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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2008)
Inside MEETING NO TICES See Page 6 V olume 109 Number 2 J anuary 18, 2008 P ortland Unions Are Ready To Build A New Bridge Bi-state task force considers options for I-5 bridge over Columbia River By DON McINTOSH Associate Editor Tired of traffic bottlenecks on and around the Interstate Bridge? For the past two years, a 39-member bi-state task force set up by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and Oregon De- partment of Transportation (ODOT) has been looking at ways to reduce con- gestion and improve safety on I-5 between Oregon and Washington. The advisory group — the Columbia River Crossing Task Force — has sifted through dozens of bridge, transit and highway improvement project proposals, ranging from digging a tunnel under the river to supplementing the existing bridge to building a replacement bridge. The task force has win- nowed the proposals to just five, and it expects to narrow it down to one by August. The proposal that appears most likely to win approval would replace the I-5 Bridge with a new bridge no more than 200-300 feet to the West (down- stream.) The new bridge would have five or six standard-sized lanes in each direction, including a safety lane, plus a bike/pedestrian path. And it would have light rail — either on a separate structure just next to it, or within it in some way, like on the bridge’s underside. The new bridge would be about 90 feet above the Columbia River — high enough for boats to pass beneath without a bridge-lift, but low enough to avoid complications for air traffic from Portland International Airport and Vancouver’s Pearson Field. When the new bridge opened, the existing bridge would be removed. The bridge would be only one part of the project, however, which also in- cludes improvements along the five-mile stretch of I-5, from State Route 500 in Vancouver to Columbia Boulevard in Portland. To improve safety (Turn to Page 9) NW lawmakers score well on AFL-CIO vote tallies Reps. David Wu, Peter DeFazio and Darlene Hooley get perfect marks in the first session of the 110th Congress Congressional representatives from Oregon and Washington scored quite well on the national AFL-CIO’s in- terim Committee on Political Educa- tion (COPE) voting report card re- leased last month in Washington, D.C. The scorecard is a running record of 34 Senate votes and 33 House votes that took place during the first session of the 110th Congress, but it is not the official voting record for 2007. The AFL-CIO labeled lawmakers’ votes as either “right” or “wrong,” based on the position the AFL-CIO took. Bills — and amendments to bills— included the Employee Free Choice Act, limits on guest worker programs, and federal minimum wage increases. A complete list of votes can be found online at www.aflcio.org under the leg- islative section. U.S. H OUSE Oregon Reps. David Wu (1st District); Peter DeFazio (4th District); and Darlene Hooley, (5th Dis- trict), were among 173 House Democrats to score 100 percent COPE voting records. Also among the “100 percenters” were Washing- DAVID WU PETER DeFAZIO DARLENE HOOLEY ton Democrats Norm Dicks of Bremerton, and synopsis, authorized $2 billion in fed- Rep. Jim McDermott of Seattle. Blu- Rick Larsen of Bellingham. eral loan guarantees for bio-refineries menauer compiled a 30-201 scorecard Another 29 Democrats cast only and bio-fuel production plants with re- and McDermott was 31-2. The Farm one vote in disagreement with the quirements that all construction be en- bill passed 231-191. AFL-CIO. Among them were Vancou- forced by federal Davis-Bacon Act Spokeswomen for Blumenauer and ver, Washington’s Brian Baird, (30-1-2 prevailing wage standards. It also Baird told the NW Labor Press that the absent); Tacoma's Adam Smith, (32-1), stopped the Bush Administration from congressmen are strong supporters of and Jay Inslee of Shoreline, (27-1-5). continuing to contract out jobs of fed- the Davis-Bacon Act, but that the Farm The three Washingtonians’“wrong” eral workers who conduct eligibility bill, overall, favored large agribusi- votes came on a Farm bill that had at- determinations for the food stamp pro- nesses over the needs of small farmers tachments that both strengthened gram. and rural communities, among other Davis-Bacon enforcement and ended Also voting against that bill were issues they had with the bill. privatization of some civil service jobs. Oregon Congressman Earl Blume- Blumenauer and McDermott also HR 2419, according to the AFL-CIO nauer (3rd District), and Washington voted against labor’s position on HR 1585, a defense authorization bill that was modified to restore the rights of federal civilian workers to collectively bargain. The bill, which set military spending priorities but did not actually allot the money, passed 397-27, with 25 Democrats and two Republicans opposing it. The opposition voters wanted conditions for troop with- drawal from Iraq. The AFL-CIO sup- ported the bill because it deleted most of President Bush’s plan to take away union rights for the Department of De- fense’s 700,000 civilian workers. But the defense measure also lacked limits on the war in Iraq, and that prompted the opposition to the measure. The defense bill vote allowed 51 Republicans to avoid a shutout and register one “right” vote (1-33) on their COPE scorecards. Oregon Republican Greg Walden of Cascade Locks (2nd District) scored 33 percent, with a vote tally of 11-22. Washington Rep. Doc Hastings of Pasco was one of the worst lawmakers, voting with labor at 2-29-2. (Turn to Page 2)
