Operating Engineers #701
re-elects slate of officers
Members of Gladstone-headquar-
tered Operating Engineers Local 701
returned incumbents to all union of-
fices when mail ballots were counted
Aug. 2.
Business manager Mark Holliday
ran unopposed for re-election, after a
challenger was found not qualified.
President Jim Anderson, who also
works on staff as an organizer, fended
off a challenge from John Groffy.
Treasurer Nelda Wilson, also on
staff as assistant business manager,
outpolled challenger Robin Wicklan-
der.
All other candidates ran unopposed
and were declared elected: Kevin
Miller, vice president; Stephen
Bradley, recording corresponding sec-
retary; Nolan David Carter, conductor;
Melvin “Butch” Sarina, guard;
Michael Thun, District I rep; Harold
Westmoreland’s
Union Manor
6404 SE 23rd Avenue
Portland, OR 97202
503•233•5671
Kirkland
Union Plaza
MARK HOLLIDAY
Chevrier, District II rep; and Kenneth
Humbert, Frank Botts and Mark
Schnetzky, auditors.
The officers will be installed Sept.
7. All terms are for three years.
Illinois enacts law to stop use
of independent contractor scam
CHICAGO (PAI) — In what con-
struction union leaders and state offi-
cials say could be a precedent for the
entire country, Illinois Gov. Rod
Blagojevich (D) signed legislation
Aug. 6 outlawing construction indus-
try use of the “independent contrac-
tor.”
The Illinois law declares a con-
struction worker — or any other
worker — is an employee covered by
labor law unless the worker is “free
from employer control,” “providing a
service outside the usual course of
business” for the employer and is “en-
gaged in an independently established
trade.”
Hundreds of contractors misclas-
sify workers as independent contrac-
tors to avoid paying workers’ compen-
sation and employment taxes, such as
Social Security, and dodge other labor
laws. These unscrupulous contractors
can submit low bids for construction
work, leaving bonafide contractors on
an unlevel playing field.
Right now, thousands of construc-
tion workers, including one of every
C ELEBRATING O RGANIZED L ABOR
12 in Illinois, are illegally declared in-
dependent contractors.
Ohio’s statewide body that oversees
school construction recently declared
that all contracts under their control
must be with contractors that do not
misclassify their workers. Ohio car-
ries out $2 billion worth of school con-
struction yearly.
The two-and-a-half-year fight to
enact the law had to overcome strong
opposition from Republicans,
nonunion contractors and trucking as-
sociations, said State Senate Majority
Leader Debbie Halverson (D).
The trucking group was particularly
concerned because they feared their
thousands of owner-drivers, now
called “independent contractors,”
could suddenly be named workers.
That has been a key issue between the
Teamsters and the Port of Los Ange-
les-Long Beach, the nation’s largest
port.
Gov. Blagojevich and national
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
said the new Illinois law could be a
model for the entire country.
Zachary
Zabinsky
• Social Security
• SSI - Disability Claims
1414 Kauffman Avenue
Vancouver, WA 98660
360•694•4314
Marshall
Union Manor
T HE
U NION
M ANORS
2020 NW Northrup Street
Portland, OR 97209
503•225•0677
Kirkland
Union Manors
3530 SE 84th Avenue
Portland, OR 97266
503•777•8101
B OARD O F D IRECTORS
President: Earl B. Kirkland
Vice-Presidents: Gary D. Kirkland, Martell F. Blake
Sec.-Treasurer: Clair C. Anderson
Directors: Edward Barnes, Larry Kirkland, William McNicholas,
Swan Nelson, Russell Wagner, Gary Rhodehouse
www.theunionmanors.org
TEAMSTERS JOINT COUNCIL NO. 37
Labor
Honor
Executive Board
• President:Tony Andrews
• Secretary-Treasurer: Roger Niedermeyer
• Vice President: John Silva • Recording Secretary: Dan Ratty
• Trustees: Clayton Banry, Diana Franken, Tom Strickland
Personal Attention To Every Case
Working For Disability Rights
Since 1983
NO FEE WITHOUT RECOVERY
621 SW Morrison, Portland
On behalf of all Teamster members and our affiliated
Local Unions, we are proud and committed to being
America’s strongest Union.
223-8517
AUGUST 17, 2007
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
PAGE 5