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.
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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.
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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.
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NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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