Story and photos by Pete Shaw The members of the unions making up Portland’s District Council of Trade Unions (DCTU) have soundly rejected the contract tentatively agreed to between the City of Portland and the DCTU bargaining team. In doing so, they have sent a message to both the City as well as the leaders…
Category: Sections
TPP Fast Tracking Off the Rails; Activists Remain Cautious
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Story and photos by Pete Shaw What a difference a month makes. Back on January 9th when Senators Max Baucus and Orrin Hatch, and Representative Dave Camp introduced legislation that would give President Obama “Fast Track” authority over trade negotiations, it seemed a pretty good bet that it would breeze through Congress and be signed…
Court to Judge “Fairness” of Department of Justice Settlement Agreement with City of Portland
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Story by Pete Shaw • Photos by Bette Lee A “Fairness Hearing” about the Settlement Agreement resolving the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit against the City of Portland is scheduled for February 18th. The agreement arose out the the DOJ’s yearlong investigation that found the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) had “engaged in an unconstitutional pattern…
Looming Worker Strikes Spell Need for Strengthening Solidarity Across Community
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Story and photos by Pete Shaw When workers are fighting for their rights and dignity–and they are always fighting for those–the three most important words are solidarity, solidarity, and solidarity. With the possibility of at least three major strikes hitting Portland in the next few months, speakers at a recent Strikes on the Horizon forum…
MLK Rally Honors More Radical King
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By Pete Shaw Today, politicians of all stripes will step into celebration of the life and vision of Martin Luther King, Jr. The rhetoric of justice will be heavy, and praise for King’s dream will abound. Most pronouncements will overlook King’s latter years when he fought for the abolition of poverty and the redistribution of…
Students School PPS Board Amid Strong Show of Support for Teachers
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Story by Pete Shaw The Portland Public Schools Board of Education received a lesson from the students it is supposed to serve on Monday night: we are people, not commodities, and we demand that our education serve us. It was a lesson for which most of the Board did not care. The students were part…
TPP Fast Track Legislation at Critical Crossroads
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By Pete Shaw Congress is poised to abdicate both its constitutional and ethical responsibilities. On Thursday January 9th, Senate Democrat Max Baucus, Senate Republican Orrin Hatch, and Republican Representative Dave Camp introduced legislation that would grant President Obama “Fast Track” authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement. Although the Constitution grants Congress power…
Forum Urges People to Sink Fast Tracking of Trans Pacific Partnership
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Story and photo by Pete Shaw The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), for the moment, is faltering. The so-called free trade agreement (FTA) would dwarf all other FTAs that came before it. Trade negotiators and the multi-national corporations for whom they shill have been working in secret to hammer out the details, but so far they…
Hungry for Fair Pay, Fast Food Workers Push Back on Starvation Wage
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Story and photo by Pete Shaw Demanding a pay hike for fast-food workers to $15 an hour, Portland activists rallied outside the McDonald’s on SW 6th and Main on December 5 as part of a national day of action. Portland was one of a hundred cities in the country that saw people demanding an increased…
Undocumented Youths Pushing Boundaries to Remain in US
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Story by Pete Shaw Tired of waiting for the federal government to reform immigration law, a growing group of young people without documentation has decided to take matters into its own hands. Undocumented and Unafraid, they are taking the fight to the heart of the US immigration enforcement, challenging the system head on, and even…
