Don McIntosh

It lists only campaigns that have at least one union endorsing them.

Yes, that’s a child in the cab of an excavator above. No, it’s not turned on. Operating Engineers Local 701 held a heavy equipment rodeo Sept. 14 for members and their families at the union’s training in Canby. The rodeo included trials of skill, like using cranes and back hoes to carefully maneuver heavy loads through obstacle courses without knocking over any cones. The champion, showing off his prize belt buckle right, was retiree Paul Bennett, showing a masterful handling of a friction crane.

Oregon Tradeswomen — a nonprofit program that recruits and prepares women for careers in the trades — held its annual Build With Us gala Sept. 13.

Oct. 30 marked one year since a stunning victory by striking members of United Auto Workers at the Big Three auto companies. To get workers back after 46 days of a gradually expanding strike, GM, Ford, and Stellantis nearly doubled the starting wage from $18 to $30 an hour, and increased the top wage by 25%, from $32 to over $42.

National Association of Letter Carriers announced Oct. 18 that it reached tentative agreement on a new contract with the U.S. Postal Service. If ratified by members, the new 42-month contract would provide three annual raises of 1.3% to over 200,000 letter carriers, the first of which would be retroactive to November 2023. On top of that, it would provide inflation-based cost-of-living raises each March and September, including three retroactive raises as a lump sum totaling $2,309.

Union leader Ben Heurung thought he had a deal. On July 17, pre-fab housing manufacturer Full Stack Modular signed an agreement with the Portland Metal Trades Council committing to “union neutrality” — setting up a non-adversarial way for workers to unionize if they choose.

Workers at Portland barge-maker Gunderson Marine and Iron voted to remain non-union, with 73% voting no in an Oct. 23 election on whether to join Boilermakers Local 104. The tally was 64-170, and turnout was high: 94% of the 248 eligible voters cast a ballot.

Some candidates seek union endorsements. Some don’t. But it’s historically rare for candidates to pledge publicly not to seek a union endorsement. Lately, an exception to that has been police unions.

Several labor organizations retracted their endorsements of a candidate for Hillsboro City Council as of Oct. 24.

Working for a Better Portland — a new political action committee formed by three local labor organizations — launched a website Oct. 15 to promote union-endorsed candidates.