PORTLAND, Ore. - Hospital workers in Portland are calling for action and holding vigils today to mark more than a year of struggle against COVID-19.

Members of the Oregon Nurses Association and SEIU Local 49 also want Legacy Health to finish negotiating contracts with their members. ONA and Local 49 are to hold a vigil this evening to honor those who lost their lives during the pandemic.

Christine Allen, a nurse at the Legacy Unity Center for Behavioral Health and vice-chair of ONA's bargaining team, said nurses feel their concerns aren't heard or suggestions aren't being incorporated in the workplace.

"There was instances around COVID-related things where that continued to happen between the nursing staff and Legacy leadership," she said. "So, it's a continuation of the ongoing problem, which is why we organized in the first place - to ensure that our voices are heard."

About 200 Oregon Nurses Association members at Legacy have been bargaining with management on an initial contract for more than a year. Allen noted that the changes due to COVID-19, such as virtual meetings rather than in-person, have prolonged the bargaining process.

Spokesperson Brian Terrett said Legacy Health has been "working collaboratively with union leadership to ensure employees are competitively and fairly compensated and have a safe work environment."

In addition to the vigil, SEIU Local 49 is holding an information picket for its 800 Legacy Emanuel Medical Center members in negotiations for their new contract for about seven months.

Sunita Patel cleans rooms on the environmental services team at Legacy Emanuel, where she's worked for 18 years. She said workers haven't received hazard pay during the pandemic, and she and her colleagues had their daily work shifts cut to seven-and-a-half hours "but we're doing the work of maybe 12 hours.

"I have 26 rooms in my unit, which is almost full every day - like there's overflow today, too," she said."We can't say to patients, 'Hey we can't clean your room.'"

A Legacy Health spokesman said the company "respects SEIU Local 49's right to engage in protected union activity."

Patel said two crucial parts of their contract are making sure health care is affordable and that workers receive pay raises.

The information picket will begin at 11 a.m. at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center. The candlelight vigil will begin at 6 p.m. at the Unity Center for Behavioral Health.

United Auto Workers' contract negotiations kick off today with Volkswagen at its Chattanooga plant, covering over 4,000 UAW members.

The union says its goal is to achieve an initial agreement that raises standards in wages, benefits and protections to align with those in other unionized plants.

Yolanda Peoples, a member of the UAW bargaining team, said they conducted a survey to prioritize the most pressing issues for changes or improvement.

"The highest concerns was the health and safety. A lot of employees were concerned about the high rate of injuries that we've had inside the plant that weren't being addressed. Really, pretty much was just swept under the table and it wasn't being acknowledged," she explained.

Peoples noted the UAW bargaining team of 20 elected representatives has prepared a "demand book" with some 800 items to present to Volkswagen as the basis for their negotiations. They'll work toward compromises and comprehensive policies that employees and management can agree on.

Peoples said the cost of healthcare insurance was another high point in the survey, which she describes as unaffordable for many workers.

"A lot of the employees have families, and they've taken out the family health care, and the price that we have to pay is extremely high. This year, the prices have gone up in the insurance plans that we have, and a lot of the employees have concerns about that - not only the high deductible, also the cost of the medications," she continued.

She added the policy changes resulted in some doctors being excluded from coverage, forcing patients to switch healthcare providers.

Earlier this year, Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga made history by unionizing, a first for Southern autoworkers outside the 'Big Three' manufacturers.

September is Workforce Development Month and North Dakota offices managing energy assistance programs hope people in need of a fresh career start will give weatherization work some thought.

Community Action Agencies help low-income individuals sign up for aid to keep their heating and cooling bills lower. These offices also have teams specializing in weatherization, with free repairs and upgrades for eligible households, so their homes are safe and healthy and energy systems run more efficiently.

Willy Soderholm, executive director of the Community Action Partnership-Minot Region, said his crews have veteran leadership but there are still turnover issues with newer staff.

"They're working underneath the trailer-house bellies," Soderholm pointed out. "They're working up in the attics and things like that. And plus, you know, they're working out in the cold."

Despite the challenging work, Soderholm noted those who make it through a full season can realize the stability and rewarding mission aligned with the jobs. He explained there are benefits, competitive pay and training available. His region has a waiting list of more than 40 homes in need of weatherization work and a complete staff could help whittle down the number.

Recent federal policies have boosted weatherization funding, with office leaders noting job availability should not be as unpredictable in the coming years. Beyond charting a new career path, Soderholm emphasized joining one of the teams means you are helping people in your community meet basic needs.

"We're really looking for somebody that has compassion to work with those in need and understand the struggles that are going on out there," Soderholm explained.

Soderholm added his agency's longtime staff is nearing retirement age, which should create pressure and opportunities for others to advance their careers. Similar workforce challenges are reported by other offices around the country.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, such programs have led to nearly 275 jobs created or retained in North Dakota since 2015.

A new report showed Connecticut's post-pandemic job growth lags behind the rest of the nation.

The State of Working Connecticut report found personal income, gross domestic product and job growth are all falling behind the U.S. averages. Though low-wage workers saw significant wage growth to help with their cost of living, post-pandemic inflation has eroded the gains.

Patrick O'Brien, research and policy director at Connecticut Voices for Children and the report's author, said one reason for the state's slow job growth is its overall unaffordability.

"You need to make the state more affordable for families to stay here and grow here and for also some families to move here," O'Brien urged. "You could think about, you know, addressing affordable housing, affordable child care, a child tax credit. Those types of things that make it more affordable for families to live in the state."

Slower economic growth can also be attributed to the lagging recovery of public-sector jobs, which plummeted around the start of the pandemic. But nationwide, such jobs returned to pre-pandemic levels around mid-2022. Connecticut is close to the national average but has not reached pre-pandemic levels. The report showed building up the public-sector workforce could also significantly reduce wage inequality.

The report recommended ending the subminimum wage, limiting noncompete agreements and improving early childhood education to bolster Connecticut's economy. Bringing the changes to fruition will not be easy. O'Brien noted budget controls could prevent such policies from being enacted.

"With the fiscal controls and our tight budget, it's hard to get funding to increase individual programs," O'Brien pointed out. "Because there's a spending cap, that money tends to have to come from somewhere else."

He added the state has tried to reduce government spending by not filling public-sector jobs. But it can negatively affect the state budget, because it slows personal income growth and income tax collection. O'Brien thinks if nothing is done, Connecticut will remain on the same trajectory of repressed economic growth.