Opinion | Oregon labor sees at least eleven union wins, eight new campaigns or election filings and five labor actions

Labor activity in Oregon picked up in May with eight more union wins and one more new campaign than in May. The state did see a decline in labor actions, with one less than the month prior.

The primary boost to election wins is thanks to Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals Local 5017, or OFNHP, which held elections at 10 Legacy lab locations this month. OFNHP also saw two other Legacy units file to join the union.

A new independent union emerged this month, as Fried Egg I’m In Love workers are making moves to form the Fried Egg Workers Union. Continuing the food industry organizing trend, Starbucks workers in Salem also voted to unionize yet another location in the state.

Postdoctoral workers at Oregon Health & Science University, or OHSU, and postal workers held more pickets and rallies this month, while Boeing firefighters held a solidarity rally amid conflicts between the company and its Washington employees.

New campaigns and elections

On May 1, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 701, or IUOE, filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to represent engineers, painters and carpenters at Legacy Mt. Hood. Workers voted 6-1 to join IUOE 701 on May 21.

Fried Egg I’m In Love workers in Portland announced their intent to form an independent union on May 2 and announced on May 30 that they had won their election in a 20-4 vote.

On May 3, workers at 10 Laboratory Corporation of America Legacy locations across the state voted on whether they would join the OFNHP, resulting in six wins and one loss:

- Workers at Legacy Emanuel, Legacy Cedar Hills and Legacy Cornell voted 48-1 to join OFNHP.

- Workers at the Legacy Good Samaritan location voted 43-3.

- Workers at Legacy Mt. Hood voted 19-7.

- Workers at Legacy Meridian Park, Legacy Bridgeport and Legacy Woodburn voted 36-3.

- Professional workers at Legacy Silverton voted 5-3, while the non-professional unit voted 1-6.

- Workers at Legacy Toxicology Portland voted 123-19.

Providence ElderPlace workers in Oregon filed to join the Oregon Nurses Association, or ONA, on May 6.

One day later, physicians, physician associates and nurse practitioners at Legacy’s Primary Care clinics in Oregon announced their intent to unionize with the Pacific Northwest Hospital Medicine Association, or PNWHMA.

Albertina Kerr Centers medical workers in Portland 29-0 to join the Service Employees International Union Local 503 on May 8.

Workers at STA of Oregon filed to join the Amalgamated Transit Union, Division 757, on May 9.

On the same day, Phillips North America LLC workers in the company’s Oregon Imaging District voted 5-11 not to join the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48.

Starbucks workers in Salem on Lancaster Drive Northeast voted 14-2 to join Starbucks Workers United on May 14.

Providence Benedictine Home Health workers in Mount Angel filed on May 15 to join ONA.

Also May 15, an additional round of physician assistants and nurse practitioners at Legacy Clinics in Portland filed to join PNWHMA.

Workers at another Portland-area Starbucks filed May 16 to join Starbucks Workers United. The filing did not specify which location the workers organized.

Labor Actions

Nurses at Providence Willamette Falls and Providence Milwaukie held a May 1 informational picket in Oregon City to “raise community awareness of Providence’s staffing crisis and to pressure management to improve work standards that will recruit and retain caregivers,” according to ONA, which represents the nurses.

Providence Medford Medical Center nurses also held a May 1 solidarity picket at the Medford center.

Communities and Postal Workers United held a rally on May 9 at the East Portland Postal Office to demand the Postmaster General stop cuts to the mail workforce and end mail delays. Workers said the the Postal Board of Governors has cut out public comment, and that the Postmaster General is refusing requests for information.

The International Association of Fire Fighters Local I-66 held a May 16 support rally at Boeing in Portland as Boeing firefighters faced a potential lockout from the company. Two weeks prior, Boeing locked out firefighters at the Everett, Seattle area and Moses Lake facilities in Washington during contract bargaining. Their contract expired in March.

OHSU postdoctoral workers, represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, held a May 21 picket outside the Center for Health and Healing. Amid contract bargaining, AFSCME said the university has failed to make “any substantive progress” on wages, benefits, diversity, equity, inclusion or support for international scholars.

On May 23, the Employment Relations Board notified research workers at OHSU that their union, Research Workers United, was certified.

Negotiations

After 16 months of negotiations, nurses at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Home Care Services in Lane County voted to ratify a contract agreement on May 13.

Nurses held a two-week strike in February and authorized a second strike last month.

The contract:

- Implements communicable disease isolation policies.

- Adds an interdisciplinary workplace violence prevention committee.

- Increases support for nurses’ professional development.

- Establishes a health benefits task force.

- Increases wages up to 16% over four years and raises pay for nurses with advanced degrees and skills.

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