JAN. 2 2009:NWLP
12/29/08
10:02 AM
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...Workers’ rights reforms have chance in ‘09 Legislature
(From Page 1)
federal Medicaid dollars around to cover
more people than the minimum required
by the federal government. Funding for
the additions would come from a 60-
cents-a-pack cigarette tax increase and
from a “provider tax” of 4 percent of
gross revenues on hospitals and 1.5 per-
cent on insurers. Those state-generated
funds would be matched 2-to-1 by the
federal government.
The governor is also asking the Leg-
islature to authorize Oregon’s participa-
tion in a regional “cap-and-trade” pro-
gram to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. Large greenhouse gas emit-
ters would have to buy permits or reduce
emissions when the program goes into
effect in 2012. This year, a proposed bill
would require reporting of greenhouse
gas emissions statewide, and create a
task force to help the state work out the
rules of the cap and trade system, which
would be presented to the 2011 Legisla-
ture for approval.
The Oregon AFL-CIO favors other
methods of reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, and is on record opposing
cap-and-trade. Still, the federation will
lobby to limit the harms and maximize
the benefits for workers of such a pro-
gram.
TheAFL-CIO also will be calling for
a closer look at tax credits for renewable
energy and energy efficiency improve-
ments — auditing them to see what kind
of jobs they’ve created, and passing
minimum jobs requirements for the
credits to be taken.
“We believe when you’re giving tax
credits to companies, taxpayers should
be assured that’s going to create good-
paying middle-class jobs,” explained
AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain.
Some workers’ rights reforms may
have a better chance of passage this year.
Two years ago, several such reforms
passed the House only to die in the Sen-
ate, where “business” Democrats held
sway. This year, the Senate will have
three new Democrats who are consid-
ered solid labor allies: Rosenbaum,
Jackie Dingfelder and Suzanne Bonam-
ici. And all three will be in a position to
advance legislation because they’ll be
chairing committees: Rosenbaum at
Commerce and Workforce Develop-
ment; Dingfelder at Environment &
Natural Resources; and Bonamici at
Consumer Protection and PublicAffairs.
One of the Oregon AFL-CIO’s prior-
ities this year is the Worker Freedom
Act. The bill would make it illegal for
an employer to discipline a worker for
refusing to attend a workplace anti-
union meeting. Such meetings are a
standard tactic by employers trying to
prevent a union from getting majority
support.
Another priority for the AFL-CIO,
and for public employee unions, is a
change in the definition of supervisor in
Oregon’s public employee collective
bargaining law. In 1995, a Republican-
led Legislature delivered a blow to pub-
lic employee unionization by passing
Senate Bill 750. One provision of SB
750 — disallowing police and fire
unions from bargaining over workplace
safety — was undone by the 2007 Leg-
islature. This year, labor will take aim at
another provision of SB 750: Its expan-
sion of the definition of supervisor,
which led to thousands of public em-
ployees losing their right to join a union.
Lawmakers may also consider ex-
panding unemployment insurance cov-
erage to part-time workers, and improv-
ing the formula used to calculate
benefits.
And supporters will try again to es-
tablish a modest paid family leave pro-
gram. Funded by a small payroll tax, the
program would give a stipend to work-
ers who now are eligible for unpaid fam-
ily leave, which they can take to care for
a newborn child or sick relative. A sim-
ilar proposal was debated near the end
of the 2007 legislative session but failed
to win passage.
For the Oregon State Building and
Construction Trades Council (OS-
BCTC), priority number one will be in-
creasing public investment — to keep
people employed and get people back to
work. Executive Secretary Bob
Shiprack said the building trades will
work to build support for infrastructure
and transportation proposals. The gov-
ernor is proposing several packages of
that kind, and Senate President Peter
Courtney is working on a proposal for
bonding authority to do an additional
$350 million of improvements on col-
lege campuses and other facilities.
OSBCTC will also get behind state
support for renewable energy projects.
And it will back a bill to mandate per-
mitting and inspection on private renew-
able energy and energy efficiency proj-
ects that are certified to receive the
state’s Business Energy Tax Credit — to
ensure the work is done properly.
And the building trades will push to
expand prevailing wage laws. One bill
would require companies to pay con-
struction workers the prevailing wage on
capital improvement projects that are
approved to receive three years or more
of state Enterprise Zone property tax
abatements.
American Federation of Teachers
(AFT)-Oregon, which represents nurses,
teachers, and classified school employ-
ees, will push several ideas. One is a bill
that would set a minimum ratio of
nurses to patients, and require hospitals
to publicly disclose their staffing ratios.
AFT will also try to make progress
in its campaign to halt the shift toward
use of part-time college faculty who
have few or no benefits. The cause could
get a boost in the House Education
Committee, which will be chaired by
newcomer Michael Dembrow, a long-
time AFT leader.
Union opponents of privatization will
rally in a coalition seeking greater trans-
parency and accountability for govern-
ment contracts. One bill to be introduced
K
would ensure that all government con-
tracts be made available online in data-
bases accessible by the public. Another
would require a cost-benefit analysis be-
fore state or local governments (includ-
ing school districts) could contract out
things like janitorial or cafeteria serv-
ices. And they wouldn’t be allowed to
contract out for reasons of cost savings if
those savings are only achievable be-
cause of lower wages and benefits.
The Oregon AFL-CIO and the Labor
Education and Research Center (LERC)
at the University of Oregon are planning
a Jan. 24 legislative conference at the
Sheet Metal Training Center in North-
east Portland. Legislators, elected offi-
cials and labor leaders will discuss their
agendas for the 2009 session.
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