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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 2019)
PAGE 2 | October 4, 2019 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS LABOR PRESS ...Vancouver’s news room goes union (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) From Page 1 NORTHWEST Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the la- bor movement. Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-profit mutual benefit corpo- ration owned by 20 unions and councils including the Ore- gon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Office location: 4275 NE Halsey St., Portland, Oregon Mailing address: P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213 Phone: (503) 288-3311 Web address: http://nwlaborpress.org Editor & Manager: Michael Gutwig Senior staff reporter: Don McIntosh Office manager: Jill Lukens Printed on recycled paper, using soy-based inks, by members of Teamsters Local 747-M. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Individual subscriptions are $15 a year for union members, $23 a year for all others. Pay by credit card online at nwlaborpress.org/subscribe, or send a check to our mailing address (above) along with your name, address and union affiliation, if any. Group rates of 47 cents an issue per member — $11.28 a year are available for 25 or more subscriptions; call 503-288-3311 for details. CORRECTIONS: See an error? Please let us know at editor@nwlaborpress.org or by phone at 503-288-3311. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: If you move, let us know at nwlaborpress.org/subscriber-services or by mail at our mailing address (above). Be sure to provide your old and new addresses and the name/number of your local union. Please allow three weeks for the change to take effect. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS P.O. BOX 13150 PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 Low Prices! Coats, etc. Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6 PLEASE SHOW OUR ADVERTISERS YOU APPRECIATE THEIR SUPPORT FOR THIS LABOR MOVEMENT NEWSPAPER! work them hard for a couple years, and then not bat an eyelash when they get burned out and leave the industry or leave the newspaper,” Howard said. “I’ve only been with the Columbian a year and a half, and in that time five reporters out of a staff of 28 have left. And all of those people expressed to me that they hated leaving because they love the Vancouver community, but they just couldn’t afford to live on what they were getting paid here.” In an official statement ac- companying the union an- nouncement, union supporters called The Columbian “an in- creasingly rare example of a thriving independent community news organization,” but said journalists there are overworked and underpaid. “We intend to bargain for eq- uitable wages, greater diversity in the workplace, reasonable leave and health benefits, earned severance, and a fair and consis- tent grievance policy,” the state- ment said. Founded in 1890, The Colum- bian has been family-owned since Campbell’s grandfather bought it in 1921. Printing press operators used to belong to the The Columbian newspaper owners Scott and Jody Campbell, center, received honors as “business of the year” at a Sept. 27 ceremony organized by the Labor Roundtable of Southwest Washington. [To their left is fellow awardee Kara Fox-LaRose, general manager of the ilani casino, and flanking them are Labor Roundtable vice chair Dave Le- tinich and president Ed Barnes, retired IBEW Local 48 business manager.] Graphic Communications Inter- national Union (GCIU), but de- certified in 2003. [The North- west Labor Press was printed there until then.] In 2011, the Southwest Wash- ington Central Labor Council, the Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council, and Northwest Oregon Labor Council waged a boycott of The Columbian, in re- sponse to editorials against pub- lic employee unions and an over- all failure to report on the local labor movement, even on Labor Day. The boycott got owners' at- tention. They pledged to improve coverage of organized labor, and followed through. The boycott was lifted. The new union includes re- porters, photographers, copy ed- itors, page designers and editorial assistants. They’ll be part of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, a local of The NewsGuild, which is affiliated with the Com- munications Workers of Amer- ica. In Washington, the union represents The Seattle Times, Kitsap Sun, Skagit Valley Herald and Yakima Herald-Republic.
