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Abe Asher

Abe Asher covers city news, politics, and soccer for the Portland Mercury. His reporting has appeared in The Nation, VICE News, Sahan Journal, and other outlets.
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Strike Averted: New Seasons Grocery Workers Secure First Labor Contract

After threatening to strike, unionized workers voted Monday to ratify a contract with increased wages and better health insurance protections.
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Just three weeks ago, Ava Robbins, cheese clerk at the New Seasons location in Concordia and co-chair of the New Season Labor Union, was preparing for a protracted, holiday-season strike.  “A few months ago at the bargaining table, we said we can’t let this drag on into another year,” Robbins said. “We’re close to an […]

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Legacy Health Staff Say They’ll Stay on Strike Until Company Offers Better Deal

Clinicians say their pay hasn’t kept pace with wages at other local health care systems as the two sides begin mediation.  
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Advanced practice providers at Legacy Health medical centers in Portland remain on strike this week, and say they’ll stay on their picket lines until they reach an agreement for a new labor contract. “The energy is high,” Megan Barckert, a nurse practitioner at Legacy Cancer Services, told the Mercury from a rain-soaked picket line at […]

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Portland-Area Starbucks Baristas Remain on Strike Over Labor Contract, Wage Disputes

Nationwide, unionized baristas say the company has failed to negotiate fair terms as the coffee chain racks up labor violations and complaints.
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Workers at unionized Starbucks locations across the Portland area remain on strike this week and say they will not return to work until Starbucks resolves complaints about its labor practices and returns to the bargaining table. Roughly 2,000 workers at 95 unionized Starbucks locations across the country have been on strike since mid-November. Seven of […]

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With a Tenuous Ceasefire in Gaza, Portland Councilors Pledge to Investigate the City’s Links to Israel

Councilors say that a lack of action from US Congress has forced them to think locally to stop the flow of weapons and military aid to Israel. 
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Last month, the progressive block of the Portland City Council signed onto a pledge to investigate the city’s financial ties to Israel and its military. They’re calling on city councils across the country to do the same.  The pledge, which was launched by the Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and its […]

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Workers at Moda Center Renew Concerns Over Self-Serve Alcohol Sales

Levy Restaurants employees say management is not doing enough to abide by OLCC rules.
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Food and beverage service workers at the Moda Center are raising fresh concerns with their bosses about alcohol sales at the arena’s self-service kiosks.  Two years ago, Levy Restaurants, the longtime food, beverage, and retail service provider for the Rose Quarter, partnered with Amazon to bring Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology to four stores inside […]

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The ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ is Gutting Oregon’s SNAP Benefits

Sweeping eligibility changes take effect this month. Meanwhile, the government shutdown could leave hundreds of thousands of recipients with no benefits at all in November.
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Tens of thousands of Oregonians may be at risk of going hungry due to Republican cuts in funding and changes in eligibility requirements for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) taking effect this month—with the ongoing federal government shutdown imperiling benefits for thousands more.  Right now, roughly one in six Oregonians—around 757,000 people—recieve SNAP benefits […]

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Update: Oregon Calls For New Hearing After Appeals Court Rules National Guard Can Deploy to Portland

In a 2-1 decision, the 9th Circuit Court says the president has authority to deploy the military to Portland, amid ongoing protests at the ICE facility. The Oregon Attorney General’s Office wants the case reheard.
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Updated: 5:02 pm October 20 The Oregon Attorney General’s Office is calling for a review by a full appeals court after the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled Monday that President Donald Trump can deploy the National Guard in Portland. The 9th Circuit ruling paves the way for the federal government to […]

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Meet the Groups Helping Immigrants Impacted by ICE

A statewide rapid response network is coordinating to alert communities about immigration enforcement and provide legal resources.
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If people in the Portland area think they’ve spotted ICE, there’s a number that many organizations, such as the ACLU, suggest they call: the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition hotline. The Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition (PIRC) was founded two decades ago by a group of activists and became an independent nonprofit organization in 2021, but since […]

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Portland-Area Kaiser Permanente Workers Could Strike as Soon as Next Week

Thousands of employees voted to strike if the health care workers can’t reach a labor agreement with Kaiser before Tuesday.
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Healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente in Oregon and Southwest Washington are set to strike for five days beginning next Tuesday if they are unable to reach a contract agreement with the care consortium.  The Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP), which represents around 4,000 Kaiser employees, announced last month that 97 percent of […]

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Portland Children’s Levy Funds Set to Be Disbursed After City Halted, Then Restored Grant Recommendations

City councilors caused a stir by pausing funding recommendations in June, citing concerns with the application scoring process. The levy is a lifeline for many BIPOC organizations.
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In late September, the East Portland-based youth mentorship program HOLLA got a much-needed financial boost when it received its first grant disbursement from the Portland Children’s Levy. The influx of funding comes as nonprofits like HOLLA have been scrambling, both in Oregon and nationally, to make ends meet after the Trump administration cut a number […]

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Sen. Merkley: US Aid Fuels Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

Following a recent trip to Israel and the West Bank, Oregon senator says US and its allies have a moral obligation to stop providing military support for the war in Gaza
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Sen. Jeff Merkley isn’t mincing words on the complicity of the United States in the ongoing decimation of Gaza.  “This is horrific, and we are complicit in it,” Merkley said in an interview last week with the Mercury. “We are complicit because we provide the bombs, we provide the rifles, we provide the shells, we provide […]

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Zenith Energy Legal Fight Highlights Gaps in Portland’s Environmental Guardrails

Climate activists say the city has little authority to enforce restrictions it imposed on a controversial oil transport operation.
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When the city of Portland permitted Zenith Energy to continue operating its fuel transport and storage facility in Northwest Portland three years ago, it did so on several conditions designed to limit potential harms to the environment.  The land use compatibility statement issued by the city requires Zenith to phase out its use of crude […]

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