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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2007)
...Oregon Legislature fails to pass EFCA resolution (From Page 12) ity. To pass, EFCA will need 60 sup- porters in the Senate — nine more than it had this year. The vote split very strongly along party lines — Democrats voted for the bill, Republicans against. In the House, out of 201 Republicans, just 13 voted in favor of the bill, and out of 233 De- mocrats, just two voted against it. In the Senate, just one member voted out- side party lines — Pennsylvania Re- publican Arlen Specter. Oregon’s Gor- don Smith was a “no” vote, while Ron Wyden and Washington’s Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray were “yes” votes. Smith said it would be very tough to get nine more Senate Democrats elected next year, but it’s possible they could pick up five or six seats, and the AFL-CIO would continue to work on Republican senators to support the bill. At least 18 state governors have signed a letter in support of EFCA, in- cluding Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire. So have over 1,350 state and local elected officials. And 55 cities, coun- ties and state legislatures have voted resolutions of support. Oregon’s Legislature isn’t yet one of them. Democrats control the Oregon House 31 to 29, and House leaders were able to pass three “right to organ- ize” bills. But a non-binding resolution in support of EFCA couldn’t find ma- jority support. After it became clear in behind-the-scenes negotiations that at least two Democrats would vote against it, backers withdrew the bill from consideration on the House floor. Portland Democrat Diane Rosenbaum said she intends to bring it up again in a future legislative session. Finally, for EFCA to become law, it will need a president to sign it. All seven Democratic presidential candi- dates say they would sign EFCA. None of the Republican candidates have pledged to sign the bill. But union support won’t come just because a candidate checked a box on a questionnaire, says the AFL-CIO’s Smith. “We’re looking to see which candidate is really going to push this bill.” “All of them talk about how the middle class is waning and we need to strengthen the middle class. In our view, unions are how you do that.” 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 Organized Labor fought to give us... La b or D a y ...a national holiday honoring the labors of Americans. From the Officers & Members of UA Local 290 Plumbers - Steamfitters - Marinefitters Serving all phases of the piping industry John Endicott — B US . M GR ./F INANCIAL S EC -T REAS . Mike Anderson — A SST . B USINESS M ANAGER Dan Bailey — A GENT /O RGANIZER /A SST . C OORD . Sid Berg — A GENT /O RGANIZER Lou Christian — A GENT Donald Kool — O RGANIZER Mike Mehrens — D ISPATCHER Alan Mills — A GENT /O RGANIZER /A SST . C OORD . Jerry Moss — A GENT Ron Murray — A GENT Mike O’Rourke — A GENT /O RGANIZER Mark Stenberg — A GENT /O RGANIZER Al Shropshire — A GENT /O RGANIZER Herman Stonebraker — A GENT AUGUST 17, 2007 Bob Kimes — T RAINING C OORDINATOR Mike Jurkiewicz — W ELDING C OORDINATOR Mike Pollock — A SST . T RAINING C OORDINATOR Mike Wynne — A SST . T RAINING C OORDINATOR Bill Hargrave — P RESIDENT Robert Porter — V ICE P RESIDENT Bill Kelly — R ECORDING S ECRETARY Ryan McShannon — I NSIDE G UARD E xe c ut i ve Bo ar d Gary Barnes Dennis Mask Marty Mehrens Lyman Warnock NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS Fi na n ce Co m m it t e e Dave Hauth, Rick Hindman, Chris McNicholas E x am in i ng Bo a r d Pete Bakker, Frank Boyle Jeff Byram, Harlan Eastman Joe Holcomb, Jeff McGillivray James Manzella Jr., Steven Nitsch, Mike Pollock, Barry Sather PAGE 13
