From the open publishing newswire: Change at KBOO has always been participatory; we can keep it that way with dedicated, respectful struggle. Here's the latest at KBOO:

The KBOO Board has called a Special KBOO membership meeting, for Saturday, May 4th, 1pm, at Tabor Space, 5441 SE Belmont (@ 55th) to reveal the "streamlined KBOO" plan.

KBOO has always taken pride in being a participatory and transparent institution. So, for example, when there was a desire, in recent years, to re-examine programming, a careful and lengthy survey was undertaken. Volunteers and members were consulted, and some changes were made.

[...]

WE WANT OUR FUTURE BACK

In fact, KBOO had a bright future before these changes were pushed through. We had lost some audience for morning public affairs to KPOJ, which was wiped out by its won top-down corporate management; that audience is returning. Our substantial public affairs and journalism strength continue to draw audience, even in the Internet age. If we need to spend funds, it should be on expansion of our Internet and smartphone presence, not on crushing workers. The last thing this radio market needs is an NPR/OPB junior wannabe. [...]

http://kboo.fm/bylaws

PIMC Related KBOO posts:
[1.] [2.] [3.] [4.] [5.] [6.]

From the open publishing newswire: With the Salem Mail processing plant slated to close a protest ensured out front with speeches and chants and then the group of around 50 weaved its way to the public loading dock. This video is from that protest.

Five people were arrested for going inside with 2 banners, one banner read: Save Salem Mail.

 http://youtu.be/Ah_8JTTBp-s [42 minute video]

The announcement "before" the event is posted below:
Information about the event that was posted AFTER the event --> is below the double lines
(bottom half of this page)

"Occupation" of Salem mail facility

What: Rally, March and Civil Disobedience
When: Wednesday, April 17th, Noon - 1pm
Where: Salem Main Post Office, 1050 25th St. SE (n. of Mission)

From the open publishing newswire: May Day!!

No Human Being Is Illegal!! People Over Profit!!
International Workers Day!! - May 01, 2013
2:00 PM Gather || 3:00 PM Rally || 4:00 PM March
O'Bryant Square - SW Washington Street, Portland Oregon
2013 Theme: "May Day - International Day for Working Families; People Over Profit!"

2:00 PM Gather || 3:00 PM Rally || 4:00 PM March

The annual May Day march and rally in Portland has a long tradition of being an inspiring celebration of international worker's day.

Now, we find ourselves facing unprecedented cuts to public services, increasing poverty, homelessness, and ongoing attacks against people of color, immigrants, women, and working families and our right to organize. Our response to this onslaught against humanity is to organize and fight back!

This year's May Day promises to be an exciting call to action. Our theme is: "May Day - International Day for Working Families; People Over Profit!" Our goal is: "Encourage Everyone to Join an Organization Working for Justice!!"

From the open publishing newswire: Spurred by real urgency over the corporate driven ruin of the environment, a growing social movement is taking shape that will be on display this Sunday, February 17, when tens of thousands descend on the streets of Washington, D.C. in a show of power titled "Forward On Climate."
What is the target galvanizing these forces? The proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, to be built by TransCanada, which would carry crude oil extracted from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada, some 2,000 miles south to the Gulf of Mexico for export.

What is the outcome hoped for by those who will attend? That President Obama reject the project, finally and definitively, when it comes up for his approval this winter.

Protests, blockades, arrests and disruptions of the pipeline's construction have been ongoing by activists and landowners in East Texas since last summer. Now, the "Forward On Climate" rally marks a huge step forward to enlarge the movement. This is not your typical environmental protest in defense of a limited ecosystem.

Rather, the potential consequences of the XL Pipeline's operations are global and catastrophic because of climate change. And that's why organized labor needs to stand up now in an alliance that has the power to defeat it.

Getting Perspective [...] | How will the operations of the Keystone XL Pipeline affect this trend? [...] | Where Does Labor Stand? [...]

From the open publishing newswire: Whose Restaurant?
"A People Power - Worker Power - Rise Up For Justice" story that ends on a good note. "Each worker involved demanded a different amount which was owed to them due to unpaid but mandatory meetings, trainings, and "soft opening" shifts. Yaw's also charged some workers uniform laundry fees which resulted in less than the required minimum wage."

Yaw's Worker Victory
On January 18th, a group of workers from Yaw's Top Notch Restaurant took a stand. Leading the delegation into the restaurant, the group of 10 workers were accompanied by 30 community members from We Are Oregon and the Industrial Workers of the World. To the shock of bosses and customers (and to the smiles of kitchen staff) a worker publicly read a letter addressed to the owners and management demanding over $1,200 in back wages that Yaw's has refused to pay. Less than a week later, with signed checks in hand, these same 10 individuals celebrated victory won through solidarity.

Yaw's Top Notch Restaurant was an East Portland staple for over 50 years. Three decades after they closed their doors, Yaw's is now back and wants you to believe that it's still the landmark it once was; a place where you can experience what it was like in the "good old days" when customers and employees were treated like members of the family. [...]


The workers were supported by members of Food & Retail Workers United (FRWU), an IWW coalition of the union's food, retail and distribution workers committed to workplace democracy and global solidarity. They received additional support from We Are Oregon (a project of SEIU locals 49 and 503), which organizes against wage theft in the Portland metro area. The Yaw's workers, who took the lead in coordinating the campaign, made a commitment to each other to not give up until all 10 workers demands were met. [...]

 http://portlandiww.org/2013/01/yaws/
 http://www.michaelmunk.com

From the open publishing newswire:

On Wednesday A Metro board meeting was interrupted by the ghost of employers' past.

JoeAnybody.Com Newswire Report-Back

Portland Jobs With Justice made a surprise appearance at a Metro board meeting, and pronounced them "Scrooge Of The Year" under careful consideration from a list of 10 qualified candidates. Jamie Partridge proudly presented the award to them dressed as Scrooge under the watchful eyes of dozens of community members and Union reps.

Video Link:

Scrooge Of The Year Awarded To Metro By Portland Jobs With Justice

From the open publishing newswire: If Jorge Parra lives to see the Portland Auto Show being held from January 24th through the 27th, he will have passed his 65th day on a hunger strike in support of the Association of Injured Workers and Ex-Workers of General Motors-Colmotores (ASOTRECOL). Appearing at press conferences outside the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Parra, who has been on this third hunger strike since November 20, 2012, first apologized for having a hard time knowing what to say due to his lack of eating, and then thanked the crowd of over 100 supporters who had gathered to protest against GM.

Dacks plans on using the Portland Auto Show as an opportunity to educate more people about GM's indifference toward the health and security of its employees. "The auto shows that are happening across the country are GM's highest profile events of the year, and if GM continues turning a blind eye to injustice, their abuses will be exposed in Portland, as they have been at the Detroit auto show." [...]

Martin Luther King, whose birthday was just celebrated, once said that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. On balance, it is fair to say that King was correct. It was not so long ago that chattel slavery was legal and people were ruled by kings. And while the United States is hardly a workers' paradise, workers enjoy more rights than they did a century ago. These were not gifts handed down from above. People fought and sometimes died for them. The ASOTRECOL battle as well as the recent spate of anti-worker legislation such as that in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana raises the same question that workers in this country asked a hundred years ago: are we disposable cogs in a machine, or are we living, breathing people whose lives are to be valued far beyond the wealth we can produce for others?

Want to get involved? The following actions are planned:

1. 1/23 from approximately 12-2 and 6:30 to 7:30.

2. 1/24 or 1/25 for a time to be announced sometime between 10 and 3.

3. 1/24-1/27 various times during the auto show for leafleting and other activities.

For more information call Greg Margolis at: 503-285-6603 or 503-806-9164 [cell].

homepage: http://www.pcasc.net/2013/01/23/gm-worker-willing-to-die-seeking-labor-justice/

[Related post] http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2013/01/421480.shtml

UPDATE:[Related video post] http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2013/01/421485.shtml#409124

From the open publishing newswire: Part I - It's a familiar pattern: those on top of the economic ladder enjoy massive profits, while expecting workers to sacrifice even more for the "greater good."

This storyline weaves itself into every justification for anti-worker policies. From Washington's potential Grand Bargain that would cut trillions from needed social programs, to the workplaces with their stagnating wages and declining benefits, those on top plead poverty to workers while stuffing their pockets beyond belief.

The argument is also currently being repeated by the giant multinational corporations that control the nation's shipping ports.

Fortunately, the Longshore workers are organized into powerful unions that have the ability to fight back against big business greed — something that was recently demonstrated at the port strikes in Los Angles and Long Beach, and which is now underway in the union negotiations happening at ports along the East Coast and at the ports in the Northwest. [...]

PART 2:  http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2013/01/421311.shtml

homepage:  http://workerscompass.org

From the open publishing newswire: In recent weeks, a showdown has loomed on U.S. docks between the shipping bosses and port workers that has rattled the capitalist ruling class. On the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, the International Longshoreman's Association prepared to strike container shipping while the employers threatened to lock out 14,500 ILA members. On the West Coast, the grain shippers been demanding a giveback contract from the International Longshore Workers Union (ILWU), which would effectively bypass the union hiring hall, slash workers' vital safety protections and gut union power. Yet in the midst of the Northwest grain battle, an Occupy activist, Peter Little, publishes an article vociferously arguing against the call to defend the ILWU. While posing as ultra-left, this policy if actually carried out would aid the employers who are hell-bent on destroying ILWU union power on the waterfront. Blaming sellouts on the nature of unions lets the bureaucrats off the hook. We in the Internationalist Group say: All those who stand with the exploited and oppressed must come to the defense of the ILWU in this fight. And that defense includes forthrightly opposing the capitulations and betrayals by the labor bureaucracy which sells out vital union gains in the vain hope of an impossible "cooperation" with capital, endangering the workers organizations they preside over.

Read the article at the Internationalist Group website:  http://www.internationalist.org/whywedefendilwu1301.html.

From the open publishing newswire: Rally and Picket at the Fund for the Public Interest offices in Portland Oregon where employees have been trying to negotiate a contract for over a year. The Fund for the Public Interest does fundraising for all the state environment and PIRG (public interest research group) groups, The Human Rights Campaign, The National Environmental Law Center, Environment America, Environmental Action, and Fair Share.
OSPIRG Resists Union Contract and Fires Organizers

Also included in this report is a 40 minute Public Access program featuring a discussion with two present employees and one past employee of the Fund for Public Interest. Program discusses the situation from the perspective of the employees seeking a union contract. The union is the Communication Workers of America, local 7901.

Discussing Union Busting at the Fund for Public Interest

From the open publishing newswire: On black friday, protests across the country broke out against Walmart and workers across the nation walked out on them.

StreetNews Report:

Protests across the county have been taking place on black friday this year. The actions against Walmart happen to be the largest, and Portland protesters held a large gathering at the Eastport Walmart starting at 8pm Thanksgiving night. Through the night, organizers wired up a large LED lighted sign saying "Walk Out On Walmart" and had numerous shoppers honking in solidarity and curious about their message. The message to Walmart is clear; Stop overdevelopment which pushes small businesses out, start offering health care to part time workers, quit the employee mistreatment, and stop paying women lower wages than their male counterparts in equal positions.

Over 200 protesters showed out Friday morning chanting with signs and banners, and newly re-elected Portland Commissioner Amanda Fritz attended the event and read a powerful letter with anger stating that Portland will not accept Walmarts' practices. Two people were arrested the night before after causing a "public disturbance" inside the store, but other than that all was peaceful. Across the country and throughout Oregon, many protests took aim at Walmart and considerable numbers of employees walked off the job on this day. Give the workers some respect!

Video Link:

Black Friday Protest Against Walmart In Portland Oregon

From the open publishing newswire: Though its hard to believe, it's been one year since the initial OWS Occupation started a mass movement of the people. At one time, we had the largest of them all here in Portland. Occupiers took to the street in unison with injured and fired Colombian workers who have been exploited by GM and are now in 412 days of Occupying, sewing their mouths shut in a hunger strike.

Report-Back: On 9/17, Occupy Portland and many other local organizations such as PCASC, Witness For Peace and Portland Jobs With Justice joined forces to rally and march in solidarity with Colombian workers who are in a hunger strike and have been fired from their jobs in a General Motors affiliated manufacturing plant after recieving injuries which occured on the job. This day was also chosen as it is the one year anniversary of the Occupy movement which has helped create an outlet for upset Americans to voice their frustrations. A crowd of about 200 people were present for this action and it made its way to a Chevy dealership where protesters delivered a memo to be given to GM headquarters. The peaceful march and celebration ended in St. Francis Park, part of St. Francis Church, where Occupy Portland now operates.

Video Link www.joeanybody.com/id24.html

From the open publishing newswire: Today 8.15.12 is a national day of action to stand with the Colombian General Motors plant workers who have been in a hunger strike for weeks now and have sewn their mouths shut. Community members here in Portland aim to hold a solidarity flash mob in Pioneer Square at 11:30am.

BULLETIN:

Portland, Oregon - Wednesday, August 15th, an emergency demonstration will take place in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square, in response to General Motors' failure to resolve the situation of fired workers injured at their Bogota, Colombia assembly plant, who are entering their third week of a hunger strike. This local action is part of a national Day of Action called for by Witness for Peace.

Come for this quick action downtown... 11:30 to noon. Signs, art and music provided. Just show up, bring a friend to double the fun. Let General Motors feel the pressure- from Portland, Oregon to GM's corporate headquarters in Detroit, to McLean, Virginia (home of GM CEO Daniel Akerson), and all points in between.

REPORT BACK VIDEOS, FROM PORTLAND ACTION on 8.15.12
Jim Lockhart: Video: Portland Solidarity with GM Workers in Colombia
Joe Anybody & Mobile T: VIDEOS: Solidarity With Colombian General Motors Workers Action In Portland 8.15.12