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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2011)
...WSLC convention resolutions (From Page 1) Reps. Mike Sells (D-Everett) and Bob Hasegawa (D-Seattle). WSLC also gave special legislative awards to eight freshman Democratic state representa- tives who earned 100 percent voting records from the council: Andy Billig of Spokane, Joe Fitzgibbon of Seattle, Connie Ladenburg of Tacoma, Kris Lytton of Bellingham, Luis Moscoso of Everett, Chris Reykdal of Olympia, Cindy Ryu of Shoreline, and Derek Stanford of Everett. Several Democratic allies in Con- gress also attended the convention with words of support for organized labor, including Washington Senator Maria Cantwell and representatives Jay Inslee and Jim McDermott, as well as Con- Rain Forest Boots Made in America! try a pair on, you’ll like them. 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 AUGUST 19, 2011 gressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. Kucinich, a crowd favorite, is consid- ering running for Congress in Wash- ington if his home district is eliminated in redistricting. Inslee, also well-re- ceived, is running for Washington gov- ernor in 2012. Delegates also heard from Mary Beth Maxwell, former head of Ameri- can Rights at Work who is a now a sen- ior adviser to U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. On Aug. 5, delegates joined the ho- tel’s workers to rally 400-strong out- side the hotel calling for a decent con- tract; members of UNITE HERE at the SeaTac Doubletree are working under an expired contract as bargaining con- tinues for a new one. Delegates also debate and pass res- olutions that set policy for the labor federation. Resolutions passed at the 2011 convention include: • Opposition to a new Costco- backed ballot initiative to privatize liquor sales; Washington voters soundly rejected two such measures on the 2010 ballot. • Calling for speedy end to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, redirection of military spending toward human needs, and raise taxes on millionaires and multinational corporations. • Calling on all friends of organized labor to boycott all events celebrating restoration of the Elwha River. [Re- moval of the Elwha Dam is a major federal project for the Olympic penin- sula, but is moving forward without a project labor agreement (PLA) to en- sure that the work be done by union contractors. The resolution also calls on Washington’s Congressional dele- gation to send a letter of protest to President Obama about the lack of a PLA.] • Supporting International Long- shore and Warehouse Union in its ef- fort to assert jurisdiction at a Longview grain terminal owned by EGT. • Supporting the creation of a Wash- ington state investment trust, similar to the Bank of North Dakota. • Supporting proposals to establish “clawback” rules for tax breaks — if companies that get tax breaks don’t create the promised jobs or benefits, they’d have to repay the money. • Supporting construction of a new port terminal in Bellingham that would be used to export coal; the project is opposed by environmental groups that decry coal’s contribution to global warming. • Supporting a campaign to gener- ate revenue for transportation infra- structure. • Calling for a jobs summit to be held in November. NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS Travis Eri elected to third term at IBEW Local 125 Members of Portland-headquartered International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 125 elected Travis Eri to a third three-year term as business manager, in mail ballots counted June 21. Eri outpolled chal- lenger John Gervais, a meter relay tech- nician for Pacific Power in Bend, Ore- gon. Business manager is the top elected office in the 3,600-member local, which represents electric linemen and utility workers in a territory that covers parts of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Mon- tana, and Nevada. The business man- ager oversees a staff of 14, including eight union business representatives who help bargain contracts and defend members on the job. Also re-elected were President Larry Browning, Recording Secretary Ray- mond Cowell, and Treasurer Douglas Shaffer. For vice president, Paul Diet- rich and Brian Williams (the incum- bent) were the two top vote-getters; Di- etrich won the office in a July 13 run-off. Joseph Gass, Jim Sweet, and Patrick Winter were re-elected to the Executive Board, where they will be joined by a newly-elected member, John Yates. And Jeffery Davis, Ryan Hagel, Rick Larson, Clay Perth, and Joe Spears were elected to the Examining Board, which eval- uates applicants for membership in the union. Members also elected delegates to the upcoming IBEW convention, which will be held Sept. 19-23 in Van- couver, British Columbia. Eri and Browning will be delegates by virtue of their office; in addition, members elected Randy Bryson, Joseph Gass, Shane Hester, Rick Main, Donald Rose, Douglas Shaffer, Jim Sweet, Patrick Winter, Rod Derting, Tim Titus, and Byron Babka to serve as delegates. For Eri, 40, it looks likely to be a busy third term. Members at Pacific Power voted Aug. 10 to reject their em- ployer’s contract offer and thus go on strike Sept. 6 if no settlement is reached by then. PGE’s contract will be up for renegotiation in late fall. So will con- tracts at Bonneville Power Administra- tion and several other employers. Members will need to show un- precedented unity in order to prevail in those contests, Eri said. Fostering that unity will be a priority. PAGE 7
