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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 2012)
At City of Portland Unions start to weigh in on mayor’s race ‘Sam, Sam, are you nuts? We won’t have all these cuts’ Over 100 City of Portland workers protested a new round of expected budget cuts Jan. 30 outside the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Stanton Yard main- tenance facility at 2929 N. Kerby Ave. Workers, represented by Laborers Local 483, said Portland can’t afford to cut back on road and sewer maintenance, as it will be more costly in the long run. Nor can their families afford the loss of jobs. Jerry “JJ” Johnson (pictured above with bullhorn) returned to work on light duty in January after a fall on the job which caused a spinal cord injury. Johnson has been a city sewer worker for 22 years, and seniority rules make it unlikely he’ll be laid off. But he said he’s bothered by the idea that the City hired dozens of workers in 2011 only to propose laying them off in 2012. “They act like they couldn’t have forecasted this,” Johnson told the Labor Press. Workers facing possible layoff include Jens Peill, whose recent hire to a City job enables him to support wife Jessica and four children — Se- bastian, Brianna, Sophia and Fiona — all of whom turned up at the rally and are pictured to Johnson’s right. Several political office seekers made an appearance at the protest, in- cluding Portland mayoral candidates Jefferson Smith and Charlie Hales and City Council candidate Mary Nolan. After rallying outside Stanton Yard, workers marched through adjacent Legacy Emanuel Hospital, which is also laying off staff, and then held a public forum at nearby Matt Dishman Community Center. Dishman Center is named after a public employee, the City’s first African-American police officer. Unions representing workers at the City of Portland are starting to weigh in on the May primary election for mayor. On Jan. 24, the largest union at the City — the 950-member American Federation of State, County and Mu- nicipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 189 — endorsed State Rep. Jefferson Smith. A week before that, the Interna- tional Brotherhood of Electrical Work- ers (IBEW) Local 48 announced its support of businesswoman Eileen Brady. Local 48 represents about 100 electricians at the City. Both locals are part of the District Council of Trades Unions, a coalition of seven union locals representing some 1,800 City employees. The other locals include Laborers Local 483, Op- erating Engineers Local 701, Painters District Council 5, Plumbers and Fit- ters Local 290 and Machinists Lodge 1005. The DCTU has not yet endorsed a candidate in the mayor’s race. Smith and Brady are among 18 can- didates running to succeed Mayor Sam Adams, who is not seeking re-election. Smith, Brady and former Portland city commissioner Charlie Hales are the front-runners. In a press release, Local 189 said with the City’s weak mayor structure, a mayor needs to be able to build con- sensus with four other strong personal- ities. As a state representative, Jeffer- son Smith has a proven track record of consensus building, without compro- mising on important issues such as pro- tecting voting rights and creating trans- parency in government. He has shown through his work to limit middle man- agement and focus budgets on front line services that he is willing to chal- lenge the status quo. IBEW Local 48 Business Manager Clif Davis said the union backed Brady based on her experience as co-founder of New Seasons Market, and for her work on the Oregon Health Fund Board. “The next mayor of Portland needs to be a job creator,” he said. “Portland needs Eileen’s deep manage- ment and job creation experience in the mayor’s office.” Currently, 18 candidates have filed to run for mayor (the deadline to file is March 6). One of them, Max Bauske, is a member of UFCW Local 555. Bauske, 22, works part-time at Fred Meyer and attends Portland Commu- nity College full time. The primary election is May 15. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote- getters will face off in November. AFSCME backs Nolan, Novick for City Council The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AF- SCME) Local 189 added its name to a list of union locals endorsing Steve Novick and Mary Nolan for Portland City Council. In December, IBEW Local 48, Port- land Fire Fighters Local 43, the Port- land Police Association, and the Inter- national Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 8, endorsed Novick and Nolan. Novick is running for Position 4. The seat is being vacated by Randy Leonard, a former president of Fire Fighters Local 43. Leonard has held the seat since 2002 and is not seeking re- election. Nolan left the Oregon House of Rep- resentatives to challenge incumbent Amanda Fritz in Position 1. Fritz is a 29-year member of the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA). Fritz has endorse- ments from ONA and Communications Workers of America Local 7901. The AFSCME Local 189 endorse- ments were voted on at a general mem- bership meeting held Jan. 24. (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, PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 PAGE 2 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS FEBRUARY 3, 2012
