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c3Category — Labor
Posted inBooks

Bookshop Mother Foucault’s Crowdfunds To Buy Its Building

A new nonprofit, l’école buissonnière, formed around the shop to fundraise and expand programming.
Avatar photo Suzette Smith

Its shelves are filled, the stage is built, and now Mother Foucault’s wants to buy. The vintage bookshop announced Tuesday that it’s seizing a chance to purchase the building it currently occupies, at 715 SE Grand. That opportunity expires on September 21, if it can’t raise $300,000 for a downpayment. Built in 1892, the Nathaniel […]

Posted inNews

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 […]

Posted inNews

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 […]

Posted inCommunity & Activism

Protest, Organize, Celebrate: May Day 2025 in Portland

The federal government’s attacks on workers, immigrants, and marginalized people make May Day all the more relevant and important.
Avatar photoAvatar photo Taylor Griggs and Suzette Smith

This Thursday is May Day—also known as International Workers’ Day—and Portland is showing up. From a rally hosted by the Portland Association of Teachers on May 1 to weekend events for the working stiffs who can’t call out, Portlanders have options for how they want to celebrate workers’ rights. If the day’s title reminds you […]

Posted inNews

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 […]

Posted inNews

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, […]

Posted inOpinion

“Dear Elon Musk: Here’s What I Accomplished Last Week”

Mercury Editor Wm. Steven Humphrey answers Elon Musk’s threatening weekend email to federal employees.
Avatar photo Wm. Steven Humphrey

[Editor’s Note: On Saturday evening, February 22, billionaire White House advisor Elon Musk sent an email (from OPM, the Office of Personnel Management) to 2.3 million US federal employees, telling them to send “approx. 5 bullets” describing what they accomplished at work last week, and to respond by midnight, Monday, February 24. Musk later said […]

Posted inNews

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 […]

Posted inNews

New Seasons Employees Remain on Strike Over “Unjust” Firing of Longtime Employee

The grocery chain tentatively agreed not to fire staff without just cause. Then it terminated a 19-year employee who aided a blind colleague.
Avatar photo Cameron Crowell

Update- 2/4: Union members say they’ve ended the strike after entering “mediated conversations about Randy’s reinstatement” with management. Workers at the Arbor Lodge New Seasons continued their strike into a seventh day on Monday, in an effort to reinstate lead cashier Randy Foster. Until last Tuesday, Foster had worked at the grocery store for 19 […]

Posted inNews

Strike Averted: City Reaches Tentative Deal with Largest Employee Union

AFSCME 189 expects to finalize a new contract with the city of Portland, but another labor union’s strike plan is still on.
Avatar photo Courtney Vaughn

One of Portland’s largest labor unions says it’s reached a tentative agreement with the city of Portland, after previously gearing up for a strike. The Oregon American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 189 announced Thursday that the union and city are now close to ratifying a revised labor contract after nearly […]

Posted inNews

Providence, Union Set to Re-Enter Negotiations Amid Historic Health Care Worker Strike

Roughly 4,000 Oregon health care workers are on strike. This time, the picket lines include physicians.
Avatar photo Abe Asher

The largest health care worker strike in Oregon history is continuing this week, with thousands of Providence nurses and a number of doctors taking to picket lines across the state.  Health care workers began their strike on Friday, January 10. They have two central points of contention with Providence: staffing levels and compensation. Providence, a […]

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