MAY 6, 2011:NWLP
5/3/11
9:54 AM
Page 9
May 17 ballot measures could put union members to work
Portland Public Schools is asking
voters to approve two property tax
measures in the May primary election.
Both are backed by the Columbia Pa-
cific Building and Construction Trades
Council, Portland Association of
Teachers, Amalgamated Transit Union
Local 757, Portland Fire Fighters As-
sociation Local 43, Portland Police As-
sociation, and the Northwest Oregon
Labor Council.
The big one is Measure 26-121,
which would pay for $548 million in
building remodels and other improve-
ments: 86 schools would be upgraded,
and nine would be rebuilt. Upgrades
would include plumbing, wiring, heat-
ing and ventilation, fire alarms, secu-
rity systems, and lighting; updated
classrooms, science labs, and libraries;
seismic safety improvements and im-
proved handicapped access; and im-
provements to school grounds and
building exteriors.
Because the work would pay the
prevailing wage, union-signatory con-
tractors would be on a level playing
field to bid on the work.
The measure would authorize short-
term bonds of one to three years, to be
repaid by a six-year property tax levy
of $2.74 per $1,000 of assessed value.
Work would start as early as this
summer, and projects would employ
roofers, electricians, ironworkers (for
seismic upgrades), fitters (for boiler re-
placement and repair), sheet metal (for
duct work and HVAC control systems)
and insulators.
“The hope and expectation is there
will be work for our members,” said
Paul Riggs, executive secretary-treas-
urer of the Columbia Pacific Building
and Construction Trades Council.
The second item, Measure 26-122,
would extend and increase an existing
operating levy that pays for teacher po-
sitions. The district estimates the ex-
panded levy would protect at least 200
teaching positions from cuts. A current
property tax school operating levy —
at $1.25 per $1,000 assessed value —
runs one more year. This measure
would replace it with a new one at
$1.99, which would run five years. The
new levy would raise $57 million a
year, $19 million more than the current
one. Property tax levies like this one are
a local solution to inadequate school
funding from the state. PPS is Oregon’s
largest school district, with 47,000 stu-
dents.
Campaign manager Ben Unger is
calling on supporters to put up lawn
signs, volunteer, and contribute funds.
The campaign can be reached at 503-
284-6346 or by visiting the web site
portlandersforschools.org.
Northwest Oregon Labor Council
and the Columbia Pacific Building and
Construction Trades Council also are
backing several school board candi-
dates in the May 17 primary, including:
Chuck Riley for Portland Community
College (PCC) board, Zone 7; Maggie
Brister-Mashia for Portland Public
Schools board, Zone 2; and Mike
Smith for Reynolds School District
board, Position 7. Smith is a retired
business agent and 32-year member of
Sheet Metal Workers Local 16.
Riley, a former state representative,
has been recommended by both local
labor unions at PCC: the PCC Federa-
tion of Faculty and Academic Profes-
sionals, American Federation of Teach-
ers (AFT) Local 2277, and the PCC
Federation of Classified Employees,
AFT Local 3922.
The Labor Council also is endors-
ing Mike Delman for an at-large seat
on the Multnomah Education Service
District, while the Building Trades
Council endorsed Harold Williams for
the Portland Community College
board, Zone 2.
In Cottage Grove, Merlene Martin,
a past president of the Oregon School
Employees Association, is running for
the South Lane School Board — where
she worked for 22 years as an educa-
tional assistant. Martin has been en-
dorsed by the Lane County Labor
Council.
Ballots were mailed to registered
voters April 29, and must be received
May 17 to be counted.
...Portland Rising for good jobs, no cuts
(From Page 1)
example, in 2009, Bank of America
made $4.4 billion in profit, paid zero in
federal income tax and received a $119
million tax credit. In 2010, General
Electric (GE) made over $14 billion in
profits and along with Exxon Mobil,
Bank of America, and other giant cor-
porations, also paid no U.S. income
taxes.
In a press release, rally sponsor Jobs
with Justice said, “Instead of address-
ing the real crisis in this country —
good jobs — Congress and their corpo-
rate allies push cuts in programs that
benefit working people like Social Se-
curity, Medicare and Medicaid. While
tens of thousands of Oregonians are ex-
pected to lose their unemployment ben-
efits, Congress is cutting the safety net.”
Comparing the attack on workers’
rights and the middle class to the civil
rights movement of the 1960s, Mitchell
told the crowd: “It is time for us to re-
gain our moral outrage and our right-
eous indignation, because we have to
take this back. We are in the battle of
our lifetime. We can’t wait for some-
body to save us. We have to save our-
selves.”
Mitchell said it will take time to get
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the job done, calling it a sprint, not a
marathon. “This will not happen
overnight. Progress and reform take
time,” he said.
With that, Mitchell, Oregon Labor
Commissioner Brad Avakian, and
members of nine union locals currently
in bargaining, led participants in a 27-
block march through downtown Port-
land, stopping at U.S. Bank (chanting:
“The banks got bailed out, we got sold
out!”) and the Hilton Hotel, before re-
gathering at Terry Schrunk Plaza for
more speeches and chants.
More than 65 organizations co-
sponsored the event.
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