A number of months ago warehouse employees working at the Columbia Sportswear distribution center in Portland, Oregon, requested that Teamsters Local 162 help them organize a Union for collective bargaining.  There are over 400 warehouse employees working at Columbia's Portland distribution center.  

Columbia Sportswear is a Portland institution in the outdoor apparel industry.  While Columbia has maintained an image in the community of being a good corporate citizen its warehouse employees tell a different story about what they feel are subpar wages, hours and working conditions.  

Columbia's workers have created a social media presence to share their concerns on Facebook under the group  "Tougher Together".  A video posted by the group shows warehouse employees requesting that management at Columbia respect their legal right to organize a Union.  Workers took this action after being subjected to captive audience meetings with Union busting consultants hired by Columbia.  

Local 162 looks forward to continue working with these brave employees as they move forward with their efforts to have a voice on the job.  

The Teamsters Union represents thousands of workers in the state of Oregon in the warehouse and distribution industry, and we will work hard to negotiate a great contract for these workers that we can all be proud of, and establish a good working relationship with Columbia Sportswear as a Teamster represented employer.