Let me say this about that
...Spelling them out
(From Page 2)
IATSE — International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving
Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts.
IBEW — International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
ILWU — International Longshore and Warehouse Union. The Inlandboat-
men’s Union of the Pacific (IBU) is a division of the ILWU.
IUEC — International Union of Elevator Constructors.
IUOE — International Union of Operating Engineers.
IUPAT — International Union of Painters and Allied Trades.
LCLC — Lane County Labor Council, Eugene-Springfield area.
MEBA — Marine Engineers Beneficial Association.
MMP — International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots.
NALC — National Association of Letter Carriers.
NOLC — Northwest Oregon Labor Council, based in Portland.
ONA — Oregon Nurses Association.
OSBCTC — Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council.
OPEIU — Office and Professional Employees International Union.
SAG — Screen Actors Guild.
SIU — Seafarers International Union of North America.
SMWIA — Sheet Metal Workers International Association.
UA — United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing
and Pipefitting Industry of the U.S. and Canada.
UAW — United Auto Workers or the United Automobile, Aerospace & Agri-
cultural Implement Workers of America International Union.
USW — United Steelworkers, or United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber,
Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial & Service Workers International Union
WSLC — Washington State Labor Council of the AFL-CIO.
★★★
CTW — Change to Win, a labor federation started in 2005 by international
unions dissatisfied with the AFL-CIO. CTW’s members include:
IBT — International Brotherhood of Teamsters; affiliates include the Brother-
hood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) and Graphic Communications International
Union (GCIU).
LIUNA — Laborers International Union of North America.
SEIU — Service Employees International Union.
UBC — United Brotherhood of Carpenters; affiliates include the Association
of Western Pulp and Paper Workers (AWPPW) and the Carpenters Industrial
Council (CIC). Both organizations are based in Portland.
UFCW — United Food and Commercial Workers.
UFW — United Farm Workers.
UNITE HERE — Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees,
and Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees.
U.S. Supreme Court tackles Washington
State teachers’ case involving union dues
WASHINGTON D.C. — The U.S.
Supreme Court on Jan. 10 heard oral ar-
guments in a case involving the Wash-
ington Education Association (WEA)
— an affiliate of the National Education
Association (NEA) — and a state law
that restricts union expenditures in con-
nection with state elections.
The issue centers around non-
members who must pay agency fees for
the collective bargaining services the
union provides for all state teachers, but
who object to having their fees used for
political action. Each year, the union
notifies non-members in writing that
they have the right to opt out of political
action spending and receive a refund for
that part of their agency fees.
But with backing from the anti-
union National Right to Work Legal
Defense Foundation, a few nonunion-
member teachers filed suit, claiming a
1992 voter-approved state ballot meas-
ure required the union to acquire written
permission from each non-member —
called “opting in.”
In March 2006, the Washington
State Supreme Court ruled the “opt in”
provision of the state law was unconsti-
tutional and also wrote:
“There is no indication or argument
that WEA is compelling non-members
to support political activities or prevent-
ing non-members from asserting their
First Amendment rights.”
The National Right-To-Work Com-
mittee took the case to the U.S.
Supreme Court, arguing that the fee-
payers’ First Amendment right to free
speech was violated because they must
pay the money first and then ask for a
portion of it back later.
WEA attorney John West said its
right to speak — to lobby for legislation
on behalf of all 70,000 people it repre-
sents, including the 3,500 fee payers —
would be violated because its views
would be held hostage to those of the
non-member fee-payers.
The case is important for unions na-
tionwide. Agency fee-payers are work-
ers who are represented by unions, but
are not union members. The most re-
cent federal figures from 2005 show
there are 1.5 million agency fee-payers.
Currently, agency fee-payers pay the
equivalent of union dues to unions that
represent them. But unions, under the
U.S. Supreme Court’s previous Beck
decision, must give fee-payers the right
to “opt out” of paying for anything ex-
cept collective bargaining expenses. Af-
ter a request and calculations, the extra
money is returned.
The Washington state law that was
tossed out would deprive WEA, for ex-
ample, of between $26 and $70 per
month from each fee-payer who did not
“opt in.” Other unions nationwide
would lose millions of dollars each
year.
West told the justices that “there is a
rational basis for protecting the rights of
fee-payers.” He said the present sys-
tem, where they “opt out,” provides
that.
He argued that banning the union
from using the money, subject to the
“opt-out” provision for the fee payers,
shows the law “is content-discrimina-
tory” and thus violates the free speech
clause of the Bill of Rights.
The justices offered a mix of views
in their questioning, with Associate Jus-
tices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and
Anthony Kennedy appearing dubious to
the union cause and Ruth Bader Gins-
burg and Stephen Breyer supportive.
Apprenticeship
Opening
Resilient Floor & Decorative
Coverings Worker
Applicants must be at least 17
years old. Must apply in person
and have a copy of either a high
school diploma or GED.
Women and minorities are
encouraged to apply.
Applications will be accepted on
Feb. 6, Feb. 13, March 13
April 9, May 8, June 11, July 10,
Aug. 13, Sept. 11 and Oct. 16
between the hours of
9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 4 p.m.
at
Floor Covering Joint
Apprenticeship & Training Office
11105 NE Sandy Blvd.
Portland, Ore. 97220
For more info, call 503-282-5783
★★★
INDEPENDENT UNIONS include the Oregon School Employees Associa-
tion (OSEA); the Oregon Education Association (OEA); the Portland Police As-
sociation (PPA), and Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United (PCUN), is
the Spanish acronym for the Woodburn-based organization); and Society of Pro-
fessional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA).
★★★
THERE ARE SOME UNIONS whose names aren’t usually shortened by
abbreviations and acronyms but instead are referred to by shortened versions of
their names. Examples are the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Or-
namental and Reinforcing Iron Workers. The Labor Press identifies that union’s
Oregon locals as Iron Workers Local 29 and Iron Workers Shopmen’s Local 516.
Another is the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers. The
Oregon affiliates are Roofers Local 49 and Roofers Local 156. The International
Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers is referred to as
Asbestos Workers Local 36; the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron
Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers is known as Boilermakers Local
500; and the Operative Plasterers and Cement Masons International Association’s
Portland affiliates are Plasterers Local 82 and Cement Masons Local 555.
★★★
THE FOLLOWING aren’t unions, but they are mentioned often by the NW
Labor Press.
BOLI — Bureau of Labor and Industries, an Oregon governmental agency.
LERC — Labor Education and Research Center of the University of Oregon.
★★★
CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS can be made to this list by mailing
them to the NW Labor Press on the sending union’s letterhead.
JANUARY 19, 2007
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
PAGE 11