SW Washington CLC ends Columbian
boycott; endorses city council pols
Local Motion
August 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
6/29 Childrens Farm Home (Corvallis) SEIU 503
59
59
8/10 Planned Parenthood (Portland, Bend, Salem) SEIU 49
97
43
8/22 City of Milton-Freewater Police (Milton-Freewater) MFPA
11
0
Requesting a union election
Workplace (Location) Union
Number of workers in unit
Parry Center for Children (Portland) SEIU Local 503 DECERT
Architectural Metal Works (Portland) Sheet Metal Workers Locals 16, 66, 55
Kaiser Permanente membership services (Portland) SEIU Local 49 DECERT
120
45
96
L EGEND
: workers will be union-represented
DECERT
: workers will be on their own
: A decertification election occurs when some union-represented workers declare
that the union no longer has majority support. A ‘yes’ vote is a vote for the union.
Labor Roundtable of Southwest
Washington banquet Sept. 30
The Labor Roundtable of South-
west Washington will host its annual
Labor Awards Banquet Friday, Sept.
30, at the Vancouver Hilton, 301 West
6th Street Vancouver, Washington.
A no-host bar will be provided
starting at 5 p.m., with dinner at 6 p.m.
The annual event recognizes labor
unions, labor organizations, labor lead-
ers, and union allies for their outstand-
ing service not only to the labor move-
ment, but to the community as well.
Tickets are $60 per person or $480
for a table of eight.
The Roundtable also suggests each
person donate an item for a door prize.
For more information, or to order
tickets, call 360-921-2864 or e-mail
eboctran@comcast.net.
VANCOUVER — The Southwest
Washington Central Labor Council has
ended its boycott of the Columbian
newspaper.
The daily newspaper, which covers
the greater Vancouver/Southwest
Washington area, was put on the “Do
Not Patronize” list in February after
delegates complained of slanted cover-
age against unions and public employ-
ees. The resolution calling for the boy-
cott instructed delegates to revisit the
action at the end of July to determine
whether or not the newspaper had ex-
panded its coverage “to represent all of
the community.” If it did, the boycott
would be withdrawn.
During that time period, the boycott
was joined by the Portland-based
Northwest Oregon Labor Council; the
Columbia Pacific Building and Con-
struction Trades Council; as well as
many of the 39 labor organizations af-
filiated with the Southwest Washington
CLC. Rank-and-file union members
were encouraged to cancel their sub-
scriptions and politicians were asked
not to advertise in the newspaper.
However, at the labor council’s
monthly meeting in August, delegates
decided that coverage had become
more favorable, so the boycott was
lifted.
“Not everyone was in favor of end-
ing our action against the Columbian,”
said Secretary-Treasurer Roy Jennings,
a member of Amalgamated Transit
Union Local 757. “Some of our dele-
gates still believe the newspaper has an
anti-labor sentiment. While we can
agree to disagree on many issues, we
believe that at this time the Columbian
has reached a turning point. Clearly the
Columbian has done better in its re-
porting.”
The labor council has invited pub-
lisher Scott Campbell to attend its
meeting Oct 27. It also posted on its
web site a link directing union mem-
bers how to subscribe to the newspaper.
In other action at the August meet-
ing, the labor council issued the follow-
ing political endorsements:
• Re-elect Bart Hansen for Vancou-
ver City Council, Position 4. Hansen
was appointed to the council in January
2010, filling the seat vacated by Tim
Leavitt after he was elected mayor. He
won the seat outright in a special elec-
tion last year.
• Elect challenger Anne McEnerny-
Ogle to Vancouver City Council, Posi-
tion 6.
The Vancouver City Council is non-
partisan.
• Re-elect Jim Irish mayor of La
Center.
• Support Proposition 1, to increase
the sales tax by 0.2 percent (2 cents on
a $10 purchase) to preserve C-TRAN
local fixed route, limited, commuter
and connector service
The general election is Nov. 8.
Anti-union initiative withdrawn
Without explanation, sponsors of an
anti-union ballot initiative effort with-
drew their initiative on Aug. 30, just
four weeks after they turned in 1,484
signatures to get the process started.
The initiative was aimed at making
it harder for public employee union
members to give to their unions’ polit-
ical funds, and had the fingerprints of
business lobbyist Mark Nelson on it.
Chief petitioner Mel Zucker told the
Labor Press that conservative former
Oregonian columnist David Reinhard,
who works for Nelson, was central to
the effort. But neither Reinhard nor ei-
ther of the chief petitioners returned
calls from the Labor Press seeking ex-
planation as to why the measure was
withdrawn. The initiative was in an
early stage and had not yet been ap-
proved to circulate.
Resources could be part of the an-
swer; Zucker told Oregonian reporter
Jeff Mapes that the campaigners didn’t
get support they thought they were
promised.
A similar initiative — sponsored by
an associate of perennial union foe Bill
Sizemore — may still be gathering sig-
natures for the 2012 ballot. The union-
backed ballot initiative watchdog group
Defend Oregon is calling on supporters
to report sightings of signature gather-
ers at www.defendoregon.org/peti-
tions.html.
Know Your Rights
The only time you must go to a
doctor chosen by the workers’
compensation insurer is if you
receive a proper notice of an
“independent medical exam
(IME). This one-time appoint-
ment is for their expert to
comment on your case.
Paid for and authorized by the Columbia Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council
SEPTEMBER 16, 2011
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS