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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2012)
EE R F Who’s On Our Side? By Tom Chamberlain F IGHTING F RINGE I SSUES When we voted for annual leg- islative sessions in 2010, we were told that our elected leaders needed another meeting to rebalance the budget and address pressing issues that couldn’t wait two years. It’s a smart idea, and addressing any budget shortfalls as soon as we know about them probably saves a lot of pain in the long run. But last month, a few legislators tried to use the short session to ad- vance their fringe agendas. Many good bills passed. Busi- nesses can no longer stop unem- ployed workers from applying for open positions — giving everyone a fair chance at getting good work. Local transit agencies can spend a little more to buy Made-in-America buses, streetcars, trolleys, and trains, if they want to. The budgets were balanced and, unfortunately, state workers and service providers are facing more layoffs. But many more layoffs were prevented. And our workforce system will finally get a thorough review to make sure that we’re spending money on workforce development wisely, and that we’re preparing workers for jobs that will really be around. But the fringe-issue attacks were relentless, and they seemed to come from just a few legislators who let ideology trump good policy. They included: W HAT THEY WANTED : A roll- back of important cost-benefit analy- sis requirements that make sure any work that is contracted out really saves money — and not just by pay- ing hardworking people less. W HY : A few legislators believe that we should contract out work, pay the same workers less, and allow private business owners to pocket the profits. W HO IT WOULD HAVE HELPED : Business owners who would have bid on contracted-out work and pocketed state money. W HAT THEY WANTED : Evalua- tions of teachers based on arbitrary student performance measures, just as we’re trying to overhaul our edu- cation system and create a compre- hensive system that makes sense for students, teachers and parents. W HY : Paying teachers less and requiring them to teach to standard- ized tests (at the expense of other subjects) both undermine our public school system. This proposal came from the same legislators who gave public-school money to online schools last time the Legislature met. W HO IT HELPED : Private schools and their funders. W HAT THEY STOPPED : A bill requiring state agencies to buy paper made in Oregon, where our paper mills employ hundreds of Oregoni- ans, but sometimes have trouble competing with heavily subsidized imports. W HAT THEY FORGOT : Buying pa- per made in Oregon may cost a few cents more in the supplies budget line, but when you add up the costs of those mills shutting and workers going on unemployment, it’s a lot cheaper for the state to spend money locally. W HO IT HELPED : International paper corporations. There are a few things we can learn about these fringe conserva- tives from their plans. First, there is always someone looking to make money out of the deal, and their profits usually come at our expense. Second, they value your work differ- ently depending on who signs your paycheck — a private sector worker is somehow “better” than their union brother or sister who does the same work in the public sector. And third, their plans are shortsighted — look- ing for immediate gains at the ex- pense of Oregon’s future. As you listen to politicians gear up for the primary election, look for these ideals. No matter what politi- cal party you belong to, it’s time to stop these anti-worker wolves who use phrases like “cost savings,” “streamlining,” and “private-sector profits” as sheep’s clothing for their real goals. The last two legislative sessions have shown that they truly are not on the side of working people, Oregon’s middle class, or our future. Tom Chamberlain is president of the Oregon AFL-CIO. Passenger service and reservation agents at ‘new United Air’ vote for Machinists Union Passenger service and reservation employees at the new United Airlines voted to join the Machinists Union, re- solving representation issues for one of the biggest work groups at the world’s largest airline. In an election conducted by the Na- tional Mediation Board (NMB), ballots counted March 7 showed 8,305 votes for the Machinists and 5,865 for no representation. “Voters had to overcome an aggres- sive anti-union campaign that included an attempt to have the votes of nearly 1,000 IAM supporters invalidated,” said IAM District 141 President Rich Delaney. “Despite United’s divisive tactics, we will focus our efforts on building a better airline and unite em- ployees into a single force to face the challenges ahead.” Chicago-based United had 16,720 employees eligible to cast ballots. The balloting followed the 2010 merger of United Airlines parent UAL Corp. with Continental Airlines Inc. and Conti- Q UOTE OF THE W EEK “Today, when a would-be U.S. president, Mitt Romney, is wealthier than 99.9975 percent of his fellow Americans, and wealthier than the last eight pres- idents combined, there’s a global conversation raging about the rich, the poor, the gap between them, and the role of vested interests in the significant widening of that gap in advanced economies over the past three decades.” W AYNE S WAN , A USTRALIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER , T HE 0.01 P ER C ENT : T HE R ISING I NFLUENCE OF V ESTED I NTERESTS IN A USTRALIA , T HE M ONTHLY , M ARCH 2012 PAGE 10 nental Micronesia. The Machinists Union has repre- sented United Airlines passenger serv- ice and reservations employees since 1998, while Continental employees were without a union. Continental Mi- cronesia employees had been repre- sented by another union. The new company is United Conti- nental Holdings Inc. The Machinists Union also repre- sents 14,800 ramp service and stock and stores employees at the new United. With the addition of the newly acquired passenger service and reser- vations bargaining unit, the IAM now represents more than 31,500 employ- ees at the combined airline. “(This) win provides all IAM mem- bers at United with the advantages of size and strength that airlines them- selves are seeking through consolida- tion,” said IAM Transportation Gen- eral Vice President Sito Pantoja. NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS BARGAIN COUNTER Free classified ads to subscribers DEADLINE: Friday prior to publication Published 1st and 3rd Fridays Now accepting e-mail Send to: Michael492@comcast.net Mail to: NWLP, PO Box 13150, Portland OR 97213 (Please include union affiliation) • 15-20 words • No commercial or business ads • 1 ad per issue • All lower case (NO CAPITAL LETTERS, PLEASE) • Ads MUST include area code or they will not be published A uTomoTivE ’94 6.5 CHEV DIESEL short block, decked, bored, still on engine stand, never run, $1,800 cash. 503-630-4177 ’00 PONTIAC GRAND AM, turbo, super- charged, moon roof, all power features, $4,500. 503-771-5000 H ouSiNg LINCOLN CITy vacation rental, 3 bdrm, 2 bath, $100/night, slps 8, wi-fi, 2 blocks to beach, 4 blocks to casino. 503-804-7976 ROCKAWAy ocean front, 503-777-5076, http://home.comcast.net/~rockaway.beach 5 bdrms/2 ba, Spring Break Spec, $215/nt ROCKAWAy BEACH rental, 3 bdrm, 2 bath, sleeps 10, Jacuzzi, 5 min to beach and shops. 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