Tell Chair John Lively to stop HB 2410 from moving forward in the House Climate, Energy, and Environment committee before 8 am on Tuesday, April 8.
Tell Chair Janeen Sollman to stop SB 215 and SB 216 from moving forward in the Senate Energy and Environment committee before 3 pm on Wednesday, April 9.
Email Governor Kotek and ask her not to reappoint Sheryl Manning to the PSU Board. Instead, appoint someone with a higher education background who will champion our working conditions and students’ learning conditions, not cut PSU to the bone.
Together we can recruit Governor Kotek to appoint a Board of Trustees that’ll invest in working conditions and learning conditions in our next contract. The Board of Trustees Finance and Administration chair Sheryl Manning has been a strong advocate of draconian budget cuts, which have led to the unnecessary and counterproductive layoffs of 17 of our faculty colleagues. Her current term on the Board ends on June 30th.
Portland’s Housing and Homelessness Committee passed a resolution introduced by Councilors Green and Avalos to investigate more innovative models of affordable housing, or Social Housing models. Email Portland City Council to show your support for this resolution!
Read about the resolution in KGW: “Several members of Portland City Council are asking the city to explore a new effort to increase housing affordability, known as ‘social housing.’ The term refers to housing that’s owned and operated by government or nonprofits rather than developers and property managers in order to keep rent prices down and meet the needs of residents.”
Thanks to everyone who voted in our recent school board endorsement poll! Another candidate requested the BerniePDX endorsement, please vote on whether or not we should endorse them! Last day to vote is April 6.
This is a huge win for Portland thanks to our new City Council!
“Portland City Council voted 11-1 on March 19 in favor of a resolution demanding Mayor Keith Wilson investigate Zenith Energy’s potential violations of its franchise agreement after the Houston-based fossil fuel transport and storage company constructed and operated pipes at its Northwest Portland facility without first notifying the Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ.
… The City Council also urged the city auditor to investigate and prepare a report detailing the city’s handling of Zenith’s recent land use application, citing ‘competing statements’ made by city officials and Zenith in a Jan. 21 work session. Additionally, it directed Wilson to pause any administrative action with regard to Zenith until the investigation is complete.” Read more here.
Learn about the candidates’ backgrounds and priorities, as well as:
– How they will protect and fight for more school funding
– The relationship they think the board should have with the teachers union
– How they will protect students under threat from the Trump Administration
– Their ideas for how PPS can support students experiencing housing insecurity
– and more!
…then cast your vote for the candidates you think deserve the BerniePDX endorsement.
LAST DAY TO VOTE IS SUNDAY, MARCH 23.
Senate Bill 722 would improve our state’s rent stabilization statutes and prohibit the use of AI price-fixing software to inflate rents. This is a no-cost policy tool to help address our unfolding housing affordability crisis. This bill would go a long way to support renters in our state!
Learn more and add your name here! Your message will be sent to the Senate Committee on Housing and Development, and the deadline to submit is Friday, March 21 at 1:00pm.
Sign up here to support immigrants in our community as they attend mandatory hearings, or sign up here to train to be a Legal Observer and join the Rapid Response Team.
If you think you see ICE and/or anyone you know is detained, call the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition hotline: 1-888-622-1510. It’s answered every day until about 8pm!
“We are a group of Jews in Oregon’s 3rd congressional district who believe that AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) is prolonging a broken and destructive status quo for both Palestinians and Israelis, and actively undermining progressive causes in the United States. We want to make accepting AIPAC endorsements or money as unthinkable as receiving them from the NRA or the oil and gas industry. We’re starting in our district, by calling on our representative, Maxine Dexter, to publicly reject AIPAC from this point forward. Such a public rejection would be a powerful message to AIPAC, and to other Democratic lawmakers.” Read the rest and sign here.
How you can help:
Background:
Since June, PSU-AAUP members have been bargaining upwards of 170 hours to have their needs met. On the table are cost of living adjustments, multilingual pay differentials, salary progression for workers who have no promotion paths, layoff protections, cost of living increases to be able to afford to live where we teach, support for research-funded workers who’s funding is being attacked by the Trump administration, and more.
Despite practice pickets, Board of Trustees speakouts, and public letters of support from Oregon State Treasurer Steiner, Rep Muñoz, Portland City Councilors Morillo, Koyama-Lane, Green, and Avalos, the Cudd Administration remains intransigent. Workers could strike as early as March 31.
With over $1B spent since 2010 on construction and developers and construction CEO holding sway over the PSU Board of Trustees and PSU Foundation, it is clear: the University’s priorities are in the wrong place. Instead of prioritizing and investing in students, Administration and the Board are hurting students and are hurting the workers who support students to thrive.
