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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2007)
Union groups to host Labor Summit in Portland April 16 to explore job outlook A “Workforce Development Labor Summit” for the Portland-Van- couver region will be held Monday, April 16, from 9 a.m. to noon at the NECA-IBEW Training Center, 16021 NE Airport Way, Portland. The event, co-sponsored by the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, Labor’s Community Service Agency and regional Workforce Devel- opment Boards, is geared toward union leaders, apprenticeship coor- dinators, regional workforce board members, policymakers and em- ployers to gain an understanding of strategies being designed as they relate to publicly-funded workforce and economic development. The keynote speaker will be Allen Alley, deputy chief of staff to Gov. Ted Kulongoski. Panels comprised of key players in the manu- facturing sector will talk about labor markets and economic outlooks. The summit is free of charge. To register, call 503-231-4962. California Nurses Association to affiliate with national AFL-CIO OAKLAND, Calif. (PAI) — The Oakland-based California Nurses As- sociation (CNA) and its affiliated Na- tional Nurses Organizing Committee, a 75,000-member union concentrated in California, Maine and Chicago, will receive a charter to join the AFL-CIO, the federation’s Executive Council de- cided on March 8. The charter will take effect May 1 after several details have been worked out, notably agreement by CNA to obey the federation constitution and Circuit City axes 3,400 top-paid hourly workers Tel: 503-645-5400 www.wademccarthy.com K ramers/metro mailing service 3201 N.W. YEON PORTLAND, OREGON 97210 (503) 274-1638 FAX (503) 227-1245 THE ONLY UNION MAILER IN OREGON Visit our Web site at www.kramersmailing.com MEMBERS OF TEAMSTERS LOCAL 223 — Eric Brending, Owner — Circuit City Stores Inc., the second- largest U.S. electronics retailer after Best Buy Co., fired 3,400 of its highest- paid hourly workers and will hire re- placements willing to work for less, re- ported Bloomberg.com. The company said it’s eliminating jobs that paid “well above” market rates. Those who were fired can apply for their jobs at the lower pay, company spokesman Bill Cimino told Bloomberg.com. Circuit City, based in Richmond, Virginia, pays about $10 to $11 an hour, on average, said Rick Weinhart, an ana- lyst with BMO Capital Markets Corp. in New York. Entry level pay probably is close to $8 for inexperienced work- ers, he said. Meanwhile, Circuit City CEO Philip Schoonover was paid $8.52 million in fiscal 2006, including a salary of $975,000. Best Buy CEO Brad Ander- son received $3.85 million, including a $1.17 million salary. Westmoreland's Union Manor Kirkland Union Manors 6404 SE 23rd Avenue Portland, Oregon 97202 3530 SE 84th Avenue Portland, OR 97266 503•233•5671 503•777•8101 Marshall Union Manor 2020 NW Northrup Portland, Oregon 97209 503•225•0677 • Planned Events, Clubs, and Activities • Ideal Locations offer easy access to Bus Lines, Shopping, and Entertainment PAGE 4 Manors Make the Difference • Studio and One-Bedroom Apartments • Affordable Rent includes Utilities (except phone and cable) www.theunionmanors.org TDD 503•771•0912 Kirkland Union Plaza 1414 Kauffman Avenue Vancouver, WA 98660 360•694•4314 • No Costly Buy-In or Application Fees • Federal Rent Subsidies Available (Must Qualify) NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS agree to “no-raiding” conditions that were set to satisfy the federation’s cur- rent registered nurses affiliate, the United American Nurses. The delay will also give United American Nurses time to enact “inter- nal actions” it says it may need to pro- tect itself. The union objected to granting an immediate charter for the California group. CNA will join other AFL-CIO unions representing nurses around the country, including the American Fed- eration of State, County and Municipal Employees, Communications Workers of America, the Steelworkers, and the American Federation of Teachers, who told the AFL-CIO panel considering the application that they did not object to bring the union on board. But the United American Nurses initially did object after the California group raided its unit at Chicago’s Stroger (Cook County General) Hos- pital several years ago. Thus the condi- tions were set. CNA Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro welcomed the federation’s decision, just two days after the AFL- CIO, in a major policy break, decided to campaign for “Medicare for all,” ex- panding Medicare to cover the entire country. That would replace the cur- rent insurer-dominated, expensive company-based private health care system. DeMoro praised the Medicare-for-all policy as a way “to end the national health care night- mare.” Indeed, the federation’s health care campaigns were one reason the CNA sought to join the AFL-CIO. Ironically, the California group is campaigning for even more dramatic change: Government-run single-payer health care. The union backs House Resolution 676, the national single-payer bill sponsored by Rep. John Conyers (D- Mich.). More than 240 labor organiza- tions, including four international unions, back Conyers’ bill. DeMoro said her union would add to the 325,000 registered nurses whom AFL-CIO unions represent as “a prominent voice in that effort” to re- form health care. “RNs, who are at the heart of our health care system, have an especially unique role to play ... to transform our current dysfunctional system to achieve guaranteed, universal health- care for all, based on an improved and expanded Medicare” system, she said. Bill seeks to overturn NLRB’s ‘workers are supervisors’ ploy WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a move to protect workers from being ar- bitrarily deprived of their right to join a union, three lawmakers introduced a bill March 23 to overturn last year’s National Labor Relations Board’s “workers are supervisors” ruling. The bill by House Employer-Em- ployee Relations Subcommittee Chair- man Robert Andrews (D-N.J.), Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), states simply that a worker cannot be a super- visor unless “for a majority of the working time” he or she is “acting in the interest of the employer” in hiring, firing, disciplining or otherwise man- aging workers. It also says a worker cannot be named a supervisor just for “assigning” other people to tasks on occasion. The legislation is designed to nullify last year’s NLRB ruling in what were known as the Kentucky River cases. The Board ruled that workers can be deemed supervisors if they spend a portion of their time — as little as 10 percent — in such “supervisory” duties as telling orderlies to change bedpans. U.S. labor law does not allow super- visors to belong to a union. Estimates of the number of workers impacted by the NLRB’s Oakwood rul- ing range from 8 million by the Eco- nomic Policy Institute to 34 million by the NLRB’s two dissenting members. HEMORRHOIDS The Non-Surgical Treatment We specialize in the non-surgical treatment of hemorrhoids. 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