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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2011)
E E FR Who’s On Our Side? Free classified ads to subscribers By Tom Chamberlain I have run, paraded and marched countless times on the streets of Portland. I have marched against wars and for jobs. But never have I experienced the interaction between those marching and those in stalled cars, watching from parking garages, doorways, and apartment balconies as I did on Oct. 6, when I joined 10,000 Oregonians marching down those familiar Portland streets. Bystanders in Portland always cheer a parade or demonstration, but not to the level they did on the 6th. Those folks were and are engaged. They are paying attention to what is and isn’t happening in Washington, D.C., and on Wall Street. They un- derstand that our nation’s high unem- ployment is tied directly to tax cuts for the top 1 percent of Americans. They know that millionaires and bil- lionaires who refuse to pay their fair share are blocking programs that could not only put millions of Amer- ican’s back to work, but at the same time update our crumbling infra- structure and make America more competitive in global markets. The 99ers aren’t a rag-tag move- ment without a message as portrayed by the corporate media. Their mes- sage is simple: 1 percent of Ameri- cans have too much wealth, and 99 percent don’t have enough. It is an economic message that seems to res- onate with millions of Americans who have believed for too long that the dream of a middle-class lifestyle is like a fading vision from the rear window of America — a vision of owning a home and a car; a vision of spending time with your family, who were clothed and fed; a vision of sav- ing for college, for your children’s fu- ture or for a much needed vacation. The 99ers give us hope. The 99ers give us a vehicle to vent our rage against a government that has turned its back on the poor and mid- dle class in order to advance a politi- cal agenda that will keep politicians in power. It is so easy to be fooled by the media. They’d like us to believe that the 99ers are limited to those few tens, hundreds or thousands who are sleeping in tents throughout our na- tion. But we are the 99ers, we and our families and friends who are los- ing economic ground each day. The 99ers give us a chance to join what could be a transformational move- ment. It’s a movement that is apolit- ical, a movement that brings attention to the plight of shrinking middle class. It shines a spotlight on unem- ployment, lack of healthcare, and homelessness. It concentrates our anger on financial institutions whose focus on making the quick buck has put our people on the path of ruina- tion. For poor and middle class Orego- nians and Americans, now is the time to engage. Now is the time to lend our support to those 99ers who oc- cupy our cities and have the corpo- ratist elite shaking in their boots. Without our help, in a few days or weeks this movement may end. The status quo will force the 99 army from our streets in hopes of stopping a movement that may well be our best chance to create a balanced eco- nomic system that rebuilds the mid- dle class. By the time this article is pub- lished, placards and signs will be printed and distributed to show the depth of support for the 99ers in our community. Tune into the various union and occupy Portland websites for updates. As the media attempts to destroy this movement by focus- ing on their lack of message, under- stand that there is a message — an economic message about sharing the wealth that too few enjoy, putting Americans back to work, and hold- ing our financial institutions account- able for the recession they created. We are the 99. We are the ones who have lost the America dream and are willing to fight to get it back. Tom Chamberlain is president of the Oregon AFL-CIO. NLRB postpones final rule for posting notice of employees’ rights The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has postponed the im- plementation date for its new rule re- quiring all private-sector employers to display an 11-by-17-inch poster in- forming workers of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act, in- cluding the right to unionize. The rule was set to take effect on Nov. 14, 2011. However, the NLRB pushed it back by two months — to Jan. 31, 2012 — “in order to allow for enhanced education and outreach to employers, particularly small and medium sized businesses.” As reported in the Sept. 2 Labor Day edition of the Northwest Labor Press, the business world flipped out after the NLRB made the proposal, claiming the federal agency was un- fairly promoting unionization. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce went so far as to file a lawsuits seeking to block it, alleging it oversteps the NLRB’s au- thority. Said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: “Just as employers are re- quired to notify their employees of PAGE 10 their rights around health and safety, wages and discrimination on the job, this rule gives clear information to em- ployees about their rights under this fundamental labor law so that workers are better equipped to exercise and en- force them.” It’s just a poster — similar to the ones the U.S. Department of Labor re- quires the thousands and thousands of federal contractors to post. Employers will not be required to distribute the notice via e-mail, voice mail, text messaging or related elec- tronic communications. They simply have to hang the poster (provided for free of charge by the NLRB) where they usually post notices to let workers know what’s going on. The NLRB says the decision to ex- tend the rollout period followed queries from businesses and trade or- ganizations indicating uncertainty about which businesses fall under the Board’s jurisdiction, and was made “in the interest of ensuring broad voluntary compliance.” No other changes in the rule, or in the form or content of the BARGAIN COUNTER notice, will be made. But since establishing the new reg- ulation, NLRB Chairwoman Wilma Liebman departed after her term ex- pired Aug. 27. Liebman served on the Board for nearly 14 years under an ap- pointment from President Clinton. Board member Craig Becker’s term expires at the end of this year. The for- mer union attorney is serving under a recess appointment from President Obama. Republicans in the U.S. Sen- ate have refused to confirm Becker’s appointment. There is one other Board nomina- tion currently pending before the Sen- ate for Terence F. Flynn. Another seat is vacant with no pending nomination. In addition to Becker, the other Board members are Chairman Mark Pearce, and Brian Hayes. Without new appointees to fill those seats, the five-member Board will be down to just two — which does not represent a sufficient quorum to decide disputed cases, according to a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2010. 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