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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 2012)
G ENERAL E LECTION Endorsements of the N ORTHWEST O REGON L ABOR C OUNCIL U.S. President/Vice President B ARACK O BAMA /J OE B IDEN U.S. House of Representatives Inside MEETING NOTICES See Page 6 First District: S UZANNE B ONAMICI ; Third District: E ARL B LUMENAUER ; Fifth District: K URT S CHRADER Statewide Secretary of State: K ATE B ROWN Attorney General: E LLEN R OSENBLUM Treasurer: T ED W HEELER Labor Commissioner: B RAD A VAKIAN Volume 113 Number 20 October 19, 2012 Portland, Oregon Statewide Ballot Measures Measures 82 & 83 (Wood Village casino) Support Measure 84 (Tax break that only benefits the heirs of millionaires) Oppose Measure 85 (Reform corporate kicker by putting money into K-12) Support Clackamas County Chair: C HARLOTTE L EHAN Commissioner, Position 4: J AMIE D AMON Sheriff: C RAIG R OBERTS Columbia County Commissioner, Position 1: E ARL F ISHER Commissioner, Position 3: T ONY H YDE City of Gresham Council Position 3: R ICHARD S RATHERN Council Position 5: P AUL W ARR -K ING Ballot Measure 26-141 (Gresham measure to change the City Charter to require councilors to live in and represent specific districts, rather than run city wide.) Support Multnomah County Ballot Measure 26-143 (Form library district ) Support City of Wilsonville Mayor: T IM K NAPP City Council: S USIE S TEVENS City of Wood Village Ballot Measure 26-142 (Wood Village casino) Support Oregon State Senate Dist. 14-M ARK H ASS ; Dist. 17-E LIZABETH S TEINER H AYWARD ; Dist. 21-D IANE R OSENBAUM ; District 22- C HIP S HIELDS ; District 23-J ACKIE D INGFELDER ; District 25-L AURIE M ONNES -A NDERSON O REGON H OUSE OF R EPRESENTATIVES Dist. 26 - W YNNE W AKKILA ; Dist. 27 - T OBIAS R EAD ; Dist. 28 - J EFF B ARKER ; Dist. 29 - B EN U NGER ; Dist. 30 - J OE G ALLEGOS ; Dist. 31 - B RAD W ITT ; Dist. 32 - D EBORAH B OONE ; Dist. 34 - C HRIS H ARKER ; Dist. 35 - M ARGARET D OHERTY ; Dist. 36 - J ENNIFER W ILLIAMSON ; Dist. 37 - C ARL H OSTICKA ; Dist. 38 - C HRIS G ARRETT ; Dist. 40 - B RENT B ARTON ; Dist. 41 - C AROLYN T OMEI ; Dist. 42 - J ULES B AILEY ; Dist. 43 - L EW F REDERICK ; Dist. 44 - T INA K OTEK ; Dist. 45 - M ICHAEL D EMBROW ; Dist. 46 - A LISSA K ENY -G UYER ; Dist. 47 - J ESSICA V EGA -P EDERSON ; Dist. 48 - J EFF R EARDON ; Dist. 49 - C HRIS G ORSEK ; Dist. 50 - G REG M ATTHEWS ; Dist. 51 - S HEMIA F AGAN ; Dist. 52 - P ETER N ORDBYE Authorized and paid for by the Northwest Oregon Labor Council 3645 SE 32nd Ave., Portland, OR 97214 A union guide to the Oregon ballot With two weeks to go before the Nov. 6 mail ballot due date, the Oregon AFL-CIO and union partners are ramp- ing up their political operation. This year, the labor federation’s priorities are re-electing two statewide officials, electing more “worker-friendly” state legislators and judges, ending the cor- porate kicker tax refund, permitting construction of a private casino, and op- posing an effort to eliminate the estate tax on millionaires. SECRETARY OF STATE: Ore- gon’s secretary of state is responsible for elections, state agency audits, the state archives and the corporation reg- istry — and, significantly, becomes governor if the governor dies or is inca- pacitated. Labor-backed Democratic in- cumbent Kate Brown was a longtime union ally in the Oregon Legislature, and as secretary of state has defended Oregon’s vote-by-mail system and cracked down on abuses by initiative petitioners. Her Republican opponent Knute Buehler has never won public of- fice before, but has campaign funding from a Who’s Who of businesses and wealthy individuals, including a $50,000 contribution from Nike mogul Phil Knight. LABOR COMMISSIONER: The union movement has a strong interest in who heads the Bureau of Labor and In- dustries (BOLI), because the agency en- forces wage and hour, civil rights, and prevailing wage laws; and oversees ap- prenticeship programs. Incumbent la- bor commissioner Brad Avakian gets mostly good ratings from Oregon unions for his first four-year term, and he has union support for re-election. Challenger Bruce Starr, a Republican lawmaker, has said he would support making Oregon a right-to-work state. [Unions are weaker in right-to-work states because union-represented work- ers can’t be required to pay union dues.] The Oregon AFL-CIO is backing several statewide ballot measures this year: • CORPORATE KICKER: M EAS - URE 85, placed on the ballot by the union-backed nonprofit Our Oregon, would amend the state Constitution to eliminate the corporate income tax “kicker,” and instruct the Legislature to spend those funds instead on K-12 ed- ucation. The kicker, unique to Oregon, is a state income tax rebate that occurs whenever income tax revenues exceed (Turn to Page 4) Worker Representation: Labor looks to its own ranks for candidates to support By DON McINTOSH Associate Editor When you’re fighting for jobs and workers rights, it helps to get “friends of labor” in public office. But electing “family” may be better still: Union members and leaders, in state and local elected office, may not need coaxing or explanation to know which side they’re on. “When it comes to bread-and-butter labor issues, bargaining rights, rights at work, people who understand the labor movement and who have lived those values as union members themselves make better advocates,” says Elana Guiney, Oregon AFL-CIO political and communications coordinator. “That’s not to say we don’t have some great friends in the Legislature who have not been in unions. We absolutely do. But the more that people can talk first-hand about those issues, the better off work- ers are.” This year in Oregon, as many as two dozen union members are candidates for public office. Some are shoe-ins; others are long shots. For many years, unions have en- couraged and supported members to run for office. This year, nine Oregon unions went a step further and formed the Oregon Labor Candidate School — a six month course in the mechanics of political campaigns — for union mem- bers who want to promote a pro-labor agenda in public office. Eleven students took part, and were taught by political and media consultants who volunteered their time. Most are working on cam- paigns for local school boards in 2013. Union members are also running for a number of seats in the Oregon Legis- lature: • Deschutes County GIS Analyst Geri Hauser — a member of the AF- SCME Local 3997 Executive Board and past member of Operating Engi- neers Local 701 — is running as a De- mocrat for Oregon Senate District 27 in Bend. She faces former Republican state Senate majority leader Tim Knopp, who defeated Republican in- cumbent Chris Telfer in the primary. • State Rep. Arnie Roblan, (D-Coos Bay) is leaving the House to run for an open seat in Senate District 5, where in- cumbent Democrat Joanne Verger is re- tiring. Roblan is a former teacher and member of the Oregon Education As- sociation (OEA). • Journeyman electrician Claudia Kyle, a member of International Broth- erhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 48, is challenging, for the second time, incumbent State Rep. Kevin Cameron (R-Salem). • Paul Holman, a firefighter and paramedic for the City of Newberg, is a member of International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). He’s running against incumbent Kim Thatcher (R- Keizer) and Libertarian Ryan Haffner. • Jeff Reardon was a member of (Turn to Page 5)
