A Providence Portland Medical Center doctor stands on the picket line amid a historic nurse and physician strike. Credit: Courtesy Photo by Oregon Nurses Association
Are we finally over the winter hump? Oregon’s labor scene seems to be picking up speed with three more election wins and six more new campaigns than in December, while labor actions remain on par with the prior month.
"Last month in Oregon labor" is a monthly installment by Aurora Biggers covering all things Oregon labor.
Health care remains at the forefront, with five election filings and three elections this month. Unsurprisingly, the restaurant and service industry came in second, garnering a new win for union pizza lovers. Oregon also saw a few education, music and communications-centric filings and election wins this month. Street Roots’ own staff secured a union, winning their election unanimously after filing in December.
Two labor actions stand out for the month — the Bigfoot Beverage Teamsters on month five of their strike, and Providence nurses and doctors, who launched the first physician strike in the state’s history. Both remain active into February.
New campaigns and elections
On Jan. 3, workers at Recology Oregon Recovery in Portland filed with the National Labor Relations Board, or the NLRB, to join the Teamsters Local 305. Still, on Jan. 31, they voted 11-17 against certifying the union.
The Oregon Nurses Association, or ONA, filed on Jan. 6 to organize all registered nurse licensees at Legacy Health, Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center, Legacy Randall Children’s Hospital and Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center. ONA later filed on Jan. 21 to also unionize the access, intake, referral and peer support workers at Legacy Emanuel.
Also, on Jan. 6, budtenders at Buzz Box in Portland filed to join the United Cannabis Workers union.
Legacy Health’s care management social workers filed to join the Oregon American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, on Jan. 7.
Following going public in December with a campaign to join Communications Workers of America Local 7901, Street Roots workers won their election 11-0 on Jan. 7, despite a challenge from the board of directors.
On Jan. 8, program organizers and coordinators at Voz Workers Rights Education Project in Portland filed to join the Communications Workers of America Local 7901.
Nurse practitioners and physician assistants at Legacy Go-Health clinics in Portland and Hillsboro, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington, voted 45-1 on Jan. 9 to join ONA.
Sizzle Pie Central Eastside workers in Portland also won their election on Jan. 9, voting 16-0 to join Restaurant Workers United.
On Jan. 10, care partners, caregivers, dietary employees, housekeeping employees, maintenance employees, medical technicians, certified nursing assistants and licensed practical nurses at Heron Pointe Senior Living in Monmouth voted 23-3 to join Service Employees International Union Local 503.
Professional employees at Laboratory Corporation of America in Portland filed on Jan. 17 to join the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals.
Siletz Valley School employees in Siletz filed on Jan. 21 to join the Oregon School Employees Association Local 6732.
On Jan. 24, production musicians, including pit musicians, soloists, accompanists and conductors, at Lakewood Theatre Company in Lake Oswego filed to join the Musicians Union Local 99.
On the same day, pharmacists, hospitalists, dieticians and nurse practitioners at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln City filed to join the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, Local 49.
On Jan. 28, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District Lodge W24 filed on behalf of mechanics and technicians at First Student in Sherwood.
More Portland Starbucks baristas announced plans to unionize this month, filing on Jan. 29 to join Starbucks Workers United. The NLRB records do not disclose the store location.
Labor actions
For the fifth month, Bigfoot Beverages workers remain on strike over retirement benefit negotiations with the company after the Teamsters announced the company planned to replace the current pension plan with a 401(k).
Portland city workers represented by AFSCME Local 189 held a practice picket on Jan. 9 with plans to potentially go on strike in February amid contract negotiations. The city gave AFSCME a “last, best, and final” offer, signaling a likely end to movement on its end, but the two parties reached an agreement with state mediation on Jan. 30. The agreement’s details are not yet public.
On Jan. 10, approximately 5,000 nurses and physicians at Portland, Seaside, St. Vincent, Milwaukie, Willamette Falls, Medford, Newberg and Hood River Providence locations went on strike, citing wage and staffing levels as primary concerns in bargaining.
Since the strike’s start, ONA has sent out a flurry of press releases addressing difficulty getting Providence to the bargaining table and “fear mongering” from the health care giant as Providence painted the strike as dangerous to the community.
“Providence’s suggestion that the strike poses a ‘significant risk’ to community health is a dangerous distortion of the facts,” the union said in a Jan. 6 statement. “The real threat to communities across Oregon is Providence’s chronic understaffing and failure to prioritize investments in frontline caregivers. These systemic issues, not this strike, are the root cause of reduced access to care for Oregonians.”
On Jan. 28, the New Seasons Labor Union announced a walkout at the Arbor Lodge location after the union said the company fired the union’s treasurer and New Seasons employee for helping a disabled coworker while the employee was on a lunch break. Since then, the Slabtown and Seven Corners locations have also voted to join the unfair labor practice strike, which remained ongoing into February.
Negotiations
In addition to negotiating with AFSCME, Portland is negotiating a contract with the District Council of Trade Unions, or the DCTU, which includes the International Union of Operating Engineers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades.
The unions reached an impasse with the city last month and are now prepared to strike. The DCTU gave the city a strike notice, permitting workers to hit the picket line as soon as Feb. 6.
The Burgerville Workers Union, affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World, or IWW, is also facing a hard fight for a contract. It took the union about three years to secure the first contract in 2021, which expired in May 2023. The union appears far away from reaching a new contract, with an hourly wage gap of over $11 between the two.
Another IWW union, The Peet’s Labor Union, representing workers at Peet’s Coffee locations in Berkeley, Oakland and Portland, said the company is “stonewalling” in negotiations on first contracts. The California locations unionized in 2023 and Portland in 2024.
“All of us expected Peet’s to promptly bargain a contract with us,” the union said in an online statement. “Peet’s has instead treated our bargaining attempts with contempt. They have been slow in responding to our requests for bargaining and are continually putting off contract negotiation.”
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