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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2011)
APRIL 1, 2011:NWLP 3/29/11 10:10 AM Page 3 Busted! A sampler of recent charges of employer labor law violations filed with the local office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Management spy helps Bowtech bust union Some employers bend labor law, some break it, and some shoot right through it. Bowtech, a subsidiary of Savage Sports Corpora- tion, is a Eugene, Oregon, hunting bow maker with 107 union-eligi- ble workers. A union campaign began there earlier this year. Bowtech hired Oklahoma-based Labor Relations Institute, a union avoidance firm. According to charges filed by Machinists District Lodge W24, a manager promised to promote a worker if he attended a union meeting as a spy, reporting back to manage- ment who attended and what was said. He did. Armed with that knowledge, managers held separate anti-union meetings for those who’d attended the union meeting and those who had not. Supervi- sors interrogated employees as to how they would vote, and started an anti-union petition, which was dropped off at a union meeting with 64 workers’ signatures. Employer abuses were serious enough that the NLRB cancelled a union election set for March 25, and won’t consider rescheduling it until charges are investigated. Help, police! Employees are trying to unionize A manager at MetroWest Ambulance threatened to call the police and have an employee arrested Feb. 1 — after she invited co-work- ers to sign union cards who were on work time. The employee, Melissa Morgan, was on break and said she didn’t know the others were on the clock. Her solicitation might have violated a company rule, but was hardly illegal. Threatening workers engaging in a union campaign is illegal, however. Teamsters Joint Council 37 filed charges. MetroWest has a contract to provide ambulance serv- ice for Washington County. A campaign to join the Teamsters is un- der way among the company’s 224 Washington County ambulance employees. The Teamsters represent ambulance workers at Ameri- can Medical Response in Multnomah County. A second charge al- leges that MetroWest suspended licensed paramedic Travis Schlegel for a day and demoted him from his job as a trainer … be- cause he spoke of unionizing in a conversation with a manager. Fired barista files charges against Starbucks Hannah Fredrickson became the latest Starbucks worker fired for legally protected “concerted activity,” according to a Feb. 25 charge being investigated by the NLRB. Fredrickson worked for about two years at the Starbucks at 10112 NE Halsey before being fired for a paperwork mistake she says was a pretext. The real reason, she thinks, was her support on Facebook of the Industrial Workers of the World, or possibly the fact that she wore the union’s pins and solicited co-workers to sign union cards. IWW has been campaign- ing at Starbucks locations around the country. Pro-union welder reinstated at Johnson Crushers William Yarbrough went back to work March 21 — as part of an out-of-court settlement by Johnson Crushers (JCI). JCI, a sub- sidiary of Astec Industries, makes rock crushing machines at its 200-employee Springfield, Oregon, plant. JCI laid off Yarbrough from his job as a welder in October 2008, but was hiring again in summer 2010; he re-applied. Despite 12 years experience at JCI and 13 years in San Jose Iron Workers Local 790, his application was ignored. Did it have something to do with Yarbrough’s public support for an unsuccessful 2008 campaign among JCI workers to join United Steel Workers? The NLRB thought so, set a hearing for April 26 in U.S. District Court, and asked the court to order the company to notify all workers laid off in the last two years. JCI set- tled the case, giving Yarbrough back pay and a job, and promising to consider the application of another laid-off pro-union worker, Dave Huber, whenever another position becomes available. APRIL 1, 2011 Labor council to charter bus for Olympia rally on April 8 International Solidarity Rally April 2 in Blaine An International Solidarity Rally is slated Saturday, April 2, at Peace Arch Park in Blaine, Washington. The rally will bring together unionists, students, and activists from Canada, Washington, and Oregon to extend hands across the border in solidarity with all workers. The event is co-sponsored by the British Columbia Federation of Labour; the Washington State Labor Council, AFL- CIO; and the Oregon AFL-CIO. The Oregon AFL-CIO will charter buses to take participants to the rally and back. Cost is $30, and breakfast and lunch will be provided. Contact Chris Hewitt at chris@aflcio.org or 503-287-3114 to book a spot on the bus. AFL-CIO to hold memorials for those killed on job The Oregon AFL-CIO will hold a memorial service at the Fallen Work- ers Memorial at noon Thursday, April 28 — Workers Memorial Day. The Fallen Workers Memorial is located on the Capitol Mall near the main entrance of the Labor and Industries Building, 350 Winter St. NE, Salem. The Northwest Oregon Labor Coun- cil will have a short observance of Workers Memorial Day at its monthly council meeting April 25. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the IBEW Local 48 Hall, 15937 NE Airport Way, Portland. At both the Salem and Portland me- morials, the names of all workers killed in Oregon, including military person- nel, will be read. The AFL-CIO established Workers Memorial Day in 1989. April 28 was chosen because it is the anniversary of the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the day of a similar service in Canada. 7LUHG LQ 3$,1" 0RVW ,QVXUDQFH 3ODQV $FFHSWHG 3 528'/< 6 (59,1* 3 257/$1' : 25.(56 ) 25 2 9(5 < ($56 A “Keep Dr. King’s Dream Alive” rally will be held Monday, April 4, starting at 5:30 p.m. at Director Park, SW 9th and Yamhill, Portland. Carl Wolfson, comedian and talk show host, will emcee the rally. The event is part of a nationwide call for solidarity with working people in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and dozens of other states where well- funded right-wing politicians are trying to take away their rights to bargain col- lectively. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was as- sassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968. He was there to support sanita- tion workers who were demanding the right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a better life. Sanitation workers were trying to form a union with the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees. Today, that same demand is electri- fying people across America. Large crowds are expected at many locations throughout the country. In Seattle, a rally is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. at MLK Park, 2200 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The event is spon- sored by Communications Workers of America. %HHVRQ &KLURSUDFWLF KHOSV EULQJ WKH UHOLHI \RX QHHG RI :RUNLQJ Solidarity Rally in honor of King set for April 4 VANCOUVER — The Southwest Washington Central Labor Council will charter a bus to take union members and allies to the April 8 “Put The Peo- ple First” rally at the front steps of the state Capitol in Olympia. The rally, part of a week long slate of solidarity events to be held nation- wide, is sponsored by the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC). WSLC Secretary-Treasurer Lynne Dodson told delegates at the monthly meeting of the Southwest Washington Central Labor Council March 24 that Washington’s working families are tired of being blamed and punished for the damage done by Wall Street banks and corporations. “This is a pivotal point in labor his- tory,” she said. “We must stand together as one and demand that lawmakers put people first. We want good jobs, we want our rights, and we want them now.” Thousands of public- and private- sector workers from all trades are ex- pected to attend the rally, which starts at noon. The bus sponsored by the central la- bor council is tentatively set to meet at the Salmon Creek Park and Ride, 1800 NE 134th St, Vancouver, around 8:30 a.m. It will also make a stop in Longview at Laborers Local 791, 1140 11th Ave, at approximately 9:30 a.m. The rally is expected to last about two hours. The bus will return people to the same pickup locations. For more information, or to reserve a seat on the bus, contact Shannon Walker, president of the Southwest Washington Central Labor Council, at 360-606-7317 or by e-mail at shan- non@sunrisedental.com. 7UHDWPHQW IRU SDLQ GXH WR RYHUXVH DQG UHSHWLWLYH PRWLRQ &KLURSUDFWLF DGMXVWPHQWV 7UHDWPHQW IRU DFFLGHQW DQG VSRUWVUHODWHG LQMXULHV 5HKDELOLWDWLRQ H[HUFLVHV 7KHUDSHXWLF PDVVDJH ,QWHUQDO GLDJQRVLV DQG WUHDWPHQW /DE WHVWV DQG [UD\V 'U 'DQ %HHVRQ &KLURSUDFWRU 6( 7KLUWHHQWK $YH LQ 6HOOZRRG &$// NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS PAGE 3
