nov. 16, 2012_nwlp 10/10/17 10:52 am page 10
Labor law conclave set Feb. 1
Who’s On Our Side?
By Tom Chamberlain
One would think that the first
three words of our Constitution,
“We the people,” would mean just
that: we the people. But corpora-
tions have been considered a part of
“We the people” for almost 100
years. And since 2010, they have
had no limits, thanks to the United
States Supreme Court, even on the
amount of funds they could con-
tribute to a political campaign. The
2012 election was, in many ways, a
battle between we, the people, the
middle class, elderly, and the poor,
and the power that an expanded
definition of “We the People” gives
to the wealthy elite and their corpo-
rations. Pundits for months pre-
dicted that in the end Mitt Romney
would become president by the
sheer force of a tsunami of cash.
The pundits were wrong. They
were wrong because they didn’t un-
derstand the power of we, the peo-
ple, talking to people. They didn’t
understand that we, the people, are
the folks who showed up and
staffed phone banks, went door to
door talking to our neighbors,
talked to our co-workers and family
and friends. What you can’t buy is
the connection, dedication, and con-
viction that only comes from those
who understand and can articulate
the issues on a personal level.
In Oregon grassroots efforts
were broad and deep. The involved
leadership from AFSCME, Our
Oregon, OEA, SEIU, the Demo-
cratic Party of Oregon and Planned
Parenthood, just to name a few. In
Oregon, we, the people, suited up
and showed up to fight an onslaught
of cash. And we, the people, packed
the halls of the Oregon Labor Cen-
ter night after night, making
315,000 telephone calls, knocking
on over 115,000 doors, delivering
359,500 pieces of mail, three- to
four-hour-shifts at a time. We, the
people, got up at o-dark thirty to
talk to workers and deliver almost
10,000 worksite fliers.
We the people were the trans-
gender UNITE-HERE member
who showed up night after night to
call workers across the state, re-
cruiting co-workers and friends to
help too. We the people were the
out of work Painter whose son was
about to leave for Afghanistan but
who made the time to phone bank
or canvass day after day. We the
people were the scores of school
workers who, after working an
eight-hour day, came and worked
another four hours talking to Ore-
gon voters five days a week for over
eight weeks. We the people are the
members of the Oregon AFL-CIO
who agreed to fund the biggest
ground game our federation has
ever had. We the people are Work-
ing America, whose canvassers en-
thusiastically went door to door
throughout the Willamette Valley
educating voters with patience and
professionalism. We the people are
the staff of the Oregon AFL-CIO
who often work seven days a week
10- to 14-hour days, who were up
early at the worksites and closed
down the phone banks late at night.
There are no “ifs, ands, or buts”: We
won this election by sheer numbers,
dedication and courage. Unions
overcame a cash tsunami with a
tsunami of we the people.
We the people really are the
workers. We are the glue that holds
America together, the fuel that turns
the largest economy in the world.
Who won this election? The folks
who take care of us when we are
sick, who get electricity to our
homes and workplaces, who build
the roads, bake our bread, make our
government function and educate
our kids. We are the people. The
workers of America proved in this
election that together we are the
mightiest force in this country. I’m
honored to have you on my side.
Mark your calendars for Friday,
Feb. 1, date of the 17th annual Oregon
Labor Law Conference at the IBEW
Local 48 hall in Northeast Portland.
The conference is designed for busi-
ness managers, business agents and
union officers, to provide information
that will help them do their jobs better
and to help avoid legal liability.
In addition to classes on basic griev-
ance handling, progressive discipline,
family medical leave, workers’ comp,
and Social Security, this year will fea-
ture a segment on how to use social
media in organizing, as well as when
and how employers can discipline em-
ployees for using social media.
Additionally, there will be a class on
negotiating health care benefits under
Obamacare, and another on workplace
EE
R
F
bullying.
Guest speakers include Ronald
Hooks, director of the National Labor
Relations Board, NLRB 19, and Paul
Gamson, outgoing chair of the Oregon
Employment Relations Board.
The conference is sponsored by
IBEW Local 48, Oregon AFL-CIO,
Northwest Oregon Labor Council, the
Labor Education and Research Center
of the University of Oregon, the Ore-
gon and Columbia-Pacific building and
construction trades councils, and the
Center for Worker Rights.
For registration information, go to
www.laborlawconference.com or con-
tact Norman Malbin at 503 889-3669
or Norman@IBEW48.com; or Kristi
Straight at 503-889-3660 or
Kristi@IBEW48.com.
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Tom Chamberlain is president of
the Oregon AFL-CIO.
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NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
NOVEMBER 16, 2012
