Inside
MEETING NOTICES
See
Page 16
Volume 113
Number 17
August 17, 2012
Portland, Oregon
Council. Asking for donation of non-perishable food items for
the needy. For more information, contact Robert Westerman at
541-756-3907 or ibew932@frontier.com, or Kay Nelson at 541-
756-0579 or knelson@ufcw555.org.
Labor Day
PICNICS
Labor Day – Monday, Sept. 3
Every year, labor organizations throughout Oregon hold La-
bor Day picnics. Here is a list of picnics taking place:
BEND — Solidarity Day Picnic at Pioneer Park in Bend.
12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Central Oregon Central
Labor Council. Contact Linda Bradetich at 541-350-0965 or
Steve Williamsen at 541-678-0235 for more information.
EUGENE/SPRINGFIELD — John Lively Picnic Shelters,
behind SPLASH at 6100 Thurston Road in Springfield. Noon – 4
p.m. Please bring a side dish. SPLASH will offer a swim rate for
picnic participants who wish to use the wave pool. Sponsored by
the Lane County Central Labor Council. Contact Cj Mann at
541-606-9203 for more information.
Hamburgers, hot dogs, and politicians will be in abundant
supply at union-sponsored Labor Day picnics throughout
the state. Above, Congressmen Kurt Schrader and Earl
Blumenauer grill some burgers for union members at last
year’s picnic at Oaks Park in Portland. Check out the list of
picnics on this page for the location nearest you.
MEDFORD — TouVelle State Park, 8425 Table Rock Road,
Central Point. 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Donations accepted, and there is a
$5 charge for parking. Sponsored by the Southern Oregon Cen-
tral Labor Council. Call Kathy McUne at 541-664-0804 for more
information.
NORTH BEND — Ferry Road Park in North Bend. 11 a.m.
– 3 p.m. Sponsored by the Southwestern Oregon Central Labor
PORTLAND — Oaks Amusement Park in Southeast Port-
land. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., with a brief program at 1 p.m., featuring
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley. Food scrip sells for 50 cents. Deluxe ride
bracelets are $9. All are welcome to attend, whether your union
is reserving a spot or not. Sponsored by the Northwest Oregon
Labor Council. Call 503-235-9444 for more information.
The Oregon Pacific Railroad Shuttle Train will transport peo-
ple ($3 per person roundtrip) to and from Oaks Park from 8:30
a.m. to 7 p.m. Parking will be available at the Portland Opera,
211 SE Caruthers St., and in the vicinity of SE Ivon and 4th St.
SALEM — Riverfront Park in Salem. 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Sponsored by Marion-Polk-Yamhill Central Labor Council.
Cost: two food items per person or donation to the food bank.
Call Judy at 503-362-7057 or jsugnet@att.net for more informa-
tion.
THE DALLES — Sorosis Park Shelter in The Dalles. 10
a.m. – 3 p.m. Potluck (bring a salad, bag of chips, etc.) Spon-
sored by Mid-Columbia Central Labor Council. Call Walt Denst-
edt at 541-298-4783 for more information.
OREGON STATE FAIR - The Oregon AFL-CIO labor
booth in the Central Canopy area continues to be staffed with
union volunteers during the entire two weeks of the fair, includ-
ing Labor Day.
Transit Union files to overturn TriMet’s contract arbitration win
The union that represents 2,000-plus
TriMet employees is asking the Oregon
Employment Relations Board (ERB) to
overturn last month’s contract arbitra-
tion decision.
Arbitrator David Gaba was required
to choose one side’s final offer, and he
picked TriMet’s in his July 12 ruling,
citing the public interest in reducing the
extraordinary cost of health care for
members and retirees — over $30,000
a year for full-family coverage under a
Regence BlueCross BlueShield plan.
But in his decision he also said some
provisions in TriMet’s offer could be
found illegal. Amalgamated Transit
Union (ATU) Local 757 follows up on
those in an unfair labor practice com-
plaint it filed with ERB on Aug. 8.
The complaint alleges that TriMet
violated Oregon’s Public Employee
Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA) in
several respects:
• TriMet’s final offer, presented to
the arbitrator, proposed to retroactively
impose health plan changes, and to put
new hires on a 401(k)-style defined
contribution retirement plan. But the
proposals lacked significant details.
During the hearing before the arbitra-
tor, TriMet offered testimony clarifying
the proposals. That, Local 757 argues,
was a change in its offer and thus bad
faith bargaining.
• TriMet’s plan to deduct retroactive
health plan payments from workers’
wages violates Oregon wage and hour
law, which says employers can’t make
deductions from wages without em-
ployee’s written authorization, individ-
ually or through a collective bargaining
agreement. And contract proposals that
violate other laws are illegal under
PECBA.
• TriMet’s offer ends the practice of
paying union officers to represent
members in grievance meetings. ATU
says in its complaint that during the ar-
bitration hearing, a TriMet manager
testified that ATU had filed an exces-
sive number of grievances, and that this
proposal was designed to limit ATU
and its bargaining unit members use of
the grievance process. Thus, the union
argues, the purpose of the proposal is
to retaliate against bargaining unit
members for exercising their rights un-
der the contract, which violates
PECBA.
• Under the previous contract, re-
tirees got a annual cost of living in-
crease of 3 to 7 percent, but TriMet’s
proposal bases retiree pension in-
creases on inflation, which has been
less than 3 percent in recent years. That
takes away a benefit retirees already
earned, ATU argues, and thus violates
promises in the previous contract.
• TriMet also announced Aug. 1 that
it is discontinuing annual payments to
two union-administered funds — the
Recreation Trust Fund and the Em-
ployee Assistance Program. The old
contract spells out payments to the
funds, but TriMet’s final offer is silent
on them. ATU says discontinuing the
payments unilaterally alters the status
quo.
ERB has assigned the case to ad-
ministrative law judge Wendy Green-
wald for investigation.
Unionists plan welcome party for postmaster general
VANCOUVER, Wash. — Postmas-
ter General Patrick Donahoe will be
speaking to the Greater Portland Postal
Customer Council Mailer’s Conference
and Expo Aug. 21 at the Vancouver
Hilton and Convention Center — and
union members plan to be there to greet
him with picket signs.
On July 1, Donahoe, claiming a fi-
nancial crisis, began massive closures
and cuts to mail processing plants and
post offices, while changing delivery
standards to allow the delay of first class
mail. Postal unions say the U.S. Postal
Service isn’t broke. They maintain that a
politically motivated mandate passed by
Congress in 2006 that requires the
agency to pre-fund its retiree health ben-
efits out to 75 years is unfairly costing
USPS $5.5 billion a year. No other pub-
lic agency and no corporation has to do
this.
Postal unions believe the intent of
the 2006 law was to bleed USPS dry so
that it could be privatized.
The protest will be from 7:30 to
9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 21, at the
Vancouver Hilton, 301 W. 6th St. For
more information, call 503-752-5112.
The theme of the mailer’s confer-
ence is “Bridging the Future ... To-
gether, which USPS describes in pub-
licity material for the conference as
“empowering businesses to anticipate,
manage and leverage postal change for
a competitive advantage.”