NWLP-2-16-09:NWLP
1/20/09
10:45 AM
Page 2
Vancouver Fire Fighters give up wage
hikes to help cash-strapped city coffers
VANCOUVER — Union firefight-
ers have voted to give up a pay raise
so that the City of Vancouver can af-
ford to staff a new fire station.
In results announced Dec. 30,
members of Fire Fighters Local 452
voted by a 91 percent margin to ap-
prove a one-year contract extension
that contains scheduled step increases,
but no cost-of-living allowance
(COLA). The 164 members of the
union had been scheduled for a 4 per-
cent increase.
“The budget situation being what it
was, we reconsidered,” said Local 452
President Mark Johnston.
Vancouver city government has
been hit hard by the recession: Sales
tax revenue is down because of a de-
cline in sales, and property tax rev-
enues are expected to decline in about
a year because of falling home values.
So far the city has reacted by eliminat-
ing 30 positions, including 16 layoffs.
“We were just really concerned
about public safety, especially in the
east part of city,” Johnston said.
The skipped COLA is expected to
b h
m k
save Vancouver $700,000 in 2009, an
amount that will make a difference
when the city opens a new fire station
in east Vancouver in January 2010.
Johnson said this is the first time in
at least 25 years that the union has
agreed to a wage freeze. Average
wages are about $70,000 a year for the
group, which includes firefighters and
paramedics.
Johnston said it helped that the sac-
rifice is being shared: The city has told
managers and other nonunion workers
they won’t be getting a COLA.
Local 452’s new agreement did
have some improvements for mem-
bers: An increase from six days a year
of sick leave to 12 days, and an in-
crease in the maximum amount of un-
used sick leave that can be banked:
from about six months worth to nine
months worth.
The skipped COLA could have im-
plications for other unions at the city.
Contract negotiations are under way
for three other bargaining units: Fire
Fighters Local 452, which represents
deputy fire marshals; Office & Profes-
Bennett Hartman
Morris & Kaplan, llp
Attorneys at Law
Oregon’s Full Service Union Law Firm
Representing Workers Since 1960
Serious Injury and Death Cases
• Construction Injuries
• Automobile Accidents
• Medical, Dental, and Legal Malpractice
• Bicycle and Motorcycle Accidents
• Pedestrian Accidents
• Premises Liability (injuries on premises)
• Workers’ Compensation Injuries
• Social Security Claims
sional Employees International Union
Local 11, which represents some city
bureaus; and the Joint Labor Coali-
tion, a four-union unit that includes
members of American Federation of
State, County & Municipal Employ-
ees (AFSCME) Local 307-VC, Team-
sters Local 58, Machinists District
Lodge 24, and Plumbers Local 290.
“I know there are employers out
there who are going to use this against
their unions,” Johnson said. “We don’t
necessarily recommend this, or say
every group should be doing this.”
The contract covering police offi-
cers won’t expire until the end of
2009, and the Police Guild said no to
reopening its contract to negotiate giv-
ing up the COLA.
Economic crisis is
focus of Jan. 31
town hall meeting
A town hall focusing on the eco-
nomic crisis will be held saturday, Jan.
31, from 1 to 5 p.m. at First Unitarian
Church, 1011 SW 12th Ave. Portland.
The event, free of charge, is being
co-sponsored by Portland Jobs with
Justice and more than two dozen union
locals and community organizations.
A flier promoting the town hall said:
“We have a great opportunity now to
organize to get not just a bailout, but an
economy that provides opportunity for
working people; an economy that helps
communities thrive and reverses
decades of growing inequality, take-
backs, union busting, unfair trade
agreements, cuts in health care and
more.”
For more information, call JwJ at
503 236-5573 or go to jwjpdx.org.
IN MEMORIAM
TOM CUNNING-
HAM, a retired execu-
tive secretary-treasurer
of Portland-based Serv-
ice Employees Interna-
tional Union (SEIU) Lo-
cal 49, died Dec. 21 from
a head injury sustained in
a fall during last month’s
winter storm. He was 77.
Cunningham, of Mil-
waukie, Oregon, served in the local’s
top post for 13 years. He was a 39-year
member of the union.
Thomas David Cunningham was
born in Janesville, Minn., on Feb. 22,
1931. He graduated from high school
there in 1949.
He enlisted in the United States Air
Force and served in the Korean War in
195l-52. He was honorably discharged
as a staff sergeant in 1954.
Cunningham earned a degree in edu-
cation from Mankato State University
in Minnesota. A teaching opportunity at
St. Mary’s Home for Boys in Beaverton
brought him to Oregon.
He left teaching to sell office ma-
chines. Then, in 1969, he was hired as a
business agent by Marty Blake, Local
49’s executive secretary-treasurer.
In addition to being a business agent,
Cunningham became president of the
Local 49 credit union in 1972, and was
elected president of the local union in
1980. Three years later he became the
union’s business manager, succeeding
Blake, who retired.
In his years as Local 49’s leader,
Cunningham held a number of posts, in-
cluding Building Service Division Ex-
ecutive Board member, 1988-96; Hos-
pital Division Executive Board member,
1988-92; delegate to International Fed-
eration of Labor meetings, 1994; West-
ern Conference of SEIU Executive
Board member, 1984-96; Oregon
Council of Service Employees presi-
dent, 1990-96.
Could a REVERSE MORTGAGE
Work for You?
Imagine a Payment Free, Financially-Secure Retirement.
• Supplement Your Retirement Income.
• No Debt Passes to Your Heirs.
• You Maintain Ownership and Title.
T URN Y OUR H OME E QUITY I NTO C ASH , L INE OF C REDIT ,
M ONTHLY I NCOME OR A C OMBINATION OF P LANS .
Talk with Lynn or Julie, the Reverse Mortgage Specialists at:
We Work Hard for Hard-Working People!
111 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 1650
Portland, Oregon 97204
(503) 227-4600
www.bennetthartman.com
PAGE 2
TOM BERNARD, a former officer
of Teamsters Local 174 in Seattle and a
union organizer for Oregon Federation
of Nurses and Health Professionals Lo-
cal 5017, died Dec. 27 of a heart attack
while shoveling snow. He was 60.
Thomas Earl Bernard was born Dec.
18, 1948, in Detroit, Mich. He served in
the Air Force in the Vietnam War and
moved from Oakland, Calif., to Port-
land three years ago. He was active in
the Portland chapter of Jobs with Jus-
tice and the anti-war movement.
In 1993, he married Helen Lee.
Survivors include his wife; son,
Derek; daughter, Kristy Hemingway;
stepdaughters, Jade Fox and Alison
Lee-Whitney; stepson, Jesse Fox; and
two grandchildren.
Remembrances to Sisters of the
Road Cafe.
(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.
Lynn Russell
OR ML-4194WA 510-MB-30380
Our Legal Staff are Proud Members of UFCW Local 555
Cunningham served
on the Northwest Oregon
Labor Council Executive
Board and on the Advi-
sory Board of the Labor
Education and Research
Center of the University
of Oregon. He was presi-
dent of the Portland Mar-
itime Trades Council and
of the Portland Provision
Trades Council. He was a delegate to
the Columbia-Pacific Building Trades
Council.
Cunningham was inducted into the
Northwest Oregon Labor Council’s La-
bor Hall of Fame in June 2001.
In retirement, Cunningham did vol-
unteer work through his church, St.
John’s Catholic Church in Milwaukie,
and helped at St. Vincent de Paul.
Cunningham and his wife, the for-
mer Geri McIntosh of Portland, were
married in 1968. They had no children.
Geri Cunningham had been hospi-
talize and was in intensive care when
Cunningham had his accident. It wasn’t
until a few days later that the extent of
his injuries were detected. Surgery
failed to relieve swelling on his brain.
Funeral arrangements are pending as
Geri Cunningham recuperates.
360-694-7272 or
1-866-684-7272
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
205 East 11th Street, Suite 104, Vancouver, Washington
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
JANUARY 16, 2009