Inside
MEETING NOTICES
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Page 6
Volume 107
Number 24
December 15, 2006
Portland
PDC closer to setting
wage policy on private
construction projects
Saying it is committed to creating
more family-wage jobs in the city, the
Portland Development Commission’s
board of directors on Dec. 6 unani-
mously passed a resolution calling for a
construction wage policy on private
projects that it helps fund.
PDC is the quasi-independent de-
velopment arm of the City of Portland.
Since 2004 it has invested more than
$200 million in private and public con-
struction development projects, often-
times in the form of low-interest loans,
grants and on infrastructure.
For years, building trades union of-
ficials have argued that PDC-funded
projects should pay workers the “pre-
vailing wage” rate. PDC has balked,
claiming that private projects (other
than infrastructure) are exempt. PDC
sued the Oregon Bureau of Labor and
Industries (the agency that enforces the
law) earlier this year after BOLI deter-
mined that a renovation project in
Northeast Portland prevailed.
Under state and federal laws, work-
ers on public construction projects can’t
be paid less than the prevailing wage —
the standard rate for the area, as deter-
mined by an annual wage survey.
BOLI coordinates and enforces the
state survey and the U.S. Department
of Labor conducts and enforces a fed-
eral survey. The laws are meant to en-
sure that contractors compete based on
competence and efficiency, not based
on who pays workers the least.
PDC uses city tax dollars to spark
private development. It divvies up tens
of millions of dollars each year on proj-
ects both large (South Waterfront con-
dos) and small (the Tin Roof renova-
tion). Many of the projects are
multi-use — meaning part of the proj-
ect is for commercial use, part is for
residential, and part can even be for
parking — with financing coming from
various entities, including private in-
vestors, city, state and/or federal tax
dollars, and special low-income hous-
ing programs.
“Existing (state prevailing wage)
statutes don’t clearly address public-
(Turn to Page 5)
Gov. Kulongoski names two
union leaders to top posts
Former Oregon AFL-CIO president
Tim Nesbitt is leaving the House of La-
bor.
Nesbitt, 61, is one of two union lead-
ers Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski
is tapping to fill top positions in his sec-
ond-term administration. Chip Terhune,
assistant executive director of the Ore-
gon Education Association’s Center for
Public Affairs, will be the governor’s
new chief of staff. Nesbitt will be
deputy chief of staff, in charge of pol-
icy for education, health care, public
safety and natural resources.
The Nov. 29 announcement ended
a year of speculation about Nesbitt’s
next move. He took many people by
surprise in September 2005 when he re-
signed mid-term as president of the
Oregon AFL-CIO.
Over the next year, Nesbitt says he
had on-and-off discussions with leaders
of the national AFL-CIO, the Change to
Win labor federation, and Service Em-
ployees International Union (SEIU)
about going to work for them.
“For me personally the decision
came down to whether I should move
on to union work on a regional or na-
tional level or stay in Oregon and move
over to the governor’s staff,” Nesbitt
said. “What convinced me to stay is that
I realized my base of knowledge and
my relationships are all here in Oregon.”
Nesbitt has a national reputation as
a labor leader and political strategist,
and is credited as a major force in turn-
ing Oregon into a reliable “blue state.”
First, as executive director of SEIU’s
Oregon State Council, he strategized the
passage of several ballot measures that
(Turn to Page 13)
Holiday tradition at The Elsinore
Santa Claus (played above by Jack Rusen
of Albany Steelworkers Local 6163) visits
with a child at The Elsinore Theatre in
Salem Dec. 2 during a Holiday Party
sponsored by the Marion-Polk-Yamhill
Counties Labor Council. More than 500
kids and parents met Santa, sang holiday
songs with the Patrick Lamb Band
(right), and watched a movie. After-
wards, everyone received a goody bag.
The labor council funds the annual event
— now in its 66th year — through
donations from more than 14 union
affiliates and unionized businesses in the
community.
(Photo left) Mrs. Claus (played by Mrs. Jack Rusen) gives a
hug to Sally Fernandez of Stayton, Oregon. Fernandez has
been coming to the annual Holiday Party for the past 40 years.
“I came as a child, I brought my children, and now I bring my
grandchildren. It’s a great event,” she said.