...Labor at Oregon Legislature
(From Page 3)
gives an example of why the legislation
is needed: Last year, when University
of Oregon faculty turned in union au-
thorization cards, the administration
hired a high-priced California attorney
who specializes in union-avoidance;
that reaction would have been a no-no
under the proposed legislation.
Oregon State Building and Con-
struction Trades Council (OSBCTC)
will be promoting several large public
works projects that could result in em-
ployment for union members. The
biggest is the proposed Columbia River
Crossing project, which includes a re-
placement to the I-5 bridge over the Co-
lumbia River. Oregon would contribute
$450 million, with Washington match-
ing that amount, and the federal gov-
ernment kicking in the rest. The funds
could come from bonds backed by in-
creases in gas taxes and license and ve-
hicle registration fees. Also up for con-
sideration is a $60 million fifth phase
of a multi-modal transportation invest-
ment program known as Connect Ore-
gon. Connect Oregon pays for im-
provements to non-highway transporta-
tion infrastructure, including ports, air-
ports, and railroads.
Another bill to be backed by the
building trades would make it easier to
site utility-scale solar development in
Eastern Oregon. Current land-use rules
prohibit solar arrays larger than 100
acres on land zoned for farm use, but
John Mohlis, executive secretary of
OSBCTC, says solar projects need to
be at least 250 acres to pan out eco-
nomically. Mohlis, International Broth-
erhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
Local 280 Business Manager Tim
Frew, and IBEW Local 48 Political Di-
rector Joe Esmonde served alongside
solar developers and environmental
groups on an interim legislative task
force that looked into the issue.
OSBCTC will also push to expand
the state’s prevailing wage law to con-
struction projects on state university
land that are paid for with private
money, to private construction projects
that receive more than $750,000 in tax
credits, and to projects over $5 million
that qualify for Enterprise Zone prop-
erty tax abatements.
Oregon AFSCME will pursue sev-
eral changes to Oregon’s Public Em-
ployee Collective Bargaining Act. One
bill would allow for binding arbitration
after 60 days — for issues that arise out-
side of the normal collective bargaining
timeline; it’s designed to crack down on
what the union sees as an abuse: public
employers raising stand-alone issues af-
ter a contract is settled, and then imple-
menting their “expedited bargaining”
proposals after a 90-day period, whether
the union likes it or not. Another bill
would put employees of the Oregon De-
partment of Justice in the category of
public employees who have binding ar-
bitration instead of the right to strike;
Baessler said attorneys can face ethics
charges at the Oregon Bar if they strike.
Meanwhile, Amalgamated Transit
Union Local 757 will have to contend
with an attempt by TriMet to remove
transit workers from that “non-strik-
able” category. A bill to do that was
filed pre-session by the House Trans-
portation and Economic Development
Committee.
Unions will also be paying attention
as the state finalizes the workings of
the new insurance exchange. In state
“exchanges” — a key part of the na-
tional health insurance reform law
known as Obamacare — individuals
and small businesses will go to pur-
chase insurance and receive federal
subsidies. The exchanges have to be up
and running for open enrollment in Oc-
tober 2013, for insurance coverage that
begins January 2014.
AFSCME’s Baessler said earnings
by some members at non-profit con-
tractors are low enough to qualify for
the subsidies. Plus, in Oregon, there’s
been talk of letting various government
employers buy insurance on the ex-
change.
Democrats have majorities over Re-
publicans in both chambers, by 16-14
in the Senate and 34-26 in the House.
The Oregon AFL-CIO will hold a
legislative conference for union mem-
bers on Saturday, Feb. 2, from 8:30
a.m. to 3 p.m. at Sheet Metal Workers
Local 16’s union hall, 2379 NE 178th
Ave., Portland. Participants will hear
from union leaders and legislative lead-
ers and will have a chance to talk di-
rectly with legislators in small group
discussions.
For more information, call 503-412-
3721
...ATU-TriMet conflict
(From Page 1)
to be open to the public. TriMet dis-
agreed, and wants observers limited to
certain pre-approved media, with all
bargaining participants screened by se-
curity guards. Oregon law makes pretty
plain that either side can choose to open
public employee union negotiations to
the public, but TriMet is seeking a court
ruling that the law doesn’t apply in this
instance. Its legal argument to Mult-
nomah County Circuit Court is that the
bargaining isn’t subject to Oregon’s
public meetings law because TriMet’s
bargaining team has no authority to
reach agreement. But if that’s true, the
union says, then TriMet is in violation
of its duty to bargain in good faith under
Oregon’s Public Employee Collective
Bargaining Act. TriMet can’t have it
both ways.
Though Local 757 made clear it
would not negotiate in secret, TriMet
sought repeatedly to embarrass Local
757, calling out the union as a “no-
show” when it failed to attend bargain-
ing sessions — sessions which were
scheduled before the open meetings dis-
pute erupted.
Those salvos were just the latest in a
year-long public relations campaign
TriMet has waged against its own em-
ployees and their union. In its press re-
leases, the tax-supported public agency,
its board appointed by the governor, has
publicly declared union leaders unrea-
sonable and labeled the benefits its
workers have had for decades “unsus-
tainable.”
Now TriMet says it wants to bring
benefits in line with “the market.” And
in its framing, it seeks to pit the public
against its workers. Riders “face a fu-
ture of continued service cuts in order
for us to pay for these unsustainable
health care benefits,” said TriMet labor
relations director Randy Stedman in a
Jan. 2 press release, adding that “addi-
tional service cuts … would be neces-
sary to pay for these benefits for both
active employees and retirees.”
For their part, Local 757 leaders say
if bargaining is brought into the day-
light, their arguments will be vindicated,
and the public will be witness to TriMet
management’s high-handed attitude and
aggressive posture.
“The public needs to have a clearer
picture of all the ways TriMet funds are
spent,” Local 757 President Bruce
Hansen wrote in a Dec. 18 letter to
Stedman. “This transparency is key to
achieving fairness for the workforce as
well as the sustainable public trans-
portation system that the citizens of our
region deserve.”
“For far too long,” Hansen wrote,
“the labor agreement and the workforce
have been made the scapegoats for
TriMet’s financial difficulties.”
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for the BEST flowers call
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JANUARY 18, 2013
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
PAGE 7