NWLP-2-20-09:NWLP
2/17/09
10:09 AM
Page 8
...Stimulus bill includes ’Buy American’ provision
(From Page 1)
spending side, put together by the
House-Senate Conference Committee,
runs 136 pages long. For the most part,
it puts new money into existing formu-
las to increase the local economic im-
pact of federal spending. And it em-
barks on a federal government building
boom and buying spree to stimulate de-
mand for goods.
Under the package, unemployment
insurance benefits will go up by $25 a
week. Social Security recipients will get
a one-time $250 bonus. Food stamp
benefits will increase 14 percent. All
those funds will be spent locally.
More people will be made eligible
for Medicaid, the government-paid
health insurance program for the poor.
A House-passed provision to let un-
employed workers get into Medicaid
was scrapped in the final version. In-
stead, the government will pick up the
tab for 60 percent of COBRA premi-
ums. COBRA is the acronym for the
law that lets laid-off workers keep em-
ployer-sponsored health coverage — by
paying for it themselves. Problem is,
monthly premiums average $388 for in-
dividuals and $1,069 for family cover-
age, while monthly unemployment ben-
efits average $1,278. Odds are that
Local Motion
January 2009
Union certifications and decertifications in Oregon and Southwest
Washington, as reported by the National Labor Relations Board and
the Oregon Employment Relations Board
Recognition elections
Results:
Name of employer
Date
Name of union
Location
Union Union
Yes No
Crook County Sheriff’s Department
1/6
CC Deputy Sheriffs Assn.
Prineville
16
0
White Bird Dance
1/7
IATSE Local 28
8
0
14
2
2
1
0
7
Kaiser Foundation Hospitals
1/9
SEIU Local 49
Portland
Clackamas
Albertsons (lobby)
1/21
UFCW Local 555
Roseburg
Mercy Flights ( DECERTIFICATION )
1/30
Teamsters Local 962
Medford
many of the jobless still will be unable
to afford the insurance.
The package also contains: $100 bil-
lion for local education grants; $15.6
billion for Pell Grants for college tu-
ition; $4 billion for job training; $16.8
billion for energy efficiency and renew-
able energy; $11 billion for medical re-
search; $7 billion for scientific research;
$300 million to buy domestically pro-
duced hybrids for the federal govern-
ment vehicle fleet; and $1 billion for
checked baggage explosives detection
systems in airports.
It increases the borrowing authority
of Bonneville Power Administration by
$3.25 billion, which the federal power
agency will use for new electricity in-
frastructure in the Pacific Northwest.
It provides $515 million funding for
a “Jobs in the Woods” program to pre-
vent forest fires by thinning overgrown
second growth forests. Oregon is likely
to get a good share of those funds, and
the thinning will make merchantable
timber available for milling.
There’s $27.5 billion for highway
and bridge work; $8 billion to build
high-speed rail; $7 billion for water
projects; $6.9 billion for mass transit; $6
billion for environmental cleanup at for-
mer weapon production and energy re-
search sites; $4.7 billion to bring broad-
band internet to rural areas; $4.6 billion
for Army Corps of Engineers work;
$4.5 billion to convert federally owned
buildings to High-Performance Green
buildings; $4 billion to retrofit public
housing; $1 billion to construct and ren-
ovate research facilities, and on and on.
In each case, federal agencies are ex-
pected to spend the money on projects
that can begin quickly and result in high,
immediate employment. And all iron,
steel, and manufactured goods used in
any infrastructure project funded by the
package will have to be produced in the
United States — thanks to a “Buy
America” provision that unions, partic-
ularly the United Steelworkers, fought
hard for.
Labor leaders applauded Congress
for taking action, but warned that more
will be needed. Laborers International
Union President Terence O’Sullivan
said the package provides “only a frac-
tion of the $2.2 trillion our transporta-
tion systems, energy systems and
schoolhouses need. The plan is a leap
forward, but it cannot become a ‘we al-
ready gave’ sign that blocks sorely
needed resources, leading to continued
deterioration of the basics of our coun-
try and our economy.”
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) put
it this way at the Feb. 16 press confer-
ence: “If you’re a worker and you’ve
been laid off, you’re not in a downturn,
you’re in a free-fall. This may not show
us where the bottom is, but it definitely
stops the free-fall.”
Business-labor-group to hold
lobby day in Salem for LNGs
SALEM — Energy Action North-
west, an alliance of business and labor
groups formed last year to advocate for
responsible energy development in
Oregon and Washington, will hold a
“Day at the State Capitol” Friday,
March 6, in Salem.
Display booths will be set up in the
Capitol’s Galleria, and union members
will have an opportunity to lobby law-
makers and leaflet passersby about the
need for job creation through invest-
ment in energy infrastructure projects.
Energy Action Northwest is a pro-
ponent of proposed liquefied natural
gas terminals and pipelines, including
one at Bradwood Landing near Astoria.
“We have ample space for any num-
ber of unions that wish to participate in
the lobby day,” said Tom Ivancie, di-
rector of public affairs. To set up a
union booth or to register to lobby, call
Ivancie at 503-595-1232 or e-mail him
at tivancie@EnergyActionNW.org.
Members of Energy Action argue
that building the LNG terminal in As-
toria will provide significant short-term
economic stimulus without any tax-
payer dollars. Additionally, the project
will assure continued access to reli-
able, reasonably priced supplies of nat-
ural gas to power the electric grid, the
manufacturing sector, and to heat
homes.
The lobby day is part of Energy Ac-
tion’s “Truth Offensive” campaign to
rebut claims by environmental groups
that LNG plants are unnecessary.
Requests for recognition election
Name of employer
Name of union
Petermann ( DECERTIFICATION )
Teamsters Local 58
Safeway
United Food & Commercial Workers Local 555
Location
Number of employees
Battle Ground
146
Burns
46
First Student
Teamsters Local 962
Medford
117
Aramark Linen Service
Teamsters Local 962
Medford
11
Hoodview Vending
Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers
Tualatin
10
Vancouver
Southwest Washington Medical Center (surgical techs)
117
Office & Professional Employees International Union Local 11
Pro-Tec Fire Service
Teamsters Local 962
Medford
117
Providence St. Vincent Medical Center
Oregon Nurses Association
Portland
200
PAGE 8
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
FEBRUARY 20, 2009