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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2012)
Fundraiser for OSPIRG fires two workers who helped form a union Employees at Fund for the Public Interest’s Portland call center voted in October to unionize with CWA A non-profit fundraiser for OSPIRG and its spinoff group Environment Ore- gon has fired two workers who helped lead a campaign to unionize. On Oct. 12, workers at the Portland call center run by the Fund for the Public Interest voted 19-to-5 to join Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 7901. In December, the Fund termi- nated Kris Humbird and Mike Schultz — two of the three workers who were elected to the union’s contract bargain- ing team. Fund for the Public Interest is a na- tional non-profit organization that is linked to the state public interest advo- cacy groups known as PIRGs. The Fund runs PIRG canvass operations in multiple states, and telephone outreach call centers in Boston, Sacramento and Portland. The Fund may have a history of union-busting. According to one press account, after Fund workers in Los An- geles voted in 2005 to unionize, man- agement fired union supporters, re- fused to negotiate, and put a freeze on new hiring in the high-turnover work- place. Eleven months after the union vote, the Fund closed the Los Angeles office altogether, and moved the opera- tion to Sacramento. Humbird, 33, says he learned of the Los Angeles case soon after he began working for the Fund six years ago, when a donor told him he would no longer give to CalPIRG because it was a union-buster. Will the Fund similarly try to bust the union campaign at the Portland of- fice? After the union vote, workers say, the Fund directed the Portland office to stop calling a donor list for U.S. PIRG. It transferred that list to the Sacramento call center, and gave the Portland call center less lucrative lists. For example, the Portland callers were made to ask for end-of-year donations from donors who’d given just months before, or were given donors to Environment Col- orado who had moved out of Colorado. Soon after, three workers were placed on probation for failing to meet fundraising quotas, and a fourth worker, Schultz, was fired. As for Humbird, officially he was fired for calling in sick too late. He says that was a pretext. Local 7901 has filed three charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the Fund broke fed- eral labor law — for firing Humbird, changing the list, and refusing to pro- vide information about the list after the union asked for it in bargaining. It also appears the Fund may have PAGE 8 outsourced calling for Environment Oregon to Gordon and Schwenkmeyer Inc., a for-profit political telemarketing firm based in El Segundo, California. Job security was one of several mo- tives workers had for unionizing, says Local 7901 President Madelyn Elder. Workers would like a fairer pay system, she says, including more control over the quotas they’re judged by. Workers start at $8.50 an hour and can rise to $14.50. Every 80 hours, they’re evalu- ated; if they meet targets, their hourly pay goes up 50 cents, but if they do poorly, the pay can drop much more than 50 cents. There are also bonuses that average $40 every two weeks, de- pending on how much money they raise on the phone. But workers who don’t meet the weekly quota are placed on “ultimatum,” and if they miss the quota two weeks in a row, they’re terminated — regardless of how long they’ve worked there. Workers interviewed by the Labor Press said they may work one or two four-hour shifts from 1 to 9 p.m., but are prevented from working full- time. They have no paid sick days or any other paid time off. “There’s a long history in the Fund of treating workers as if they’re dispos- able,” said Schultz, also 33, who was fired for missing quota. Schultz said he worked as a can- vasser for the Fund from 2001-2005, and had been in the call center six months when he was fired for missing quotas on the new list two weeks in a row. Workers have no say in choosing or preparing the call lists or setting the quotas. “I feel like I was fired because I was one of the most vocal pro-union people in the office,” Schultz told the Labor Press. The workers have set up a support page on Facebook: Portland T.O.P. Unite. They also wrote a letter to the heads of OSPIRG and Environment Oregon, asking them to intervene. Humbird said their replies were nearly identical: The groups said they only contract with the Fund, and that they believe the Fund is negotiating in good faith. Workers also wear red CWA T- shirts on Wednesdays, and have bor- rowed tactics from Occupy Wall Street: Before a shift begins, a worker will yell, “mic check!” and co-workers will respond, setting up a group amplifica- tion system to voice complaints about the list and fired co-workers. On Dec. 15, workers and supporters staged a picket — and caroling — out- side the Fund office, 1536 SE 11th Ave. Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain met with OSPIRG execu- tive director David Rosenfeld to con- vey labor’s concerns. “I told him workers should be treated fairly, and to me this didn’t pass the sniff test,” Chamberlain said. The state labor federation has at times worked closely with OSPIRG in the Oregon Legislature. “We’re going to support our affiliate CWA and the workers at that call cen- ter, whatever it takes,” Chamberlain told the Labor Press. “The rights of those workers outweigh any relation- ship we may have with OSPIRG.” Rosenfeld did not return a call from the Labor Press. The union bargaining team has met with management just once to bargain a contract — for four hours in Novem- ber — with the Fund’s National Tele- phone Outreach Project Director Pat Wood. Another bargaining session is scheduled for Jan. 10-11. ‘Spirit of Giving’ for our furry friends TANGENT, Ore. — IBEW Local 280 raised over $1,000 this year for its “Spirit of Giving Sheltered Animal Drive.” The money was used to purchase “Kong” dog toys, rawhide bones, blankets, food, detergent, bleach, and grooming supplies for dogs and cats at the Linn County and Lane County animal shelters. Additionally, the local’s Executive Board granted both shelters $750 each for veterinary ex- penses. Money was raised through membership donations and from the local’s public service fund. Money for that fund comes from a cents-per-hour checkoff negotiated in the union’s collective bargaining agreement with contractors. “We are very happy to say that every dog in both shelters received a dog toy and rawhide bone for Christmas, and every cat received a toy, too,” said Local 280 re- ceptionist Sherri Wallman, who coordinates the fundraiser. “Many people forget about the homeless, neglected and abused animals this time of year,” Wallman said. “Most people are aware of, and donate to, the Humane Society, but they forget about the county shelters. Unfortunately, they look at these shelters as the ‘Dog Pound,’ which is the farthest thing from the truth.” Wallman said the two animal shelters she selected work hard to find homes for lost, abused, and neglected animals. Last year the shelters found homes for 91 per- cent of the 2,894 dogs and cats they took in. ‘American Made’ in the Northwest Mon-Fri 9:30-7:30 Sat 9:30-5:30 Sun 12-6 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS JANUARY 6, 2012
