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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 8 Bricklayers Local 1 honors longtime members at dinner Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1 held its annual pin dinner March 19 in Portland, handing out pins to members with 60-plus, 50, 40, and 25 years of membership. The keynote speaker was David Alexander of the National Labor Col- lege. Alexander lives in Portland. “We’re here to recognize the achievements of the brothers and sis- ters who are being honored,” Alexan- der said, “But we all should recognize that we have a responsibility to carry on that hard work. And never has that need been more critical than now.” Alexander pointed to recent politi- cal attacks on public employees in the Midwest as the next chapter of an on- going campaign by corporate Republi- cans to destroy all union workers. “This is not a coincidence, what’s happening,” he said. “Politicians all over the country are using budget crises to attempt to take away collective bar- gaining rights of state workers.” Alexander reminded the audience that the labor movement was built from the bottom up, with brave men and women recognizing they needed to stand up and fight, because they weren’t going to take it any more. “They were ordinary people who showed extraordinary courage at the most crucial times,” he said. “So as we honor our past leaders, where will to- morrow’s leaders come from?” Alexander said many of tomorrow’s leaders will come from the men and women who stood up to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and his attack on collective bargaining rights. He encouraged Local 1 members and retirees to embrace the new, younger members, and to offer them a role in the union. “This movement won’t survive if we don’t engage the next generation of workers to under- stand their role in a vibrant and relevant labor movement,” he said. And despite its faults, Alexander said the labor movement has truly been a voice “not just for those who carry a union card, but for workers as a whole. You have been the one true counter- weight to the overwhelming political power of the corporate class.” Presenting pins to longtime mem- bers were Local 1 Business Manager Keith Wright, President Matt Eleazer, and International Secretary-Treasurer Henry Kramer. Members with 68 or more years were: Robert Branch and Andrew Pierce; 64 years: James Barrett, Sr., ...Buy America policies boost manufacturing (From Page 1) Jim McNannay (second from left), a retired business manager of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1, received his 50-year award at the local’s annual pin dinner March 19 in Portland. Making the presentation from left to right are: Local 1 Business Manager Keith Wright, President Matt Eleazer, and International Secretary-Treasurer Henry Kramer. Leo Gilmore, William Mehl, Conrad Olsen, Jr., Donald Randall, Donald Thompson, and Ernest Toffolo; 63 years: Robert Benschoter, Sydney Hall, Jr., and Arthur Myers; 62 years: Jeddie Aylett, Carl Carter, Cecil Mc- Cranie, and Ernest ‘Bud’ Parsley, Jr.; 61 years: Wilhelm Andersen, Mario Fer- rarin, and Wayne Knapp; 60 years: Ken Bader and Gilbert ‘Ted’ Finley. 50-year Gold Cards went to Terry Krebsbach, Paul Laufmann, Jim Mc- Nannay, Melvin Pfel, Bob Schroeder, Ken Streeter, and Tom Tallerday. 40- year pin recipients included Bill Hall and David Moody. And 25-year pins went to Greg Bordal, James Curry, Richard Dean, Darren Evenson, Chris Free, Dean Hatzenbihler, Charles Hughes, Scott Jarmer, Dennis Miller, Roy Norton, Donald Pesek, Christo- pher Smith, and Michael Titus. “We’ve had over $50 million in or- ders and there will be more to come as streetcars return to communities throughout the country,” Brown said. “Should the federal government adopt policy recommendations in Apollo Al- liance’s Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan, United Streetcar’s growth would be even more robust.” Brown said the company recently invested $4 million on a new 3,100- foot streetcar track for on site testing — the only one in the United States — as well as a new 6,400-square-foot en- vironmental testing bay. Schrader said initiatives like ‘Buy America’ are key to growing America’s manufacturing sector and “a great ex- ample of common sense regulations that support our local economy.” “Instead of sending billions of dol- lars abroad to buy foreign-made equip- ment, we should be spending that money right here in Oregon,” he said. DeFazio said federal investment in transit and rail creates needed family- wage jobs in the United States and helps to “revitalize the critical U.S. manufacturing sector.” ...Challenge brings law in Wisconsin to standstill (From Page 4) according to a yet-to-be-developed merit pay system. Then March 25, a bill passed 73-40 to ban automatic pay- roll deductions of public employee union dues. The bill would also require written authorization by union mem- bers for dues to be used for political ac- tivities. Another bill would force unions to send a letter to members ex- plaining their right to decertify. ALABAMA A bill passed by the Alabama Legis- lature in December bans school em- ployees from having their union dues directly deducted from their pay- checks. On March 18, a federal judge put a temporary halt to the law, saying it violates rights to free speech and equal protection. NEW HAMPSHIRE A Republican House committee ap- proved a budget bill March 24 that would make public sector workers “at will” employees if and when their con- tracts expire. It would also end the au- tomatic collection of union dues out of paychecks and force annual re-certifi- cations for public employee unions. Republicans have strong majorities in both houses. The governor, a conserva- tive Democrat, hasn’t yet committed to vetoing the bill. Republicans could have enough votes to override a veto. PAGE 8 WISCONSIN Defying a month-long uprising, Re- publican majorities passed a draconian anti-union law proposed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker. It requires unionized public-sector units to vote every year to determine whether workers still want to remain unionized; requires public-em- ployee unions to bargain new contracts every year, but bars them from negoti- ating anything but base wages; and lim- its public employee wage increases to the consumer price index unless voters approve higher raises via a referendum. It allows state officials to fire workers for striking, or for missing work for three unexcused days; halts state col- lection of union dues and gives union- represented public employees the right to pay no dues; requires public employ- ees to pay half the cost of their pensions and 12.6 percent of their health care premiums; and eliminates collective bargaining rights altogether for Univer- sity of Wisconsin employees and for home health care workers. But a legal challenge has put the law on hold. The measure was pushed through March 9 without giving a 24- hour public notice, and a judge has is- sued a temporary restraining order pre- venting the law from taking effect until that issue is ruled on. The challenge is expected to be decided by the State Supreme Court, which has a one-vote (Turn to Page 10) NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS APRIL 1, 2011
