Swanson, Thomas &Coon
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
Since 1981
James Coon
Jacqueline Jacobson
Ray Thomas
Kimberly Tucker
Margaret Weddell
Cynthia F. Newton
Tip of the week: No lawyer should charge you a fee up front
in a social security case. Attorney fees must be approved by
the government, normally only if you win your case.
We represent people on all types of injury and disease related claims.
• Workers’ Compensation
•
Construction Injuries
• Personal Injury/Product Liability
• Death Claims
• Asbestos/Mesothelioma
• Social Security Disability
We provide straight answers at no cost on any of the above areas of law.
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