July 15, 2011 _NWLP 7/12/11 10:12 Am Page 5
...Portland Rising bus brigade
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ducted from their paychecks; they’re
one of the rare groups of workers who
haven’t yet paid premiums directly.
“We’re already paying for our
health insurance,” Local 503 Presi-
dent Heather Conroy told the Labor
Press. “We’ve done it through sub-par
wages.”
Also, breaking from past practice,
the state opted not to allow the expir-
ing contract to be extended. That
means union leaders can’t use the
state e-mail system to communicate
with members, and workers can’t file
grievances. The state also halted col-
lection of “fair share” dues from em-
ployees who aren’t full members.
Just down the street, workers at
Metro regional government had their
own contract expiration picket, and the
bus brigade marched over to give them
moral support and high fives. Metro
isn’t facing a budget shortfall, yet in ne-
gotiations with AFSCME Local 3580,
it’s proposing two furlough days a year,
an increase in the employee share of the
health insurance premium, and elimina-
tion of its 6 percent of salary contribu-
tion to pension.
Next came a visit to the tiny office of
Congressman Earl Blumenauer.
Demonstrators entered single file and
presented their signatures on strips of
paper urging him to vote against
NAFTA-style trade treaties. Three of
these treaties — with Korea, Colombia,
and Panama — are up for a vote shortly,
and Blumenauer is reportedly in favor
of the Korea deal and undecided on the
others. Protest coordinators collected
At a flash rally in Multnomah County
headquarters, AFSCME Local 88
member action team coordinator
Rachel Gumbert holds a megaphone
for member Tory Mitchell, dressed up
as “AFSCME man.”
the strips of paper and stapled them to-
gether, presenting them to the congress-
man as a long chain.
At Multnomah County headquarters
on SE Hawthorne Blvd., members of
AFSCME Local 88 were taking a
“unity break.” Demonstrators circled
the block a few times and then ducked
inside for a short rally in a ground-floor
public space. The rally ended with par-
ticipants pulling out their cell phones
and calling County Chair Jeff Cogen
(503-988-3308) to say they support a
fair contract for county workers, which
a flier described as: cost of living in-
crease, health benefits, seniority and
“bumping rights.” No word on whether
anyone got through to Cogen. But po-
lice arrived and told everyone to leave.
They were leaving anyway.
A short ride later, protesters
stepped off the bus to Dawson Park,
across from Legacy Emanuel Hospi-
tal. They were given strict instructions:
no banners, no walking in circles, and
no crossing the street to the hospital,
lest the union face federal charges. Ap-
parently a long-standing court ruling
says hospital workers have to give 10
days notice for any sort of strike ac-
tion, and almost any kind of public
display may be regarded as a strike
and grounds for fines against a union.
The park, at least, was “union terri-
tory,” as one chant declared. There, a
group of SEIU Local 49 members on
break, led by patient transport worker
Carlotta Franklin, explained the situa-
tion: Workers’ health insurance premi-
ums have risen 26 percent since 2008,
and Legacy, despite profitability, isn’t
stepping up to offer raises that would
make up for that lost ground.
Food service worker (and single
mom) Lisa Beasley told the Labor Press
she makes $15 an hour after 23 years at
Legacy, and must pay $150 a month to
keep herself and kids insured.
“Legacy’s got a pot of gold,” protest-
ers chanted, “and if they don’t give it up
soon, we’ll be marching ’til next June.”
[The following week, the two sides
reached a three-year contract settlement
with roughly 2 percent raises each year.]
The final stop was the most tense. A
group of workers entered Dosha Salon
Spa on SE Hawthorne Blvd. and tried
to present a petition to a manager. She
fled into an office and called police.
As protesters fill the sidewalk outside a store on Southeast Hawthorne
Boulevard, esthetician Rachel Voorhies asks her employer, Dosha Salon Spa,
to treat its newly unionized employees with respect.
Noisy protesters filled the sidewalk, and
when police arrived, marched out into
the street, shutting down traffic for
about 5 minutes as owner Ray Mota-
meni watched from inside the store.
Workers at Dosha’s five Aveda-li-
censed spa locations earn as little as
minimum wage in some cases, while
giving $35 haircuts. They voted March
30 to unionize with Communications
Workers of America Local 7901. But
Motameni hired former Oregon Repub-
lican Party chair Bob Tiernan to handle
upcoming contract bargaining, and Tier-
nan told workers at an April 18 manda-
tory meeting that Dosha intends to run
“as if there’s no union here.”
On July 1, the company imple-
mented a new and higher-deductible
health care plan, without bargaining
over it. Weekly negotiation sessions
have consisted of union proposals and
employer refusals. Bargaining team
members report being assigned less de-
sirable schedules and being written up
for trivial infractions.
“The message of Portland Rising is
that we can’t wait for anyone else to
save us,” Portland Jobs with Justice Ex-
ecutive Director Margaret Butler told
demonstrators. “We have to do this, to-
gether. We are the heroes we’ve been
waiting for.”
With nine police cars lined up along
Hawthorne, protesters reboarded buses,
chanting, “We’ll be back.”
Portland Jobs with Justice activist Jackie Ellenz holds up a chain made of
petitions asking Congressman Earl Blumenauer to vote against NAFTA-style
trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama.
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JULY 15, 2011
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
PAGE 5