Organized labor

More than 4,000 state scientists have worked under an expired contract for three years. Average wages in 2020 were $83,586, 27% less than state engineers’ pay. The state filed an unfair labor practice charge to stop the strike.

More than 350 apple, pear and cherry packers at three facilities in the Columbia River Gorge will decide this week whether to unionize.

The Portland public district confirmed Sunday night that students would not be in classes Monday due to the ongoing teachers strike, and a failure to reach a contract over the weekend.

More than half a million California health care workers are expected to see a pay increase in January thanks to a law raising the minimum wage for their industry. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law without a clear estimate about how much it would cost the state.

The United Farm Workers, which represents nearly 7,000 workers, won a unionization vote in Stanislaus County. It’s the first such win in six years and first under a law that went into effect in May.

Nurses at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford have reached a tentative agreement with the hospital on a new labor contract. It would include wage hikes and a limit on travel nurses.

UFCW Local 555 says it will push a ballot measure next year asking Oregonians to go back to the (recent) days of requiring attendants at gas pumps.

Staff members of the Bend Bulletin and Redmond Spokesman newspapers said low wages were one of the main reasons behind their union effort.

More than 400,000 Californians are expected to get a pay increase under the new law, which gradually raises the minimum wage to $25 an hour for health care employees.

In just the past month, strippers, vegan donut makers and thrift shop workers have all won union elections in Oregon.

The campaign featured big spending on both sides, but ended in a decidedly lopsided outcome as initial returns show the Eugene Democrat surviving one union's efforts to oust him.

Student workers at the 23-campus system say their pay is low, their hours are restricted and they get no sick pay. They are hoping to join the employees union to fix that.