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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 2013)
Unions wary as Portland bargaining begins amid plans for cuts By DON McINTOSH Associate Editor Job security will be the top con- cern of workers in contract bargaining this year between the City of Portland and the coalition of unions known as the District Council of Trade Unions (DCTU). In one of his first acts after taking office, Mayor Charlie Hales asked each city bureau to prepare sce- narios for a 10 percent budget cut. That has union members worried for their jobs. Hales has said he wants to get back to basics, focusing on core services and cutting out extras. If he follows through, union members who provide the frontline services may have little to fear. But it’s bureau managers who will create the budgets, and already, union members are learning of pro- posed cuts. Bargaining team member Brooke Brown, for example, learned that her job fingerprinting arrestees as an identification technician in the Port- land Police Bureau’s forensic evi- dence division is on the chopping block. Brown is an officer of Ameri- can Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 189, the largest of the seven PAGE 12 unions in the DCTU. The others are Laborers Local 483, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 48, Machinists Lodge 1005, Operating Engineers Local 701, Painters District Council 5, and Plumbers and Fitters Local 290. Alto- gether, the DCTU represents about 1,600 City workers, down 200 from Claire Houston, a wastewater treatment plant operator and member of Laborers Municipal Employees Local 483, takes part in the District Council of Trade Union’s “Save Our Services” rally Feb. 5. NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS six years ago. DCTU workers main- tain much of the city’s infrastructure, including parks, streets, and water and sewer systems. [Other unions — representing fire fighters, police offi- cers, and professional and technical employees — bargain separately.] “Our priority,” said DCTU bar- gaining team member Michael Darfler, “is to preserve staffing levels, to protect the services citizens have come to expect.” Darfler, an elec- tronic technician at Portland’s 911 call center, is a member of IBEW Lo- cal 48. Protecting services was the theme of the DCTU’s contract kickoff event Feb. 5, dubbed the “Save Our Serv- ices” rally. Members and leaders of DCTU unions gathered at noon in a park near City Hall in a show of unity. “Our message is you need to cut managers, and stop contracting out, before you come to us asking for cuts,” said Oregon AFSCME execu- tive director Ken Allen. The union rally was scheduled for the first day of bargaining, but the City cancelled the first two sessions. Bargaining is now set to begin Feb. 19. The DCTU’s current three-year contract expires June 30. FEBRUARY 15, 2013
