Inside
MEETING
NOTICES
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Page 4
Volume 114
Number 14
July 19, 2013
Portland
Daimler brings
in strikebreakers
Gary Allen (left), general vice president for the Machinists Union’s Western Territories, was on the Daimler Trucks
North America picket line July 12. Talking to him about the strike, which began July 1, are from left to right:
Machinist Lodge 1005 members Paul Serlet, James Kelly, Ka Wang, and Ko Vue (out of the picture).
United Food and Commercial Workers
expected to rejoin AFL-CIO in August
WASHINGTON, D.C. — United
Food and Commercial Workers
(UFCW) will rejoin the AFL-CIO by
the end of this year, according to the
magazine In These Times.
Jeff Anderson, secretary-treasurer
of Tigard, Oregon,-based UFCW Lo-
cal 555, confirmed the story. Anderson
was at an earned sick days conference
in Washington, D.C., where the inter-
national union is headquartered, when
the story broke on July 10.
“People here (at UFCW) are aware
of the article, but are not commenting
on it,” Anderson told the Labor Press.
“Which tells me some high level nego-
tiations are happening.”
Press Associates Inc. reported that
a source close to AFL-CIO President
Richard Trumka also confirmed the ar-
ticle was correct.
The announcement was supposed
to occur at UFCW’s convention in
Chicago in mid-August, and then be
ratified at the AFL-CIO convention in
Los Angeles in early September, but
the magazine broke the story before-
hand.
UFCW convention delegates must
vote on reunification.
“It still remains to be seen what it
all means,” said Anderson, who will be
one of 24 delegates from Local 555 at-
tending the UFCW convention.
UFCW, with 1.3 million members,
is a key component of Change To Win,
the coalition of unions that broke away
from the AFL-CIO in 2005. UFCW
President Joe Hansen now chairs
Change To Win, but has stayed on
good terms with the AFL-CIO.
UFCW also has cooperated with the
larger labor federation in national poli-
tics and in mass rallies for labor causes.
Besides UFCW, the Change To Win
federation includes the Service Em-
ployees International Union (SEIU),
the International Brotherhood of Team-
sters, and the United Farm Workers.
Three other founding unions of Change
to Win — the 500,000-member Labor-
ers, the 265,000-member UNITE
HERE, and the 500,000-member Car-
penters — have left. The Carpenters
operates as an independent union, and
the other two are back in the AFL-CIO
fold. [In 2009, approximately 100,000
of UNITE HERE’s members seceded,
formed Workers United, and joined
SEIU.]
The Change To Win unions seceded
from the AFL-CIO in 2005 because,
they said, they differed with the feder-
ation’s emphasis on political activism
and lobbying as opposed to organizing.
But over the years the two labor feder-
ations drifted closer together as affili-
ated unions in both organizations real-
ized that politics could open the way
for organizing — and that organizing
more members increased political
clout.
Through Solidarity Charters,
UFCW Local 555 has maintained af-
filiations with all of Oregon’s central
labor councils, but not with the Oregon
AFL-CIO. In Washington, all UFCW
locals but Tacoma Local 367 are affili-
ated with the Washington State Labor
Council, AFL-CIO.
The return of the UFCW would
boost the national AFL-CIO’s mem-
bership by almost 10 percent and pro-
vide an infusion of resources.
According to In These Times,
Trumka has been courting the UFCW
since he first came to office in 2009.
By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
Fifteen days into a strike by 588 ma-
chinists and painters, Daimler Trucks
North America introduced striker re-
placements to its Portland truck plant.
At about 6:30 a.m. July 15, a fast-mov-
ing convoy of vans and SUVs drove
through the gate to the main employee
entrance, and nearly ran over one pick-
eting union member.
Craig Blair, a 32-year employee at
the truck plant, said he was marching
back and forth across the entrance with
a strike picket sign when company
guards opened the gate, and a line of
about five white vans, three black SUVs
and several cars drove up.
“I had to step back or be run over,”
Blair said.
Picket captain Riller Clegg wit-
nessed the incident, and says she tried
to use her smart phone to film it, but it
happened too quickly. Company guards
were filming, however.
Another striker called police, and an
officer took a statement. No charges
were filed.
Machinists District W24 Union Rep
Joe Kear said it was unlikely that such a
small group of inexperienced workers
would be able to produce trucks any
time soon, but he said the company’s use
of striker replacements sends a pretty
clear message to union members.
“They’re putting money into counter-
strike measures, instead of into an offer.”
Daimler met July 10 with represen-
tatives of the Machinist and Painters
unions, but showed no willingness to
Sign Painters and Paint Makers
Local 1094 member Doug Sander-
cock walks the picket line on July 12.
improve its final offer — 10 days into a
strike at its Swan Island truck plant in
Portland. More talks were scheduled for
July 17 and 18, after this issue went to
press.
No trucks have been produced at the
plant since 520 Machinists and 68
painters struck July 1. The Swan Island
plant is the only site manufacturing
Western Star trucks, which are special-
ized for use in logging, mining, and
other industries.
Members of Machinists Lodge 1005
and Sign Painters and Painter Makers
Local 1094 walked out after rejecting a
company offer that included raises of
$1.30 an hour over three years. They’ve
had no raises for four years, during
which time productivity increased 25
percent. The company’s proposed raises
would have been partially offset by in-
creased health insurance co-pays. The
company proposal also would eliminate
supplemental health coverage after re-
tirees turn 65.
The strike has also idled 117 mem-
bers of Teamsters Local 305 and 19
members of Service Employees Inter-
national Union Local 49 who work at
the truck plant. Workers in those units
voted to ratify the company’s offer, but
are honoring the picket line.
On July 2, the company declared that
employer-provided medical benefits
were terminated effective July 1 — not
just for the strikers but for Local 305
and 49 members as well, who were
deemed to be waging a “sympathy
strike.” Workers will have 60 days to de-
cide whether to continue health insur-
ance coverage at their own expense.
COBRA coverage will cost over $500
a month for single employees, and as
much as $1,672 a month for family cov-
erage.
“The company is playing hard ball
trying to make sure it’s painful for
folks,” Kear said.
Workers received their final checks
July 9 for work performed prior to July
1, so there are no immediate hardship
cases yet, said Dave Clingen, chair of
the strike resource committee. Clingen
said his committee’s purpose is to make
sure members don’t give in to company
demands because of financial hardship.
As the strike continues, the committee
(Turn to Page 5)