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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2011)
NWLP-02-18-11:NWLP 2/15/11 9:54 AM Page 8 ...Dr. King: History is a great teacher (From Page 1) no one would be available…. History is a great teacher.… By rais- ing the living standards of millions, la- bor miraculously created a market for its industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production. Those who today attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remem- bers them.… Negroes in the United States read this history of labor and find that it mir- rors their own experience. We are con- fronted by powerful forces telling us to rely on the goodwill and understanding of those who profit by exploiting us. They deplore our discontent, they re- sent our will to organize so that we may guarantee that humanity will prevail and equality will be exacted. They are shocked that action organizations, sit- ins, civil disobedience, and protests are becoming our everyday tools, just as strikes, demonstrations, and union or- ganization became yours to ensure that bargaining power genuinely existed on both sides of the table. We want to rely on the goodwill of those who would oppose us. Indeed, we have brought forward the method of nonviolence to give an example of unilateral goodwill in an effort to evoke it in those who have not yet felt it in their hearts. But we know that if we are not simultane- ously organizing our strength, we will have no means to move forward. If we do not advance, the crushing burden of centuries of neglect and economic dep- rivation will destroy our will, our spir- its, and our hopes. In this way, labor’s historic tradition of moving forward to create vital people as consumers and citizens has become our own tradition, and for the same reasons. Unity of purpose [between the labor movement and the Negro civil rights movement] is not an historical coinci- dence. Negroes are almost entirely a working people. There are pitifully few Negro millionaires and few Negro em- ployers. Our needs are identical with labor’s needs: decent wages, fair work- ing conditions, livable housing, old-age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children, and ...SEIU organizes St. Charles Medical (From Page 7) izing made sense as a vehicle to put workers back in the hospital’s business plan. The campaign was clandestine at first, but came out into the open when pro-union workers began gathering sig- natures on a petition calling for the hos- pital to recognize the union. Over 65 percent signed, but the hospital declined to voluntarily recognize the union, so the union filed for an election. That’s when an anti-union campaign kicked into high gear. Managers held anti-union meetings on work time, had one-on-one conversations with workers, and mailed letters to workers’ homes. PAGE 8 Workers were told they were not al- lowed to talk about the union on work time, but the rule was only enforced against union supporters. Some union supporters wavered, but others showed courage by signing a public “Vote yes!” petition. In the end a bare majority came out in favor. Now pro-union workers hope to win over those who voted “no,” even as some anti-union workers are rumored to be planning a decertification drive. [Legally, workers could vote again in a year whether to keep the union.] The last time a private sector union election was held for a unit of such size in Oregon was a 1995-1996 campaign by United Steelworkers among 1,700 workers at Precision Cast Parts in Port- land. But that campaign fell victim to an employer anti-union campaign that in- cluded numerous violations of federal labor law. At St. Charles, the next step is nego- tiating a first-ever union contract for the 69 support and maintenance classifica- tions that make up the bargaining unit. By law, the hospital must bargain in good faith with the union. Local 49 has sent out a bargaining survey, and work- ers are nominating members of the union bargaining team. No bargaining sessions had been scheduled as of press time. NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS respect in the community. … Labor today faces a grave crisis, perhaps the most calamitous since it began its march from the shadows of want and insecurity. In the next 10 to 20 years, automation will grind jobs into dust as it grinds out unbelievable volumes of production. This period is made to order for those who seek to drive labor into impotency by viciously attacking it at every point of weakness. Hardcore unemployment is now an ugly and unavoidable fact of life. … To find a great design to solve a great problem, labor will have to inter- vene in the political life of the nation to chart a course which distributes the abundance to all instead of concentrat- ing it among a few.” Where Every Wednesday is Labor Day! Show your union card for happy hour prices anytime on well drinks, draft beer and house wine Open daily from 11:30 am until midnight 1101 E. Burnside, Portland 503-233-1743 www.theguildpub.com JANUARY 21, 2011
