Northwest Labor Press: February 3, 2006

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February 3, 2006 Volume 107 Number 3

News

Independent union challenges ATU 757 at ambulance unit
In the next month, 532 American Medical Response ambulance workers in the Portland metro area will have a choice to make: Stay with the local union that has represented them for nearly two decades, or leave to join a startup union headquartered in Sacramento, California.

Left: Paramedic Doug Weinrick says he favors the incumbent

AFL-CIO backs Oregon ballot measure to make big employers pay for health care
The Oregon AFL-CIO filed a ballot initiative Jan. 27 that would require Oregon employers with more than 4,500 workers to spend at least 9 percent of their payroll on employee health insurance.
Union drive at Lottery in limbo
A group of workers at the Oregon Lottery Commission has been campaigning to unionize with Service Employees International Union Local 503 — the biggest of the unions representing employees of the State of Oregon. The Lottery is one of the few large state agencies that is still nonunion.
Union card is still a worker’s best investment
Forget the lottery or stock market. Carrying a union card is still the best investment a worker can make, according to the latest figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Analysis

Think again
A regular column by Tim Nesbitt
The Working Families Party rewrites the script for pro-worker politics
We may have found a new answer to the question, "What's the matter with Kansas?"