LEED standard harmful
to Oregon woodworkers
(Editor’s Note: This article was submit-
ted by Machinists District W24, based
in Gladstone, Oregon.)
As the market for wood products
evolves, government regulations
should not penalize the businesses and
employees in the timber industry who
tirelessly work to make high-quality,
environmentally sustainable forest
products. Unfortunately, that is the con-
sequence of local, state and federal
policies that exclude Oregon timber
from building projects across America.
The contributions of Oregon’s tim-
ber to the state and national economy
cannot be underestimated. The numbers
tell the story: Oregon tops the nation in
softwood lumber and plywood panel
production, and its wood processing in-
dustries generate over $10 billion in an-
nual sales while employing 75,000
workers. In all, forestry helps support
140,000 jobs in Oregon. This is a testa-
ment to the quality and skill level of the
businesses and employees who harvest,
process, and sell our timber to cus-
tomers in Oregon and the United States.
The businesses and workers who
produce these goods make time-con-
suming investments that will hopefully
pay off when they can market their
products in a number of venues — be it
for a government contract or for grow-
ing consumer demand. Many Oregon
businesses choose forest certification as
a method of ensuring their credibility
as the producer of an environmentally
sustainable finished product.
Regretfully, hundreds of cities na-
tionwide adhere to the U.S. Green
Building Council’s (USGBC) “LEED”
standards, which only recognize one
form of forest certification — the For-
est Stewardship Council (FSC) — as
deserving of its sourcing credits for
sustainability. Businesses that use cer-
tification programs such as the Sustain-
able Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the
American Tree Farm System (ATFS)
(both more widely used in Oregon than
FSC) can find it nearly impossible to
receive these credits and, therefore, get
left out of thousands of public and pri-
vate projects nationwide.
This stagnates potential job growth
for Oregon woodworkers. Their cus-
tomer base extends beyond Oregon
borders, into every other state. Absent
any changes that accommodate a ma-
jority of certified timber harvested in
America, the proliferation of LEED
projects nationwide will increase eco-
nomic losses each year.
FSC is a German-based program
that recognizes 90 percent of its forests
O PEN
F ORUM
outside the U.S. The USGBC allows
for timber procured in Russia and In-
donesia to get recognized as “green” or
“sustainable,” but blocks a majority of
Oregon and American timber from re-
ceiving this same designation. Com-
mon sense would tell you this inverts
the reality of the quality of wood from
these nations. In fact, FSC acknowl-
edges that it holds different countries to
different standards when it comes to
meeting benchmarks for its certifica-
tion.
Furthermore, FSC lacks the labor
protections of SFI, which well exceed
U.S. legal requirements. Union mem-
bers have served on SFI’s board of di-
rectors for years, and help set standard
processes for certification. SFI’s
worker rights subcommittee constantly
interacts with woodworkers and busi-
nesses in the timber industry to identify
any issues before they arise.
FSC does not provide forest workers
these same leadership opportunities.
Regulations that increase the cost of
doing business and make it more diffi-
cult for woodworkers to market and
sell their products deserve to be re-
pealed. Our woodworkers deserve poli-
cies that promote a level playing field
and do not discriminate against Amer-
ican timber.
Robert Keys, with his
young family in the
background, said that
after working as a part-
time carrier without
benefits in Portland for
the last seven years, he is
taking a 25 percent pay
cut in order to get
benefits. “I brought my
family for you to see
what you’re fighting for.
This is the beginning of
our journey as postal
carriers,” he said.
...Rally to save Postal Service
(From Page 1)
Richard Nixon called out the military
and the National Guard in an attempt to
distribute the mail and break the strike.
Postal workers eventually won in-
creases in pay and were guaranteed col-
lective bargaining rights.
Today, union officials say a group of
lawmakers working on behalf of corpo-
rate interests want to undermine the
USPS, bust the unions, then privatize
the agency and start selling off some of
its prime downtown real estate. USPS
owns real estate in virtually every city
and state, worth a reported $105 billion.
“The privatization of the Postal
Service is symptomatic of what’s
wrong with this nation,” Tom Cham-
berlain, president of the Oregon AFL-
CIO, told rally-goers. “It’s a nation that
puts capital gain over people gain.
Think about it. This is about profit.
This is about greed. This is about costs
on your backs, because you’re going to
pay more if this happens.”
Mail centers in Pendleton,
Bend will close this year
Mail processing centers in Bend and
Pendleton, Ore., and in Pasco, Wash.,
were notified March 26 that they will
shut down by the end of the year.
The closures are expected to elimi-
nate 40 jobs in Bend and 47 jobs in
Pasco. Union officials are uncertain
how many jobs will be lost in Pendle-
ton. Workers are represented by the
American Postal Workers Union and
the Mailhandlers Union, a division of
the Laborers.
In May 2012, the Postal Service
said it would close 140 processing cen-
ters across the country — 71 starting in
2014. It has accelerated the start dates
and is now planning to consolidate 53
mail processing centers this year.
Mail that is now sorted in Bend and
Pendleton will go to Portland for pro-
cessing. Pasco’s mail handling will
move to Spokane.
Labor secretary nominee Perez
gets thumbs up from AFL-CIO
Expires 04/30/2013
APRIL 5, 2013
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
WASHINGTON, D.C. — AFL-
CIO President Richard Trumka says
working men and women will be well
served by President Obama’s nomina-
tion of Tom Perez to lead the U.S. De-
partment of Labor.
On March 18, Obama named Perez
to succeed Hilda Solis in the Labor De-
partment’s top job. Solis left on Jan. 5.
Perez currently is head of the U.S.
Justice Department’s Civil Rights Divi-
sion. From 2006 to 2009, he served as
secretary of labor for the state of Mary-
land. Prior to that he was elected the
first Hispanic member of the Mont-
gomery County Council.
Trumka said that throughout his ca-
reer, Perez has fought to level the play-
ing field and create opportunities for
working people.
“At a time when our politics tilts so
heavily toward corporations and the
very wealthy, our country needs leaders
like Tom Perez to champion the cause
of ordinary working people. And work-
ing families need and deserve a strong
advocate as their secretary of labor —
one who will vigorously enforce job
safety standards, wage laws, and anti-
discrimination rules, and who will
speak out forcefully for working fami-
lies and their workplace rights, includ-
ing their right to join together to im-
prove their lives and working
conditions.”
Perez is the son of Dominican immi-
grants and a lawyer who helped pay his
way through Harvard Law School by
working as a garbage collector.
President Obama has asked the Sen-
ate to confirm his nominee “as quickly
as possible.”
PAGE 11