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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2011)
Jan. 7, 2011:NWLP 1/4/11 9:59 AM Inside Page 1 MEETING NOTICES See Page 6 Volume 112 Number 1 January 7, 2011 Portland, Oregon Unions and friends help make spirits brighter for members out of work In late summer 2010, Labor’s Community Service Agency’s (LCSA) Helping Hands program began receiving an overwhelming increase in referrals for temporary hardship assistance. The reason: massive job loss and long-term un- employment, a lack of available liv- ing-wage jobs, shrinking unemploy- ment insurance benefits, and a brittle economy that left many union families facing insurmountable ad- versity. Referrals continued to in- crease throughout the fall. With the holiday season ap- proaching, LCSA’s board of direc- tors considered how the agency could bring joy and relief to these families. The need was great, and staff would have to think “outside Janet Tackett (left) and Jill Lukens help a child pick out a toy at the 14th the box” in order to make a real dif- annual “Presents from Partners” holiday party. Unions donated a record ference. But how much could be ac- 2,000 toys that filled five office suites at the Nase Building in Southeast complished in such a short amount Portland. of time? It would take a unified ef- fort to reach its holiday goals, and the number of willing would provide turkey dinner to an out-of-work family of four. The second appeal came right after Thanksgiving. partners was uncertain. “We were asking for participation from labor and NOLC again asked its affiliates for contributions, this community organizations on the heels of an important time for a Christmas Dinner Program. Soon after, affil- political election, and we knew that funds across-the- iates were hit with yet another request for funds and toys board were strapped,” said LCSA executive Director to benefit LCSA’s “Presents from Partners” toy drive. Vickie Burns. “All we could do was issue appeals and The annual children’s toy distribution party was held Dec. 19 to benefit out-of-work labor families first and hope that the response would be enough.” In early November, LCSA’s holiday program co- foremost. “We forwarded letters to other potential partners and sponsor, the Northwest Oregon Labor Council (NOLC), distributed the first request, asking for funds and refer- community organizations, made phone calls, and satu- rals for a Thanksgiving Dinner Program. A $40 donation (Turn to Page 8) Machinists, Woodworkers district lodges consolidate Machinists District Lodge 24 and Woodworkers District Lodge W1 have merged to create the Interna- tional Association of Machinists Dis- trict W24. The merger was effective Jan. 1. The International Association of Woodworkers has been a division of the Machinists since affiliating at the national level in May 1994. And they’re not strangers locally, having worked together on the Oregon Ma- chinist Council and the annual Leg- islative Conference. Merger talks have been ongoing for several years, but they intensified early in 2010 as membership for both organizations continued to slide. The new district will combine roughly 60 union contracts under for- mer District LodgeW1 and about the same number under former District Lodge 24, for a total of 120 contracts covering more than 6,000 workers. Portland-based District Lodge 24 was comprised of Local Lodges 63, 1005, 1432, and 2911. Those locals represent 2,800 workers at compa- nies such as Boeing, Daimler Trucks North America (formerly Freight- liner), Johnson Controls, ConMet, Silver Eagle Manufacturing, Crown, Cork and Seal, Cascade General, Gerber Knives, and at various ma- chine and diesel mechanic shops in Oregon and Southwest Washington. [Local 2911 was disbanded in Octo- ber, with members who work at Ger- ber Knives absorbed by Local 63.] District W1 is headquartered in Gladstone and represents approxi- mately 3,400 workers, with three lo- cals in Oregon — W12 in Klamath Falls, W246 in Springfield, and W261 in Central Point; five locals in Washington — W2 in Aberdeen, W38 in Shelton, W130 in Centralia, W157 in Tacoma, and W536 in Longview; and Local Lodge W98 in Arcata, California, and Local Lodge W364 in Lewiston, Idaho. Members work at several Weyerhaeuser plants, including in Springfield, Oregon and Longview, Centralia, Tacoma, and Cosmopolis, Washington; at Collins Products in Klamath Falls; Timber Products in Medford; Georgia-Pa- cific in Coos Bay; and Sierra Pine in Springfield. W1 also represents log- gers and log truck drivers, public workers in Reedsport, Winston, and Elkton, Oregon; and Shelton and Ma- son County, Washington; health care workers, and auto mechanics. Under the merger agreement, W1 Directing Business Representative (DBR) Bob Wilson was named pres- ident/DBR of the new Machinists District W24. Former District Lodge 24 DBR Bob Petroff is now one of three assistant directing business rep- resentatives. The other two are Chip Elliott and Steve Wilson of W1. El- liott was an assistant DBR and Wil- son was secretary-treasurer. Dan Sass, secretary-treasurer of District (Turn to Page 5) YEAR IN REVIEW: A look back at labor stories of 2010 At the Northwest Labor Press, the beginning of a new year is a chance to look back on the old one: to summarize the year’s most important labor news and tie up loose ends on stories we re- ported in 2010. The year 2010 was a hard one for many Oregon and Washington work- ers, who endured freezes in pay, cuts in hours, furloughs, and extended bouts of joblessness. Hopefully all of us will see a turnaround in the year to come. • In January, Oregon voters ap- proved Ballot Measures 66 and 67 by 54 and 53 percent. The two referrals, which had tremendous union support, raise state taxes modestly on corpora- tions and high-income taxpayers. In a severe recession, the new revenue is helping prevent worse cuts to educa- tion, public safety, and social services. • Conflict between Fred Meyer and United Food Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 555 mostly subsided in 2010, after the union won several le- gal battles and secured several multi- employer contracts. The conflict came to a head in October 2009 when man- agers at a Hillsboro Fred Meyer called police and had Local 555’s president and two staff members arrested for tres- pass. Local 555 insisted the reps had a legal right to be there; they were talking to members about a petition in support of the contract bargaining team. In the end, not only were the arrestees acquit- ted of the trespass charges, but the court in December ordered Fred Meyer to pay the union’s legal bills. The union also was vindicated by the National La- bor Relations Board, which brokered a settlement to an unfair labor practice case; Fred Meyer admitted no wrong- doing, but posted a notice saying its employees have the right to meet union reps on the job, not just in the break room as the company had argued. Lo- cal 555 also settled contract disputes. On Jan. 23, three groups of Portland metro area members ratified new agreements with an employer group that includes Fred Meyer, Safeway, and Albertsons. And in November, Fred Meyer members in non-food depart- ments approved a new Portland-area contract. One continuing flash point re- mains: A group of non-food workers at a Fred Meyer store in The Dalles, Ore- gon are still without a first union con- tract — more than three years after they voted to unionize. The company also remains a villain to some local build- ing trades unions, because parent com- pany Kroger shut union contractors out of a store-by-store remodeling project in 2009. A union health trust affiliated with International Brotherhood of Elec- trical Workers Local 48 dropped Kroger as a prescription benefit man- ager, and the local continues to dis- courage members from shopping at Fred Meyer. • The Oregon Legislature met in February and passed new laws banning most employers from using credit checks in hiring, granting union rights (Turn to Page 3)
