At City of Portland
Laborers Union gets health insurance for seasonal crew
gressive council,” Beetle said.
A newly-signed union contract
Seasonal maintenance workers are
contains a major breakthrough for
among the lowest-paid City workers,
several hundred City of Portland sea-
and bargain separately from other
sonal maintenance workers. Thanks
groups.
to bargaining and be-
Local 483
hind-the-scenes polit-
campaigned to
ical work by Laborers ‘Health care is a basic
unionize them
Local 483, the work- human need. But one
2000, in
ers will now get
that’s not attainable to in
part to protect
health insurance cov-
City employees earning existing mem-
erage when they re-
bers — in
turn to work for a sec- seasonal worker wages
Portland Parks
ond year at the City.
without the assistance
& Recreation
Portland may be
and the Port-
the only city in the
of the City.’
land Water
country to offer
Bureau —
health benefits to sea-
sonal employees, Local 483 Business who were concerned about increased
use of temporary, seasonal workers.
Manager Richard Beetle and City of
The City hires 250 to 300 seasonal
Portland Human Resources Director
workers in any given year, Beetle
Yvonne Deckard told Portland City
said. Most are hired in the spring and
Council Jan. 9 — before the council
summer by the Bureau of Parks &
voted to ratify the contract. The sea-
Recreation to mow grass, pick up
sonal workers typically work less
leaves, and clean restrooms. About 20
than half the year for the City. And
help with street maintenance at the
the Bureau of Human Resources
(BHR) couldn’t find any insurer to of- Bureau of Maintenance. And about
10 do routine fire hydrant mainte-
fer a policy for such a group.
nance for the Water Bureau.
Beetle said it took one-on-one ap-
Typically, about half will return to
peals to City Council members before
work for the City again the following
BHR would relent; before, manage-
year.
ment negotiators had said it was im-
The union has no objection to the
possible. Then Mayor Tom Potter
City using such temps for work that is
said, basically, “make it happen” and
truly seasonal, Beetle said, but it
BHR came up with a plan to self-in-
sure.
“This shows that we do have a pro-
wants to take away economic incen-
tives to use seasonals to do work that
could be done by full-time, year-
round employees. Bringing season-
als’ wages and benefits closer to those
permanent employees does that —
and of course is also a tremendous
boon to the seasonal workers them-
selves.
The new contract has a four-year
term and is retroactive to July 1,
2007, when the old contract expired.
Under the new contract, employees in
their second year of work can register
for health benefits starting May 2008,
get insurance by July 1, and then re-
main insured for the duration of their
employment that season. Workers pay
10 percent of the premium cost,
which currently is $460 a month for
worker-only coverage, $660 a month
for a worker and a spouse, and $1,080
for full-family coverage. Beetle said
cost estimates to the city for insuring
the group range from $400,000 to $1
million a year.
The new agreement also raises
wages by the cost-of-living index,
with a minimum of 2 percent a year
and a maximum of 5 percent. The
workers currently make between $10
and $11 an hour.
And the contract raises the boot al-
lowance from $50 to $120, every
other year. Giving a sense of what ne-
gotiations were like, Beetle said the
City spent two months arguing over
the boot allowance.
It’s still a substandard contract in
some respects, Beetle said. There’s
only a very limited grievance proce-
dure, and unlike most union workers,
the seasonals under this contract are
an “at-will” workforce, meaning they
can be fired for any cause or no cause.
The City also was able to lengthen
the amount of time seasonals can
work, thanks to a change to the City
Charter that voters approved in May
2007. Previously they were limited to
860 hours in any calendar year, or
about five months at 40 hours a week.
Now they’ll be limited to 1,200 hours,
about seven months. Local 483 op-
posed Measure 26-90, fearing it
would open the door to greater use of
temps. But the way it worked out,
Beetle said, increasing the hour limit
made offering health benefits more
feasible.
“Health care is a basic human
need,” Beetle told council members
Jan. 9, but one that’s “not attainable to
City employees earning seasonal
worker wages without the assistance
of the City.”
The new contract won praise from
commissioners and was approved by
unanimous vote.
Zachary
Zabinsky
• Social Security
• SSI - Disability Claims
Personal Attention To Every Case
Working For Disability Rights
Since 1983
NO FEE WITHOUT RECOVERY
621 SW Morrison, Portland
223-8517
Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon
as a voice of the labor movement.
4275 NE Halsey St., P.O. Box 13150,
Portland, Ore. 97213
Telephone: (503) 288-3311
E-mail: Michael492@comcast.net
Editor: Michael Gutwig
Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice
Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of
each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-
profit corporation owned by 20 unions and councils including the
Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Ore-
gon and SW Washington. Subscriptions $13.75 per year for union
members.
Group rates available to trade union organizations.
PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID
AT PORTLAND, OREGON.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a
change of address. When ordering a change, please give your old
and new addresses and the name and number of your local union.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS, P.O. BOX 13150-0150,
PORTLAND, OR 97213
Start the New Year off right.
Let IBEW & United Workers FCU
Help you with all your financing needs.
ü
ü
ü
ü
ü
ü
ü
ü
Auto Loans
Mortgage Loans
Home Equity Loans
RV/Boat Loans
Motorcycle/ATV
Refinances
Visas
Personal Lines of Credit
Call us or apply online today.
800-356-6507 ext 340 www.ibewuwfcu.com
PO Box 16877
9955 SE Washington St
Portland, Oregon 97292
www.ibewuwfcu.com
Electricians, Carpenters, Laborers, Glaziers, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofer, Asbestos Workers, Family, Millwrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers
(International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X)
Electricians, Carpenters, Laborers, Glaziers, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofer, Asbestos Workers, Family, Millwrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers
Carpenters, Electricians, Laborers, Glaziers, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofers, Asbestos Workers, Family, Millwrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers
Glaziers, Carpenters, Laborers, Electricians, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofers, Asbestos Workers, Family, Millwrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers
JANUARY 18, 2007
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
PAGE 3