OCT. 3, 2008
corrected copy:NWLP
9/30/08
12:04 PM
Page 8
...Turbulance at Boeing
(From Page 1)
the London-based Transport Ground
Workers Union.
On Sept. 20, Machinists District
Lodge 24 hosted a rally and barbecue
at the front gate of the plant in Gre-
sham. More than 200 people attended,
including the Democratic candidate
for U.S. Senate, Jeff Merkley; Oregon
Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian;
State Rep. Diane Rosenbaum; Oregon
AFL-CIO President Tom Chamber-
lain; IAM Western Territory General
Vice President Lee Pearson; Aero-
space Coordinator Mark Blondin, and
retired IAM Aerospace Coordinator
Dick Schneider.
“This is power. This is what the
union movement is about,” said Cham-
berlain, a member of Portland Fire
Fighters Local 43. “And frankly, it is
what’s scaring the hell out of corporate
America. I’m so proud of you for
standing up and holding your ground.”
Before the strike began, Boeing had
a backlog of more than 3,600 orders
valued at $346 billion. According to
the Seattle Times, Wall Street analysts
estimate that at the one-month mark,
the strike will have cost Boeing at least
$1.3 billion in profits.
“I think Boeing is allowing their
vendors and suppliers to get caught up
at the expense of their own employ-
ees,” said Bob Petroff, directing busi-
ness representative of Machinists Dis-
trict Lodge 24 in Portland. “Boeing
has outsourced work around the globe,
which only justifies our need for job
security language in this contract.”
The strike is the second in as many
contracts; IAM members struck the
company for 28 days in 2005.
The union has filed multiple unfair
labor practice complaints against Boe-
ing and, in fact, this is an unfair labor
practice strike and not an economic
strike. One of the complaints before
the National Labor Relations Board
charges Boeing with directly dealing
with workers. Federal labor law re-
quires employers to bargain exclu-
sively with its employees’ designated
union representatives.
The NLRB is still investigating the
complaints and had not set a hearing
date as of press time.
Meantime, the union has directed
striking members to file for unemploy-
ment insurance. If denied, members
are asked to appeal. If the ULP charg-
ers are upheld, striking Machinists will
be eligible for the insurance benefits.
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Carpenters back Obama
The United Brotherhood of Car-
penters and Joiners General Executive
Board on Aug. 20 unanimously en-
dorsed Barack Obama for President.
“On all the fundamental issues that
affect the lives and well-being of our
members, the choice of candidates in
this election is clear,” said General
President Douglas McCarron in an-
nouncing the endorsement, the first
the union has made in a presidential
contest since 2000.
“We believe that Barack Obama
recognizes the necessity for funda-
mental change in our nation’s poli-
State Rep. Jeff Merkley, a candidate
for U.S. Senate, offers support to
striking Boeing Machinists during a
rally Sept. 20 in Gresham. About
27,000 Machinists in four states —
including 1,244 members of Portland
Lodge 63 — walked off the job Sept.
6 over issues of outsourcing, health
care and pension benefits.
‘Battle in Seattle’ to
show in Portland
After considerable local demand, the
Hollywood film “Battle in Seattle” is
coming to Portland. The movie depicts
the 1999 protests that successfully shut
down the World Trade Organization
meeting in Seattle, and features an all-
star cast including Charlize Theron,
Woody Harrelson, Andre Benjamin,
Ray Liotta, Michelle Rodriguez and
Channing Tatum.
It opens Friday, Oct. 3, at the Regal
Fox Tower 10, 846 SW Park Ave., Port-
land, for a one-week engagement.
On Saturday, Oct. 4, fair trade ac-
tivists from throughout the Portland
area will gather to watch the film, then
meet afterwards to share reactions to the
movie and ideas on where to go from
here.
The event is sponsored by the Ore-
gon Fair Trade Campaign.
If you’re interested in trying to get
the moving to play in other towns, visit
the Web site and click on the “Demand
It” link at: www.whocontrolsthe
world.com/battle/film/labors-victory-
battle-in-seattle/.
Musicians Local 99 gets new
pact at Oregon Symphony
Oregon Symphony musicians —
members of Musicians Local 99 —
approved a new two-year contract that
covers the orchestra’s concert seasons
though 2010.
The agreement provides for a 5
percent salary increase this season,
with a cost-of-living increase at the
start of the second year. It maintains
the size of the orchestra at its current
complement of 76 musicians.
The ratification vote came just be-
fore the Oregon Symphony Associa-
tion’s annual meeting, which took
place Sept. 19.
“The investment supports and
helps nourish the artistic quality of the
orchestra,” said Jason Schooler, a bass
player who serves as chair of the Or-
chestra Committee. “It helps ensure
that this orchestra will continue to
grow and thrive.”
Schooler said 92 percent of the or-
chestra’s musicians took part in the
ratification vote and that the vote in
favor of the contract was nearly unani-
mous.
The orchestra’s board of directors
had approved the contract earlier.
The symphony has struggled in re-
cent years with financial losses, but
2007 its ticket sales jumped more than
15 percent to $5.6 million. Symphony
losses totaled $5.1 million between
2002 and 2008, and it must pay back a
$7 million bank loan that has saddled
the nonprofit with $400,000 in yearly
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cies,” McCarron said.
“The UBC shares my conviction
that we need to come together to
make sure that the American Dream
lives on for our children, and I’m
thrilled that they will be standing with
me in this critical election,” Obama
said.
The Carpenters Union represents
some 550,000 workers in the con-
struction and forest products indus-
tries, including large memberships in
key swing states such as Pennsylva-
nia, Ohio, Michigan and Nevada.
interest payments.
Oregon Symphony Association
President Elaine Calder acknowl-
edged that the Oregon symphony’s
pay lags peers in other U.S. cities.
“The negotiations reinforced how
well our musicians understand our fi-
nancial situation,” Calder said. “We
worked with them to balance fiscal re-
ality and their aspirations, and I was
impressed by the thoughtful and de-
tailed analysis they brought to the ne-
gotiating sessions.”
NECA/IBEW
donate funds
for scoreboard
The International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers Local 48 and the
National Electrical Contractors Asso-
ciation have donated $17,000 to the
Reynolds School District for the pur-
chase of an 8-by-20-foot scoreboard
that features the Raiders mascot. The
new score board is located at the var-
sity field.
“To raise enough money to com-
plete a project of this size would be a
challenge,” said a grateful Reynolds
baseball coach Kelly Larkin at a re-
cent Local 48 union meeting. “Some-
thing of this size would have taken
years. But NECA and IBEW’s gen-
erosity made it happen for the kids.”
Reynolds School Board member
Theresa Davis echoed Larkin’s praise.
“This is the first major high-tech im-
provement for the high school in 50
years,” she said. “The entire district
— parents, coaches teachers and stu-
dents — are incredibly grateful for the
union’s generosity.”
Local 48 Business Manager Clif
Davis said the donation strategy was
to reach out to area high schools and
expose students to a career in the elec-
trical industry.
The union and contractor coalition
is also using MySpace and Facebook
pages on the Internet to reach high
school students and young adults.
OCTOBER 3, 2008
