SEPT. 5, 2008:NWLP
9/2/08
9:46 AM
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Building Trades Council stays out of U.S. Senate race
Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon
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SEPTEMBER 5, 2008
GORDON SMITH
time and has teamed with Republican
leaders many times on filibusters
blocking pro-labor bills such as the
Employee Free Choice Act.
Smith made a brief appearance be-
fore delegates on Wednesday morning.
He had time for only one question fol-
lowing his speech before rushing off to
another event. He did not talk about
his positions on free trade or the Em-
ployee Free Choice Act.
“I have not voted with you 100 per-
cent of the time,” he acknowledged.
“But I have worked with you 100 per-
cent of the time.”
He told delegates that he supports
John McCain for president, prevailing
wage laws, and legislation that funds
projects that create construction jobs.
“Whether it’s light rail, streetcars,
whether it’s wind, whether it’s energy
projects, I have been there for you —
that counts for something,” he said.
Smith told delegates that through
his endeavors in the Senate over the
past 12 years Oregon has seen 25,000
jobs and hundreds of millions of dol-
lars come to the state in the way of
highway and construction projects.
In asking for the council’s endorse-
ment (which he got six years ago),
Smith said it wouldn’t be wise “to put
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JEFF MERKLEY
all of your political party interests into
one basket.”
On Thursday, a motion by the OS-
BCTC Executive Board to endorse
Smith was amended, resulting in a no
action for either candidate.
In other political business, the
Building Trades Council backed re-
election of U. S. Representatives Greg
Walden (R-2nd Dist.), Earl Blume-
nauer (D-3rd Dist.), and Peter DeFazio
(D-4th Dist.), and the election of De-
mocrat Kurt Schrader, running for an
open seat in the 5th District.
On statewide ballot measures, the
council endorsed two of 12 measures
that will appear on the November bal-
lot. They are Measure 56, a legisla-
tively-referred constitutional amend-
ment that would allow May and Nov-
ember property tax elections to be de-
cided by a majority vote, rather than a
super-majority; and Measure 57, an-
other referral from the Legislature, this
one to increase sentences for drug traf-
ficking, theft against the elderly, and
specific repeat property and identity
theft crimes.
The OSBCTC opposes Measures
58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 and 65.
Measure 63 is its major focus. The
Bill Sizemore-sponsored measure
would exempt some property owners
from having to get building, plumbing,
electrical or mechanical permits or in-
spections for improvements valued at
or under $35,000. The council is still
working on its opposition campaign.
Delegates authorized the Executive
Board to decide how much money to
raise to fight it.
For details on all the ballot meas-
ures, go to the Labor Press at: www.
nwlaborpress.org/2008/8-15-08BM.
html.
Construction jobs, renewable en-
ergy, and transportation were major
themes at the convention.
OSBCTC Executive Director Bob
Shiprack reported that the state’s En-
ergy Facility Citing Council, of which
he is chair, has several requests in the
pipeline to cite new wind, solar, geo-
thermal, and gas turbine projects. He
said a subcommittee appointed by
Gov. Kulongoski will be recommend-
ing to the 2009 Legislature a package
of “several hundred million dollars” of
bonding, loans, and utility funds for
energy efficiency projects.
“It’s going to impact literally every
craft. We’re talking about retrofitting
buildings — everything from houses
to industrial plants,” he said.
Rick Metsger, chair of the Senate
Business and Transportation Commit-
tee, lobbied delegates for support in
investing in Oregon’s highway trans-
portation system.
Construction unions fully support
building more roads and bridges —
how to pay for it is another question.
Should there be an increase in the gas
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NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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BEND, Ore. — Despite pleas for
endorsement from both candidates, the
Oregon State Building and Construc-
tion Trades Council (OSBCTC) took
no action in a hotly contested race for
U.S. Senate.
Both Democratic State Rep. Jeff
Merkley and incumbent Republican
U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith addressed
nearly 100 delegates and guests at OS-
BCTC’s 47th annual convention held
Aug. 26-28 at the Riverhouse Confer-
ence Center.
On Tuesday, Merkley said he was
the best choice for working families,
touting his leadership as Speaker of
the House that resulted in “the most
pro-worker session of the Oregon Leg-
islature that we’ve seen in three de-
cades.”
Jobs were created, Merkley said, as
a result of large public investments in
construction projects for community
colleges, universities, K-12 schools,
highways and other infrastructure.
Workers were protected, he continued,
with passage of legislation that clari-
fies prevailing wage rates on public-
private construction projects; that al-
lows workers to apply for
unemployment insurance if they are
locked out of their jobs in a labor dis-
pute; and that permits public employ-
ees to form a union through majority
sign-up (card-check).
“Together we got it done,” Merkley
said. “But Oregon can only go so far if
our nation is way off track. And we
are way off track.”
Merkley said the United States and
Oregon have lost millions of good
paying jobs as a result of bad trade and
tax policies. Oregon alone has shed
70,000 jobs since enactment of the
North American and Central American
free trade agreements, he said.
Merkley pointed out that Smith
supports free trade and tax breaks for
the wealthy — and opposes the Em-
ployee Free Choice Act.
Smith’s positions are polar oppo-
sites of Merkley’s on these issues. In
fact, Smith has voted with President
George Bush nearly 90 percent of the
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