IN MEMORIAM
K EITH J OHNSON , a former
president of Portland-head-
quartered International Wood-
workers of America (IAW)
died at his home in Portland
May 28 following a lengthy
illness. He was 81.
Johnson served as president
of the international union from
1973 to 1987. He was the last presi-
dent of IWA, which in 1987 split
along national boundaries to create
IWA-USA and IWA-Canada. IWA-
USA merged with the International
Association of Machinists in 1994
and IWA-Canada merged with the
Steelworkers Union in 2004.
After the union split, Johnson
went to work as a special represen-
tative of labour in the Canadian gov-
ernment’s overseas market develop-
ment program for timber products.
He retried in 1990, remaining in
Portland.
K EITH W ILLIAM J OHNSON was
born in Edmonton, Alberta, on July
20, 1930.
He served in the Canadian Navy
for five years, seeing extensive com-
bat duty in the Korean War. Follow-
ing his stint in the military, Johnson
returned to Alberta and worked in a
plywood mill. He helped organize
the mill into the IWA and subse-
quently was elected plant chairman
and a vice president of the local.
He worked his way up the ranks
of the local, going from assistant
business agent in 1957, to elected fi-
nancial secretary in 1960, to elected
president in 1962.
He served on the IWA Western
Canadian Regional Council Execu-
tive Board from 1960-64,
then was elected to the inter-
national union’s Executive
Board.
Johnson moved to Port-
land in 1967 after being
elected international vice
president and director of or-
ganizing. In 1969 he was
tapped first vice president and in
1973 he was elected international
president. At age 43, he was one of
the youngest international union
leaders in the country.
In 1974 he was elected a vice
president of the AFL-CIO’s Indus-
trial Union Department, a post he
held until his departure from the
IWA in 1987.
Johnson served as a workers’ rep-
resentative on woodworking and
forestry-related matters at Interna-
tional Labor Organization (ILO)
meetings in Geneva, Switzerland,
and was active in the National Labor
Committee in Support of Democracy
and Human Rights in El Salvador.
He also was part of the first Ameri-
can trade union delegation to tour
China following normalization of re-
lations with the U.S.
Johnson was inducted into the
Northwest Oregon Labor Council Re-
tirees Association Labor Hall of Fame
in October 1997 and has twice been
recognized for his work by the Pacific
Northwest Labor History Association.
Johnson is survived by his wife,
Linda; children, Catherine, Brenda,
Christopher, and Keith; Linda’s chil-
dren, Barbara, Brian, and Richard;
eight grandchildren; and four great-
grandchildren.
Caught leaking confidential
info, NLRB’s Flynn resigns
Terence Flynn announced his resig-
nation from the National Labor Rela-
tions Board (NLRB) May 27, two
months after it was revealed he leaked
confidential government legal infor-
mation to Mitt Romney’s presidential
campaign.
The NLRB has two parts: an office
that administers unionization elections
and investigates labor law violations,
and a five-member board that judges
disputes over the enforcement and in-
terpretation of the law. Flynn, who re-
ceived a recess appointment in January
from President Obama, was a Republi-
can member of the Board. [By law,
three members are from the party in
the White House, and two from the op-
posing party.]
But the NLRB’s inspector general
revealed March 19 that before Flynn’s
Board appointment, while Flynn was
chief counsel for Republican NLRB
member Brian Hayes, he repeatedly
leaked draft Board decisions and de-
tails of internal deliberations to two
JUNE 15, 2012
former Republican Board members,
including one who had gone to work
as a labor adviser to Romney’s cam-
paign. The leaks violated NLRB ethics
rules because they revealed confiden-
tial information about pending cases,
and they improperly converted sensi-
tive government information for the
private benefit of former Board mem-
bers and their clients, including the Na-
tional Association of Manufacturers.
After the inspector general released
his report, labor leaders and Democrats
in Congress called upon Flynn to re-
sign.
Flynn’s resignation takes effect July
24, but he immediately withdrew from
all pending NLRB cases. His staffers
were reassigned, and his workload was
redistributed among the remaining
members of the Board.
Former Board member Peter
Schaumber also resigned from Rom-
ney’s campaign in December when it
was learned Flynn was under investi-
gation.
Tim Frew re-elected at IBEW Local 280
substation and transmis-
TANGENT — Members
sion line upgrades.
of International Brotherhood
Right now, the biggest
of Electrical Workers
local job is the Facebook
(IBEW) Local 280 re-elected
data center going up in
Tim Frew as business man-
Prineville, where up to
ager in a June 1 union elec-
110 members are cur-
tion. Frew received 180 votes,
rently employed. Frew is
outpolling challengers Tim
hopeful other data centers
Nicol (70) and Bob Sapp
will follow. Apple pur-
(18).
chased 160 acres across
Headquartered about
the
street from the Face-
seven miles south of Albany,
TIM FREW
book site, and is likely to
Oregon, in Tangent, Local 280
represents 1,125 electricians in con- be next. Central Oregon is a prime lo-
struction and sound and communica- cation for data centers because of cheap
tions in nine counties in Central Ore- land and electricity and because its dry
gon and the Southern Willamette and cool climate cuts down the expense
Valley. Business manager, a full-time of cooling.
As business manager, Frew touts the
job, is responsible for overseeing the lo-
benefits of unionization, to workers and
cal’s five-person staff.
For his second three-year term, contractors. One selling point, he says,
Frew, 54, said he’ll be focused on get- is the collaborative relationship Local
ting members back to work. Right now, 280 has developed with the National
of the Local’s 928 journeyman inside Electrical Contractors Association
wiremen, about 260 on are on the out- (NECA). Frew said he emphasizes the
of-work list. Many members have trav- partnership role, and helps contractors
eled to other local jurisdictions to find find work. Plus, access to the union hir-
work, shacking up together in the Port- ing hall lets contractors staff up quickly
land area, for example, to work at Intel, when they get work on large-scale proj-
or fanning across Oregon to work on ects. And many Local 280 members are
trained in solar installation, through the
Local’s NECA-partnered training cen-
ter. Besides data centers, Frew said the
local looks to solar arrays, electric ve-
hicle charging stations, and a proposed
hydroelectric dam on the Crooked
River as sources of future work.
Frew also serves on the Executive
Board of the Oregon AFL-CIO, on the
Oregon Electrical and Elevator Board,
and on the Construction Industry En-
ergy Board.
Local 280 members also elected of-
ficers, all of whom ran unopposed:
John Close, president; Jeremy Bate,
vice president; Larry Fisher, recording
secretary; Timothy Miller, treasurer;
and Julie Emmett and Matt Forsberg,
Executive Board members at large. The
elections of Bate and Forsberg, Frew
said, are a success for the local’s efforts
to involve younger members: Their
election took place 10 days after they
became journeymen.
Five candidates vied for seats on the
local’s three-member Examining
Board, which reviews applicants for
membership. The top three vote-getters
were Mike Eastland, Travis Johnson,
and Jeremy Kroon.
Who’s On Our Side?
By Tom Chamberlain
Political cartoons, talk radio, and
all the pundits have dedicated count-
less hours to interpreting the Wiscon-
sin recall outcome. I think it’s simpler
than many of them make it out to be:
Corporate donors spent between $50
and $85 million directly and indi-
rectly to win an election by 6 points
— or 171,665 votes. Unions and pro-
gressive groups mounted an impres-
sive field campaign that contacted
voters in the workplace, at the door-
step, and on the phone; but Walker
backers also mounted an effective
field campaign that got their voters to
the polls.
The analysis of this election can
teach us a few valuable lessons. 1)
Recall elections are difficult at best.
Since 1921 only three governors have
faced recall. Sixty percent of Wiscon-
sin voters believed that recalls should
be limited to acts of misconduct —
they were voting on the election, not
the candidate. 2) 1%ers — from the
Koch brothers, building contractors
associations, and hedge fund man-
agers, to telecommunication execu-
tives and manufacturing giants like
Caterpillar — will spend vast
amounts to deepen their influence at
the local, state, and federal govern-
ment. The June 5 Wisconsin election
results will embolden their thirst for
greater conquests. 3) An effective
analysis can’t focus on Wisconsin,
without looking at the Ohio Novem-
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
ber 2011 referendum. Last Novem-
ber, by a vote of 2-to-1, Ohio voted to
overturn legislation that took collec-
tive bargaining rights away from pub-
lic workers. Again, 1%ers spent mil-
lions, while unions and their allies hit
the street. That puts the count at 1-1.
And finally, 4) While most projec-
tions for Wisconsin turnout pointed to
65 percent, the final tally of 58 per-
cent was far short of what was needed
to win. Despite turnout machines on
either side, it appears that communi-
ties of color and low-income voters
did not vote. Ultimately, that is what
made the difference.
Low voter turnout means the poor,
the middle class, women, communi-
ties of color, the LGBT community,
children, you and I – anyone who
does not benefit from corporatist poli-
cies — lose. When we don’t vote, the
1%ers move a step closer to their vi-
sion of America. It’s a vision of an
America where social programs such
as Social Security, Medicare, Medi-
caid, education, and health care, are
designed to put more money in their
pockets instead of prioritizing assis-
tance for our people. It is an America
where workers’ competition for jobs
means accepting lower wages, fewer
benefits, and no voice at work, as our
rights dwindle.
What Wisconsin foreshadows in
November is a battle of epic propor-
tion.
Where the 1%ers see an opportu-
nity to increase their power and in-
fluence, they will spend whatever it
takes to win, pitting their money
against those who believe that a cap-
italist society only works if there are
checks and balances. They will stand
against those who fight for workers’
rights, who understand that in a re-
cession, government has an obliga-
tion to create jobs and rebuild the in-
frastructure to increase our comp-
etitiveness, those who fight for finan-
cial accountability, those who advo-
cate for women, education, the envi-
ronment, and human rights.
To win we must not just limit our
campaigns to union households. We
know that the most effective message
for a union member is still a message
from another union member. But to
win we must expand our voter educa-
tion programs to include all voters.
This will require us to continue to co-
ordinate with community and pro-
gressive groups. To win requires ex-
panding our volunteer ranks. It is not
too early to call our office and join our
activist list. Please call Jess at 503-
232-1195 and join the fight.
This November, we need you
standing up for our side.
Tom Chamberlain is president of
the Oregon AFL-CIO.
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