MEDFORD, Ore. -- A credit union is leading relief efforts after wildfires devastated Oregon in September. Rogue Credit Union has raised more than $1 million for communities in southern Oregon.

President and CEO of the Credit Union Gene Pelham said 2,500 homes near their Medford headquarters were destroyed in the fires.

"Six staff members lost their homes in the fire, and multiple others either have family members with them or were displaced temporarily. Those types of things," Pelham said.

Within two weeks of the fires, the Rogue Credit Union Wildfire Relief Fund raised $1 million. Since then, it's distributed $1.15 million, including $100,000 each to the United Way and La Clinica. The Phoenix Talent School District received a $150,000 grant to distribute laptops to affected students.

Pelham said credit unions in nearby states have offered assistance and donations have come in from as far away as Italy.

"My heart is warmed by the way people have come together to help each other out," he said. "This is when we realize how much we rely on each other and how much we need each other."

Rogue Credit Union also is offering loan extensions and mortgage deferments to its members during this challenging time.

Pelham said thousands of homes in southern Oregon were lost.

"This was affordable housing, impacting marginalized communities, impacting a lot of our Hispanic community and so on," he said. "So we really need to pull together and help folks in a way that helps our community remain vibrant and strong - not only today but tomorrow and in the future."

Pelham said recovery in the region will take years, and there are still more than $1 million in grant requests. Folks can donate to the relief at roguecu.org.


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Researchers at Colorado State University have been able to link the economic stress experienced by 78% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, to behavior that is bad for workers and company bottom lines.

Keaton Fletcher, assistant professor of industrial organizational psychology at Colorado State University and the report's co-author, said people who supervise other workers, at all management levels, are unleashing their economic frustrations on their direct reports.

"When they feel financially stressed, they are more likely to be abusive, berating or belittling, demeaning, sometimes yelling or cursing at subordinates," Fletcher outlined.

The findings, published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, showed financial stress is experienced by bosses regardless of their salary levels, and men are more likely than women to be abusive toward subordinates. The research was done in collaboration with the Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico.

When bosses cannot pay their bills, Fletcher explained they feel like they are not in control of their lives. Bullying a subordinate is one way to try and regain a sense of personal agency. Gender expectations may also play a role. Fletcher pointed out women are more likely to be punished socially for "aggressive" behavior than men.

"Both men and women feel this lack of control in response to financial stress," Fletcher observed. "The data show that men are more likely to engage in those abusive behaviors when they have this feeling of a lack of control."

Companies tolerating abusive bosses are vulnerable to costly lawsuits and Fletcher added even workers who do not report abuse or sue can hurt a company's bottom line. They are more likely to show up late for work, be less productive, steal or talk badly about the company to other people.

"They are also more likely to quit," Fletcher stressed. "It is so expensive to replace employees. Pretty much across the board, having abusive supervisors just is financially costly to organizations."

Advocates for paid family leave in Michigan are urging lawmakers to pass the Michigan Family Leave Optimal Coverage before the 2024 legislative session ends.

Introduced last year, the measure aims to create a 15-week paid family and medical leave program.

Danielle Atkinson, founder and national executive director of the advocacy organization Mothering Justice, a nonprofit empowering mothers of color to drive family policy change, outlined key points her group has presented to lawmakers at a virtual news conference hosted by the Michigan League for Public Policy.

"This is the issue that we see again and again presented by new moms, people who are cancer survivors, and people who are saying goodbye at the end of life to their loved ones, that they can't afford it," Atkinson pointed out. "That they're making choices between loving and making a living."

According to a report from Michigan's Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, 71% of Michiganders are in favor of the bill. This year's legislative session ends December 19th.

One state labor department report said if Michigan adopted the strongest plan, a worker earning the median wage of around $47,000 a year would pay about $180 a year and someone making minimum wage would pay about $80 a year, as payroll deductions for their leave.

Atkinson believes the Nov. 5 election clearly demonstrated the people's voices were heard.

"We know that in this last election, people voted with their financial restraints and interests at heart," Atkinson observed. "We know this policy is overwhelmingly popular, because it's overwhelmingly needed."

Thirteen states and Washington, D.C., have already passed paid leave policies, including New York and California.


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Almost 1,000 University of Michigan Health-Sparrow nurses and other health-care professionals, as well as union supporters, rallied outside the hospital in Lansing this week. The picket comes amid growing concerns over expired contracts.

They've been negotiating for better wages and benefits as well as safe staffing levels. As University of Michigan Health invests nearly $130 million in new buildings, the picketers say a strong contract is needed to recruit and keep skilled staff.

Emergency-room nurse Jen Ackley said one of the biggest issues is prioritizing which patients to see first when many need attention.

"And then, you're constantly revisiting those choices in your mind - not only during that shift, but afterwards," she said. "Did I make the right choices? Did I prioritize my care in the right way? Did any decision that I made, or didn't make, have a negative outcome for a patient?"

University of Michigan Health has not yet publicly responded to the picketers. However, it confirmed the construction of a $32 million health-care facility near Grand Ledge, in addition to plans for a $97 million psychiatric hospital in Lansing.

Ackley said inadequate staffing and what the union sees as unfair wages have led to what she called "moral injury" - a daily erosion of ethics and integrity at work. She said it's become an unsustainable situation for frontline health-care workers.

"And the hospitals like to say that there's a nursing shortage - that, 'We've tried the best we can but we just cannot staff' - and that's not the case," she said. "There's no shortage of nurses. There's a shortage of nurses that can tolerate this type of moral injury."

The picket was not a work stoppage. The nurses and other staff members participated during their off-work hours. The union represents about 2,000 nurses and health-care professionals working at the hospital.


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