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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 2007)
Local Motion September 2007 IBEW Local 48 instructor tells of duty in Iraq A U.S. flag that once flew over a Marine base in Iraq’s Al Anbar province now hangs framed on an au- ditorium wall at NECA-IBEW Local 48 Electrical Training Center in Port- land. The flag was sent by Naval re- servist Ron Umali, 44, who spent six months in Iraq earlier this year as a member of the U.S. Navy Seabees just months after he was hired by the train- ing center as an instructor. “It’s a really bad place,” Umali told the NW Labor Press. “You learn to appreciate what you have because there are people there who don’t have anything.” Umali grew up an American “ex- pat” in places like Pakistan and Iran, where his father worked in the oil con- struction industry. But in Iraq, he said, he had almost no interaction with the locals. Security was always on the mind, and he and the fellow members of his battalion kept to their own. While Umali was in Iraq, five members of his battalion of about 500 were injured, and one, a friend and fellow squad-member, was killed by an IED (Improvised Explosive De- Union activity in Oregon and Southwest Washington, according to the National Labor Relations Board and the Oregon Employment Relations Board Election results Company Date Union vice) while on a convoy. Though Umali’s unit came under mortar attack when he was in Fallujah, Seabees mostly don’t work directly in harm’s way. Umali said he carried an M-16 but never had to fire it. And Umali said he’s never been on a ship. The Seabees are the Navy’s best- kept secret, Umali said. Known for- mally as the U.S. Naval Construction Force (and informally as the “dirt navy”), the Seabees do construction support for the U.S. Marine Corps. The name Seabee comes from “CB,” the abbreviation for Construction Bat- talion. Umali spent several tours of duty in the U.S. Air Force, and a stint in the Army, but joined the Navy in 1999 and found a home in the Seabees. Umali said he can’t talk in detail about where he was or what he did in Iraq. But mostly he served as a con- struction planning and estimating spe- cialist, upgrading military outposts to improve security and quality of life. That included installing blast barriers and replacing tents with hard struc- tures. After seven days a week of 12- to 16-hour days, teaching apprentice electricians in Portland is light duty. Umali declined to share opinions about the politics of the war, but said he wouldn’t hesitate to go back if called. When his enlistment expired last month, however, he decided not to re- enlist; he and his wife Melissa are ex- pecting a daughter in February. Her weekly care packages kept him going in Iraq. Now, Umali concluded, he’s needed on the home front. Results: Union No Union Linn County Juvenile Detention Center 9/14 Linn County Juv. Det. Assn. Albany 11 1 Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the NW 9/19 OR Fed. Nurses, AFT, #5017 Portland 3 0 Location City of Newport Fire Department 8/29 Newport PFFA, Fire Fighters Newport card-check Representation petitions Company Union Location # of employees Vanguard Car Rental (decertification) Teamsters Local 305 Portland 67 Apria Healthcare Group Teamsters Local 81 Portland 22 American Medical Response Teamsters Joint Council 37 Portland 556 Albertsons (decertification) United Food & Commercial Workers Local 555 Corvallis 36 Vancouver Petrochem Insulation 65 Asbestos Workers Local 36 vs. Petroleum & Industrial Workers Portland Harry’s Fresh Foods 200 Bakers, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, Grain Millers Local 364 U.S. House panel oks bill to overturn NLRB’s ‘workers are supervisors’ ruling WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) — By a 26-20 party-line vote, the Democra- tic-run House Education and Labor Committee last month passed the RE- SPECT Act — legislation to clarify the definition of “supervisor” under the Na- tional Labor Relations Act. The bill — the Re-Empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction and Tradesworkers Act (H.R. 1644) — is in response to re- cent decisions by the Bush-appointed National Labor Relations Board that significantly broadened the definition of supervisor. In October 2006, the Na- tional Labor Relations Board handed down a trio of decisions — known col- lectively as the “Kentucky River” deci- sions — that could enable employers to reclassify many employees as “supervi- sors,” thereby denying them the right under the law to organize and bargain collectively. According to the Kentucky River rulings, skilled and professional work- ers who regularly direct a co-worker on a single, discrete task just 10 percent of PAGE 8 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS the workday could be considered super- visors, even if they have no authority to discipline, reward, promote, hire or fire employees. The Economic Policy Institute esti- mates that 8 million workers could be at risk of losing their collective bargain- ing rights because of the Kentucky River rulings. In the NLRB’s final deci- sion, the dissenting Democrats on the board said the rulings could strip 34 mil- lion workers of their rights by 2012. As a result of the Kentucky River de- cisions, in a recent case from Salt Lake City, a regional director of the NLRB ruled that 64 out of 88 registered nurses attempting to organize were supervi- sors. The RESPECT Act clarifies the def- inition of “supervisor” to say a supervi- sor must perform supervisory duties for at least 50 percent of his/her work time to be considered a supervisor. The bill was introduced by Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ). It is co-spon- sored by Oregon Democrat David Wu, who sits on the Labor Committee. OCTOBER 19, 2007
