Party platform shows GOP
turning sharply against unions
By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
Once upon a time, the national con-
ventions of American political parties
were momentous affairs, because the
outcomes were undetermined: Dele-
gates decided there who to nominate
for president, and debated what would
go in the party platform — the docu-
ment that says what the party intends
to accomplish.
Today, primaries determine ahead of
time who gets the nomination, and
while parties still publish platforms,
candidates are in no way bound by
them. Few voters read platforms any
more, and few party activists know in
detail what they say. And yet, platforms
are useful indicators of what a party
stands for.
Unfortunately for the union move-
ment, this year’s 62-page Republican
Party platform, approved in Tampa,
Florida, is much more hostile to unions
and the labor movement than it was
four years ago. In fact, the Republicans
are now publicly on record opposing
union rights and standards that have
stood for 80 years. Meanwhile, the 32-
page Democratic Party platform,
adopted at the Sept. 4 convention in
Charlotte, N.C., affirms worker rights,
but sends a mixed message on trade.
GOP NOW OPENLY
HOSTILE TO UNIONS
Under the heading of “Freedom in
the Workplace,” the Republican plat-
form accuses the Obama Administra-
tion of “clinging to antiquated notions
of confrontation and concentrating
power in the Washington offices of
union elites.”
The platform criticizes the president
for supporting project labor agreements
(PLAs), claiming it prevents most con-
struction contractors from competing
for work on stimulus projects.
The platform commits to put an end
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...Labor looks to its own ranks for candidates
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the OEA as a shop teacher at Parkrose
School District and later David Dou-
glas High School. He’s now running
unopposed in Portland’s Democratic-
leaning District 48 after defeating in-
cumbent Mike Schaufler, a former
member of the Laborers Union, in the
May primary.
• Chris Gorsek, a member of the
Mt. Hood Community College Faculty
Association, an affiliate of the OEA, is
running as a Democrat in east Mult-
nomah County’s House District 49.
Gorsek is a former cop and past mem-
ber of the Portland Police Association.
These candidates, if elected, would
join as many as 15 current and former
union members in the Oregon Legisla-
ture, including six who are thought of
as being part of an informal “labor cau-
cus” and nine others who have at one
time been union members. In the Ore-
gon House, that includes: Jeff Barker
(D-Aloha), a retired police officer and
former president of Portland Police As-
sociation; Michael Dembrow (D-Port-
land), a PCC-Cascade writing instruc-
tor and past president of American
Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local
2277; Paul Holvey (D-Eugene), a staff
member at the Pacific Northwest Re-
gional Council of Carpenters; Greg
Matthews (D-Gresham), a Gresham
firefighter and member of IAFF Local
1062; and Brad Witt (D-Clatskanie) a
staff representative at United Food and
Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local
555 and former secretary-treasurer of
the Oregon AFL-CIO.
Five other state House representa-
tives are past union members. Margaret
Doherty, (D-Tigard) was a member and
later on staff at Oregon Education Asso-
ciation (OEA), and Betty Komp, (D-
Woodburn), is a former teacher and
OEA member. Mitch Greenlick (D-
Portland) a retired part-time sociology
professor, helped found the union local
at Portland State University in the
1980s. Nancy Nathanson, (D-Eugene)
is a University of Oregon librarian and
former member of Service Employees
OCTOBER 19, 2012
International Union (SEIU) Local 503.
Carolyn Tomei (D-Milwaukie) is a
one-time AFT member.
In the Oregon Senate, Diane
Rosenbaum (D-Portland) is a labor
caucus of one, as former vice president
of Communications Workers of Amer-
ica (CWA) Local 7901 and past presi-
dent of the labor caucus at the National
Conference of State Legislatures. But
three other state senators also have
some past union affiliation: Mark
Hass, (D-Beaverton) was a long-time
member of American Federation of
Television & Radio Artists (AFTRA)
as a reporter at KATU-TV. Laurie
Monnes Anderson (D-Gresham), a re-
tired registered nurse, was a member of
the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA).
And Chip Shields (D-Portland) has
maintained AFT membership since
having taught criminal justice classes
at Portland State University.
Two Oregon union members are
also running for Congress this year,
though not expected to win. Heavy
equipment operator Delinda Delgado-
Morgan, a member of Operating En-
gineers Local 701, is running as a Re-
publican against Democrat Suzanne
Bonamici in Oregon’s First Congres-
sional District. The District has been in
Democratic hands since 1974. Bonam-
ici outpolled Republican Rob Cornilles
in the Jan. 31, 2012 special election to
win the seat vacated by David Wu. And
TriMet bus driver Ronald Green, a
member of Amalgamated Transit
Union Local 757, won the Republican
primary and is challenging Third Dis-
trict incumbent Democrat Earl Blume-
nauer, criticizing his votes for several
NAFTA-style trade agreements.
Union members are also stepping
forward for local office:
• Amanda Fritz, a member of the
Oregon Nurses Association, is seeking
re-election to the Portland City Coun-
cil.
• Mary Nolan, who is challenging
Fritz, was a union member with the
City of Portland Professional Employ-
ees Association (COPPEA) when she
was a city planner.
• Firefighter Doug Breidenthal,
past president of IAFF Local 3340 and
former chair of the Jackson County Re-
publican Party, is running for Jackson
County Commission, a non-partisan
office.
• Jake Carter, a member of Inter-
national Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers Local 125, is running for a
seat on the board of directors of the Co-
lumbia River Public Utilities District.
• Firefighter Bryan Adams, a grad-
uate of the Oregon Labor Candidate
School, is running for Sandy City
Council.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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