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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2012)
Coalition of Labor Union Women joins campaign to protect reproductive rights WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) — The Coalition of Labor Union Women has become a key participant in a cam- paign by women’s rights groups to pro- tect reproductive rights. The Coalition to Protect Women’s Health was created to campaign for re- productive choice after the Obama Ad- ministration, under pressure from Catholic bishops, tried to “split the dif- ference” on whether health insurers serving religiously affiliated institu- Job Opening Executive Director Portland Jobs with Justice, a 21- year- old labor/community coalition of over 90 member organizations, is seeking a new Executive Director. Women and people of color are encouraged to apply. Applicants must have a demon- strated commitment to building a social justice movement. Labor ex- perience and deep understanding of the labor movement are required. Salary range is $40,000 to $45,000 depending on experience. Health benefits and vacation are provided. A full job description is at www. jwjpdx.org. To apply, please send re- sume and cover letter by April 2, 2012 to margaret@jwjpdx.org. tions — such as hospitals and schools — had to offer their workers access to methods guaranteeing reproductive choice. The Administration said the in- surers must offer, and pay for, the cov- erage individually to those workers, not through the institutions. The new health care law says such medications and procedures are part of the guaranteed package of benefits in- surers must offer to all workers with- out co-pays or deductibles. There is an exemption for churches that oppose re- productive choice, on principle. But that exemption should not ex- tend to workers at the religiously affil- iated institutions, the Coalition to Pro- tect Women’s Health says. “Women need access to affordable birth control coverage, no matter where they work,” the Coalition’s web- site says. “However, opponents are ac- tively working to take away access to preventive health care, including birth control. This would severely under- mine women’s health and put our mothers, daughters, sisters and wives at the mercy of their boss’ views.” The Coalition cited a survey it com- missioned showing Catholics, by 54 percent to 42 percent, want to keep ac- cess via health plans to contraceptive coverage. Catholic Democrats favor it (80 percent to 17 percent), Catholic Republicans oppose it (16 percent to 79 percent), and Catholic independents favor it (56 percent to 38 percent). Catholic women favored it by 18 per- centage points. “There are significant and immedi- ate threats from some in Washington, D.C., who would completely take away access to birth control and se- verely undermine women’s health,” the Coalition stated. Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municiple Employ- ees also have joined the Coalition. Chef Batali settles multi-million dollar lawsuit with servers Food Network star and restaurateur Mario Batali has agreed to pay $5.25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit in which he was accused of bilking servers out of part of their tips, as well as failing to pay overtime and the min- imum wage, Bloomberg News re- ported. Batali was sued in a New York fed- eral court along with his business part- ner Joseph Bastianich, the report says. Batali co-owns 16 restaurants in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York, according to his website. Servers at his restaurants initially “sued in 2010 alleging their employers violated the Fair Labor Standards Act — in part by pocketing gratuities equal to as much as 5 percent of nightly wine sales,” the report says. IN MEMORIAM D ANIEL B ONHAM , a mem- ber of Carpenters Local 156, died March 3 after slipping and falling while hiking in Sil- ver Falls State Park. He was 56. According to Oregon State Police reports, Bonham, a fre- quent visitor to the park, was reported overdue from a hiking excur- sion earlier in the day, March 2. OSP troopers, state park rangers, and Marion County Sheriffs Office Search & Rescue responded at approx- imately 11:15 p.m. and began search- ing for him. At about 2:45 a.m. his body was spotted near Winter Falls, 100 feet below the trail. Due to dark- ness, difficult terrain, and ice and snow on the trails, his body wasn’t recovered until 7 a.m. on March 3. Bonham served as executive direc- tor of the Oregon and SW Washington Fair Contracting Foundation from 2005 to 2010. He began working at the labor/management-owned agency in 2001 as a compliance investigator making sure that men and women working on construction projects re- ceived the full compensation to which they were entitled. He left to start his own private in- vestigation agency. An active member of Salem-based Carpenters Local 1065, Bonham served as recording secretary, as a del- egate to the Pacific NW Regional Council of Carpenters, and as chair of the political action committee. He held those posts until February 2011, when the local was merged with various other Carpenters locals to form Local 156. At the time of his death, he also was secretary-treasurer of the Ore- gon Fair Trade Campaign. He was active in the trade justice struggle, Latin Ameri- can solidarity, third-party poli- tics and a host of other progres- sive causes. D ANIEL F RANK B ONHAM was born Aug. 7, 1955, in Up- land, California. After graduating from Chaffey High School in 1973, Bonham moved to Rexburg, Idaho, to attend college, followed by a two-year church mission from 1974 to 1976 in Central America: Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras, where he became fluent in Spanish. From there he went to Brigham Young University in Utah and studied English. He married the late Michelle Pad- deucci and divorced after seven years. They had two children: Ammon, 29, and Vanessa, 25. He married Shalom Mueller in 1987. They had two children: Elsa, 21, and Jacob, 18. Bonham worked as a construction carpenter before moving to Woodburn, Oregon, in 2000, where he joined Lo- cal 1065. Bonham is survived by his wife and four children; one grandchild; his fa- ther, Lyle Bonham of California; step- mother, Darlene; a sister, half-sister, and two step-siblings. A memorial service was held March 10 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Woodburn. A memorial fund has been estab- lished to assist the Bonham family. Donations can be made at any West Coast Bank to the Daniel F. Bonham Memorial Fund. American Air Line backs off plan to dump pensions By MIKE HALL In February, American Airlines an- nounced plans to eliminate the jobs of 13,000 workers and dump pension plans for nearly 90,000 workers into the federal government’s Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) as part of its bankruptcy plan. Roughly 9,000 Trans- port Workers (TWU) members are em- ployed at American. But last week, following negotia- tions with the TWU and PBGC, Amer- ican announced it was abandoning its pension proposal. Says TWU President James C. Lit- tle: “The company initially wanted to terminate our pension plan, shift the cost to the government, and put our members at risk. Our negotiating team drew a line in the sand and said this was totally unacceptable — and today we are pleased to report that [American] has informed us they are willing to ac- cept our proposal for a freeze of the MARCH 16, 2012 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS current pension plan.” Meanwhile in TWU’s latest “I Sup- port American Jobs” video, Gregg Aponte, a fleet service clerk and mem- ber of TWU Local 568 in Miami who has worked at American for 15 years, asks American management who have demanded and won concessions from workers over the years: “If the com- pany’s been losing money, how can you guys be getting bonuses?” You can show your support for em- ployees at American Airlines by sign- ing TWU’s pledge to support the work- ers by telling public officials, the news media and community leaders that em- ployees at American Airlines and re- gional carrier American Eagle and all workers dependent on these airlines must be treated fairly. Go on line to http://isupportameri- canjobs.com/ to add your name to the nearly 17,000 people who have signed the “I Support American Jobs” pledge. PAGE 9
