May 15, 2009:NWLP
5/12/09
10:08 AM
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IN MEMORIAM
Douglas G. Ellis, a union
member for 70 years, died at
his home April 30 at the age of
96.
During the course of his
working career, Ellis was a
member of several unions, in-
cluding the International
Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers Locals 48, 125 and 49 (which
merged with Local 48); Machinists
Lodge 1005, and Service Employees
Local 503.
Ellis served as a union representative
for both Locals 48 and 49 in the mid-
1940s. He also was a field rep for the
Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries
apprenticeship and training division.
In 1956, Ellis was hired as director
of the Northwest Electrical Line Con-
struction Apprenticeship Committee by
IBEW Local 125 and the National
Electrical Contractors Association. Two
years late he moved to Washington,
D.C., to work as director of the
NECA/IBEW National Joint
Apprenticeship and Training
Committee.
Ellis returned to Portland
and BOLI’s apprenticeship di-
vision, where he worked until
retiring in 1977.
In retirement, Ellis was ac-
tive in several retirees groups.
He was named to the Northwest
Oregon Labor Retirees Council Labor
Hall of Fame in March 2000.
Douglas Gardiner Ellis was born in
Portland on Feb. 11, 1913.
He graduated from Roosevelt High
School and studied parliamentary law,
economics, politics and union history in
an adult night school.
He is survived by his wife, Maria
Luiza, and a daughter, Lorrayne, by a
previous marriage.
A memorial service will be held
Monday, May 18, at 1 p.m. at the IBEW
Local 48 Hall, 15937 NE Airport Way,
Portland.
‘Real’ U.S. unemployment at 15.8%
WASHINGTON, D.C. — New data
out May 8 show 539,000 more work-
ers lost their jobs in April and the na-
tion’s unemployment rate worsened to
8.9 percent (13.7 million), from 8.5
percent in March, reported the U.S. De-
partment of Labor.
Jobs lost in April were spread across
nearly all major private-sector indus-
tries. Jobs lost include 149,000 in man-
ufacturing; 110,000 in the construction
industry; 122,000 in professional and
business services; and 47,000 in the
services industry.
The number of long-term unem-
ployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or
more) increased by 498,000 to 3.7 mil-
lion over the month and has risen by
2.4 million since the start of the reces-
sion in December 2007.
The official unemployment rate is
bad. But the real unemployment rate is
far worse. If those who are underem-
ployed or who want a job but have
given up looking are counted, the U.S.
unemployment rate stands at 15.8 per-
cent — more than 25 million Ameri-
cans, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. Just to keep up with the pop-
ulation growth, the nation must add ap-
proximately 127,000 jobs a month —
and the economy is more than 7 mil-
lion jobs below what is needed to main-
tain pre-recession employment levels.
Senator on quest to find changes
in Employee Free Choice Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) —
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), the
lead sponsor of the Employee Free
Choice Act (EFCA), is discussing
changes in the bill in order to pick up
the needed 60 Senate votes to over-
come a planned Republican filibuster
against it.
Harkin told Bloomberg News the
changes may include dropping a key
provision — majority sign-up — be-
cause there is too much opposition to it.
But Harkin spokeswoman Kate
Cyrul told PAI the senator still stands
by the bill’s core principles of leveling
the playing field in organizing drives,
increasing penalties for labor law vio-
lators, and ensuring that once unions
are recognized, employers must sign a
first contract in a timely fashion.
Majority sign-up is considered the
meat of the bill because it would take
the choice of how a union is recognized
out of the hands of bosses and put it into
the hands of workers. Majority sign-up
and secret ballot elections are already
allowed under federal labor law.
Management has a history of ag-
gressively campaigning against unions
once they learn of an organizing cam-
paign. However, with enough time and
money they oftentimes can intimidate
workers into changing their support of
a union.
Harkin’s position is important be-
cause the Senate is the battleground for
the Employee Free Choice Act.
Businesses and the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce have teamed up to raise
nearly $300 million to fight the bill,
which also would limit bargaining for a
first contract to 120 days before going
to binding arbitration.
Marketing research conducted by
business groups found that the manda-
tory sign-up element of the bill (often
referred to as card-check) was the most
controversial. So Big Business launch-
ed a massive advertising campaign to
“preserve the secret ballot.”
That convinced Republican-turned-
Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter of Penn-
sylvania to oppose the bill and back the
filibuster. Others suddenly having
qualms about the bill are Blanche Lin-
coln (D-Ark.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.),
and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).
Still, a majority of senators support
the Employee Free Choice Act. But
with the threatened filibuster looming,
supporters need 60 votes to cut off de-
bate (end the filibuster). In the face of
their continued inability to reach that
magic number, Harkin discussed
changes to the bill.
“Compromises are going to be
made,” he told Bloomberg News.
Changing the bill could gain “grudging
support” from both labor and business,
he said.
Cyrul said the senator was just rec-
ognizing the reality of how to garner
the needed 60 votes, but he would not
budge on the bill’s core values.
“Sen. Harkin was merely acknowl-
edging a few Democratic senators ex-
pressed concerns about the card check
provisions of the bill as they are written
now,” she said. “He remains confident
we can address these issues without
compromising the core provisions.”
Among the changes being discussed
are dropping the card-signing provision
and setting a 21-day deadline for an
election to be held, the Wall Street
Journal reported, noting that Specter is
“generally supportive” of that idea.
The New York Times reported that
Feinstein is considering a plan that
would allow workers to sign union
cards and mail them to the National La-
bor Relations Board. If a majority
mailed cards, the Board would order
the employer to recognize the union.
Harkin’s spokeswoman said De-
mocrats agree that the current system
is broken and that real reform is needed
to level the playing field.
“(Sen. Harkin) believes we are on
the right track, and we will get a bill to
the president’s desk that achieves these
important goals,” Cyrul said.
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