Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2007)
Inside MEETING NO TICES See Page 6 V olume 108 Number 14 J uly 20, 2007 P ortland Trade deals torpedoed in Democratic House In a major victory for labor, fast-track expires without reauthorization ‘Firefighter Day’ at MDA summer camp July 11 was “Firefighter Day” at the Muscular Dystrophy Association summer camp in Welches. More than 100 union firefighters from throughout Oregon showed off their rigs, enjoyed a barbecue lunch hosted by Portland Fire Fighters Local 43, and participated in games, such as “water ball” (above), that pits firefighters against camp counselors and involves fire hoses. (For more photos and the story, turn to Page 7.) By DON McINTOSH Associate Editor It was the first victory in 10 years for foes of NAFTA-style trade agree- ments: House Democratic leaders an- nounced June 29 they will not reautho- rize “fast track.” Nor will they ratify the trade deals President Bush negoti- ated with Colombia or South Korea. And in two other trade agreements, with Peru and Panama, the president gave unions what they’ve been asking for — workers’ rights will have the same standing as investors’ rights. While Congress let fast-track treaty negotiating authority expire once be- fore, no modern trade treaty negoti- ated by a U.S. president has ever failed to pass Congress until now. The turnaround comes amid wide- spread conviction among voters that American trade policy is killing American jobs. The United States has- n’t had a trade surplus since 1975. The U.S. trade deficit, which rose tenfold in the Clinton years, doubled again since Bush took office, setting a new record every year since 2001. Last year it reached $836 billion, equal to 6.3 percent of the U.S. economy. Clearly, something about U.S. trade policy is enabling these trade im- balances. For a long time, U.S. unions have argued that NAFTA(North American Free Trade Agreement)- style trade deals are part of the cause. And all but one of the treaties — which the United States now has with 15 countries — were negotiated under fast track. The U.S. Constitution gives Con- gress the power to regulate foreign commerce, but starting in 1974, Con- gress gave its power to the president by approving fast-track legislation. Under fast track, Congress agrees not to amend trade treaties and to vote them up or down soon after the presi- dent presents them. Presidents have argued it would be hard to bargain complicated trade deals if negotiating partners had to worry that Congress would later change the U.S. offer. But that’s fine with the AFL-CIO, which (Turn to Page 3) Ending week-long strike Machinists ratify three-year contract at Freightliner Members of Machinists Lodge 1005 ended a week-long strike at Freightliner July 9 by ratifying a new three-year contract that includes suc- cessor and severance language should the company sell or close down. The vote to accept was 461-153. Machinists walked off the job and set up picket lines at 12:01 a.m. July 3 after rejecting a proposal 331-224 that phased-out company-paid sup- plemental health insurance at age 65 for some workers, and added 10 hours a month of mandatory weekday over- time, if needed. The rejected contract offer also in- cluded a wage increase of 9 percent ($1.70 an hour) over three years, a pension hike of 60 cents an hour over three years, a $1,000 ratification bonus, a reduction in co-payments for health insurance premiums, and a “gainsharing” program in which em- ployees could receive quarterly bonuses (ranging from $100 to $400) if they met quality and productivity benchmarks. There was no job security or sever- ance language in the first contract proposal. Lodge 1005 represents 717 of the 1,000 unionized employees at the Swan Island manufacturing facility in North Portland. The other workers are represented by Teamsters Local 305, Service Employees Local 49 and Painters and Allied Trades Council 5. The unions bargain and vote as a coalition, but their contracts are sepa- rate for each craft. Members of the three other unions approved their contracts on the first From left to right, striking members of Machinists Local Lodge 1005 Quin Pond, Wayne Poe, Joe Repic and Carl Pollack picket Freightliner Corp. July 5 on Portland’s Swan Island. The week-long strike was the first at Freightliner since June 1970. That strike lasted three months. vote. All three unions honored the Machinists’ picket line. Three days into the strike, the union still hadn’t heard from manage- ment, so late on the afternoon of July 6, Joe Kear, a business agent for Ma- chinists District Lodge 24 and the chief negotiator, called the company. The sides met that evening and by midnight had hammered out what Freightliner described as its “last, best and final offer.” “We tried to work on the two ma- jor issues (that led to the strike), but made no progress,” Kear told the NW Labor Press. “So we progressed to other issues.” Job security has been high on the list of concerns. Kear said the union has been trying for decades to get sev- (Turn to Page 12)
