City of Portland workers may help elect their own bosses
ers — is applauded by Local 483, and
it was with Adams’ backing that the
local won health insurance benefits
for seasonal maintenance workers —
maybe the first group of seasonal
workers in the country to get such
benefits.
But Adams has also been the target
of several union complaints about
contracting out bargaining unit work,
including some meter repair work that
the union says is supposed to be per-
formed by city parking meter techni-
cians. Consequently the Local 483
Executive Board split on whether to
endorse him.
For City Council Position 1, Local
483 is backing Fritz, a member of the
Oregon Nurses Association, partly on
the strength of her 2006 run against
Saltzman. Fritz failed to unseat Saltz-
man, but Beetle credits her for the ap-
pointment of a labor voice to the Port-
land Development Commission
(PDC). After Fritz made that and
other pro-union positions centerpieces
of her 2006 campaign, Columbia-Pa-
cific Building and Construction
Trades Council Executive Secretary-
Treasurer John Mohlis got appointed
to the PDC, which had a long history
of antagonism with local unions.
With so many candidates running,
odds are slim that any will get more
than 50 percent, so the top two vote-
getters will likely face off in the No-
vember election. While AFSCME
made no endorsement in the Position
1 race, Hester said it might come back
to make an endorsement in the
MAY 2, 2008
general election.
For Position 2, Fish got the two
unions’ backing because of his under-
standing of union issues. Fish has
spent much of his career as a labor
lawyer representing workers in civil
rights cases. He once successfully rep-
resented an AFSCME member at
Multnomah County in an arbitration.
He’s run twice before for City Coun-
cil, and had many union endorsements
in 2004 when he lost to Adams.
A number of other unions have
also weighed in on city races this year.
In the mayor’s race, Adams is also
endorsed by Amalgamated Transit
Union Local 757, Communications
Workers of America (CWA) Local
7901, the District Council of Labor-
ers, National Association of Letter
Carriers (NALC) Branch 82, Portland
Association of Teachers, Service Em-
ployees Local 49, and the Northwest
Oregon Labor Council (NOLC). And
Adams, who has been a vocal oppo-
nent of a proposed Wal-Mart, has the
endorsement of United Food and
Commercial Workers Local 555, the
union most engaged in fighting the
anti-union retailer.
Dozono, his opponent, has criti-
cized Adams’ stance toward Wal-
Mart, saying it sends a bad message to
the business community.
Dozono has the support of Carpen-
ters Local 247 and 1388; Joe Baron,
chair of the Metro-wide Endorsement
Committee of the Pacific Northwest
Regional Council of Carpenters, said
the union was looking for a business-
former financial secretary-treasurer of
the Portland Metal Trades Council
and a member of Pile Drivers, Divers
and Shipwrights Local 2416.
For Position 2, Fish also has the
support of NOLC, UFCW Local 555,
IBEW Local 48, the Carpenters Coun-
cil, the Teamsters Council, and the
Portland Association of Teachers.
Middaugh is backed by CWA Lo-
cal 7901.
man who will manage city finances
better.
In the race for City Council Posi-
tion 1, Amanda Fritz is also endorsed
by CWA Local 7901, NALC Branch
82, the Oregon Nurses Association,
and Portland Association of Teachers.
Former union leader Mike Fahey is
backed by the NOLC, Teamsters Joint
Council No. 37, UFCW Local 555,
the Portland Association of Teachers,
and the Carpenters Council. Fahey is a
Labor's Candidate in HD45
A clear record of leadership, commitment,
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MICHAEL DEMBROW IS ENDORSED BY:
NW Oregon Labor Council
Oregon AFL-CIO
AFT-Oregon
Oregon Education
Association
• Oregon State Fire Fighters
Council
•
•
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•
•
•
•
•
Oregon Nurses Association
Oregon AFSCME Council 75
SEIU Locals 503 & 49
United Food & Commercial
Workers 555
• Oregon State Building &
Construction Trades Council
See all endorsements at:
www.michaeldembrow.com
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This year, four out of five seats on
the Portland City Council are up for
election this year. That means unions
at the City of Portland may end up
helping to determine who members’
bosses will be come January.
Under Portland’s commission form
of government, City Council consists
of the mayor and four commissioners.
Each of the five is in charge of at least
one city bureau, and the mayor is re-
sponsible for assigning bureaus to
council members.
American Federation of State,
County, and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME) Local 189, which repre-
sents about 1,100 city workers, is
backing Sam Adams for mayor —
and Nick Fish and Randy Leonard for
City Council. It’s staying out of the
race to fill the Council seat Adams is
vacating.
Laborers Local 483, which repre-
sents about 600 maintenance workers
in parks, streets, and sewage treatment
plants, also backs Fish and Leonard,
plus Amanda Fritz for Adams’ seat.
But it’s making no endorsement in the
mayor’s race.
Only one of the four races has an
outcome that’s virtually assured:
Leonard, a former Fire Fighters Union
leader, is an incumbent and faces no
serious opposition to unseat him. So,
barring some calamity, Leonard will
continue to serve alongside Commissioner
Dan Saltzman, who doesn’t face re-election
this year.
But the other three seats are truly up for
grabs, and union help could make the differ-
ence. In the race for mayor, Adams, once con-
sidered a shoe-in, is being challenged by busi-
nessman Sho Dozono and 11 relatively
unknown candidates.
In the race to fill City Council Position 1,
the seat mayoral candidate Adams now holds,
seven candidates are running: Jeff Bissonnette,
John Branam, Mike Fahey, Amanda Fritz,
Charles Lewis, and Chris Smith.
For Position 2 — which became open
through the resignation of Erik Sten — Fish
faces Jim Middaugh, Ed Garren and two other
candidates.
AFSCME staff representative James Hester
said Local 189 is supporting Adams because
the union has had a positive working relation-
ship with him as a City Commissioner.
“He’s taking on some heavy issues like
transportation and basic infrastructure, that no
other candidate seems to want to bring up,”
Hester said. “That’s something the DCTU
(District Council of Trade Unions) has been
talking about since 1999.”
But the Laborers balked at backing Adams.
“It’s always been hard for our members to
endorse their boss,” said Local 483 Business
Manager Richard Beetle.
Laborers represents city maintenance
workers who repair and maintain sidewalks,
sewers, streets, streetlights, and parking me-
ters. Adams is in charge of all those bureaus.
His campaign for “Safe, Sound & Green
Streets” — a November ballot referral to vot-
Carpenters, Electricians, Laborers, Glaziers, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofers, Asbestos Workers, Millwrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers,
Union locals spread
out support to several
different candidates
PAGE 3