Portland Jobs with Justice

The Portland Jobs with Justice Executive Board Releases the following statement calling for an end to the unaccountable violence unleashed by ICE and federal agents. Through the collective power of labor and community united, we can shut them down and build justice for our communities.

THEY ARE KILLING US. WE MUST SHUT THEM DOWN.

Alex Pretti should be checking patients’ vitals today. Renee Good should be hugging her children. Keith Porter, Jr. should be welcoming the new year. Instead, they are dead—murdered by an agency that operates without accountability on American soil.

Alex Pretti is the ninth person killed by ICE operations this year alone. He joins a list of martyrs that grows by the hour: Renee Good, Parady La, Heber Sanchez Dominguez, Victor Manuel Diaz, Luis Beltran Yanez Cruz, Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, Geraldo Lunas Campos, and Keith Porter, Jr.

Last year, 2025, was the deadliest year in ICE’s history. 31 people died in ICE cages. Another 22 died in the hands of CBP. These are not just statistics. Each of these 53 people belonged to a family and a community. They brought joy to the lives of those around them, and their lives were stolen by a government that views them as disposable.

We are past the time for “concern.” We are in a state of emergency, and we must use our collective rage to mobilize.

Make no mistake: ICE is functioning exactly as it was designed. Established in the shadow of 9/11, it systematized the targeting of Muslim and immigrant communities, drawing on a long history of discriminatory policing in this country. It is an agency fundamentally rooted in exclusion, now weaponized by an administration that seeks to criminalize our neighbors for simply existing.

To our friends in the labor movement and our allies across the country: Immigrants are our union members, our coworkers and our neighbors. As organizations dedicated to the uplift of working people, together we must build the collective power to defend each other.  Words of condemnation are a necessary start, but we have the collective strength to do so much more. Together, we have the ability to lay down our tools and disrupt the logistics that keep this machinery running. We are not powerless observers; workers are the engine of this country. Let us use that strength to protect our communities when they need us most.

The bare minimum is the immediate abolition of ICE and an end to Department of Homeland Security funding. But until that happens, we are done asking politely. We are done negotiating with kidnappers and murderers.

We are united and we are mobilizing.

ICE OUT NOW.

Are you angry about rising authoritarianism? Concerned about ICE assaults on your neighborhood? Ready to move beyond rallies and into real organizing?

Join us for our 1st annual Solidarity School – a free day of learning, connection, and strategic action.

Through hands-on workshops led by experienced organizers and community leaders, we’ll explore:

• Building lasting power in our communities
• Strengthening relationships across movements and neighborhoods
• Identifying and confronting the systems and actors driving authoritarianism
• Developing concrete strategies for the fights ahead

You’ll leave with practical tools, new connections, and concrete strategies to build power and fight back.

What’s Included:

• Multiple workshop tracks (full schedule coming soon)
• Lunch provided
• Free childcare available
• Spanish language interpretation

Saturday, January 24th from 10am – 5pm
Space is limited – Click here to secure your spot!

We are bringing back our Workers’ Rights Board to hear from Labcorp workers, providers, and experts about how conditions inside this for-profit lab are impacting patient care — and why these workers are fighting for their first contract. Join us Thursday, Dec 11 at 6pm! RSVP Here.

Background: Labcorp is a for-profit corporation that buys and runs hospital labs. They understaff them and underpay their employees with negative consequences for patient care. This is happening at multiple hospitals around Portland where Labcorp continues to rebuff efforts by the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Care Professionals to improve conditions.

Concerned about this situation, the JWJ Workers’ Rights Board invites the community to a hearing on conditions at Labcorp facilities and ways to encourage productive negotiations between the union and Labcorp representatives. The panel will hear testimony from medical experts, lab workers, patients, and union representatives.

Thursday, December 11th from 6 – 8pm
Portland State University – Smith Student Union (1825 SW Broadway Rm 327/8
RSVP Here

Portland Rising is excited to invite you to a FREE showing of:

“Partners, How Starbucks Baristas Started a Labor Revolution”

Sunday, November 2, 3-5 pm

5^th Avenue Cinema

510 SW Hall Street, Portland, Oregon

The film, produced by Working Films, a national nonprofit organization based in North Carolina, tells the story of how a group of baristas in Buffalo, New York came together to form a labor union and the elaborate and illegal campaign Starbucks management waged against them.  Featuring on-the-ground footage from workers and organizers, Partners takes us behind the scenes of the union campaign.

The film will be followed by a panel discussion and Q/A session with Chris Sessions, the film maker, and two Portland-area Starbucks Workers United union members.

The event offers a chance for community members to learn more about the history of the union, local organizing efforts, and the status of ongoing contract negotiations.  Come learn about the Starbucks struggle and how you can support it!

On the current moment, the Portland Jobs with Justice Executive Board issues the following statement:

After President Donald Trump publicly ordered National Guard troops to suppress political activity in Portland, Portland Jobs With Justice joined activists from across the city in rallying against state violence at the local ICE facility on the South Waterfront. Although protesters remained nonviolent, federal officers and police in military fatigues physically attacked the crowd, spraying chemical agents directly into the eyes of Portland Jobs With Justice Executive Director Tyler Fellini.

“Our sister organizations, D.C. JwJ and Chicago JwJ were the first to bear the brunt of the federal crackdown and now Portland finds itself in the crosshairs,” says Fellini, who notes that when he saw a member of the Portland Association of Teachers being assaulted he stepped in to support him before being sprayed with pepper spray himself.

Fellini was joined by members and leaders from across Portland Jobs With Justice’s coalition, including major education, healthcare, and public employee unions. This act of violence underscores why Portland Jobs With Justice remains steadfast in rejecting calls to deploy National Guard troops in our city, why we support the City initiating a land use process to reconsider the permit authorizing ICE’s facilities, and why we ultimately demand the abolition of ICE and the violent deportations, detentions, and disappearances it carries out. The use of chemical agents is one more reason why residents—especially those living near the ICE facility—are calling on the city to revoke the permit, given the grave public health risks created by ICE’s presence.

We will continue to stand with unions and community organizations across Portland to build a movement of direct opposition to any federal incursion into our city. We demand that officials hold federal institutions and local police units accountable for their use of force and brutality. Portland Jobs With Justice commits to sponsoring coalition actions aimed at ending ICE arrests and preventing the use of federal military troops in our streets. We believe this is one of the most urgent labor issues of our time, as workers and organizers throughout our community face spurious arrests and violent repression while the Trump administration seeks to use these threats to suppress collective action to build a just and equitable society where workers and communities thrive.

Portland Jobs with Justice’s 33rd Annual Dinner
Thursday, September 25, 2025 from 6:30 – 8:30pm
World Forestry Center Miller Hall
4033 SW Canyon Rd., Portland OR 97221
TICKETS: bit.ly/2025-dinner
Or click banner below!

We are pleased to announce that we’ll be joined by Ms. Marcia Howard, president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, who will be giving the keynote address. Marcia played a key leadership role in MFT’s historic 2022 strike, which led to substantial wage increases for MPS’s classified staff and the largest teacher pay raise this century. Her activism also extends beyond the classroom and picket line. For five years, Marcia Howard and a group of neighbors have been the chief stewards of George Floyd Square. Her experiences as a Black woman from the south, as an educator, and as a community organizer make her voice a powerful one in the labor movement. You won’t want to miss this!

We appreciate our member organizations and other sponsors already pledging support:

Join us for an evening of celebration, reflection, and recommitment as we honor victories from across our movement and build momentum for the fights ahead!