August 21, 2009:NWLP
8/19/09
11:26 AM
Page 7
Members of Laborers #320 ratify first deal
with Oregon Child Development Coalition
Employees at the Oregon Child De-
velopment Coalition (OCDC) in Mult-
nomah, Washington, and Marion coun-
ties ratified first-ever union contracts
earlier this month.
Some 400 workers at the private,
non-profit pre-school childhood care
and education network are members of
Laborers Local 320. The bargaining unit
consists of teachers, teacher assistants,
cooks, bus drivers, custodians and other
workers. The staff works primarily with
families of the state’s migrant farm
workers.
The organizing campaign took part
in stages, with the first group of some
170 employees in Washington County
joining the union in July 2008. That was
followed by 140 employees from Mult-
nomah County and 90 more in Marion
County.
Statewide, OCDC employs 1,100
workers at operations in 12 counties,
serving about 3,000 children and fami-
lies.
As more workers joined the union,
the sides decided to bargain jointly.
Following months of sometimes dif-
ficult bargaining, a contract was ob-
tained. It was ratified 98-1 in voting that
took place Aug. 7.
The three-year pact provides for a 27
Union-backed anti-WalMart groups merge
WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) —Two
union-backed groups dedicated to ex-
posing the anti-worker actions at Wal-
Mart merged on July 31. Their aim is to
give united support to a new group of
workers campaigning for unionization
of the monster retailer.
Together, Wal-Mart Watch and
Wake-Up Wal-Mart will “maximize the
ability for Wal-Mart workers to win a
voice on the job and bring change to the
entire retail industry,” a joint statement
from the United Food and Commercial
AUGUST 21, 2009
Workers and the Service Employees In-
ternational Union said.
UFCW recently restarted its national
Wal-Mart organizing campaign.
“Wal-Mart workers are standing up
and demanding change, and the UFCW
is standing with them to achieve the
health care and labor law reforms that
will restore and expand the middle
class,” UFCW President Joe Hansen
said. “We will not let Wal-Mart, as the
world’s largest retailer, shirk its respon-
sibility to its 1.4 million employees.”
percent wage increase for Level 4 teach-
ers, retroactive to January 2009. All
other employees will see raises of 6.9
percent retroactive to January 2009. The
contract calls for a wage reopener in the
second and third years of the three-year
pact.
OCDC operates on a budget of al-
most $35 million a year. It gets funding
from the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, U.S. Department of
Education, U.S. Department of Agricul-
ture, Oregon Department of Education,
Oregon Child Care Division, various
school districts, and private donations.
Some of the funding for the retroac-
tive raises is from stimulus fund monies
to those agencies that was passed
through to OCDC.
Local 320 Business Manager Dave
Tischer said that in addition to the raises,
workers now have in writing a fair and
just grievance process, seniority lan-
guage, and a new labor-management
committee.
“We’re pretty happy with it. It’s a
good first contract,” Tischer said.
Local 320 is headquartered in Port-
land. The union represents 1,100 work-
ers in heavy and highway construction,
at industrial plants, as well as in the pub-
lic sector.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Local Motion
July 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
Name of employer
Date
Name of union
McDonald’s Wholesale
7/9
Teamsters #206 & #962
Results:
Location
Eugene
YRC Inc.
7/13
Teamsters Local 81
Portland
TriCont Trucking Co.
7/24
Machinists DL #24
Portland
Union Union
Yes No
51
10
11
0
3
2
Requests for recognition election
Name of employer
Name of union
CRT Processing LLC
United Steelworkers
Fred Meyer non-food (decertification)
UFCW Local 555
Location
Number of employees
Clackamas
30
Coos Bay
60
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