Northwest labor press., April 06, 2007, Page 3, Image 3

Carpenters will go high-tech as they prepare
for contract talks with contractors, drywallers
The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Car-
penters has a new game plan for contract talks that
begin later this month.
Their campaign — “Contract 2007: Taking Care
of Business” — will go all out to mobilize members
at two massive unity rallies and recruit hundreds of
worksite “captains.” They plan to employ tech-
savvy methods to keep members up to date as talks
progress.
The Seattle-headquartered Pacific Northwest Re-
gional Council of Carpenters — which represents
Motorcycle Poker Run
to raise funds for
Doernbecher Hospital
Tickets are on sale to win a new Harley-
Davidson motorcycle and raise funds for Doern-
becher Children’s Hospital in Portland.
The fifth annual Motorcycle Poker Run and
Chili Cook-Off will be held Saturday, June 9, in
Northeast Portland. The event is sponsored by
“Unions for Kids,” a non-profit organization
comprised of members of various unions in Port-
land and Southwest Washington.
Tickets to win the motorcycle — a 2007 suede
blue and black Dyna Low-Rider FXDL — are
$10 each. Only 3,500 tickets will be sold.
For more information, go to www.unions-
forkids.org or call Lee Duncan at 503-260-5905.
23,500 construction workers in Oregon, Washington,
Idaho, Montana and Wyoming — has three agree-
ments set to expire May 31 that cover close to
11,000 members: drywall hangers in Oregon and
Western Washington, and general construction car-
penters in Western Washington.
In the past, says Regional Council spokesperson
Eric Franklin, the union waited for members to at-
tend regular local meetings. As with most unions,
only a tiny fraction of the membership showed up.
This year they want to demonstrate the size and
power of the entire membership — and then take the
union to the members at the worksites.
The campaign kicks off with a pair of rallies:
Sunday, April 15, at the Oregon Convention Center
in Portland, and Sunday, April 22, at the Tacoma
Dome. Carpenters members, who are typically dis-
persed across far-flung job sites, will be able to see
just how big the union is.
“We want to develop a sense of pride and solidar-
ity,” said union negotiator Ed Triezenberg, “so that
when we talk to the contractors, they know the mem-
bers will stand behind the bargaining team.”
To publicize the rallies, the union has sent out 13
pieces of direct mail in the style of a political cam-
paign, and will follow up with “robo-dial” reminders
to 20,000 members.
Organizers expect 3,000 to 5,000 people in Port-
land and 5,000 to 8,000 in Tacoma. Some members
from Idaho will be coming by charter bus, and mem-
bers from Montana and Wyoming will carpool and
be put up in local hotels by the union. To attract
members, the union will give away a brand-new
Chevy pickup and several flat-screen televisions.
The rallies are open to union construction work-
ers and their families, not just Carpenters, and free
hot dogs, chips and soda are on offer. Every attendee
will be eligible to win the televisions, but only Car-
penters members can win the truck. On both dates,
doors open at noon and the rallies begin at 2 p.m.
After that, a core of “contract captains” will be
entrusted to keep members up to date where they
work. The Regional Council sent business reps out to
worksites to find out who were the most respected
members on the job — and recruit them to be the
contract captains. They hoped to get 300. Over 700
signed up.
“What we found is that people were waiting to be
asked,” Franklin said.
Apparently, members want to be kept in the loop
as bargaining takes place. About 3,600 have signed
up for e-mail updates via the campaign Web site,
www.contract2007.org.
And with the cell phone now an essential part of a
carpenter’s tool kit, the union plans to poll and up-
date members using the text message feature.
Four years ago, Carpenters in Western Washing-
ton walked off the job in a nine-day strike after bar-
gaining broke down over the issue of health care
coverage. This year, Triezenberg expects negotia-
tions to proceed smoothly with the employer
groups.
“We have a philosophy that our contractors are
our business partners,” Triezenberg said. And busi-
ness right now is good, with employment levels high
and construction in a continued boom.
!
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I
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The time to sign up for our new
enhanced online banking is now.
The website has increased security
features with multiple sign-on
verification and personal options
that allow you to choose your
own settings.
On April 15th, 2007 the old
internet banking website will
be deleted.
To register your account and take
advantage of all of the increased
options please visit us at
ibewuwfcu.com and click on the
New Internet Banking link.
PO Box 16877
9955 SE Washington St
Portland, Oregon 97292
www.ibewuwfcu.com
Electricians, Carpenters, Laborers, Glaziers, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofer, Asbestos Workers, Family, Millwrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers
Electricians, Carpenters, Laborers, Glaziers, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofer, Asbestos Workers, Family, Millwrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers
Carpenters, Electricians, Laborers, Glaziers, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofers, Asbestos Workers, Family, Millwrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers
Glaziers, Carpenters, Laborers, Electricians, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofers, Asbestos Workers, Family, Millwrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers
APRIL 6, 2007
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Forum will debut
ballot measures to
Portland’s Charter
Supporters and opponents of ballot
measures to amend the City of Port-
land Charter will appear in a forum
moderated by the League of Women
Voters of Portland on Tuesday, April
10, at 7 p.m. in the Board Room of the
Multnomah Building, 501 SE
Hawthorne, Portland. The event is free,
and the public is invited to attend.
In November 2005, the City Coun-
cil assembled a citizen Charter Review
Commission to review Portland’s City
Charter. The Commission’s recom-
mendations will be on the ballot in the
May 15 Special Election in four ballot
measures proposing changes to the
City Charter in the following areas:
Measure 26-89 — implementation of
periodic Charter review; Measure 26-
90 — Portland’s Civil Service system;
Measure 26-91— Portland’s form of
city government from a commission to
a strong mayor; and Measure 26-92 —
the Portland Development Commis-
sion and its relationship to the city.
Labor unions are opposing all but
the PDC measure, which they support.
Two speakers for each measure will
present arguments in favor of and
against the measure. Speakers include
Bob Ball and David Kelleher, mem-
bers of the Charter Review Commis-
sion; Chris Smith, co-chair of the
Committee for Accountable City Gov-
ernment; City Commissioner Randy
Leonard; Rob Wheaton of Laborers
Local 483; Mark Rosenbaum, PDC
Board chair; and Amanda Fritz, a
neighborhood activist.
Following their presentation, the au-
dience will be able to submit questions.
For more information, call the Port-
land League office at 503-228-1675.
Diana Stewart,
labor attorney,
named as judge
Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski
has appointed longtime labor and fam-
ily law attorney Diana Stuart to a vacant
judge position on the Multnomah
County Circuit Court.
Stuart was a partner in the Goldberg,
Mechanic, Stuart, Gibson law firm,
which represented workers and labor
unions. The firm dissolved at the end of
2006 and the partners went separate
ways.
Stuart’s appointment means she’ll
have to find other attorneys to pick up
her active case load. The list includes
one long-running case in which Stuart
represented a Tri-Met bus driver who
was terminated under the employer’s
drug policy — not because she failed a
drug test but because she was unable to
provide a large enough urine sample.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757
has hoped to used the case to overturn
inhumane provisions of drug-testing
policies. The case is now before the
Oregon Court of Appeals.
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