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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 2008)
DEC. 5, 2008 8pger:NWLP Inside 12/2/08 10:21 AM Page 1 MEETING NOTICES See Page 4 Volume 109 Number 23 December 5, 2008 Portland Buy union this holiday season — and keep it local The economy may be holding its breath, but that won’t stop most Labor Press readers from doing at least some gift shopping this year. And buying union-made and union-delivered is a way for working peo- ple to stick together. To help readers who want to do that, the Labor Press has come up with 10 gift ideas for goods and services made or sold by local union workers. CONCERT TICKETS. Tickets to the Oregon Symphony make a classy gift — and they keep members of American Fed- eration of Musicians Local 99 employed. The Portland Opera and Oregon Ballet Theater also employ AFM mem- bers, but OBT now uses recorded music for over half its shows, such as the Nutcracker Suite. Ask before you buy. HUNTING GEAR. For the hunter or fisher in the family, what about a knife made by Gerber Legendary Blades? Based in Southwest Portland, Gerber employs members of Machin- ists District Lodge 24, Legendary Local 2911. CELL PHONE SERVICE. As any kid will tell you, if you give them a cell phone for Christmas, they’ll love you forever. But be sure to go with unionized AT&T, not any of the other carriers, which are nonunion (and rather anti- union). In Oregon, when you visit a company-owned AT&T store, you’re talking with a member of Communications Work- ers of America (CWA) Local 7901. BOOKS. Books make great gifts, and you can buy them, or a gift card, at Powell’s Books, the only unionized book seller in the area. Workers there are represented by Interna- tional Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 5. CHEAP WHEELS. Got a teenager? Give the gift of mobil- ity. A one-month TriMet Youth pass costs $26, and might cut down on the need for chauffeuring. And TriMet employs members of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 757. BOOTS. For serious boot-lovers, Danner hiking, fishing and hunting boots are the real deal, and some of them are made in Portland by members of UFCW Local 555. Check the label to see if it’s U.S.-made. And get them at Danner’s Port- land outlet store, 12722 NE Airport Way, or at Al’s Shoe’s and Boots — a long-time supporter of the Labor Press — at 5811 NE 82nd Ave. CANDY. Fill up your stockings with union-made candy. See’s “Famous Old Time Candies” is hand-packaged by mem- bers of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union. Russell Stover Candies, Jelly Belly jelly beans, Hershey’s Kisses, Fifth Avenue, Zagnut, York Peppermint Patties, Nestles Crunch, Kit Kat bars, Baby Ruth, Butterfingers and Thin Mints are all made by members of the Bakers Union. BLANKETS. When you turn down the thermo- (Turn to Page 2) Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain fires up rally-goers protesting the use of nonunion contractors on the initial phase of a $250 million Oregon State Hospital makeover in Salem. The contractors are performing demolition and asbestos removal. According to the Laborers Union, which sponsored the rally, the employer doesn’t pay area standard wages and benefits. State hospital job off to a bad start SALEM —The long overdue re- placement of the dilapidated Oregon State Hospital has gotten off on the wrong foot for some construction unions. Laborers Local 320 held an infor- mational rally Nov. 20 to protest the presence of nonunion contractors per- forming demolition and asbestos abate- ment work on the first phase of the $250 million prevailing wage project. The general contractor is Hoffman Construction. According to the Laborers Union, IRS Environmental, which has a pri- marily Hispanic workforce doing as- bestos removal, does not provide ade- quate health insurance and isn’t a recognized training agent for appren- tices. In fact, during the rally Nov. 20, Laborers organizer Bill Hoffman asked an IRS Environmental employee about his health care plan. The man re- sponded that he didn’t have insurance. Demolition work is being per- formed by nonunion Konell Construc- tion and Demolition of Sandy, Oregon. Jim Anderson of Operating Engi- neers Local 701 told the NW Labor Press that several signatory contractors bid the work. Not all of the construction contracts have been awarded, “but when the first big piece ($16 million for demolition and asbestos abatement) goes rat, that’s bad news,” said Ben Nelson, an organizer for the Laborers Union. Anderson hopes that a union con- tractor will get the excavation and site work. The 125-year-old psychiatric hospi- tal is one of the oldest on the West Coast. Originally known as the Ore- gon Insane Asylum, it was renamed in 1907. The hospital may be best known for being featured in the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” star- ring Jack Nicholson. In 2003, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulon- goski established a 21-member mental health task force to identify problems in the mental health care system and recommend solutions. That inquiry found many buildings on the campus located at Center Street NE in central Salem were badly outdated. In September, ground was broken on a new, 620-bed facility, part of a $458 million “revitalization and mod- ernization” plan that will include a second, 36-bed state hospital in Junc- tion City — near the location of a new state prison. The new hospital is scheduled for completion in 2011. Speaking at the Laborers rally were Tom Chamberlain, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO; Jerry Fletcher, president of the International Brother- hood of Tangent Electrical Workers Local 280; and Bruce Roller of Labor- ers Local 320. More than five dozen members from other unions partici- pated, including the American Federa- tion of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union, . AFSCME Lo- cals 3295 and 3327 represent nurses and doctors at Oregon State Hospital.
