June 17, 2011_NWLP 6/14/11 10:10 AM Page 7
SEIU Local 503 adds 7,700
new home care members
In ballots counted June 2, a unit of
7,751 state-paid personal service
providers voted to unionize with Serv-
ice Employees International Union
(SEIU) Local 503. The vote brings Lo-
cal 503’s total membership up to
54,000, surpassing Oregon Education
Association and making it the state’s
largest union.
The new unit consists of people paid
by the Oregon Department of Human
Services to care for adults with devel-
opmental disabilities or mental ill-
nesses. Program funding comes from
Medicaid.
Some of the caregivers are hired
through local “brokerages,” but about
three-fifths are parents or relatives of
the person being cared for, like Lana
Tischer re-elected
at Laborers #320
David Tischer was re-elected to a
third term as business manager/secre-
tary treasurer of
Laborers Local
320 in a mail
ballot election
counted June 7.
He defeated
challenger
Robert Promin-
ski by a wide
margin.
Dan Fehrs
was re-elected
D AVID T ISCHER
president; Dave
Ball was re-elected vice president;
Bruce Roller was re-elected recording
secretary; and Rick Ohmie was re-
elected sergeant-at-arms. All ran unop-
posed.
Terms of office are three years.
In balloting for three Executive
Board seats, Carolyn Shaffer, Jodi
Guetzloe-Parker, and Wade Webb out-
polled three other candidates.
Kathleen Ball, Belus Schonek, and
Jose Barron were the top three vote-
getters among four candidates running
for Auditor Committee.
Dave Ball, Ben Guzman, and Jodi
Guetzloe-Parker were elected delegates
to the Laborers District Council, and
Ball, Guetzloe-Parker and Rick Ohmie
were elected delegates to the interna-
tional convention.
Local 320 is headquartered in Port-
land. The union represents workers in
heavy and highway construction, at in-
dustrial plants, non-profit pre-school
child care, and some public sector.
Nelson of Sutherlin, Oregon. The pro-
gram pays Nelson $9.23 an hour, up to
114 hours a month, to help her live-in
daughter Nicole, who has Down’s Syn-
drome. The work can include bathing,
dressing, grooming, moving, feeding,
administering medicine, diaper
changes, and serving as a companion,
as well as shopping, housework, and
preparing meals. Work like that can be
very isolating, Nelson said. Nelson told
the Labor Press she voted for the union
in part as a way to build community.
“It’s so that we all have a voice.”
The group was able to unionize
thanks to legislation introduced in 2009
by State Rep. Michael Dembrow (D-
Portland). House Bill 3618 added this
unit to the existing group of caregivers
who have the Oregon Homecare Com-
mission as their employer of record for
the purpose of collective bargaining.
Dembrow is a former president of Port-
land Community College Faculty Fed-
eration Local 2277, an affiliate of the
American Federation of Teachers.
Of 7,751 ballots mailed out, 2,655
were returned and counted, for a
turnout of about 35 percent. The result
was 71 percent in favor of unionizing
(1,873 to 772).
There was no organized opposition.
Local 503 organizers called and visited
workers, and the campaign set up a web
site, www.dignityoregon.org.
The State of Oregon Employment
Relations Board was expected to cer-
tify the unit June 14, as this issue went
to press.
Local 503 spokesperson Ed Hershey
said the union intends to bring the new
unit into already-begun negotiations for
other home care workers, and hopes to
get a first contract for them this year. A
statewide bargaining conference is
scheduled for June 26 at Willamette
University, where caregivers will deter-
mine bargaining priorities.
The unit is the largest group of
workers to unionize in Oregon since
10,000 home care providers for seniors
and people with physical disabilities
joined Local 503 in 2001. Besides the
new group, Local 503 represents
10,000 home care workers for seniors
and people with physical disabilities,
4,000 employment-related day care
workers, 3,500 adult foster home care
providers, 19,000 state agency workers,
4,000 classified employees of the Ore-
gon State University System, 3,000 lo-
cal government workers, 2,500 nursing
home workers, and 600 employees of
private non-profit agencies.
Vancouver Laborers re-elect Ritchey
Dave Ritchey was re-elected business manager/
secretary-treasurer of Vancouver-based Laborers
Local 335 in an election held June 3. He defeated
challenger Randy Dalton by nearly a 3-to-1 margin.
Also re-elected to office was Vice President Chad
Brown, who defeated challenger Tim Hogan. Both
men have served in their posts since 2001. Terms of
office are three years.
JUNE 17, 2011
Wu drafts bill
to streamline
access to TAA
Stepping it up at Multnomah County
Kathleen Millard (left) and Gloria Robayo Trujillo, members of American
Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local
88, wave to morning commuter traffic in front of the Multnomah Building in
inner-Southeast Portland. Nearly 100 Multnomah County employees rallied
before work June 8 — and before a scheduled bargaining session — calling
for a fair contract. Talks began March 2 for 2,800 union workers at the
county. The current four-year pact expires June 30. Thus far, the county has
proposed more takeaways than ever before. “We’re surprised by it,” said
Local 88 President Michael Hanna. “Because of the poor economy, we didn’t
expect to gain much economically, but they’re using the bad economy as an
excuse to try to erode worker rights now and into the future.” Hanna said
the union will continue holding rallies and workplace actions until a decent
contract is achieved.
Local Motion
May 2011
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.
Voting in union elections
Date Workplace (Location) Union
Yes
No
77
33
0
13
5/19 Providence St. Vincent (Portland) Oregon Nurses Association
1
2
5/23 Legacy Emanuel interpreters (Portland) SEIU Local 49
2
1
5/23 Legacy Emanuel patient access reps (Portland) SEIU Local 49
30
7
5/23 Legacy Health telecom operators (Portland) SEIU Local 49
6
2
5/12 Hilton Vancouver (Vancouver) UNITE HERE Local 9
5/12 Sunrise Dental (Vancouver) UFCW Local 555
DECERT
DECERT
Oregon Congressman David Wu
will introduce a bill this month to im-
prove transparency and streamline ac-
cess to Trade Adjustment Assistance
(TAA) benefits for workers displaced
by outsourcing to other countries as a
result of unfair free trade deals.
The TAA program offers job train-
ing and placement support, income as-
sistance, and relocation benefits to eli-
gible workers who demonstrate that
their layoff was related to international
trade. The program is administered by
the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
and funds are disbursed by states. How-
ever, as applications for TAA certifica-
tion increase, the wait time for a final
determination from DOL has grown to
nearly a year for some workers.
“Receiving a layoff notice is one of
the most stressful things a worker may
ever experience,” Wu said. “It’s not ac-
ceptable that the newly unemployed are
then subjected to a months-long wait to
even learn whether they qualify for
benefits to find a new job. The Trade
Adjustment Assistance Accountability
Act will ensure that displaced workers
get answers quickly so they can move
on with their lives.”
Under the proposed bill, workers
would have the right to ask for written
status updates from the DOL, allowing
them to pinpoint the cause of delayed
determinations. The bill also creates na-
tionwide consistency for TAA determi-
nations in the same sector, which will
mean that a steelworker in Oregon re-
ceives the same treatment and benefits
as steelworkers elsewhere. Finally, the
bill also makes it easier for workers to
respond to information that may nega-
tively affect their claim for benefits.
Wu said more than 10,000 Oregon
workers were deemed eligible for TAA
benefits last year, with some having to
wait more than 10 months before
knowing whether they were eligible for
benefits.
“Our long-term economic health re-
lies on workers’ ability to find new jobs
after a layoff,” Wu said. “This bill will
help displaced workers remain compet-
itive in our high-tech economy.”
Broadway Floral
for the BEST flowers call
503-288-5537
Requesting a union election
Workplace (Location) Union
Number of workers in unit
Legacy Health telecom operators (Portland) SEIU Local 49
Children’s Farm Home (Corvallis) SEIU Local 503
Children’s Farm Home RNs and LPNs (Corvallis) SEIU Local 503
Rogue Comm. College truck driving instructors (White City) Teamsters Local 964
L EGEND
: workers will be union-represented
1638 NE Broadway, Portland
DECERT
10
157
15
2
Rain Forest Boots
Made in America!
try a pair on, you’ll like them.
: workers will be on their own
DECERT : unionized workers vote whether to go non-union
tough boots for the northwest.
AL’S SHOES
5811 se 82nd, portland 503-771-2130
Mon-Fri 10-7:30 Sat 10-5:30 Sun 12-6
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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