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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2006)
Korean War Veterans organization is looking for new members. The group meets the 4th Tuesday each month (July 27), at noon at Milwaukie Elks Lodge, 13121 SE McLoughlin Blvd. For more information, call: Max Loucks at 503-286-1464 Gradine Storms Real Estate Broker E-Mail: gstorms@equitygroup.com www.equitygroup.com/gstorms 7886 SE 13th Ave. Portland, Oregon 97202 Branch: 503-233-8883 Direct: 503-495-4932 Each Office Independently Owned and Operated T HE M ARCO C ONSULTING G ROUP T HE M ARCO C ONSULTING G ROUP INVESTMENT CONSULTANTS TO MULTI - EMPLOYER BENEFIT FUNDS P LEASE CALL J ASON Z ENK IN T ACOMA , WA AT (253) 759-6768 W EST C OAST O FFICE M IDWEST O FFICE E AST C OAST O FFICE 2912 N ORTH 26 TH S TREET T ACOMA , WA 98407 P: 253-759-6768 F: 312-575-9840 550 W EST W ASHINGTON B LVD . N INTH F LOOR C HICAGO , IL 60661 P: 312 575-9000 F: 312 575-9840 1220 A DAMS S TREET F IRST F LOOR B OSTON , MA 02124 P: 617 298-0967 F: 617 298-0966 Union-backed political party wins official ballot status in Oregon As of June 27, Oregon has a new mi- nor political party. The Oregon Work- ing Families Party, brought to life by eight labor organizations and several al- lied community groups, is meant to steer politics back to breadbasket issues. Supporters turned in about 28,000 signatures in mid-June, and on June 28. Oregon Secretary of State Bill Brad- bury determined they’d exceeded the 18,908 signatures required to earn mi- nor party ballot status. That means the Oregon Working Families Party can run its own candi- dates — in statewide and legislative races — as early as the November 2006 election. But it’s unlikely to do so this year. The party’s game plan was never to be a “spoiler,” running candidates that might siphon votes from “lesser-of-two-evils” candidates and helping elect the greater. Instead, Working Families has been wedded from the get-go to bringing “fu- sion voting” to Oregon, either in the Legislature or by ballot measure. Under fusion voting, parties can use their bal- lot line to endorse other parties’ candi- dates. For example, voters who agree with the Working Families platform could vote for Democrat or Republican candidates endorsed by the party — on the Working Families ballot line. If votes on the Working Families ballot line are greater than the margin of vic- tory, and help elect a candidate, the vic- tor would have to remember working families while in office. Or so the think- ing goes. Fusion voting used to be the norm everywhere. It remains the law in New York and several other states. The Oregon Working Families Party is modeled on a union-backed New York party of the same name. Union leaders in the state of Wash- ington are also trying to form a Working Families party, and are working to get fusion voting by ballot initiative in the November 2007 election. Oregon supporters have already filed such a ballot measure, which is ap- proved to circulate, but they plan first to try to persuade the 2007 Oregon Legis- lature to restore fusion voting. If legis- lators fail to do so, the Oregon Working Families Party would likely take it to voters in 2008. While the Oregon Working Families Party won’t run its own candidates this year, it may end up mobilizing support for candidates. Who and what to support, as well as the new party’s structure, leadership, platform and priorities, will be deter- mined at a founding convention in Au- gust. Up to now, the effort has been led by Barbara Dudley, former assistant direc- tor for strategic campaigns at the na- tional AFL-CIO, and Tim Nesbitt, for- mer president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, with assistance from the New York party and a core of Oregon labor lead- ers. So far, organizations to have for- mally backed the effort include Ameri- can Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 75; Communications Workers of America Local 7901; the Lane County Labor Council; Teamsters Local 206; Operat- ing Engineers Local 701; International Longshore and Warehouse Union; Ore- gon Federation of Nurses and Health 7LUHG RI :RUNLQJ LQ 3$,1" 0RVW,QVXUDQFH 3ODQV$FFHSWHG 3 528'/< 6 (59,1* 3 257/$1' : 25.(56 ) 25 2 9(5 < ($56 PAGE 8 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS Professionals; and United Food & Commercial Workers Local 555; plus the Association of Community Organi- zations for Reform Now (ACORN), Oregon Fair Trade Coalition and Al- liance for Democracy. Union volunteers gathered many of the signatures needed to qualify, but the biggest share was collected by door-to- door canvassers who were already in the field working for ACORN and Working America, the AFL-CIO’s indi- vidual affiliate program. Sponsors of the Oregon Working Families Party say it will focus on a short list of pocketbook issues that af- fect the family budgets of all Oregoni- ans, including affordable health care, family wage jobs, better schools, wider access to community colleges, univer- sities and job training programs, and se- cure retirement benefits. Nesbitt said a statewide poll con- ducted in February found that 72 per- cent of Oregon voters find the idea of a Working Famlies Party appealing, while 20 percent find it unappealing. “Our issues have broad appeal,” Nesbitt said, “and the major parties would be wise to work with us to solve the problems that are squeezing family budgets.” Quarry 8” Safety toe or reg. Gortex/Vibram. Black Try a pair on, you’ll like them. Tough boots for the Northwest. AL’S SHOES 5811 SE 82nd, Portland 503-771-2130 Mon-Fri 10-7:30 Sat 10-5:30 Sun 12-6 %HHVRQ &KLURSUDFWLF KHOSVEULQJWKH UHOLHI\RXQHHG 7UHDWPHQWIRUSDLQGXHWR RYHUXVHDQGUHSHWLWLYHPRWLRQ &KLURSUDFWLFDGMXVWPHQWV 7UHDWPHQWIRUDFFLGHQWDQG VSRUWVUHODWHGLQMXULHV 5HKDELOLWDWLRQH[HUFLVHV 7KHUDSHXWLFPDVVDJH ,QWHUQDOGLDJQRVLVDQGWUHDWPHQW /DEWHVWVDQG[UD\V 'U'DQ%HHVRQ&KLURSUDFWRU 6(7KLUWHHQWK$YHLQ6HOOZRRG &$// JULY 7, 2006
