Story and photos by Pete Shaw Many part-time recreation employees are cheering the unanimous Portland City Council decision on February 17 to ratify an agreement between the Parks and Recreation bureau and Laborers Local 483. Under the arrangement, Portland Parks and Recreation will create 130 new living wage union protected jobs by the Fall, and…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw A petition signed by over 350 Recreation employees was presented the Portland City Council on December 2, asking for a $15 an hour minimum wage, benefits, and more opportunity for year-round jobs. “I’ve seen excellent employees struggle with low wages and a lack of access to full time work,”…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Over 300 supporters of Don’t Shoot Portland and the Black Lives Matter movement gathered in Holladay Park on Friday November 27, making demands ranging from police reform to the abolition of capitalism that has created a system where Black lives do not matter. The rally also included a boisterous…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw The late, great Townes Van Zandt once said, “Aloneness is a state of being whereas loneliness is a feeling. It’s like being broke and being poor.” Thanksgiving is a day that begins a six or so week stretch that reminds many of their aloneness more painfully than usual. So…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw New York is big. New York is loud. It is bombastic, boasting, and even overwhelming. New York is not Portland. Last week I was in The City, part of a trip to visit my family. A few days before departing, I realized I would be missing the rally in Portland…
Story by Pete Shaw Francisco Aguirre, the immigrant and labor organizer who is being persecuted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Justice (DoJ), will have a trial this Wednesday, October 21, at 11 AM that will determine if he is guilty of illegal re-entry into the United States. The case has…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Rights activists, labor leaders, faith leaders, and lawyers gathered at the Federal Building in downtown Portland on October 1 to rally for Francisco Aguirre and deliver a letter signed by 118 organizations nationwide asking the US Attorney General to dismiss criminal charges of re-entry into the United States against…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw The good news is that Senator Ron Wyden keeps backtracking on his support for Fast Track legislation that would let the Congress abdicate its constitutionally mandated authority over trade and give that power to President Obama. The bad news is that he is backtracking further toward the multinational corporations…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Building janitors, City workers, and supporters held two coordinated rallies in downtown Portland on June 17 demanding a raise in the minimum wage to $15 an hour and greater respect for workers’ rights to unionize. The rallies marked the most recent of many local actions and were also part…
Story by Pete Shaw The friendliest store in town is not so friendly after all. At least not to its workers. That was the message sent by a crowd of over 30 people outside the New Seasons on SE Hawthorne on April 21. Coming together on April 21 in support of raising Oregon’s minimum wage…
