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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2011)
Inside Official Meeting Notices See Page 4 Volume 112 Number 16 August 19, 2011 Portland IBEW #125 prepares to strike Pacific Power Members of International Brother- hood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 125 voted Aug. 10 to reject a second tentative agreement with Pa- cific Power. They expect to go on strike or be locked out the day after Labor Day if no further agreement is reached before then. Local 125 represents over 400 Pa- cific Power employees — linemen and other classifications — who work in a region that extends from Astoria, Ore- gon to Walla Walla, Washington. Pacific Power serves over 700,000 customers as the electricity distribution division of PacifiCorp for Oregon, Washington and California. PacifiCorp is owned by Mid-American Energy Holdings Company, which is con- trolled by Berkshire Hathaway. Berk- shire Hathaway’s primary shareholder is Warren Buffett, one of the world’s richest people. Pacific Power, a regulated monop- oly, has a built-in rate of profit that is Gov. Kitzhaber signs top labor bill A top priority bill of the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council was signed into law by Gov. John Kitzhaber at a special ceremony Aug. 2 at Plumbers and Fitters Local 290 in Tualatin. House Bill 2700-B, also known as the “linear projects” bill, simplifies the permitting process for large-scale linear construction projects. The bill received bipartisan support, passing in the House 40-18 and in the Senate 20-9. “This is a huge victory, a monsterous victory for the building trades,” said OSBCTC Executive Secretary John Mohlis. Mohlis and other supporters of the bill say the measure will bring much-needed jobs to Oregon by allowing stalled infrastructure projects to move forward. Typical linear projects include streets, roads, and highways; railroad and light rail lines; gas, water and sewer pipelines; and communications and transmission lines. Xerox workers call on CEO to save the American Dream Washington AFL-CIO covenes in SeaTac for jam-packed convention SEATAC — This year’s convention of the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC), AFL-CIO, drew 530 dele- gates and guests Aug. 4-6 to the SeaTac DoubleTree Hotel near SeaTac International Airport. Many of them came away with the energy that comes from being embattled. WSLC — the state-level labor fed- eration, channels the political efforts of 500 union organizations with 400,000 rank-and-file members. Washington isn’t Wisconsin, where a Republican governor and Legislature stripped public employees of their right to a union for all intents and purposes. But WSLC has found in recent ses- sions of the Washington Legislature overseen by the Oregon Public Utility Commission. Yet the company is seek- ing concessions from its union work- force. The tentative agreement Local 125 members voted to reject would have al- lowed the company to terminate its de- fined benefit pension plan, which had already been frozen. New hires are en- rolled only in the company’s “defined contribution” 401(k) plan, but about 100 Local 125 members age 55 and older remain in the traditional pension. The agreement would also have taken away three days of family sick leave. It contained wage increases of 1, 1.5, and 2 percent, but the first increase was not retroactive. The most recent contract expired Jan. 26, but was extended by mutual agreement. On July 8 the union negoti- ating committee gave 60-day notice of its intent to terminate. Thus the agree- ment’s last day will be Sept. 5, Labor Day 2011. that the state’s majority Democrats can’t be relied on to favor workers’ in- terests over business interests. WSLC’s eight-page report on the 2011 legisla- tive session — distributed on Day Two of the convention — wasn’t cheery. A majority of Democratic state sen- ators — 15 of 27 — scored 60 percent or less in the federation’s rankings, based on votes they cast on issues that affect unions and working people. The rankings this year were weighted: WSLC waged an all-out campaign to oppose two pieces of leg- islation, and lawmakers’ votes on those counted for 50 percent of their rating, while votes on eight to 10 other bills made up the remainder. The two pieces of legislation were: a law that weakens the state’s workers’ compensation sys- tem by allowing lump-sum buyouts to injured workers, in which they are paid less than what they would otherwise receive; and a law that consolidates four state agencies into a Department of Enterprise Services, promotes priva- tization of the new agency’s services and explicitly prohibits state employ- ees from competing to maintain their work. Nevertheless, the labor movement does have allies in elected office, and WSLC honored three of them with its 2011 Legislators of the Year Awards: Sen. Steve Conway (D-Tacoma), and (Turn to Page 7) Xerox workers at the Wilsonville campus in Oregon held a funeral for the death of the American Dream during a visit Aug. 11 by CEO Ursula Burns. About 150 employees who put together ink jet cartridges have been working without a contract since July. They are members of Service Employees Interna- tional Union Local 49. According to the union, management is attempting to eliminate workers’ sick days, reduce pay for long-term employees by up to 50 percent, and roll back re- tirement benefits. Over the last several years Xerox also has increased its tempo- rary workforce to 30 percent, and is looking to increase it to 50 percent. “It’s really hard not knowing that any day your job can be turned into a tempo- rary position or sent overseas” said Beverly Robinson, a 31-year Xerox employee. “It creates insecurity when their doesn’t have to be. Ms. Burns could make a dif- ferent choice for all of us and our families.” According to SEIU Local 49 spokesperson Maggie Long, workers at the Wilsonville plant accepted pay freezes and reduced work hours in 2009 to keep Xerox’s American operations profitable. Since 2010, the company has seen a 56 percent increase in profits ($606 million in profit last year on sales of $21.6 billion). Burns’ pay jumped from $11.2 million in 2009 to $13.2 million last year. “This is the same story we have seen over the last two decades,” said 15-year- employee Chris Singrey. “Even when corporations in America are doing well they feel no loyalty to their longtime workforce and the communities they operate in — it’s just about shareholder profits.” Meg Niemi president of SEIU Local 49, said the union’s hope is that Xerox “can chose a different way and that Ms. Burns sees that we are all committed to having good jobs in local Oregon communities.” Xerox acquired the Wilsonville color printer facility from Tektronix in 2000. It has about 1,500 employees locally and 130,000 worldwide.
