Inside
MEETING NO TICES
See
Page 6
V olume 108
Number 17
September 7, 2007
P ortland
Breakfast with union leaders
Senator Smith makes his first attempt to court labor
Oregon U.S. Senator Gordon Smith
told a labor audience Aug. 17 that he
would work with them to reform na-
tional labor law so that it’s not so
stacked against workers.
Smith was making his first appear-
ance before affiliates of the Northwest
Oregon Labor Council since winning
election in 1996. He has been invited
several times in the past, but has always
declined or not responded.
This year is different. Smith is up for
re-election in 2008 and his seat is con-
sidered vulnerable by political insiders.
Two promising Democrats have
stepped up to challenge him. They are
Oregon Speaker of the House Jeff
Merkley of Portland and political ac-
tivist Steve Novick of Portland.
“I hope you’ve found the door to my
office always open to you,” Smith cam-
paigned, reminding the audience of 55
unionists that he operates a unionized
frozen food business that he said “has
always bargained in good faith and that
has never experienced a strike.”
“I’ve voted many times the way
you’ve wanted me to,” he said. “I’m
Oregon U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith smiles at a question by Jeff Smith, president of International Longshore and
Warehouse Union Local 8, during a labor breakfast Aug. 17. Hosting the breakfast, Smith’s first since being elected
in 1996, were Judy O’Connor (right), financial secretary-treasurer; and Bob Petroff (seated left), president of the
Northwest Oregon Labor Council. The event took place at Kirkland Union Manor in Southeast Portland.
here to be honest to you ... a friend to
you.”
In 2006, Smith voted with the AFL-
CIO’s Committee on Political Educa-
tion 13 percent of the time. Lifetime he
is at 20 percent. (In 2003 he voted zero
percent with COPE). He has a lifetime
86 percent voting record with the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce.
Smith’s most recent vote against la-
bor came June 26, and it was a doozy.
Senate Democrats were trying to
vote up or down on the Employee Free
Choice Act, labor’s top priority bill this
session, but Republicans were blocking
it with a filibuster.
Among other things, the Employee
Free Choice Act would help level the
playing field between workers and em-
ployers in organizing and bargaining,
by outlawing “captive audience” anti-
union meetings, legalizing “card check”
recognition of unions at work sites, in-
creasing penalties for labor law-break-
ing and making it easier to get court or-
ders against such lawlessness.
Corporations and business lobbyists
(Turn to Page 5)
Clinton, Edwards, Dodd, Huckabee get early support
International unions weigh-in on presidential primary
WASHINGTON, D.C. — International unions are ramping up
for next year’s presidential election with early endorsements for the
2008 primaries.
The 125,000-member United Transportation Union was first out
of the gate Aug. 28 with its endorsement of New York Sen. (and
former first lady) Hilary Clinton in the Democratic primary. The
UTU will merge on Jan. 1 into the larger Sheet Metal Workers In-
ternational Association, but that union is staying neutral in the pres-
idential race for now, President Michael Sullivan said.
The Fire Fighters Association came next Aug. 29, announcing
support for Connecticut U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, also a Democrat.
The Fire Fighters Union has 281,000 members nationwide.
On Aug. 30, the 700,000-member International Association of
Machinists issued a dual endorsement — backing Clinton in the
Democratic primary and Mike Huckabee, a former governor of
Arkansas in the Republican primary.
On the same day, the 530,000-member Carpenters Union threw
its support behind former North Carolina U.S. senator John Ed-
wards in the Democratic primary. The Carpenters Union is an affil-
iate of the Change to Win labor federation. The others are affiliates
of the AFL-CIO, which did not make a primary endorsement be-
cause no candidate could get the required two-thirds majority vote
of the Executive Board.
On Sept. 3, Labor Day, the 850,000-member United Steelwork-
ers, AFL-CIO, announced it is backing Edwards as well. So did the
86,000-member United Mine Workers, AFL-CIO.
The Steelworkers endorsement followed a nationwide poll of
the union’s membership as well as a survey of its core activists.
The Steelworkers International Executive Board voted Sept. 2 for
the endorsement, as required by the union’s constitution. The vote
was unanimous.
Edwards, the Steelworkers said in its announcement, “is com-
mitted to changing entrenched trade policies that export American
jobs to low-wage counties where they exploit Third-World workers
and the environment just to fatten multinationals’ profits.”
An Aug. 13-16 Gallup Poll found public support for the Demo-
cratic nomination at 48 percent for Clinton, 13 percent for Edwards
and 2 percent for Dodd. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was polling
behind Clinton at 25 percent.
“Polls don’t mean spit” and are more of a function of name
recognition and fundraising, said Dodd, recalling how the Fire
Fighters Union provided on-the-ground forces that helped Massa-
chusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry’s win in the key leadoff Iowa
caucuses almost four years ago. Kerry’s win in Iowa came at a time
when he — like Dodd now—trailed badly in national polls. It pro-
pelled the Massachusetts lawmaker to the 2004 nomination.
“Our country has been without experienced leadership for far
too long. This time around, experience matters,” said Fire Fighters
President Harold Schaitberger. “And without someone who can
stand up for safety and security, the union chief noted, everything
else is irrelevant.”
Carpenters President Douglas McCarron said in a statement that
the union believed Edwards would have broad appeal in the gen-
eral election and that his strong stand on trade and his active work
on picket lines “made him the obvious and, to our leadership, only
choice in this election.”
The Machinists Union only considered candidates who ap-
peared before members during its conference in Orlando, Fla.the
last week of August. Union President Thomas Buffenbarger said
the union backed Clinton for several reasons, including her de-
tailed plan to revive U.S. manufacturing, a key IAM cause.
“Clinton earned the IAM’s endorsement by focusing on
jobs, health care, education and trade — the bread-and-butter
issues of the middle class. She is the only candidate of either
party to come forward with a comprehensive manufacturing
policy and the only candidate to connect with millions of Amer-
icans who feel invisible to the current administration,” Buffen-
barger explained.
Huckabee was the lone Republican to address the Machinists
conference. “He is entitled to serious consideration from our mem-
bers voting in the upcoming Republican primaries,” Buffenbarger
said.