Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2012)
Wisconsin governor survives recall Labor fails to oust nemesis, but Dems regain state senate Wisconsin’s Republican Gov. Scott Walker — who last year eliminated all meaningful collective bargaining rights for Wisconsin public employees — survived recall June 6. Walker won with 53 percent of the vote to 46 per- cent for Democrat Tom Barrett. The same percentage held for lieu- tenant governor, where Walker’s in- cumbent running mate survived a chal- lenge from Fire Fighter union leader Mahlon Mitchell, 53 to 47 percent. Four Republican state senators also faced recall, and three kept their seats by even greater margins, including Senate Republican Leader (and Walker right-hand man Scott Fitzger- ald). But the fourth, Van Wanggaard, lost to Democrat John Lehman, a retired teachers union member, and that means control of the Senate goes over to Democrats 17 to 16. [When Repub- licans rammed through the collective bargaining bill last year, they had a 19- 14 majority in the Senate. But six Re- publican state senators faced recall last year, two of whom lost their seats to Democrats.] Walker was able to keep his seat thanks to help from billionaires. He raised $30.5 million, mostly from out- of-state donors, compared to $3.9 mil- lion for Barrett, who focused on in- state fundraising. Walker also benefited from over $16 million in independent ad campaigns by supporters, including $3 million by Americans For Prosper- ity, a group funded by the Koch broth- ers, and $1 million by the anti-union group Center For Union Facts. Barrett backers spent about $10 million on in- dependent campaigns. [Labor unions earlier spent about $4 million on Kath- leen Falk’s campaign to be the Demo- cratic nominee, but she lost badly to Barrett in a May 8 primary.] Turnout in the recall was the highest ever for a Wisconsin governor’s race: 2.5 million Wisconsinites voted, about 57 percent of voting age adults, and well more than the 2.17 million who voted in the 2010 election that brought Walker to power. Walker’s 1,334,430 votes meant he and his allies spent about $35 per vote — most of it in a flood of last minute television advertising. Yet exit polls showed that over 90 percent had made up their minds before the ad barrage began, and 94 percent of voters voted for the same person they voted for in 2010. An exit poll for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also showed that union households made up 33 percent of the electorate in the recall election, compared with 26 percent in 2010. And union households voted 63 per- cent for Barrett in the recall, compared with 62 percent in 2010. A union household was defined as having at least one person who is a union mem- ber. The national AFL-CIO commis- sioned an exit poll of union members themselves. Of the 390 Wisconsin union members contacted by Hart Re- search Associates, 75 percent voted for Barrett. Public sector union members were 85 percent for Barrett, while pri- vate sector union members were 69 percent for Barrett. Just as with the public at large, women union members and union members with college de- grees were somewhat more likely to vote for Barrett than men and those without any college. Asked whether public employees should be allowed to engage in collective bargaining over wages, benefits and working condi- tions, 82 percent of the union members said yes, and 14 percent said no. In a press conference call the morn- ing after, AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka emphasized the recapture of the state senate, and said Walker’s win was not a validation of the effort to eliminate collective bargaining rights. In Ohio, voters last year struck down a law that eliminated public employee collective bargaining rights. But Wis- consin lacks the referendum, the process by which opponents of a law may gather signatures to refer it to vot- ers. And neither Walker nor Barrett emphasized the collective bargaining issue in their campaigns. “This election wasn’t about collec- tive bargaining,” Trumka said. “I wish it had been about collective bargaining, but it wasn’t.” Local Motion May 2012 A list of Oregon and Southwest Washington workplaces deciding whether to be union-represented – as reported by the National Labor Relations Board and the Oregon Employment Relations Board. Voting in union elections Date Workplace (Location) Union Yes No DECERT 26 27 5/10 Service Steel/Aerotek (Portland) Sheet Metal Workers Local 16 43 90 3 21 5/30 Sacred Heart Medical Ctr maintenance (Springfield) Op. Eng. 701 33 26 5/2 Ore. Child Dev. Coalition (Gresham) Laborers Local 320 5/17 Pacific Rail Services (Portland) Boilermakers Local 104 DECERT Requesting a union election Workplace (Location) Union Number of workers in unit Sacred Heart Medical Center maintenance (Springfield) Operating Engineers 701 Ore. Child Development Coalition Head Start (Cornelius) Laborers Local 320 DECERT Coos County Airport District (North Bend) Teamsters Local 206 51 90 8 L EGEND : workers will be union-represented DECERT : workers will be on their own : A decertification election occurs when some union-represented workers declare that the union no longer has majority support. A ‘yes’ vote is a vote for the union. Kaiser announces opening date for Westside Medical Center Kaiser Permanente Westside Med- ical Center is targeted to open in Au- gust 2013 to better serve residents of Washington and western Multnomah counties from its location in Hillsboro’s Tanasbourne area. Construction will wrap up on the 126-bed hospital this month. After that comes the work of outfitting the hospi- tal with equipment and furnishings, and hiring and training the workforce. The project has progressed smoothly since groundbreaking in 2009 and has bolstered the local econ- omy with more than 2,000 union con- struction jobs. When open, the hospital will create about 800 permanent, fam- ily-wage jobs under union contracts. The Kaiser Permanente Westside Medical Center is the first new Oregon hospital to be built in the Portland metro area in decades. The $344 mil- lion, 421,000-square-foot project will feature a full-service Emergency De- partment and eight operating rooms. The hospital design incorporates the Kaiser Permanente ideal of total health and will be the first LEED Gold certi- fied hospital in the metro area (one of only 39 hospitals worldwide to receive this environmental designation). K now Y our r ights T he only Time you musT go To a docTor chosen by The work - ers ’ compensaTion insurer is if you receive a proper noTice of an “ independenT medical exam ( ime ).” This one - Time appoinT - menT is for Their experT To commenT on your case . JUNE 15, 2012 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS PAGE 3
