Northwest labor press., September 16, 2011, Page 8, Image 8

Merkley visits trades job site
Oregon AFL-CIO convention
to include congressional debate
Delegates from labor unions around
Oregon will convene in Eugene Sept.
26 for the Oregon AFL-CIO biennial
convention. Oregon AFL-CIO is the
state’s premier labor union federation,
made up of affiliated locals from about
40 international unions with a total of
about 112,000 members.
Highlights of the three-day meeting
will include a 45-minute debate among
candidates for the 1st Congressional
District seat vacated by David Wu, a
visit from Gov. John Kitzhaber, and a
presentation from Karen Nussbaum,
executive director of the national AFL-
CIO’s community affiliate Working
America.
Other guest speakers include U.S.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, AFL-CIO Industrial
Council Director Bob Baugh, Oregon
House Democratic leader Tina Kotek,
… Clash in Longview
Above, members of United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA)
Local 290 get a visit Sept. 1 from U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley. Merkley was
given a tour of the Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, which
was stripped down to girders and is being reconstructed as one of the
most environmentally sustainable federal office buildings in the country.
Work on the 512,400 square foot project is being performed under the
terms of a project labor agreement signed by 24 local unions. At the time
of the visit, 17 plumbers, 17 pipefitters, at least 12 ironworkers, and
smaller numbers of other craftworkers were employed on the project. At
the end of the tour, Merkley was on hand as Iron Workers Local 29
member Barney Volk (right) was honored for outstanding work.
PAGE 8
British Columbia Labor Federation
President Jim Sinclair, and national
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President
Arlene Holt-Baker.
Delegates will vote on policy reso-
lutions, and will choose the state labor
federation’s officers for the next four
years. As of press time, President Tom
Chamberlain and Secretary-Treasurer
Barbara Byrd were expected to run for
re-election. No other candidates are ex-
pected to run.
The convention will take place at
the Eugene Hilton Hotel & Convention
Center. Workers there are not union-
represented, but the Portland-head-
quartered hotel workers union UNITE
HERE Local 9 has no objection to
meeting there; for now only three ho-
tels in Oregon are union-represented,
all in Portland.
(From Page 3)
The fracas did get the attention of
the International Transport Workers
Federation (ITF), a global federation of
779 unions representing over 4.6 mil-
lion transport workers in 155 countries.
ITF condemned the police action and
called on EGT to live up to the work
agreement the ILWU has at the Port of
Longview.
“EGT are playing with fire, and they
know it,” said ITF President Paddy
Crumlin in a press release. “They need
to take a big step back and think about
what they are trying to force through,
then see sense and talk to the ILWU
about how to resolve this issue before it
escalates even further.”
Also on Sept. 8, U.S. District Court
Judge Ronald Leighton in Tacoma is-
sued a preliminary injunction to stop
acts of picketing misconduct. The Na-
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
tional Labor Relations Board had
sought a motion to ban all picketing at
the EGT facility.
The injunction prohibits the ILWU
from blocking rail lines, impeding
business, making threats or engaging
in violence. The injunction applies to
all trains or ships headed to or from
EGT, no matter where the trains or
ships are at the time. A violation of the
injunction could result in federal civil
contempt charges and fines of up to
$25,000 per violation.
Judge Leighton had issued a tempo-
rary restraining order the previous
week, and scheduled a contempt hear-
ing for Sept. 15.
On Aug. 29, the NLRB issued a
complaint against ILWU Locals 21 and
4 alleging that their acts prior to Sept. 7
violated federal labor law. A hearing is
scheduled on that complaint before an
administrative law judge on Oct. 11.
SEPTEMBER 16, 2011