Top Dems debate, seeking Oregon AFL-CIO backing
EUGENE — All three top Demo-
cratic candidates for Congress in Ore-
gon’s First District debated Sept. 27 at
the invitation of the Oregon AFL-CIO,
the state’s premier federation of labor
unions. The debate — on issues impor-
tant to working people — took place in
Eugene on day two of the Oregon AFL-
CIO’s biennial convention. Afterward,
union delegates had their own debate
over whether and whom to endorse.
A Nov. 8 primary will determine
which of the three will go on to the Jan.
31, 2012 special election to succeed
U.S. Representative David Wu, who re-
signed in August. The district includes
Northwest Oregon as far east as the
West side of Portland. Republican can-
didates were also invited to address the
convention, but declined to take part.
State Representative Brad Witt of
Clatskanie — who was the Oregon
AFL-CIO’s number two officer for 14
years — appeared to have the strongest
support among delegates, but Labor
Commissioner Brad Avakian and State
Senator Suzanne Bonamici also have
close relationships with organized labor.
All three presented themselves as pro-
union candidates in the debate.
On trade, Witt had the strongest po-
sition, pledging to seek renegotiation of
all trade agreements going back to
NAFTA. Witt and Avakian said they
would vote against pending NAFTA-
style trade agreements with Korea,
Colombia and Panama, but Bonamici
was non-committal, saying only that
she’d look at each agreement to see if it
would create jobs, and that she supports
funding benefits for workers who lose
jobs due to foreign competition.
To shore up Social Security’s fi-
nances for the long term, all three can-
didates said they support eliminating
the income cap on the Social Security
payroll tax. Right now, only the first
$106,800 of annual income is subject to
the Social Security taxes; those with
higher incomes pay nothing on income
above that.
The three candidates also seemed to
agree that federal education policies like
the No Child Left Behind Act and Pres-
ident Obama’s Race To The Top are the
wrong approach. No Child Left Behind
punishes public schools if students per-
form below average on standardized
tests, while Race To The Top gives
money to states if they encourage char-
ter schools. Avakian said one of his first
acts would be to introduce a bill to re-
peal the No Child Left Behind Act.
Bonamici said she wants to repeal the
bad parts of the act. Witt said the fed-
eral government needs to stop pushing
From left to right: Brad Witt, Suzanne Bonamici, and Brad Avakian debate at the Oregon AFL-CIO’s 2011 convention
in Eugene. The three Democrats are running for Congress in Oregon’s First Congressional District. The state labor
federation made no endorsement.
states to promote charter schools.
Oregon State Building Trades exec-
utive secretary-treasurer John Mohlis
asked candidates if they support cre-
ation of a federal infrastructure bank.
All three agreed.
Avakian derided President Obama’s
recent call for $50 billion in new infra-
structure spending proposal as “very
very small,” saying it would create just
5,500 jobs in Oregon at a time when
190,000 Oregonians are out of work.
“When is the president going to get
serious about putting people back to
work?” Avakian asked. Avakian said he
wants “a 21st century WPA program”
which would use infrastructure invest-
ment to put millions back to work.
Witt similarly proposed to fund in-
frastructure by dedicating funds from a
repeal of the Bush tax cuts.
Asked what steps they’d take to pass
to pass the Employee Free Choice Act,
Witt said he’d go further, pressing for
legislation to end so-called “right to
work” laws, ban permanent replace-
ment of striking workers, and grant un-
employment benefits to strikers.
Avakian said he sponsored the Em-
ployee Free Choice Act when he was in
the Oregon Legislature. [Presumably he
was referring to a law that allows public
sector employees to unionize via signed
authorization cards.] Bonamici noted
her support of an Oregon law banning
employers from holding mandatory-at-
tendance anti-union meetings.
In closing remarks, Avakian re-
minded delegates of his background de-
fending union members as an attorney,
and pledged to make, “Wall Street cor-
porations that are bankrupting your
pension plans pay their fair share.”
Bonamici touted her work as a Le-
gal Aid lawyer defending the poor, and
said she learned the value of hard work
from her grandfather, a union stone ma-
son who worked in a coal mine.
Witt closed the debate with an ap-
peal to labor to elect one of its own to
Congress. “As a 30-year union worker,
union member and union representa-
tive, I know better than any other candi-
date in this race what our members face
each and every day. From layoffs to
union busting, from unfair labor prac-
tices to Bill Sizemore, I have fought
them all and I have won my fair share.”
The debate lasted an hour and was
streamed live on the federations web
site, oraflcio.org.
Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom
Chamberlain thanked all three candi-
dates for speaking to the issues and not
about each other, an observation which
drew a standing ovation.
“All three of you are strong advo-
cates for workers,” Chamberlain said.
After the debate, convention dele-
gates took up the question of whether
and whom to endorse. A proposal to en-
dorse whichever candidate prevails in
the primary — in effect to make no en-
dorsement in the primary — failed to
win the required two-thirds superma-
jority in a standing vote of delegates.
Delegates next debated a proposal to
endorse Witt. Arguments from the floor
ran strongly in favor of backing him, as
one of labor’s own, but that motion also
failed to win two-thirds in a vote based
on affiliates’ numerical representation.
A third motion, to endorse Avakian, was
tabled in a voice vote.
Oregon Congressman
Peter DeFazio:
‘A Message to Labor’
Oregon 4th District Congressman
Peter DeFazio addressed delegates and
guests Sept. 28 at the Oregon AFL-
CIO’s biennial convention in Eugene. It
was the third and final day of the meet-
ing of delegates to the state’s 112,000-
strong federation of labor unions. De-
Fazio’s remarks are too lengthy for
print. To read his entire message go on-
line to www.nwlaborpress.org.
Teamsters at Fred Meyer vote to strike
TUKWILA — More than 350 Fred
Meyer warehouse workers, members of
Teamsters Local 117, voted last week-
end to strike if a new contract isn’t
forthcoming.
Workers have continued to pack,
pallet, and load goods at the warehouse
since their contract extension expired
Aug. 15. The distribution center serves
approximately 140 stores in Washing-
ton, Alaska, and Idaho.
At issue is health care insurance.
PAGE 4
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
According to the union, parent com-
pany Kroger, whose profits were over
$432 million in the first quarter of 2011
alone, is trying to slash health care cov-
erage and double out-of-pocket costs.
Workers want health care coverage
that compares with the coverage offered
to Local 117 workers at other local dis-
tribution centers.
The union has filed 10 unfair labor
practice charges against the company,
including one for bad-faith bargaining.
OCTOBER 7, 2011