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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (June 21, 2013)
Inside MEETING NOTICES See Page 6 Volume 114 Number 12 June 21, 2013 Portland Motorcycle ride raises cash for kids As Obamacare insurance exchanges near launch, labor braces for impact By DON McINTOSH Associate Editor Organized labor — entirely left out of the legislation that became known as Obamacare — has spent years behind the scenes patiently pleading with the Obama Administration to be allowed to benefit from the law’s implementation. Now, four months before the law’s mandated state insurance exchanges launch, it appears that while some union members will benefit, many oth- ers may actually be harmed. The state-by-state health insurance exchanges, which launch Oct. 1, 2013, are the linchpin of Obamacare’s plan to cover the uninsured. The exchanges will benefit a minority of low-wage union members who don’t currently have employer-provided health insur- ance. But they may harm many other union members who are covered through union-affiliated multi-em- ployer health trusts — which are preva- lent in construction and in low-wage in- dustries like grocery and janitorial. The harm would come chiefly be- cause union members and their em- ployers won’t have access to individual subsidies, or to small-employer tax credits, for insurance purchased on the exchanges. But their nonunion com- petitors will. The state exchanges will begin sell- ing insurance Oct. 1 to individuals and small businesses, with coverage to take effect Jan. 1, 2014. All otherwise uninsured individuals will be required to purchase health in- surance, or else face a tax penalty that starts at 1 percent of income and rises to 2.5 percent by 2016. Those earning up to four times the poverty level will get some amount of subsidy when they purchase on the exchanges. And the poorest — those earning less than 133 percent of the poverty level — will have their insurance paid for entirely. But individuals won’t be allowed to buy insurance on the exchanges if their employer provides health insurance. And most union employers do provide health insurance. Unionized janitorial and security contractors in Portland, for example, recently signed five-year con- tracts committing them to provide in- surance. Nonunion employers that cur- rently provide insurance could decide to drop coverage, and give raises to cover their workers’ individual premi- ums for insurance bought on the ex- changes. But union employers would- n’t have that option while their current contracts continued. Meanwhile, small businesses (less than 50 employees) don’t have to pro- vide insurance under the new law. But they get a tax credit reimbursing them 50 percent of the cost if they purchase insurance on the exchanges for their employees. Yet unionized small businesses that purchase insurance through union health trusts won’t get that tax credit. The tax credit only goes for insurance that’s sold on the exchanges. And the trusts can’t sell on the exchanges. The trusts are neither insurers nor employ- ers, strictly speaking; they’re more like jointly-run purchasing pools that self- insure or purchase group insurance plans. That’s not all. Union health trusts will actually have to pay a temporary tax to subsidize private insurance com- (Turn to Page 9) The 11th annual Unions for Kids motorcycle poker run donated a record $64,000 to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. In the photo above, committee members Rob Williamson and Lee Duncan present a check to Ashley Schmidt of the Doernbecher Foundation. The event, held June 8 at the IBEW Local 48 union hall in Northeast Portland, drew 405 participants. The winner of the Poker Run — with a high hand of four queens — was Carol Gilmore. The low-hand of 4-5-6-7-9 was held by Darcy Freimark. Each received a cash prize. The Chili Cook-off champions were Rick and Gwen Flores, representing IBEW Local 48. The largest portion of the fundraiser comes from a raffle for a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle. This year’s winner was Christine Smith of Milwaukie, Oregon. She is a member of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 28. The largest single union contribution to the event was $5,000 from Carpenters Local 156. The largest private (corporate) contribution was from Columbia Motorcycle Harley-Davidson, $3,500. Another $4,818 was raised at a Texas Hold‘em poker tournament in March hosted by Sheet Metal Workers Local 16. Unions for Kids is a nonprofit and all-volunteer organization, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the kids at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. Since its inception, the Poker Run has donated $390,000 to Doernbecher. Precision Castparts workers vote down Machinists Union A union campaign among Portland- area Precision Castparts (PCC) work- ers failed to find majority support in ballots counted June 7. The tally was 932 for joining International Associa- tion of Machinists (IAM), and 1,258 against, or roughly 43 percent to 57 percent. Twenty ballots were chal- lenged by one side or another and weren’t counted in the tally, but that wouldn’t have affected the outcome. Turnout was very high, with 2,210 workers casting ballots over a two-day period at five sites in Portland, Mil- waukie, and Clackamas, Oregon. That amounted to 95 percent of the 2,323 workers eligible to vote. The vote came after a month of heavy campaigning. PCC employed consultants and waged a tailor-made campaign that followed the standard employer playbook for fighting unions. “They hit all the standard misinfor- mation marks,” IAM national spokesperson Frank Larkin told the Labor Press. “Both aboveground and below-ground campaigns stirred the rumor pot with threats of outsourcing to Mexico, or the prospect that if you join a union, you go on strike.” Managers and consultants led mandatory-attendance antiunion meet- ings in the workplace. The company (Turn to Page 3)
