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City Council Caught in the Middle of Police Oversight Labor Strike

Councilors are avoiding City Hall while Portland’s Independent Police Review staff are on strike, bringing some Council operations to a halt. 
Avatar photoAvatar photo Jeremiah Hayden and Courtney Vaughn

Staff at Portland’s Independent Police Review (IPR) typically work out of a ground-level office at City Hall, but on Wednesday afternoon, they were setting up tents just feet from where they normally report to work. Wednesday marked the start of a three-day strike by IPR’s 11 union-represented employees. Despite wind and periodic bursts of heavy […]

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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.
Avatar photo Abe Asher

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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PSU Sheds Staff After Expedited Return-To-Office Requirement

With rapid changes to in-person work policies in pursuit of a more “vibrant” campus, some PSU employees say they’ve been left behind.
Avatar photo Kevin Foster

Staff at one of Portland’s largest employers say they were caught off guard by a dramatic change in timeline for a return-to-office mandate.  In late July, a number of Portland State University (PSU) employees were notified they’d need to return to working downtown by mid-November—a large jump from an earlier September 2026 timeline.  The original […]

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Workers in Portland’s Independent Police Investigation Unit Authorize a Strike

The complaint investigation unit says the city’s new voter-approved police oversight system could leave them jobless.
Avatar photo Courtney Vaughn

In 2020, Portland voters approved a major overhaul of the city’s current police oversight and accountability system. A ballot measure called for a new, civilian-led police oversight board and a city-funded team of investigators with the authority to investigate complaints and issue discipline.  Five years later, the new Community Board for Police Accountability (CBPA) is […]

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With a New Media Conglomerate on the Scene, Oregon’s News Landscape is Shrinking

Carpenter Media’s purchase of Pamplin and EO Media Groups has been marked by labor fights, layoffs, and the discontinuation of a Portland print edition in a series of cost-cutting efforts.
Avatar photo Abe Asher

When Carpenter Media Group purchased Pamplin Media Group, Austin White, then the Portland Tribune’s managing sports editor, said many newsroom employees had never heard of the company.  “We still didn’t really know what to expect,” White said. “We thought we had maybe sold to a better company, one that might not be like a Gannett […]

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Staff at PeaceHealth Southwest Say Job Cuts Could Backfire

The health care provider is slashing 1% of its workforce. Impacted employees say it will only strain the hospital system and prolong patient stays.
Avatar photo Abe Asher

Kris Burleigh, a unit coordinator in the emergency department at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington, was enjoying the final day of a vacation in April when her phone rang: After more than 24 years of work, she was told, she was being laid off.  “I truly did not see this one coming,” Burleigh […]

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Shoofly Vegan Bakery Employees Locked Out After Disputes With New Owner

Staff say paychecks were late twice in a row, and the business is no longer fulfilling wholesale orders with local cafes. 
Avatar photo Courtney Vaughn

Update May 7: This story has been updated with new information about employee fundraising efforts. A popular vegan bakery in Southeast Portland has been closed since Friday, after employees walked off the job.  Staff at Shoofly Vegan Bakery on SE Division say some  hadn’t received their paychecks as of Friday, May 2. It wasn’t the […]

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Tech Workers at Adidas Claim Late Payments, Other Challenges

Contract workers at Adidas allege labor issues that reflect broader problems in the corporate IT world.
Avatar photo Abe Asher

When an information technology (IT) technician was beginning their career in IT services at Designer Shoe Warehouse, they had a notion that one day they wanted to end up in Portland.  “The dream was to come here and work at Nike or Adidas,” the IT worker (referred to in this story as “IT manager”) who […]

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Does a “Big Tent” Approach to Labor Include Police Unions?

The Portland Police Association’s bid to join the Northwest Oregon Labor Council has sparked backlash.
Avatar photo Taylor Griggs

When members of Portland’s broader labor ecosystem found out about the city police union’s bid to join the Northwest Oregon Labor Council (NOLC), many immediately reacted with suspicion. While the Portland Police Association (PPA) and NOLC leaders said their goal was to bring workers of all stripes together, labor activists and police critics were doubtful, […]

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The Promises and Perils of TriMet’s Safety Response Team

Former and current staff say the program, which TriMet launched as part of an initiative to reimagine public safety in 2021, is exploitative of employees and hasn’t lived up to its potential.
Avatar photo Taylor Griggs

When TriMet launched its Safety Response Team in 2021, sending unarmed workers trained in de-escalation onto Portland’s public transit system, the agency emphasized the program as part of a wider movement to rethink public safety beyond armed police and security guards. The program was developed in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd […]

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Providence Relents After Ordering Nursing Instructors to Cross Picket Lines

An attorney intervened after Providence asked its nursing educators to work as replacement labor during a health care worker strike.
Avatar photo Abe Asher

On the Monday before the start of the ongoing Providence strike, Natalie Barron, a nursing instructor at Portland Community College and per diem nurse at the Providence Portland Medical Center, received an alarming message: She would have to report to work at Providence on the first day of the strike or be barred from teaching […]

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