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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2007)
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CALL US or VISIT OUR WEB SITE ( 503) 228-5222 http://www.stc-law.com I NDEPENDENT R ETIREMENT L IVING Kirkland Union Manors Westmoreland's Union Manor 3530 SE 84th Ave. Portland 97266 6404 SE 23rd Ave. Portland 97202 503•777•8101 503•233•5671 Manors Make the Difference • Studio and One-Bedroom Apartments • Affordable Rent includes Utilities ( EXCEPT PHONE AND CABLE ) • Planned Events, Clubs, and Activities • Ideal Locations offer easy access to Bus Lines, Shopping, and Entertainment • No Costly Buy-In or Application Fees • Federal Rent Subsidies Available (M UST Q UALIFY ) PAGE 4 W ESTMORELAND ’ S U NION M ANOR Opened in October of 1966 L ABOR L EADERS IN THE P ORTLAND B UILDING T RADE M OVEMENT ORGANIZED THE U NION L ABOR R ETIREMENT A SSOCIATION IN 1962, WITH THE SOLE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY . “ We believe that everyone earns the right to retire, free from pressures of earlier years.” Kirkland Union Plaza Marshall Union Manor 1414 Kauffman Ave. 2020 NW Northrup Portland 97209 Vancouver 98660 360•694•4314 503•225•0677 WWW . THEUNIONMANORS . ORG TDD 503•771•0912 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS Letter Carriers’ new pact may slow outsourcing The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is contracting out mail delivery at a new apartment complex in Hillsboro, Ore- gon, even though a union challenge has yet to be resolved over a decision to privatize deliveries in Beaverton. But a new national contract settle- ment may slow down any further plans to privatize city delivery. On July 12, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) reached tenta- tive agreement with the USPS on a new five-year union contract covering all 222,000 active city delivery carri- ers throughout the nation. [Rural car- riers are covered under a separate con- tract with a different union, and rural delivery has long been privatized.] The NALC agreement bars USPS from outsourcing any existing routes. And for new routes, the agreement imposes a six-month moratorium on contracting out while a new national joint labor-management committee works out a set of rules to govern con- tracting out. It’s not clear how that will affect the decision to privatize delivery to the new Nexus Apartments, near Hills- boro’s Orenco Station. Nexus is slated to open in August, at which point as many as 422 units will need postal de- livery. Rather than assign the new de- liveries to union letter carriers like the ones who deliver all around the area, Hillsboro postmaster Daniel Stearns invited bids from private contractors. The deadline for bids was July 9, but as of press time the contract had not yet been awarded. NALC Branch 82 was alarmed in March when a Beaverton postmaster assigned the new Arbor Parc Bethany housing development to a private con- tractor. Branch 82 filed a grievance against the decision on the grounds that management had not properly no- tified the union or given adequate rea- son for the decision. Over a dozen such grievances have been filed around the country as local postmas- ters act on a mandate from top brass to cut costs by privatizing. All the griev- ances have been put on hold while a couple of test cases go forward to set the precedent for the others. Branch 82 filed a grievance on the Hillsboro case as well. It’s not clear yet how the contract settlement will affect those cases, but many more instances of contracting out that were in the works will at least be put on hold. NALC Branch 82 Vice President Kelly Pindell was on her way to talk to contracting-out specialist Ken Se- ward when she saw a grease board with local management’s plans. On the grease board was a list of new de- velopments to be contracted out: the 304-unit Pacific Crossing housing de- velopment in Forest Grove; the 164- unit Taralon development in Happy Valley; Oregon City’s 296-unit Se- quoia Landing and 450-unit The Cove; as many as 15,000 units at Evergreen Arbor Woods in Beaverton; and any new developments on the St. Mary’s parcel in Aloha. The Beaverton development alone would mean about 40 full-time union jobs. Stopping postal privatization has been the union’s top priority. NALC leaders say postal privatization will lead to higher turnover and lower ac- countability, and will decrease public confidence in the safety of the mail. In the U.S. House of Representatives, a non-binding bill calling on USPS to stop contracting out mail delivery has 224 co-sponsors including all four Oregon Democrats and Southwest Washington Democrat Brian Baird. In the Senate, 33 senators have signed on as co-sponsors to a bill to limit con- tracting out to places with less than one delivery point per mile. Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden and Washing- ton’s Maria Cantwell and Patty Mur- ray are co-sponsors. In a letter to U.S. senators, the postmaster general pleaded that priva- tization would create opportunities for small minority- and women-owned businesses. “Oh yeah, the right to have an ex- ploited job as a contractor,” Pindell said. Thousands of women and people of color would love to have union let- ter carrier jobs, Pindell said, but USPS isn’t doing much hiring in part be- cause many new routes are going to contractors. The new five-year contract also contains wage increases of about 1.8 percent a year in addition to cost-of- living adjustments. The agreement is subject to ratification by union mem- bers and the Postal Board of Gover- nors. In an unprecedented rebuff to management, the Bush-appointed ma- jority on the Postal Board rejected the previous contract settlement. The sec- ond agreement came as the two sides were about to submit their final offers to binding interest arbitration. The previous NALC contract expired last November. Workshop to focus on job training Apprenticeship coordinators from Oregon and Southwest Washington will host a workshop on job training opportunities available in the world of construction. The workshop, which will offer a general overview of apprenticeships — qualifications and requirements, pro- gram benefits and occupations, will be held from 10 a.m.to noon on Friday. Aug. 3, at the HVAC & Metals Insti- tute Training Center of Sheet Metal Workers Local 16, 2379 NE 178th, Portland. For more information or to register, call Labor’s Community Service Agency at 503-231-4962. JULY 20, 2007
