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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2008)
NOV. 7, 2008 :NWLP 11/5/08 10:04 AM Page 3 Last 100 years mostly ‘up’ for Elevator Constructors Portland-based Local 23 reaches a milestone By DON McINTOSH Associate Editor Elevator construction, as a skilled craft, has had ups and downs over the last 100 years. But thanks to their union, it’s been mostly ups for mem- bers of the International Union of Ele- vator Constructors (IUEC). IUEC Local 23, headquartered in Portland, turned 100 this year. To mark the occasion, about 300 members, family, and well-wishers gathered Oct. 25 at the Oregon Convention Center. One hundred years ago, Portland had fewer than 200,000 inhabitants. The electric elevator had been invented 28 years before. After the IUEC, just seven years old, issued a charter to form Local 23, 18 elevator construc- tors came to the local’s first meeting, on June 8, 1908. The IUEC motto — “In union there is strength,” — is part of the union’s insignia. And that union strength pro- duces one of the top wages of any oc- cupation. Today, journey-level elevator con- structors earn $42.09 an hour, plus $16.29 an hour in benefits. That makes elevator construction the highest paid craft among the building trades, ac- cording to State of Oregon prevailing wage surveys. And one of the reasons is that union firms control an unusually high per- centage of the market, said Columbia- Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council Executive Secretary- Treasurer John Mohlis. The state’s chief elevator inspector, Ron Crabtree, thinks union share of the elevator market could be near 96 percent. IUEC is unlike other building trades unions in several ways. It negotiates a nationwide labor agreement with its counterpart em- ployer group, National Elevator Indus- try, Inc. (NEII). Its industry is domi- (Photo left) International Union of Elevator Constructors officers present “gold card” certificates to two recent Local 23 retirees, honoring them for outstanding service to the union during their careers. Pictured, from left, are General Secretary-Treasurer Kevin Stringer; retiree Dick Dodge; Assistant General President James Higgins; and retiree Dan McDonald. (Photo right) Higgins makes a forceful point about the need to put friends of labor in public office. nated by a handful of big firms that operate nationally and even interna- tionally, some of which, like Otis and Thyssen-Krupp, also manufacture the elevators. An elevator installation contract typically includes free maintenance for three to six months, and is often fol- lowed by contracts with the same company to do maintenance and re- pair. Thus, even after elevators are in- stalled, it’s IUEC members who return to maintain and repair them over the years — a facet of the business that helps keep members employed during construction downturns. There are now 10,541 elevators in Oregon, and all of them need to be maintained and repaired periodically. Oregon Tradeswomen Inc. Execu- tive Director Connie Ashbrook, a long- time Local 23 member, describes the work of elevator construction as uniquely challenging: “Imagine hav- ing to build a train from scratch inside a building. Only instead of building it horizontally, you’re doing it vertically. You install the rails the elevator runs on. You build the cab itself, install the motors and machinery above, attach cables, put doors in place, set up switches and mechanisms. You don’t have very much clearance. Everything is very tight and compact. And you have to make sure that nothing rubs.” IUEC members also install and re- pair escalators, and they put in the small residential elevators and wheel- chair lifts that are increasingly com- mon as more and more buildings are made accessible to seniors and the dis- abled. IUEC has enjoyed relative labor (Turn to Page 5) (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 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, PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 NOVEMBER 7, 2008 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS PAGE 3
