Story and photos by Pete Shaw The Democratic Party’s “Blue Tsunami” in the recent midterm elections saw this most recent iteration of the Republican Party burned to the ground and salted over. A message was sent, and while the details of that message will take some time to determine, what is clear is that a…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw On Saturday January 10 over 300 people gathered in Stanton Park, just across the street from the Legacy Emanuel Medical Center (LEMC) in North Portland, demanding that Legacy management respect the hospital’s staff and patients by ceasing their collaboration with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE). Legacy management…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw I felt a bit like a broken record in last year’s “Giving Thanks” when my lede was almost exactly the one from 2023. This time it’s the same record, but a slightly different tune. While Covid remains, I gained the confidence of my better 99% that I would take…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Workers at the Arbor Lodge New Seasons’s grocery store at 6400 North Interstate Avenue walked off the job for the second day in a row on Wednesday January 29. According to the New Seasons Labor Union (NSLU), the Unfair Labor Practice strike was again called because Randy Foster, who…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Over 1,100 New Seasons Market workers from 11 Portland area stores went on a one day strike on Wednesday November 28. The New Seasons Labor Union (NSLU) called the strike in response to the company’s “numerous ongoing unfair labor practices.” Would-be shoppers were met by picketing union members and…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Last year I began this annual piece at the Portland Occupier with: “Another year with Covid in the air, and so another year where I was largely grounded due to health concerns. As well, as comes with age, there were health issues with which I had to deal. But…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Someday they may refer to it as the BVWU Number, the universal standard for the interval between impossibility and achievement. It sure seems like it should be in an organizing textbook. In April 2015, when the Burgerville Workers Union made its debut, it was taking on the challenge of…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw In late February 2020 I went into something like a lockdown. The novel coronavirus was just making news in the United States, and since I take immunosuppressants, my better 99% and I felt it would be best if I laid low. While I had no illusions regarding how long…
Story by Pete Shaw On Wednesday October 23, Burgerville workers throughout Portland walked off the job and launched the largest strike in the history of the Burgerville Workers Union (BVWU). Workers from the Convention Center, 92nd and Powell, Hawthorne, and Montavilla Burgerville locations walked off the job Wednesday morning, saying they would remain on strike…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw The French novelist Honoré de Balzac is often credited with having written that behind every great fortune there is a crime. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, the ubiquitous company that seems able to sell everything to everyone, everywhere, has surely amassed a great fortune. He is the richest…
