On Monday, May 2nd, a group of University of California graduate students began a sit-in at their own union hall, UAW Local 2865.  The students are demanding the completion of an interrupted vote count in a closely contested race between two slates for union leadership.  Since Saturday night when the vote count was halted, the insurgent caucus has been using web cams to monitor the boxes of still uncounted ballots.  Late Monday night, KBOO spoke with Jessica Taal, a candidate for Head Steward at UC Davis and a member of the Academic Workers for a Democratic Union caucus, which is challenging the incumbent United for Social and Economic Justice caucus.

Two custodians at Beaverton public schools, Mason Young and Steve Specht, talk with host Jamie Partridge about their struggle to prevent possible  layoffs or pay cuts of 30% to 50%  for over a hundred of their fellow custodians, members of the Oregon School Employees Association, chapter 48.

Negotiating a collective bargaining agreement is tough.  Negotiating during hard economic times is even tougher. Despite the down economy, workers across the state -- including 15,000 Portland workers in bargaining right now -- are staying on the offense to fight for jobs, fairness and the respect we all deserve. We speak with Toby Green of Laborers Local 483, Al Shropshire, a welder and member of the United Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters, and Apprentices, and Jerry Kohler, a Mt. Hood Community College faculty member and member of Oregon Education Association about their contract struggles, pickets and strikes, and why they are uniting in the Portland Rising campaign this summer.