Rich Ahearn, NLRB regional director, retires
Ahearn's replacement is
Ronald Hooks, from the
NLRB's Memphis office
and Cincinnati offices, be-
tle, with satellite offices in
fore becoming regional di-
Portland and Anchorage,
rector in Seattle in 2003.
Alaska. The job of regional
Ahearn was Cincinnati re-
director is to oversee NLRB
gional director when the
staff, and to make all deci-
Rich Ahearn — northwest regional sions about elections and
Kentucky River case came
director of the National Labor Rela- about whether to issue a
to his desk. Kentucky River
tions Board (NLRB) — retired Dec. 30 complaint in unfair labor
Community Care argued
after 37 years with the agency.
that its registered nurses
practice cases.
NLRB attorney Anne Pomerantz
were supervisors and there-
Two very famous NLRB
will serve as acting regional director cases bear Ahearn’s signa-
fore had no right to be in a
until Ronald Hooks replaces Ahearn in ture: last year’s Machinists
union under the law.
April. Hooks, a 40-year NLRB em- vs. Boeing case, and the
Ahearn looked at the facts
ployee, currently directs the Memphis, 1997 Kentucky River case.
R ICH A HERN
and determined that they
Tennessee, regional office.
were employees, not super-
Ahearn, 65, told the La-
The NLRB is an independent fed- bor Press he learned about unions at the visors. But the case was appealed all
eral agency that administers the Na- dinner table growing up in Northamp- the way to the U.S. Supreme Court,
tional Labor Relations Act, the law that ton, Massachuset. His father, a custo- which overruled the NLRB by a 5-4
spells out the union rights of most pri- dian at Smith College, was a member majority in 2001.
vate sector employees. The NLRB con- of Service Employees International
Then, last year, Ahearn’s office han-
ducts elections to determine if workers Union. Ahearn studied political science dled the Machinists vs. Boeing case.
want a union, and it investigates accu- at Columbia College in New York City, With the backing of the NLRB’s top
sations of “unfair labor practices,” its graduating in 1968. For a time, he prosecutor, Ahearn issued a complaint
term for employer or union violations taught American history at the Dalton against Boeing for having built a new
of the act.
School in Manhattan. Then in 1973, assembly line in South Carolina specif-
NLRB’s northwest region, Region while attending Northeastern Univer- ically because its union workers at
19, has a staff of 48 that is responsible sity School of Law, he went to work at other locations had exercised their right
for Washington, Oregon, Alaska, the NLRB Boston office as a student to strike. A furious reaction by Repub-
Northern Idaho and Western Montana. assistant. He later worked at the licans in Congress threatened to take
It’s headquartered in downtown Seat- NLRB’s Albany, Baltimore, Buffalo, the NLRB down, but in the end, the
union settled with Boeing and dropped
the charge.
Unionists may think of the NLRB as
an agency that defends workers’ union
rights, however weakly. But agency
staff look upon themselves as neutrals
Jodi Guetzloe-Parker of Laborers Local 320 has been elected executive secre- when it comes to disputes between
tary treasurer of the Columbia Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council. workers and employers.
She defeated Paul Riggs, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical
One of Ahearn’s final decisions was
Workers Local 48 in an election of affiliated delegates held Jan. 3.
to issue a complaint against a union, the
She will be sworn into office Feb. 7.
(Turn to Page 5)
Riggs has served in the post since Aug. 30, 2010, filling the unexpired term of
John Mohlis, a member of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1. Mohlis
vacated the seat to become executive secretary of the Oregon State Building and
Construction Trades Council, following the retirement of Bob Shiprack, a member
of IBEW Local 48.
Guetzloe-Parker, 51, is an 18-year member of Laborers Local 320, which rep-
resents workers in heavy and highway construction, at industrial plants, non-profit
pre-school child care, and some public sector workers. Guetzloe-Parker started in
the trade as a flagger. She was hired to Local 320’s staff in 2005.
She is one of only a handful of women in the country leading a construction
trades council.
Laborers Local 320’s Guetzloe-Parker
tapped to lead building trades council
Stumping for Bonamici
Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland (left) joined Oregon 1st
Congressional District candidate Suzanne Bonamici (right) for a luncheon
with union officials Jan. 13 at the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of
Carpenters office in Northeast Portland. With them is Paul Riggs, executive
secretary-treasurer of the Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council. Hoyer
said electing Bonamici in the Jan. 31 special election is the first step in getting
Democrats back in charge and the first step to start revitalizing America’s
middle class. “The whole country is focused on this race,” Hoyer said. “What
happens in Oregon will make an impact on 434 other House districts in this
country.” Hoyer said for the last two years House Democrats have pushed
jobs bills, only to have them bottled up by the Republican leadership. “They
won’t consider our plans, and they put nothing up of their own,” he said.
Hoyer believes Republicans are “holding the American people hostage” in
order to damage the re-election efforts of Democratic President Barack
Obama this November. Bonamici has been endorsed by most of organized
labor, including the Oregon AFL-CIO, where she attained a Gold Star rating
during her time in the Oregon Senate. The 1st Congressional District is
comprised of Columbia, Clatsop, Washington, and Yamhill counties, and a
piece of Multnomah County. Ballots must be mailed back or turned in to the
Elections Division by Jan. 31.
K now Y our r ights
Y ou can win a penaltY
from an insurer if it is
proven that the
workers ’ compensation
claim denial was
unreasonable .
PAGE 2
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
JANUARY 21, 2012