U.S. Senate passes postal reform bill
Workers Memorial ceremony in Salem
Members of the Oregon State Defense Force Pipe Band perform at a Workers
Memorial Day ceremony April 26 at the Fallen Workers Memorial at the State
Capitol Mall in Salem. More than 100 people attended the ceremony, at which
the names of 42 Oregonians killed on the job or in military action in 2011
were read. A proclamation from Gov. John Kitzhaber declaring April 28
Workers Memorial Day in Oregon also was read and presented to the Oregon
AFL-CIO. Workers Memorial Day is observed annually on April 28 across
the country to remember workers who lost their lives as a result of preventable
injuries. April 28 was the date in 1970 that Congress passed the Occupational
Safety and Health Act. It is also the day of a worldwide day of mourning for
workers killed or injured on the job.
Union locals at odds in race
for Portland City Council
In the race for Portland City Council,
Position 1, incumbent Amanda Fritz is
facing a challenge from State Rep.
Mary Nolan. Both were once union-
represented workers, and both have
union support for their candidacies.
Fritz is endorsed by Communica-
tions Workers of America Local 7901,
Oregon Nurses Association (ONA), and
United Food and Commercial Workers
(UFCW) Local 555. Nolan is endorsed
by the Columbia Pacific Building
Trades Council, AFSCME Local 189,
Oregon AFSCME Council 75, Carpen-
ters Locals 156 and 196, International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Lo-
cal 48, International Longshore and
Warehouse Union Local 8, Portland As-
sociation of Teachers, Portland Fire
Fighters Association, Portland Police
Association, Service Employees Inter-
national Union Local 49, and Teamsters
Joint Council 37.
Fritz is a former psychiatric nurse
who became a member of the ONA
when she went to work at Oregon
Health and Science University in 1986.
She took part in ONA’s 2001-02 strike.
Though she went part-time after 1990
and eventually left OHSU, she main-
tains ONA membership on the profes-
sional association side.
AFSCME Local 189 — which rep-
resents City employees — backed Fritz
previously, but this time is endorsing
Nolan. Local 189 PAC Chair Mark Gip-
son says it was not an easy decision, but
members fault Fritz for changes to City
policy on overtime and breaks.
“The endorsement process is the
only way we have of saying we approve
PAGE 4
or disapprove,” said
Local 189 President
Debbie Hussey.
With Nolan, they
have a candidate with a
strong labor record in
the Legislature and top
F RITZ
ratings from Oregon
AFL-CIO. Nolan was a
union member with the
City of Portland Pro-
fessional Employees
Association (COP-
PEA) when she was a
city planner. Later, she
N OLAN
was a City bureau man-
ager — director of En-
vironmental Services. For the past 11
years (six terms) she’s served as a De-
mocrat in the Oregon House, including
a stint as House Majority Leader. She
had a hand in passing a $1 billion capi-
tal construction budget, helped secure
funding for the Milwaukie light rail
line, and helped pass an increase in in-
come taxes for corporations and high-
income taxpayers, which voters later
ratified as Measures 66/67. Her cam-
paign centers on her ability to get re-
sults.
Though Fritz often has been in the
minority on City Council votes, and
was the sole vote against the Columbia
River Crossing, she claims results, too:
Saving tax dollars by paying off bonds
sooner and by pushing for a less expen-
sive facility to treat water for cryp-
tosporidium.
“Amanda Fritz is a scrapper, and we
WASHINGTON (PAI) — The U.S.
Senate adopted a “flawed” postal re-
form bill, voting April 25 to pass S.
1789, the 21st Century Postal Service
Act, by a vote of 62 to 37.
The legislation embraces a downsiz-
ing strategy and fails to fully lift the
onerous burden to fund decades of fu-
ture retiree health benefits decades in
advance, said Fredric V. Rolando, pres-
ident of the National Association of Let-
ter Carriers (NALC).
“Although the bill is flawed, the
amended version is far better than the
original,” said American Postal Work-
ers Union President Cliff Guffey. “That
is a result of the tremendous effort of
APWU members, postal customers,
and elected officials who appreciate the
importance of the Postal Service to
American life. Thank you for your hard
work.”
Before passing S.1789, senators
changed some of its key provisions,
moving it closer to an alternative the
unions backed, offered by Sen. Bernie
Sanders (Ind.-Vt).
One new section delays elimination
of Saturday delivery for two years and
then allows it only if other measures to
make the USPS profitable fail. Other
changes inserted into S.1789 included:
• Retaining overnight delivery stan-
dards for first-class mail for much of the
country. USPS wanted to dump all
overnight delivery standards and use
that to close 252 processing centers,
half of those functioning. The closures
are delayed, too.
• Establishing an independent com-
mission to suggest new business areas
the USPS can enter to help it make
money.
• Returning $11 billion in pension
money USPS overpaid into the Treas-
ury in past years, and a reduction in the
agency’s annual pre-payment for future
retirees’ health care costs. A GOP-run
Congress in 2006 imposed that $5.5 bil-
lion yearly pre-payment at the behest of
President George Bush. Without it, the
NALC contends, the postal service
would have virtually broken even, de-
spite the recession and the inroads of
the Internet.
• Banning closure of post offices in
areas without significant broadband ac-
cess to the Internet or where the closure
would harm small businesses or prevent
seniors from getting prescription drugs.
All those measures led Sanders to
eventually vote for the rewritten S.1789,
as did other members of his coalition
that battled for the workers’ positions.
Among those voting for the bill were
U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff
Merkley of Oregon, and Patty Murray
and Marie Cantwell of Washington.
The battle now moves to the House,
where the majority of Republicans op-
pose the bill in its current form.
No union employees? Get a tax
break, says Florida Legislature
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Re-
publican-controlled Florida House of
Representatives in February passed a
package of business tax credits and re-
ductions under the guise that it will
stimulate Florida’s economy.
That’s not so unusual coming from
corporate Republicans. However, at the
request of Republican Gov. Rick Scott,
the bill included an amendment that
raises the corporate income tax exemp-
tion from $25,000 to $50,000 only to
companies that have no union employ-
ees.
HB 7087 passed 92-22. The busi-
ness tax cuts and incentives are ex-
pected to cost the state $121.1 million
annually.
Associated Press reported that the
House actually adopted the “no union”
provision multiple times. “Almost
every time a Democrat proposed an
amendment, House Majority Leader
Carlos Lopez-Cantera (R-Miami), of-
fered the anti-union provision as a sub-
stitute amendment. Once it passed, that
effectively cut off debate on the Demo-
cratic amendment.”
The rejected Democratic amend-
ments included proposals that would
have allowed corporations to benefit
from the higher exemption only if they
provided health insurance for employ-
ees’ same-sex partners and coverage
for contraceptives; used a federal data-
base to determine if new hires were il-
legal immigrants, and proved they did
not discriminate against veterans in hir-
ing.
The Republicans did permit one
Democratic amendment to pass. It bars
corporations that do business with ter-
rorist states from getting the exemp-
tion.
(Turn to Page 10)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
MAY 4, 2012