equitable distribution of pain
through the collective bargaining process.

At a Chicago window and door factory last December,
workers sat in to persuade the Bank of America,
which had received taxpayer bailout funds,
to extend credit that would enable their company
to provide them with the severance pay to which they were entitled.

In each of these cases, workers have been represented
by strong unions, without whom their ability to obtain
justice would be seriously limited.

The role of the union movement in raising questions of justice
also appears in arenas outside the workplace. Unions and their
members have been quite vocal in framing the debate over health
care reform as a matter of justice, insisting that quality health care
is a basic social and human right that should be available regardless
of ability to pay. They have fought to hold accountable those institutions
— banks, insurance companies, mortgage lenders — whose irresponsible
and unjust behavior has caused millions of Americans, frequently
through no fault of their own, to lose their homes, their retirement
savings and their livelihoods.

This broader civic role of unions in seeking to ensure a fairer distribution
of resources and place questions of justice at the forefront of social and
political decision-making enriches our public discourse, making it more
likely that working-class concerns will not be ignored at the expense of
interests whose wealth and power typically enable them to exert
overwhelming influence over the political process.

The belief in individual liberty and freedom that is at the heart of the
modern conservative creed certainly enjoys a prominent status in
our public discourse, as does its conviction that limited government
and free markets are vital to ensuring economic growth and prosperity.
But when it comes to making sure that there is not only “liberty” but also
“justice for all,” the union movement, although at times hesitantly and
imperfectly, has been one of our most reliable and effective social voices.
Its singular ability to speak the vocabulary of justice on behalf of those
who tend our young and old, educate our children, provide our food
and build our infrastructure sustains my faith that a more just and
secure future is surely within our reach.

Bob Bussel teaches history and directs the
Labor Education and Research Center
at the University of Oregon.

Human rights activist Julius Margolin dies...

2009-08-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hello all you beautiful people:

I've known for some time that
I would have to type this message,
and I will try to be brief.

Our friend Julius Margolin:

a child of the Depression;

an organizer and member of the CIO;

who served in the Merchant Marine
and as a member/organizer of the
National Maritime Union during
World War II;

survivor of the blacklist that
pulled him off the boats in 1949;

a proud member of IATSE Local 52
and delegate to the NYC Central Labor Council;

a lifetime honorary member of both AFM Local 802 and the New York City Labor Chorus, and countless other organizations;

lover of all working people and the struggles they engage in;

and since 1998 a singer/songwriter and performer for all good causes,

died this morning in New York City at the age of 93. An obituary will be forthcoming.

I spent last night with Julius and left him at his apartment at 9:25 this morning. He was comfortable and in no apparent pain. He had been very happy that we had moved him back home under hospice care last week. As I left this morning, I said I'd see him later, took his hand, and he squeezed it. Ten minutes after I left, he was gone. I got the call when I got off the subway....

We have set up a guest book on the opening page of our website, where you may leave messages, stories of Julius, and other remembrances. Look on the left side of the opening page and click on the "sign guest book" button after clicking on this link:

http://www.georgeandjulius.com

If you would like to listen to and view some great video of Julius, our friend Doug Calvin has posted multiple interviews and video at this site:

We will hold a memorial service and concert on Friday, October 16 in New York City. More info will come later. The one-hour memorial service will be at 5 PM (at either Local 802, 322 W. 48th Street, or Local 1199's Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium at 310 W. 43rd Street).

The concert will be from 8:00 to 10:30 PM at the MLK Auditorium, 310 W. 43rd Street, and will feature some of Julius's closest friends.

I will send details to public listservs and to your email once it is finalized but if you want to be added to an email list for these events, please email me at georgemann@att.net and I will send you the info.

Julius asked to be cremated and his ashes will be spread on the sea as per his request. I ask that donations be sent to the Scholarship Fund in memory of Julius. This fund was created to help bring young unionists to labor cultural events, most notably the Great Labor Arts Exchange and the Western Workers Labor Heritage Festival, both of which were very dear to him. In fact, I met Julius, and so many other great labor artists and activists, at the Great Labor Arts Exchange in 1996.

Checks/money orders may be made out to "Local 52 Julius Margolin Scholarship Fund" and mailed to:

George Mann, PO Box 697, New York, NY 10033

Thank you for all your support. Julius did not want for love or appreciation in his final battle. And once we got him back home to his apartment, with books and videos and CDs lining every wall and his friends there with him in the living room, I know he was able to accept that this was the end with the same dignity and quiet humility he displayed all his life.

I will leave you with a note that Julius sent out in late June, after the cancer he had been fighting returned. It is a fitting way to end this message.

If I may ask for something else in his memory, it is that you keep fighting (his words), that you not give up in your determination to make your life and the world a better place, that you show kindness and compassion to people, especially strangers, and minimize your bickering with and negativity about others involved in the struggle. These were the qualities, in a nutshell, that Julius displayed to me from the day I met him, qualities that I will now strive to make part of my character as I go forward.

And in the future, whenever things get you down, take a minute to remember this little old man who had such a big heart and spirit, and hope for the working class of the world. Remember that laugh, that determination, and you will find strength to carry on, as I am finding now.

In Solidarity,

George Mann

---

To all or our friends and supporters of our music:

I have not been well and don't get around much any more. And I wish I had been feeling well enough to be more active at this year's Arts Exchange, where so much important work and beautiful labor songs and art were shared. But I still support our struggle for a better society. For peace and the security of working and progressive people the world round.

With and without me the struggle goes on. There must be one world in peace, security and with a good life for all families of the world.

No more wars, poverty or hatreds must exist. We have an important job to do.

Thanks for listening to George Mann's and my music and for your support.

Thank you all for everything,

Julius Margolin

--
http://www.georgemannmusic.com
http://www.georgeandjulius.com
http://www.aunionman.com
Labor and protest music in the finest tradition

The Netroots Nation: Progressive Storm

2009-08-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

Seth Michaels is posting
live from Netroots Nation.
Join us for
“The Secret Plan to
Defeat the Right Forever,”
a Netroots Nation panel on
labor law reform and
why it matters to the
progressive movement.

Featuring
Stewart Acuff of the AFL-CIO,
Tanya Tarr of Texas AFT,
Jake McIntyre of the Bricklayers (BAC) and
Elana Levin of Workers United.

Learn why labor law reform matters and how the progressive
netroots can take part in the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act.

Can the Netroots help make the Employee Free Choice Act law?
One of initiatives progressives have laid out as a priority for the
Obama administration and this Congress is the Employee Free
Choice Act. But this battle will not just be fought in corridors of
power in Washington—far-reaching PR campaigns are already
underway on both sides.

What role will the Netroots play in passing the Employee Free
Chioce Act in 2009? How can unions and their allies beat back
the fear-mongering coming from the corporate interests, and
what role is there for online activism in that fight?
What messaging tools will be employed by pro-employee choice groups,
and how can the Netroots stand up to the GOP echo-chamber?
Watch the live stream by clicking here.

More on Free Choice
Here, www.writingresource.info/freechoice

Here, www.writingresource.info/freechoice.html

and Here! www.writingresource.info/efca.html

Fight Union Busting in Portland, Lets Stand up!

2009-08-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

Help fight against local union busting!

Join us for canvassing today!

This morning and this afternoon,

Saturday, August 8th at 9:30 am and
at 3pm... Join us at 29th and Stark
to do some canvassing. We will be targeting

the neighborhood around Laurelhurst village to

raise awareness and reach out to the community.

Elizabeth Lehr ask that you try to find time to do a little walking.

Many of you are aware that workers
at Laurelhurst Village nursing home on
33rd and Stark have been organizing a
union at their facility since late February
in order to improve the living and working
conditions at their nursing home.
Workers had built a majority in support
of the union by late March when Laurelhurst
management took drastic measures to curtail
their campaign. Workers have been written up,
suspended, and one was

Elizabeth Lehr was fired only three days after
demonstrating public support for the union while
attending a delegation to the employer to show
support for a fellow coworker who was also disciplined
for union activity.

Workers at Laurelhurst deserve a fair process
if they hope to have a fighting chance of building
a union and negotiating over wages, benefits,
and working conditions.

Management's decision to illegally fire Elizabeth has
had a chilling affect on these workers' efforts.

Help us raise community awareness and make
Laurelhurst Village accountable....

We have two shifts, one at 9:30 AM and One at 2:30 pm...
Help us send a message! Those who believe in working families
rights... come by 2950 SE Stark to Join us.

Laurelhurst should become good stewards of taxpayer money,
they should reinstate Elizabeth Lehr, and stop sytematically intimidating
their employees.

Real Heathcare Reform, and Education Reform, and Free Choce may
hang in the balance. If we do not stand up now, then when?

“I am organizing because I believe the employees of Laurelhurst Village who take care of and love our residents should be able to take care of their own needs as well. We should have health insurance and living wages. Our opinions should be heard and respected. We should have the right to advocated for ourselves and for our residents without being punished by our boss." 

 — Elizabeth Lehr

http://www.seiu503.org/politics/

"I want to express the heartfelt appreciation of all Laurelhurst Village employees and residents to this community for all it has done," said Guillermo Galarreta, a Local 503 organizer. "...Now we have to keep the pressure on until employees gain a voice toward improving their own working conditions as well as the quality of resident care they are able to provide."Laurelhurst is owned by Farmington Centers, headquartered in Southwest Portland, which manages two nursing facilities, 13 assisted living facilities, seven memory-care facilities and eight independent residential living facilities in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. Its latest Medicare inspection rating was one star out of a possible five, well below average. Farmington Centers nursing homes reported a profit of $2.9 million from 2006 to 2008.Inspectors identified rampant violations including six incidents of resident harm, including one incident of abuse, at Laurelhurst from 2006 to 2008 and documented 40 violations of state and federal rules and regulations at Farmington Centers nursing homes from 2007 to 2008 including fecal impaction, pressure sores, significant weight loss, inadequate care after falls, medication errors, and failure to follow physician orders.

You can e-mail Elizabeth for more information at lehrelizabeth@gmail.com
or if you have her number, give her a call (One can get her number from organizers at JWJ)

More info available at:
SEIU Local 503 OPEU PO Box 12159 1730 Commercial St SE Salem OR 97309

Opportunities for local activism this week!
www.WritingResource.info/activismnewsletter/

www.UnionResource.org

United for Oregon March for Economic Justice!

2009-06-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

Like
the
rest
of
the
nation,
Oregon
is
feeling
the
hurt
from
this economic crisis.
But as demand for vital
services is increasing among
the middle class and the most
vulnerable--children, seniors,
low-income families-
-Oregon legislators have proposed
deep cuts in the crucial programs
that are now more necessary than ever.

Click here for Channel 2's report on the
impact of the cuts on struggling families.
This Sunday, you have a chance to make your voice heard
to demand better for children, seniors, families, and the workers

who provide these crucial services.
Among the hardest hit by the crisis are seniors and people with
disabilities who depend on in-home care, working families who
depend on childcare to keep their jobs, low-income families just

struggling to make ends meet, and the folks who work hard to
provide these services. K-12 schools also face cuts, leading to
teacher layoffs, program cuts, and larger class sizes. Community
colleges will see cuts to faculty and programs, as well as higher
tuition rates. And cuts to public safety will leave our communities
and officers less safe.
Legislators need to hear from you that in these tough economic times,
it's unfair and irresponsible to balance the budget on the backs of the
people who are already hurting from this fiscal crisis. It's time for
corporations and wealthy Oregonians to pay their fair share.
Let's make our voices heard and demand better!Join a coalition of
organizations on Sunday, June 7 for a march and rally in Downtown
Portland tovoice support for these vital services and fair treatment
for the workers who provide them.

Click here to sign up!
What: United For Oregon March
When: Sunday, June 7, 11:30am
Where: March begins at the Eastbank Esplanade
(near OMSI between SE Main and Taylor), ends at
Terry Schrunk Plaza for a rally at 2pm Linda Hornbuckle
will honor us with her voice!
Who: Oregon PTA, KBOO 90.7, SEIU 503, Jobs With Justice,
Children First For Oregon, AARP, Oregon Education Association,
Our Oregon, Keep Oregon Working Coalition, Peaceresource.org,
Activeresource.org, AFT --and many more!
Why: To voice support for protecting vulnerable Oregonians and
fair treatment for the state workers who serve them
Click here for a map to the meeting place.
Here is a flyer
Single Payer Healthcare!
Activism Newsletter!
The Wordsmith Collection: Writing, Activism, & Creative Arts

Press Release on Union Busting

2009-04-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

visit ActiveResource Press Release

Thursday, April 30, 2009

help fight against local union busting

Join us Thursday April 30
at 2:30pm for a press conference
and rally on this matter.

There will be an event at at
Stark and 29th Street
at 3060 Se Stark St Portland, OR 97214

Please Join us Today, we need your support!

Many of you are aware that workers at
Laurelhurst Village nursing home on 33rd
and Stark have been organizing a union at
their facility since late February in order to
improve the living and working conditions at
their nursing home. Workers had built a
majority in support of the union by late
March when Laurelhurst management
took drastic measures to curtail their campaign.

Workers have been written up, suspended,
and one employee was fired for union activity.
Elizabeth Lehr was fired only three days after
demonstrating public support for the union while
attending a delegation to the employer to show
support for a fellow coworker who was also
disciplined for union activity.
You can read her statement here
www.WritingResource.info/pressrelease

And Don't forget Mayday Tomorrow..
Celebrate in the Parks Blocks!

Bring the family.
http://pdxmayday.blogspot.com/

MayDay on May 1st, 2009

Join us for a Family Event!
in the South Park Blocks
1pmPosters, Party,& Celebration
4pm RallySpeakers & entertainment
5pm March
Color Flyer1 - download, print out, and hit the streets!

Workers Rights!

2009-04-23T12:09:00.001-07:00

MayDay! A celebration of workers' rights.
We have economic issues on the table.
And this is a critical forum.

Things to bring: Yourself, your friends
and family,your organization or union,
posters,puppets, music, banners,
information, and inspiration.

For more information:
email MayDayOutreach@gmail.com
or call 503-236-5573.

Organizing meetings are Tuesdays,
6:30pm at Voz,1131 SE Oak
(in the St. Francis office)
best regards,Tim
Mayday!

PDX May Day: May 1st 2009
May Day 2009 Friday,South Park Blocks,
downtown Portland!

1:00 PM - Posters and Party!
4:00 PM - Rally (speakers and entertainment)!
5:00 PM - MARCH!Help us get the word out!!!
Color Flyer1
-download, print out,and hit the streetsand your favorite cafes!
ColorFlyer2, Colorflyer3 !
http://activismnewsletterat.blogspot.com/
-leaflet those movie lines, grocery stores and the roller derby!
More information at http://www.peaceresource.org/

To download a handbill click here.
or visit http://www.thewordsmithcollection.org/

Keep Oregon Working

2009-04-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

Keep Oregon Working community forum
April 11, 2009, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Gordon Russell Middle School:
3625 E. Powell Valley Rd, Gresham, OR 97080

AFT-Oregon is joining SEIU, AFSCME, PTA, OEA,
AARP and others to create a new coalition called
Keep Oregon Working. The purpose is to help
Oregonians understand the true level of crisis
we’re facing with the state budget.

Join State Senator Lorrie Monnes-Anderson,
State Representatives Nick Kahl and Greg Matthews,
community leaders, educational employees, parents,
students, and others..

What: Keep Oregon Working Community Forum
When: Saturday, April 11, 2009, 11 a.m.
Where: Gordon Russell Middle School /
625 E. Powell Valley Rd / Gresham, OR 97080
Register today: http://tinyurl.com/KeepOregonWorking
We’d love to have you there, if you can make it.

LEARN about the financial crisis. How big is it?
How does it affect Oregon’s jobs and services?
How long will it last? SHARE your own story.
How is downturn impacting you, your family,
your job and our community? What should be done?

Your words will be delivered to the Capitol so lawmakers
know where you stand. HELP out your community and/or
get the help for the services and support you need during
this crisis.

BRING A CAN OF FOOD FOR THE OREGON FOOD BANK.

Connect directly with employment services, food stamps,
foreclosure counseling, health services, and more. . .

WHEN: Saturday, April 11, 2009, 11:00 a.m. - 1 p.m.
(or as long as you stay)
WHERE: Gordon Russell Middle School
3625 E Powell Valley Rd, Gresham, OR 97080 (Just east of 257th)

Let me know if you have any questions or want
more details on the event!
Thanks, Marcus Swift MarcusS@AFT-Oregon.org

in solidarity, Tim Flanagan PCCFFAP Publicist
tflanaga@pcc.edu Local 2277 AFT/NOLC/AFL-CIO

RVMC Workers vote on joining a union

2009-04-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

RVMC employees vote today on whether to unionize

Mail Tribune - Medford,OR,USA

Registered nurses at RVMC
are already members of the
Oregon Nurses Association,
but there are no other unions
at the hospital.

Daniel Burdis, an AFSCME spokesman in Grants Pass,
said RVMC workers approached AFSCME about forming
a union. AFSCME represents mostly government employees,
but the union also represents a number of health-care workers
at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital.
Some city of Medford employees are represented by AFSCME, too.

The current economic slump is prompting some workers to look
More seriously at unionizing, but making others fearful of trying
to organize, said Shauna Ballo, a spokeswoman for the Service
Employees International Union in Portland.
"People are very frightened of losing their job," Ballo said.
http://thewordsmithcollection.blogspot.com/
best regards, Tim....
mail to: Box 22, Lake Oswego, Clackamas County, Oregon 97034-0003
Telephone: (503)-697-1670
tim@writingresource.org www.WritingResource.info:
Tutoring www.WritingResource.info/tutor.html Search

Healthcare Update

2009-04-01T10:36:00.000-07:00

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill
are debating how the U.S.
health care system can be saved.
The AFL-CIO is providing an opportunity
to make your voice heard and help shape
health care reform to meet the needs of
working families. The AFL-CIO and Working
America want to know about your experiences
with America’s health care system—and today
we’ve launched the 2009 Health Care for
America Survey.
Take the AFL-CIO survey here.

Quick Poll:
Have you or someone you know been through
a difficult struggle to form a union?

Health care is a basic human right in America.
We must provide infrastructure: libraries,
fire departments, police protection, schools,
hospitals, and health services so that this
nation can endure, survive, and prevail.

Here is the real skinny about healthcare in America
and the latest updates!

Education is the key...

2009-03-31T13:23:00.000-07:00

www.UnionResource.org/ visit our blog:

http://thewordsmithcollection.blogspot.com/2009/02/lets-get-nation-back-on-track.html

www.UnionResource.org/

Reading, Writing, and Union-Building
Monthly Review - Herndon,VA,USAIn labor circles, the percentage of recent readers may be even smaller. ..... catalogue and Powell's, the unionized book-seller in Portland, Oregon. ...it's long past time for progressives in labor to find new methods of encouraging rank-and-file reading -- or to revive some of the old-fashioned ones...

Obama Reaffirms Support for Employee Free Choice Act

2009-02-13T12:05:00.000-08:00

Obama Reaffirms Support
for Employee Free Choice Act

by Seth Michaels, Feb 12, 2009

In an Oval Office interview with major newspapers yesterday, President Barack Obama reaffirmed his strong support for the freedom to form unions and bargain.

The Detroit Free Press and the Philadelphia Inquirer were among the papers that got a chance to talk to Obama about the challenges facing our economy, and Obama once again offered his support for the Employee Free Choice Act.

According to the Inquirer, Obama discounted the corporate community’s argument that workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain would be bad for the economy. The president said that, indeed, workers’ freedom to bargain was good for the long-term health of the economy.

I don’t buy the argument that providing workers with collective bargaining rights somehow weakens the economy or worsens the business environment. If you’ve got workers who have decent pay and benefits, they’re also customers for business.

The Inquirer also reports that Obama does not want to delay passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. This echoes a Jan. 30 statement by Vice President Joe Biden, who heads the White House’s task force on working families. Biden told CNBC the administration hopes Congress passes the Employee Free Choice Act this year. Both Obama and Biden were co-sponsors of the legislation in the Senate.

In his announcement of the task force Jan. 30, Obama made it clear he sees unions as essential to a strong economy.

We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests, because we know that you cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement. When workers are prospering, they buy products that make businesses prosper.

The Employee Free Choice Act is critical to the nation’s economic recovery, a point made by numerous analysts including former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. Speaking in Florida yesterday, Reich said the bill would open the door for workers to bargain for health care, pensions and fair wages, restoring their economic security and reversing the wage stagnation that has contributed to a weak economy.

Obama and experts agree: Quick passage of the Employee Free Choice Act will improve the economy for working families.
http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/02/12/obama-reaffirms-support-for-employee-free-choice-act/

Let's get the nation back on track...

2009-02-03T07:37:00.000-08:00

Tell Congress: Pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/americanreinvestment

To strengthen and grow our economy over the long term, we must create jobs and invest in renewable energy, energy efficiency, transportation, schools & health care. The time to begin is now. Endless war, occupation, and exploitation are the wrong investment. It is time to change course. Yes, we can get it done. Political Organization begins with each one of us.
Activism Resources:

Contact Elected Officials or write a letter to the editor, get active!

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)

Organize Activism. Volunteer. Be an Active Resource for Working Families.

Questions about FDR, Obama, and Racism...

2009-02-01T08:21:00.001-08:00

Why was Roosevelt so "cautious?"

Roosevelt was cautious because the Great Depression was unprecedented.

The better question is why is Obama so cautious?

Why were the New Deal policies not bold enough?

The New Deal Policies were not bold enough at first,because the president did not want the American people to suffer or the ship of state to flounder. The point,however, is that when it became apparent that the policies
were not working... FDR had the sense, scruples, and courage
to move forward with more daring and effective policies. The criticisms raised by Republicans are based on ignoring this critical fact.
FDR learned from mistakes and corrected them. The Bush Cheney White House,like the Hoover White House.... ignored or denied mistakes and learned nothing.And we suffer for their incompetence.

What was holding Roosevelt back?

Roosevelt was not holding back. He was trying whatever might work until he found something that did. I prefaced my remarks about Roosevelt by the statement that he was not necessarily the brightest president, but he listened, learned, and got the job done. This may be why he was elected so many times.

What role did southern racist Democrats have to play in this?
Southerners voted for Roosevelt. This was a transformational period. Following Roosevelt's administration, Democrats lost the votes of most Southern whites. But during Roosevelts new deal, Most Southerners moved away from the racist iconoclasts who opposed Roosevelt's New Deal. This is when the Southern Racist Democrat label was becoming an anachronism.

Torture is immoral, illegal, and it does not work

2008-12-14T11:08:00.001-08:00

Visit this link for the rest of the story... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/28/AR2008112802242.html
By Matthew Alexander
Sunday, November 30, 2008; Page B01
I should have felt triumphant when I returned from Iraq in August 2006. Instead, I was worried and exhausted. My team of interrogators had successfully hunted down one of the most notorious mass murderers of our generation, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the mastermind of the campaign of suicide bombings that had helped plunge Iraq into civil war. But instead of celebrating our success, my mind was consumed with the unfinished business of our mission: fixing the deeply flawed, ineffective and un-American way the U.S. military conducts interrogations in Iraq. I'm still alarmed about that today.

...
"Torture and abuse are against my moral fabric. The cliche still bears repeating:
Such outrages are inconsistent with American principles. And then there's the pragmatic side:
Torture and abuse cost American lives." www.WritingResource.info/tortureupdate;html
I learned in Iraq that the No. 1 reason foreign fighters flocked there to fight were the abuses carried out at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Our policy of torture was directly and swiftly recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda in Iraq. The large majority of suicide bombings in Iraq are still carried out by these foreigners. They are also involved in most of the attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. It's no exaggeration to say that at least half of our losses and casualties in that country have come at the hands of foreigners who joined the fray because of our program of detainee abuse. The number of U.S. soldiers who have died because of our torture policy will never be definitively known, but it is fair to say that it is close to the number of lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. How anyone can say that torture keeps Americans safe is beyond me -- unless you don't count American soldiers as Americans.
...Americans, including officers like myself, must fight to protect our values not only from al-Qaeda but also from those within our own country who would erode them. Other interrogators are also speaking out, including some former members of the military, the FBI and the CIA who met last summer to condemn torture and have spoken before Congress -- at considerable personal risk.
We're told that our only options are to persist in carrying out torture or to face another terrorist attack. But there truly is a better way to carry out interrogations -- and a way to get out of this false choice between torture and terror.
I'm actually quite optimistic these days, in no small measure because President-elect Barack Obama has promised to outlaw the practice of torture throughout our government. But until we renounce the sorts of abuses that have stained our national honor, al-Qaeda will be winning. Zarqawi is dead, but he has still forced us to show the world that we do not adhere to the principles we say we cherish. We're better than that. We're smarter, too.
howtobreakaterrorist@gmail.com
Matthew Alexander led an interrogations team assigned to a Special Operations task force in Iraq in 2006. He is the author of "How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq." He is writing under a pseudonym for security reasons.

Activism Calendar! add events

2008-01-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

Activism Calendar! add events

The War Dogs...

2007-10-08T09:33:00.000-07:00

The disappearance of many native Americans tribal cultures,
provides stark evidence of genocides which have
occurred in the short history of American culture.

We may not have had ovens... but we did have death marches
and an "open season" on Native Americans which did destroy whole
cultures.

Our young nation's groping for adulthood has been steeped in
Genocide, Slavery, Arrogance, and Intolerance. But when the
chips are down, revolutionary spirits have risen to the task
of challenging these forces as contrary to our most sacred
trusts..

Martin reminded us to protect our constitution and Bill of Rights.
While the ugly genocide perpetrated against native Americans and
overt slavery are both "behind us," this does not mean they have
disappeared.

They are baggage we carry. And as long as we remember the lessons
learned, we can move forward to more progressive and compassionate
ground. Denial of this mixed legacy serves no useful purpose. The
current right-wing fringe which controls our nation seems obsessed
witih denial.

~The war in Iraq is "going well," in spite of 700 thousand dead,
hundreds of billions wasted, millions of refugees dispossessed,|
and the loss of our reputation, credibility, and honor.

~Our economy is "doing just fine," in spite of having been crippled
debt for the next half century, while we see net job losses, lower
pay, reduced benefits, raids on pensions, rampant corruption, no-bid
cost-plus contracts on our people, and attacks on unions and working
people which are beyond the pale.

~We are "winning," by surrendering to using our troops as mercenaries
to enforce a corporate occupation and exploitation of Iraq. We should
"support" our troops by abandoning them as targets in an ill-conceived
neo-colonialist corporate agenda for occupation.

War is not Peace. Crippling Debt is not prosperity. Subversion of the
constitution is not necessary. And toture, murder, rape, and rendition
should be roundly condemed. Facts remain.

Tim

The Issues of the Day: Fear-Mongering and its consequences

2006-08-07T07:33:00.000-07:00

It is a sad day when the United States of America has to officially dispel rumors that it might invade a neighbor simply because its leader is ill. But after six years of fear-mongering, aggression, and diplomatic blunders... this is where we are.

Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, had to reassure the Cuban people that the United States does not intend to invade. Now that the United States has established a precedent of invading non-aggressive nations at will, our nation is seen as a bully state which may "preemptively" invade any sovereign nation... at any time. While George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Don Rumsfeld see this fear-mongering as useful to our security, many Americans feel that this stance is crude, counterproductive, and beyond the pale.

The United States is no longer seen as a beacon of freedom. We are now perceived as a nation whose behavior can be unpredictable, arbitrary, and sometimes... irresponsible. This administration has abrogated signed treaties. This means we have no credibility as a partner, and our commitment is seen as an empty gesture. In addition to this breach of trust... now that our military is overextended in corporate adventurism abroad, we cannot be counted on as a partner for our friends or as a counterbalance to the forces of our enemies.

Many Americans are disturbed by these developments. Seven of ten Americans reject the arrogant overreach of this administration and their shorts-sighted social, fiscal, and military blunders. Since this rogue band of corporate CEOs seem only concerned with the interests and concerns of two tenths of one percent of America.... it is time for the other 99.8% of America to remind these lawless pretenders about civil law, constitutional protocal, and American values.

It is time for accountability. Whether it be through ignorance or incompetence, the current administration has been unable to provide leadership, security, or peace. As a result, our international reputation has been sullied and our nation is in decline. We can do better and
we deserve better. It is wake-up time in America.

best regards, Tim Flanagan

sent Monday Morning, from the St. Louis Bread Company coffeeshop on Olive Street Road, in St. Louis County, Missouri.

UnionResource.org

Stand up for Occupy Portland, The Portland Alliance, KBOO & the 99%

Breaking News!OccupyPortland

Unions Endorse Wall Street Occupation: JWJ Endorses Occupy Portland

Martin Luther King and Labor Unions

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Labor

Union News

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

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.

International March for Peace! End the Occupations!

Antiwar and Anti-Occupation March and Rally

Contract Talks

Next round of contract talks likely will be contentious

State Workers lose out to

Strategic Organizing

Your Union News Update

Union History!

Union strength grows in Oregon

Working Families Party Meeting in Portland!

Eagle Point School Board Trashes Workers

Labor Notes Update

Steve Novick praises the Boregonian

D-5: Commemorate WTO Protests on Sat. December 5th in Portland

Union movement includes both liberty and justice

Opinion: Editorials & Letters: Story

Human rights activist Julius Margolin dies...

The Netroots Nation: Progressive Storm

Fight Union Busting in Portland, Lets Stand up!

United for Oregon March for Economic Justice!

Press Release on Union Busting

Workers Rights!

Keep Oregon Working

RVMC Workers vote on joining a union

Healthcare Update

Education is the key...

Obama Reaffirms Support for Employee Free Choice Act

Let's get the nation back on track...

Questions about FDR, Obama, and Racism...

Torture is immoral, illegal, and it does not work

Activism Calendar! add events

The War Dogs...

The Issues of the Day: Fear-Mongering and its consequences

Breaking News!
OccupyPortland

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

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.

Next round of contract talks
likely will be contentious