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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 2011)
...ELECTION RESULTS: Bonamici wins primary (From Page 1) Workers, Musicians, and Heat & Frost Insulators. Witt, a former Oregon AFL- CIO secretary-treasurer, listed support from Machinists, Steelworkers, Roofers, Bricklayers, Carpenters, Pulp and Paper Workers, Amalgamated Transit Union, Office and Professional Employees, Stage Employees, and UFCW Local 555. The Oregon AFL- CIO stayed out of the primary after no candidate was able to get a two-thirds backing at a September convention. Bonamici will face Republican Rob Cornilles in a Jan. 31, 2012, special election to replace Democrat David Wu, who resigned mid-term. Days after the election, both Witt and Avakian endorsed Bonamici, with Witt calling on organized labor to do the same. “It is imperative that this Congres- sional District continues to be repre- sented by a Democrat — and that De- mocrat is Suzanne Bonamici. I spent over three months campaigning with Sen. Bonamici as an opponent in this special primary election, and while we may not agree on every issue and may AFSCME backs Oregon City commissioner The union that represents Oregon City public employees wants to retain Jim Nicita as a city commissioner. Nicita is facing a recall effort spurred by his opposition to the pro- posed The Rivers mall in Oregon City. “Jim Nicita has always been a champion for fair labor negotiations with our city’s workers, so of course we commend that,” said Jake Ashen- berner, president of AFSCME Local 350-2, which represents 70 city em- ployees. “Jim has shown to be a person of in- tegrity and a watchdog for the public’s interest — and the public’s money. Those are the two qualities we say we want in elected officials, so this is no time to throw the baby out with the bathwater over a single issue, despite emotions running high on both sides,” Ashenberner said. differ in style, in my opinion, she is the clear choice. I wholeheartedly support and endorse her.” On Nov. 14, the Northwest Oregon Labor Council (NOLC) Executive Board voted to recommend to the Ore- gon AFL-CIO endorsing Bonamici. In Clackamas County, labor- backed Measure 3-388 passed by a sig- nificant margin, but the measure won’t become law because a competing measure — 3-386 — received more votes. Measure 3-386 requires a county- wide vote before any new urban re- newal areas may be created in unincor- porated parts of the county. The Clackamas County Commission re- ferred an alternative measure to voters, which would have put any new urban renewal areas before local voters (not the entire county). The Columbia Pa- cific Building and Construction Trades Council and NOLC endorsed the local vote measure. With the vast majority of votes counted, 51,483 voters supported Measure 3-386, and 47,029 voters sup- ported Measure 3-388. Mark your calendar now for labor law conference Mark your calendars for Friday, Jan. 27, date of the 16th annual Oregon La- bor Law Conference. The conference is for business man- agers, business agents and union offi- cers. The goal is to provide information that will help them do their jobs better and to help avoid legal liability. The focus this year is on the basic mechanics of running a union. There will be classes on arbitration, collective bargaining, the National Labor Rela- tions Board, the Oregon Employment Relations Board; classes on how to conduct union elections and required recordkeeping; a class on the world af- ter Wisconsin; and classes on workers’ compensation and Social Security. The conference is sponsored by IBEW Local 48, Oregon AFL-CIO, Northwest Oregon Labor Council, the Labor Education and Research Center of the University of Oregon, the Ore- gon and Columbia Pacific building and construction trades councils, and the Center for Worker Rights. For registration information, go to www.laborlawconference.com or con- tact Norman Malbin by email at Nor- man@ IBEW48.com, or call 503 889- 3669; or Kristi Straight by email at Kristi@IBEW48.com, or call 503-889- 3660. Voters did approve renewal of a la- bor-backed public safety levy funding the Clackamas County Sheriff’s office, and a union-supported bond measure to raise $8.5 million to build a new police station in West Linn. A labor-endorsed five-year local op- tion levy to support Beaverton schools was narrowly rejected by voters. O HIO ‘ CITIZEN ’ S VETO ’ Ohio voters resoundingly over- turned a law that stripped public em- ployees of collective bargaining rights: 2,145,042 Ohioans (61.33 percent) voted against Senate Bill 5, while 1,352,366 voted for it. SB 5, which passed the Ohio Senate by a single vote in March, eliminated the collective bargaining rights of some 350,000 public employees. Massive crowds turned out to oppose the law, which was a priority for Republican Gov. John Kasich. A union-backed coalition then collected 1.3 million sig- natures to refer the law to voters, and mounted a massive campaign against it. “Ohio sent a message to every politician out there: Go in and make war on your employees rather than make jobs with your employees, and you do so at your own peril,” said AFL- CIO President Richard Trumka. “[This] victory represents a turning point in our collective work to protect good jobs, working families, and workplace rights. But it’s more than that. It’s a long-over- due return to common sense.” ‘Holiday Party’ Dec. 3 in Salem SALEM —The 71st annual “Holi- day Party for Children” will be held at Saturday, Dec. 3, at the Elsinore The- atre, 170 High St. SE, Salem. The free event, sponsored by the Marion, Polk, Yamhill Counties Labor Council, will feature holiday songs by Norman Sylvester and Friends, a show- ing of the movie Rio, a visit from Santa Claus, and a free goody bag. Sylvester recently was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. He is a longtime member of Musicians Local 99 and a retired Teamster. Doors open at 9:45 a.m., LCSA’s Yule party slated for Dec. 17 Labor’s Community Service Agency (LCSA) and the Northwest Oregon La- bor Council will hold their 15th annual Presents from Partners Holiday Toy Party Saturday, Dec. 17, at Sheet Metal Workers Local 16 Training Center, 2379 NE 178th Ave., Portland. Admission is by ticket only. Forms will be available for union locals to fill out referrals to the party. LCSA then will send out tickets. A toy drive is currently under way to collect toys for distribution at the party. Toys will accepted now through Dec. 15. Call LCSA at 503-231-4962 to make arrangements for drop off. (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon as a voice of the labor movement. 4275 NE Halsey St., P.O. Box 13150, Portland, Ore. 97213 Telephone: (503) 288-3311 Editor: Michael Gutwig Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non- profit corporation owned by 20 unions and councils including the Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Ore- gon and SW Washington. Subscriptions $13.75 per year for union members. Group rates available to trade union organizations. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a change of address. When ordering a change, please give your old and new addresses and the name and number of your local union. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS, P.O. BOX 13150-0150, PORTLAND, OR 97213 NOVEMBER 18, 2011 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS PAGE 3
