Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2011)
NWLP-03-18-11:NWLP 3/15/11 10:16 AM Page 5 ...Labor rallies for jobs Voting opens on airport screeners union recognition WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) — Voting began March 9 on whether 40,000 transportation security officers (TSOs) — also known as airport screeners —will approve a union as their bargaining representative. The month-long voting gives the TSOs a choice between AFL-CIO af- filiate American Federation of Govern- ment Employees (AFGE), the inde- pendent National Treasury Employees Bargaining opens at Multnomah County Contract bargaining began March 2 for 2,800 union workers at Multnomah County. The current contract between the county and American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employ- ees (AFSCME) Local 88 expires June 30. On March 1, about 120 members and supporters turned out for a rally outside the County headquarters build- ing, to send the message that members will be standing behind the union bar- gaining team. Local 88 also has formed a Member Action Team to keep mem- bers up-to-date on bargaining. The current four-year agreement started out with annual cost-of-living increases, but two years ago, with the county facing recession-related budget trouble, Local 88 stepped up to modify the contract, and members took a wage freeze to save their co-workers’ jobs. “It’s time that county executives ac- knowledge that sacrifice,” union lead- ers said at the March 1 rally. Union or “no union.” It’s one of the biggest U.S. organiz- ing drives in years. AFL-CIO Organizing Director Eliz- abeth Bunn said the federation, which issued a statement supporting AFGE’s drive, “is providing staff, resources and community support” to its member union. AFGE currently has 12,000 trans- portation security officers as members even though it lacks collective bargain- ing rights for all of them. Over the last decade it has offered employees legal aid, advocated for better working con- ditions, and sent shop stewards with the TSOs when the workers faced often-ar- bitrary disciplinary moves from super- visors. But until a decision last month by Transportation Security Administrator John Pistole, the union lacked even the right to seek to represent the screeners. The TSA administrator during the Bush Administration, which estab- lished the agency, banned unions. President Geroge W. Bush and other top administration officials called unionization a threat to national secu- rity. Pistole’s Feb. 4 ruling said that if a union wins recognition among the screeners, it could represent them in limited areas, such as seniority, bids, transfers and awards — but not wages or security issues. “Collective bargaining rights are a necessity if TSA is going to evolve into a high-performance workplace,” AFGE said. (From Page 1) Art Pena of Roofers Local 49 was among the crowd of 750 people rallying in Salem March 7 for middle-wage jobs and collective bargaining rights. LABOR HUMOR A CEO, a Tea Party member, and a public employee union member are sitting at a table around a tray with a dozen fresh-baked cookies. The CEO takes 11. Then he turns to the Tea Party activist and says, “Better keep an eye on that union guy. He wants your cookie.” Local Motion Call 503-288-3311 February 2010 A list of Oregon and Southwest Washington workplaces deciding whether to be union-represented – as reported by the National Labor Relations Board and the Oregon Employment Relations Board. Subscribe Today! Receive 24 issues of the latest labor news and views from Oregon and Southwest Washington. Voting in union elections Date Workplace (Location) Union 2/10 Pioneer Memorial Hospital (Prineville) ONA DECERT Yes No 22 5 RATES: $13.75 a year for union members Special union group rate of 38 cents per issue (based on 24 issues) on orders of 25 or more Requesting a union election Workplace (Location) Union Mail to: Northwest Labor Press P.O. Box 13150 Portland, OR 97213 Number of workers in unit Bowtech hunting bow factory (Eugene) Machinists District LodgeW24 Dosha Salon Spa (Portland) CommunicationsWorkers of America Local 7901 94 155 Name/Union Affiliation L EGEND : workers will be union-represented DECERT : workers will be on their own : unionized workers vote whether to go non-union MARCH 18, 2011 Address City State NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS Zip infrastructure,” Kitzhaber said. Several lawmakers broke away from their business inside the Capitol to join the rally. State Rep. Dave Hunt said Oregon House Democrats recently sent a letter of solidarity to Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin. Reading from the letter, Hunt said: “Attacking public employ- ees under the guise of resolving a fiscal crisis is the cynical kind of politics that Americans have rejected time and again. As Oregon has repeatedly shown, balanced budgets and collective bargaining can coexist.” Hunt warned, though, that some Re- publicans in the Oregon House aren’t as supportive of collective bargaining rights. He said the House Republican leader (referring to Kevin Cameron of Salem) recently was asked if he planned to pursue a ban on collective bargaining rights during this session of the Legislature. “Now what would be the easy an- swer to that question?” Hunt asked the crowd. “NO!” they responded. “Let me read you what he said: ‘We don’t think now is the time to push those buttons,’ “ Hunt said. “That is not a ‘no,’ that is a ‘we wish we could do it right now, but we’re going to try to do it next year, next month, two years from now.” Hunt stressed the importance of standing together to protect the gains the state has made in recent years in ar- eas of transportation, health care, and worker freedoms, “and continue focus- ing on moving Oregon not left or right — because I know you all have one di- rection you want to move Oregon, and that is forward.” Following the rally, a large contin- gent of union members went inside the Capitol to listen to and testify on a number of important pro-jobs bills, in- cluding Senate Memorial 1, a resolu- tion urging Congress to enact and Pres- ident Obama to sign the Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Em- ployment (TRADE) Act. The TRADE Act requires a review of existing trade pacts, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the World Trade Organiza- tion (WTO) and other major pacts. It spells out what must and must not be included in future trade pacts, and it provides for the renegotiation of exist- ing trade agreements if they don’t meet those standards. PAGE 5
