NWLP Nov. 21, 2008:NWLP
11/18/08
9:43 AM
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Labor trounces Bill Sizemore proposals ... again
By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
November 4 was a bad night for
Bill Sizemore — the most persistent
antagonist of the Oregon union move-
ment. Voters rejected all five of his bal-
lot initiatives, and voted yes on a leg-
islative referral that overturned one of
his previous initiatives.
Sizemore may have intended to
overwhelm Oregon unions with scat-
tershot proposals this year, but union
campaigners say the measures ended
up energizing and unifying the union
movement, and even firmed up organ-
ized labor’s alliances with other
groups.
Labor and its allies put more than
$15 million into an umbrella group,
Defend Oregon, that was created to de-
feat the Sizemore measures and two
others sponsored by former Oregon
Republican Party Chair Kevin Man-
nix. Defend Oregon also helped to
pass several referrals from the state’s
Democratic-majority Legislature.
Defend Oregon both pooled re-
sources and divided up some of the
work of opposing similar measures.
Associated campaigns were formed
under the Defend Oregon umbrella to
fight specific measures. For example,
the Oregon Education Association
(OEA) formed Parents and Teachers
Know Better — to fight Measures 58
and 60, the latter of which would have
instituted an ill-defined merit system
and scrapped cost-of-living increases
and seniority rights for teachers. Build-
ing trades unions teamed with Realtors
and insurances companies and formed
Oregonians Against Unsafe Housing
to fight Measure 63, which would have
allowed home improvements of up to
$35,000 to take place without permits
or inspections. Public employee
unions formed the Don’t Silence Our
Voice Committee to fight Measure 64,
which would have made it harder for
public workers to give to their unions’
political campaigns. And the American
Federation of State, County and Mu-
nicipal Employees, Service Employees
International Union, and OEA con-
tributed to the Better Way to Fight
Crime Committee, which opposed
Mannix’ measures 61 and 62 and sup-
ported a legislative referral alternative.
Labor had help in opposing Meas-
ure 64. Though the measure was
chiefly aimed at politically disarming
public employee unions, other non-
profit groups felt that the measure’s
broad language was loose enough to
hamstring their fundraising as well.
Groups like the Sierra Club and Basic
Rights Oregon had a stake in defeating
the measure, because both also get do-
nations from state employee work-
place giving programs, and they take
positions on legislation in Salem. The
Oregon Humane Society sent mes-
sages out to members and supporters
via e-mail and its newsletter.
“Everyone learned that when we do
all stick together, we all win together,”
said Defend Oregon spokesperson
Scott Moore.
Defend Oregon worked closely
with the Oregon AFL-CIO and with
the Change to Win federation, both of
which had their own high-intensity po-
litical mobilizations going. From Au-
gust to Election Day, coalition allies
met at least weekly in person or by
conference call to coordinate.
Coalition partners, both unions and
non-profit groups, worked hard to edu-
cate their own members. To be a union
member in Oregon was to get friendly
phone calls from fellow unionists —
until county elections offices recorded
their ballot was received.
And the campaign got assists from
Democratic candidates. For example,
volunteers who went door-to-door dis-
tributing literature for Jeff Merkley’s
U.S. Senate campaign also distributed
Defend Oregon material about ballot
measures.
Defend Oregon also used its cam-
paign resources to pay for television
ads, direct mail to voters, polling to
test how well the messages were get-
ting out, and to hire the door-to-door
canvass operation of Working America
— the AFL-CIO’s community affili-
ate. In the end, both of the Mannix
measures and all five of the Sizemore
measures went down to defeat.
...Job creation key to any stimulus pact
(From Page 1)
gon,” emphasizing that transportation
construction can provide living-wage
jobs.
State and federal estimates show
that every $1 million spent on infra-
structure translates into 28 jobs and
$3.2 million in total economic activity.
Wheeler said that an infusion of
money would allow Multnomah
County to shore up a large portion of
the more than 300 miles of roads,
streets, curbs and sidewalks that the
county is responsible for.
“ It will not only put people to
work, it will make that infrastructure
safer for everybody in our community
to use,” he said.
On a larger scale, Wheeler said the
county must have federal assistance to
rebuild the Sellwood Bridge, the
busiest two-lane bridge in the state,
carrying more than 30,000 vehicles a
day. “We can’t rebuild it alone,” he
stated.
Wheeler said the nearly 100-year-
old bridge has replacement parts recy-
cled from projects that are more than
120 years old. Weight limits on the
bridge, he continued, have been re-
duced four times, to the point that
buses and trucks can no longer cross it.
“It is a major transportation liability,”
he said.
Leonard, a former president of Fire
Fighters Local 43, said investing in in-
frastructure projects is a good strategy
for dealing with a recession and rising
unemployment. “It will put people
back to work who would otherwise be
unemployed and taking unemploy-
ment,” he said. “They will have money
in their pocket to go out and buy goods
and services — get the economy mov-
ing.”
Michael E. Hardeman, Business Representative
Sign & Display Local 510
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Diane Williams, Senior Vice President & Manager, (213) 236-5085
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NOVEMBER 21, 2008
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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