Inside
Meeting Notices
See
Page 6
Volume 113
Number 13
July 6, 2012
Portland, Oregon
Third union
activist fired
at non-profit
call center
Two dozen workers at the Fund for
the Public Interest call center in South-
east Portland walked off the job for an
hour at the start of their shift June 29 to
protest the firing of nine-year employee
Cortina Robinson.
Cortina is the third person to be ter-
minated since October 2011, when
workers voted to join Communications
Workers of America (CWA) Local
7901. The other two — Kris Humbird
and Mike Schultz —were fired in De-
cember. All three were active in the
union organizing drive and all three
were on the contract bargaining team.
Fund for the Public Interest is a na-
tional non-profit organization that
raises funds for the consumer group
OSPIRG. The Fund runs PIRG canvass
operations in multiple states, and tele-
phone outreach call centers in Boston,
Sacramento and Portland.
Robinson told the Labor Press she
was fired June 29 for missing a
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Labor cheers high court’s
ruling on health care act
ULTIMATUM IS A CROC: Cortina Robinson and David Neel march in front
of the Fund for the Public Interest, 1536 SE 11th Ave., Portland, to protest
her termination, purportedly for missing a fundraising “ultimatum” by $47.
Workers are negotiating a first contract at the call center and Robinson is on
the bargaining committee. Two other bargaining committee members have
been fired since workers voted to join CWA Local 7901 in October 2011.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) —
Union leaders cheered the U.S.
Supreme Court’s decision June 28 up-
holding the constitutionality of the Af-
fordable Care Act, otherwise known as
Obamacare.
The 5-4 Court majority upheld the
key section of the law that requires peo-
ple to have insurance or, if they refuse,
to pay an extra tax, via the Internal Rev-
enue Service. The law does not flatly
force people to buy insurance, Chief
Justice John Roberts wrote for the
Court majority. But the practical effect
of the law and the Court’s decision is
that given the choice between buying
insurance or paying extra to the IRS, a
majority will buy insurance. One expert
estimated only 4 million people would
decline.
Union leaders hailed the either-or
choice, and the Court’s reaffirmation of
the law, as the way to expand health in-
surance coverage for millions.
The ruling “means we can continue
moving full speed ahead to implement
and build upon” the law, said AFL-CIO
President Richard Trumka. “We have
no illusion the destination has been
reached, and we are more committed
than ever to the hard work necessary to
achieve our dream of quality health care
for all.”
He particularly praised the court for
letting 105 million people benefit from
the law’s elimination of lifetime limits
on insurance coverage, its elimination
of the “doughnut hole” in seniors’ pre-
scription drug coverage, and its decision
that “insurance companies will not be
able to deny coverage due to pre-exist-
ing conditions, charge women more or
drop coverage for those who get sick.”
Then he suggested something else:
“A simple indisputably constitutional
solution is to allow Americans of all
ages to buy into an improved Medicare
program. We believe every baby in
America — whether rich or poor — de-
serves the same standard of quality care,
and we will keep moving forward until
we make this a reality.”
“We are definitely celebrating this
decision,” said National Education As-
sociation President Dennis Van Roekel.
“NEA members know how a child’s ed-
ucation can be affected by illness or
lack of regular medical or dental care.
We worked closely with the Obama Ad-
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Amalgamated Transit Union members elect new leadership
Bruce Hansen takes office amid
a protracted dispute with TriMet,
Local 757’s largest employer
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 757
has a new president. In mail ballots counted June
15, members picked TriMet bus operator Bruce
Hansen over longtime former president Ron
Heintzman, who for a short time in 2010 was
president of the 190,000-member ATU interna-
tional.
Local 757, headquartered in Portland, repre-
sents 4,200 workers, including vehicle operators
and mechanics at TriMet and eight other Oregon
transit districts, plus C-TRAN in Vancouver, and
several units of school bus and paratransit work-
ers.
To win the top post, Hansen outpolled Heintz-
man and two other candidates: Hansen received
1,344 votes, Heintzman 1,102, Tom Horton 68,
and Stephen Subject 43. Turnout was high, with
2,557 members (60 percent) casting ballots for
president, and 71 members in all seeking union
office.
It was Hansen’s second run for Local 757 pres-
ident. Three years ago, he lost to Jon Hunt, when
Hunt won a second term. This year, Hunt chose to
run for vice president on a slate with Heintzman
for president and Mary Longoria for financial sec-
retary-treasurer. Hunt won a plurality in a six-way
race, and Longoria outpolled incumbent Evette
Farra and Anna Hicks.
All three offices are full-time salaried positions:
President serves as business manager of the local,
and vice president serves as assistant business
manager. Financial secretary-treasurer is in charge
of the local’s finances and serves as recording sec-
retary. Also elected were 14 members of the Exec-
utive Board, and 22 liaison officers to the Board
from sub-units and smaller bargaining units. All
the newly elected leaders began their three-year
terms on July 1.
Hansen, 43, is a 20-year TriMet driver and a
former Local 757 Executive Board member. In
2007, he was named TriMet bus operator of the
year.
Bruce Hansen, newly elected president of ATU
Local 757, stands by the plaque of Mel
Schoppert adorning the entrance to the union
hall. Schoppert, a longtime ATU leader, helped
to pass the Oregon law that enabled the
creation of TriMet, the Portland-area mass
transit system.
He lives in Hillsboro with his wife and two
sons. His brother also works at TriMet.
A 1988 graduate of Marshall High School,
Hansen says he was unfamiliar with unions grow-
ing up. But he says he got a union education at the
hands of fellow driver Sam Schwarz, a union offi-
cer who retired at the end of June as Local 757 vice
president.
Hansen says his priorities will include building
communication, training union officers, and tight-
ening the local’s budget. He takes office at a time
when the union is in a protracted contract dispute
with TriMet, its largest employer. Local 757 mem-
bers’ benefits — and their right to binding arbitra-
tion of contract disputes — have been the subject
of repeat attacks by The Oregonian editorial board.
An arbitrator is expected to pick one side’s final
offer sometime this summer.
As for Heintzman, he served five terms as Local
757 president from 1988 until 2002, when he went
to work as international vice president. In 2009 he
moved to Washington, D.C., to become ATU’s ex-
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