Wokers at Vancouver Hilton Hotel get
first contract with UNITE HERE Local 9
VANCOUVER — Workers at the
Hilton Vancouver Washington hotel and
convention center ratified their first-ever
union contract June 26, bringing to a
close a two-year long contract cam-
paign. Workers there joined UNITE
HERE Local 9 in June 2006.
The new contract clears the way for
the formal end of Seattle and Portland
boycotts of the Hilton. All three hotels
are now under contracts that will expire
simultaneously in 2011.
The vote, by about 70 percent of the
140 employees, was eight-to-one in fa-
vor of approving the contract, said chief
negotiator Rick Sawyer. The contract
contained the same job security lan-
guage as the recently concluded Port-
land deal, with rules against outsourc-
ing, and successorship in the event of
hotel sale.
Wages and benefits, while not up to
the Portland and Seattle standard, were
good for a first hotel contract, Sawyer
said. Non-tipped employees get a 5 per-
cent increase, while banquet depart-
ment employees get a 5 percent in-
crease in their take from the service
charge levied on banquet customers.
Workers will be now paid time-and-a-
half after eight hours in a shift, and dou-
ble time starting the seventh consecu-
tive day of work. Employees also get a
one-time contract-signing bonus of
$200, or $100 for on-call workers and
recent hires within the last six months.
Monthly employee premiums on the
company’s employee-only health insur-
ance plan dropped to $40 a month from
$89. Workers will now have access to
the union’s 401(k) pension plan, though
contributions to that are still up to the
employee, with no employer match.
And they’ll now be participants in the
defined pension program, with the em-
ployer contribution starting at 33 cents
an hour.
Housekeepers will have the same
daily room quota as the Portland con-
tract — 15 rooms.
And the contract contains a re-
opener next year, meaning bargaining
on further improvements to wages and
benefits will begin next March.
(Editor’s Note: Some building trades
union locals are not patronizing the
Vancouver Hilton Hotel and Conven-
tion Center because portions of the fa-
cility were built by nonunion subcon-
tractors. However, neither the Oregon
State BCTC or the Columbia Pacific
BCTC have sanctioned a boycott
against the Vancouver Hilton.)
Broadway Floral
for the BEST flowers call
503-288-5537
Thanks to a settlement brokered
by the National Labor Relations
Board, Georgene Barragan (pictured
left) returned to Bread Song Bakery
June 24, six months after she was fired for failing to reveal past union expe-
rience on her job application.
Barragan, a full-time organizer for Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco
Workers & Grain Millers Local 114, got a job at Bread Song last July in or-
der to give workers there a chance to unionize. Wages and benefits are sub-
stantially lower there than at unionized bakeries in the Portland area. The
Lake Oswego bakery is owned by a subsidiary of Cargill.
Barragan said co-workers welcomed her back with hugs and handshakes
when she arrived for her pre-dawn shift. They knew she was returning be-
cause Bread Song posted terms of the out-of-court settlement in three lan-
guages on company bulletin boards.
Barragan was a mixer when she was fired, but rather than displace her re-
placement, she came back in a position on the divider line. She’ll divide
dough into loaves while on the clock, and unite bakery workers, she hopes,
while on break.
“I think they’re realizing the power they have if they come together as
one and negotiate in a union rather than on their own,” Barragan said.
NOLC to host Labor Day picnic
The Northwest Oregon Labor Coun-
cil will once again sponsor a Labor Day
Picnic at Oaks Park in Southeast Port-
land. Labor Day is Sept. 1.
The Labor Council will sell food
Carpenters, Electricians, Laborers, Glaziers, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofers, Asbestos Workers, Millwrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers, Family
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1638 NE Broadway, Portland
Legal
settlement
returns union
organizer
to bakery
scrip for 25 cents each. Three scrip will
get you a hot dog and chips, two scrip a
soda pop, and four scrip a beer.
A deluxe ride bracelet costs $8.50
and is good from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The
ride bracelet also includes admission to
the roller skating rink.
To pre-order scrip, call the Labor
Council at 503-235-9444.
‘Labor Night’ at ballpark
The Columbia Pacific Building and
Construction Trades Council will spon-
sor “Labor Night at the Portland
Beavers” Thursday, Aug. 21. Tickets
are $12 for seats along first base. The
first pitch will be thrown at 7:05 p.m.
Unions are encouraged to purchase
bulk tickets early. To order, call Brian
Pollard at 503-553-5441.
(International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X)
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
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Editor: Michael Gutwig
Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice
Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of
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Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Ore-
gon and SW Washington. Subscriptions $13.75 per year for union
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Carpenters, Electricians, Laborers, Glaziers, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofers, Asbestos Workers, Millwrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers, Family
PAGE 2
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
JULY 4, 2008