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.