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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 2013)
UFCW’s Gillispie tapped to chair school board Longtime labor leader Sam Gillispie, grievance director of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, has been elected chair of the North Clacka- mas School District board of directors. Gillispie has served on the board for 18 years. Gillispie worked as a business representative for Oregon AFSCME Council 75 prior to joining the staff at Local 555. His first meeting as chair was July 3. Machinists’ Guide Dog Dash Aug. 24 The 7th annual Guide Dog Dash motorcycle poker run will be held Saturday, Aug 24. Starting this year, the event will be re-named the Richard Martin Memorial Guide Dog Dash in remembrance of the longtime union Machinist who died last year. The Guide Dog Dash is sponsored by Machinists Lodge 63 and IAM District W24. Registration is at 9 a.m. at the IBEW Local 48 Union Hall, 15937 NE Airport Way, Portland. The last ride out is at 10:30 a.m. The ride will finish at Lewisville Regional Park, 26411 NE Lewisville Hwy, Vancou- ver (Ponderosa area). Registration is $25 per rider and $10 per passenger and includes a T- shirt, food after the ride, and raffle prizes. All proceeds benefit Guide Dogs of America. For more information, contact John Hall at 503-449-0969 or go on- line to www.iamw24.org. PAGE 10 IBEW latest union to oppose Obamacare WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) — The International Brotherhood of Elec- trical Workers (IBEW), one of the na- tion’s largest construction unions, is calling for changes to the Affordable Care Act so that workers covered by multi-employer plans don’t get hurt or lose coverage. In ads running July 26 in Washing- ton, D.C.-based publications, the union says the health insurance revision law, dubbed Obamacare, would leave multi-employer plans jointly run by unions and management in construc- tion and other industries with disad- vantages, and would let most construc- tion firms opt out of covering workers altogether. IBEW said 95 percent of construc- tion contractors would be exempt from the law because they employ fewer than 50 people. Many of those contrac- tors join multi-employer plans, which cover workers who move from firm to firm, where the jobs are. IBEW International President Ed Hill said the way Obamacare is being interpreted, many contractors would have an incentive to drop out of cover- ing workers, and low-road contractors would get an advantage over those who provide their workers benefits. Besides the ads, the union published a detailed four-page white paper on the problems facing workers covered by multi-employer plans, asking readers to contact lawmakers about the problems. IBEW’s objections are important be- cause Hill — like four other union pres- idents who have raised concerns — Delay of employer mandate in Obamacare chafes AFL-CIO WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) — The AFL-CIO is not happy with the Obama Administration’s recent an- nouncement to postpone for one year the employer mandate provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In a statement, national AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called the postponement “troubling” and implied the Obama Administration bowed to business pressure. The health care re- form, dubbed Obamacare, passed in 2010. Obama announced the postpone- ment earlier this month, citing the com- plexity of instituting the mandate in 2014. The mandate orders all employ- ers with more than 50 workers to pro- vide health care coverage or pay a tax per worker to cover costs of care for the uninsured. The uninsured would get care through state- or federally-run health care exchanges. Many GOP-run states are resisting the exchanges. “In the health reform debate, we fought to ensure employers have a re- sponsibility to provide affordable, com- prehensive health benefits to their work- ers and their families,” Trumka said, noting that private-sector health care coverage has been declining for years as employers shift its costs onto work- ers or dump it entirely. “The employer responsibility provi- sion in the ACA, while not as strong as we asked for, was designed to give large employers an incentive to offer or con- tinue offering affordable, comprehen- sive health care coverage to some of their employees. Dropping the mandate ends that incentive,” Trumka added. The nation’s largest private-sector employer, anti-union Walmart, is an ex- ample of what Trumka was talking about and what the mandate is sup- posed to fix. Walmart health care is expensive — especially given its low wages — and available only to full-time workers. And Walmart carefully curbs workers’ hours to keep them part-time. More than 40 percent of Walmart workers and their families depend on Medicaid or public programs for health care. “The Administration’s announce- ment that it is delaying employer re- sponsibility assessments until 2015 is troubling because it removes that in- centive for next year,” Trumka said. “In light of this decision, we believe it is even more urgent for Congress and the Administration to reaffirm their com- mitment to employer responsibility.” The ACA still needs some improve- ments, Trumka said. Notably, its re- quirements must be rewritten to make multi-employer plans — jointly run with unions in industries such as con- struction and food manufacturing — vi- able. “We hope the Administration will address these concerns just as they have the concerns voiced by employers,” he concluded. NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS point to President Barack Obama’s promise that anyone with insurance who wants to keep it can do so. United Food and Commercial Work- ers President Joe Hansen, Teamsters President James Hoffa, and UNITE HERE President D. Taylor took their concerns public in letters to congres- sional leaders in mid-July, adding that the White House “stonewalled” them. Kinsey Robinson, president of the Roofers Union, was the first to cite problems facing multi-employer plans under Obamacare. He called for the Administration to fix the problems, otherwise, repeal the law. Until now, Hill privately lobbied lawmakers to make changes to the law. EE R F “I said three years ago the Afford- able Care Act was a major step in health care coverage, but not the last step,” Hill said in a video on IBEW’s website. “That’s why IBEW is urging the president and Congress to take steps to ensure the future of multi-em- ployer plans,” which cover 26 million workers and retirees. IBEW, like the other unions, wants the federal government to change Oba- macare rules so firms participating in multi-employer plans, and workers the plans cover, would be eligible for fed- eral insurance subsidies and tax cred- its. IBEW also wants to reduce the no- coverage exemption for businesses, now 50 people, but did not say how far. BARGAIN COUNTER Free classified ads to subscribers DEADLINE: Friday prior to publication Published 1st and 3rd Fridays Now accepting e-mails Send to: Michael492@comcast.net Mail to: NWLP, PO Box 13150, Portland OR 97213 (Please include union affiliation) • 15-20 words • No commercial or business ads • 1 ad per issue • All lower case (NO CAPITAL LETTERS, PLEASE) • Ads MUST include area code or they will not be published A UTOMOTIVE ’84 DATSUN 300 ZX, 50th anniversary turbo, straight body, runs great, $2,500. 503-539-7499 ‘50 FORD HOOD, damaged, bad, $100. 503-630-4177 ‘92 DODGE DIESEL, 1 ton, 84k mi, one owner’ ‘96 10’9” Western Wilderness camper, stored exc cond, $15,000. 541- 337-3945 lection, paying fairly, any amount welcome. 503-939-8835 COLLECTOR, cash paid, old fishing tackle, wood plugs, reels, creels, salmon fishing photos, etc. 503-775-4166 COLLECTOR PAYS cash for older toys, oil paintings, American art pottery, and cos- tume jewelry. 503 703-5952 HAM RADIO & short wave radio equip, (no CBs), including older 1950s/60s/70s equipment w/tubes. 503-823-4577 H OUSING M ISCELLANEOUS ROCKAWAY BEACH rental, 3 bed, 2 bath, sleeps 10, Jacuzzi, 5 min to beach/shops. Vacationhomerentals.com/43026 LINCOLN CITY vacation rental, 3 bdrm, 2 bath. sleeps 8, wi-fi, 2 blks from beach, 3 blks from casino. 503-653-2069 ROCKAWAY ocean front, 503-777-5076, 5 bdrms/2 ba, HUGE home on the beach! http://rockawaybeachfrontrental.com LONG BEACH, WA, 2 bed, 2 bath, house, lrg shop, greenhouse, fenced gardens, 1 acre, reduced to $154,900. 503-440-5751 200 ACRES, Spray Oregon, $750 per acre. 541-468-2961 TEMP CONSTRUCTION FENCE, with clamps and feet, used 2 times. 19-10ft; 3- 12ft. $500. 503-729-6483 RYOBI TABLESAW w/ stand & built in router, 10-inch blade, router bits, $125; bench belt sander $50. 503-622- 0899 6 MARINE SOLID brass 9.5” ceiling or wall mount fixtures, brass cross guards over 7.5” frosted glass, $40 each OBO. 503- 598-8994 LAWN MOWER motors, 12.5 and 13 HP, Briggs, elect. Start, vert, shaft, $100 each. 503-780-0374 (Colton) W ANTED OLD WOODWORKING tools, planes, lev- els, chisels, handsaws, slicks, adzes, wrenches, folding rulers, leather tools, tool chests. 503-659-0009 MOTORCYCLES, quads, boats, tractors, RVs, trailers, bicycles, autos, lawnmowers, cash paid will pick up 503-880-8183 U.S., GERMAN, Japanese military items, uniforms, aviation, hats, helmets, swords, daggers, bayonets, rifles, pistols. 503-852- 6791 BUYING US & world coins to add to col- S PORTING G OODS ’08 Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail, 2,500 mi, 2-tone metallic red, extra leather, saddle bags, helmets, $15,500. 503-806- 0575 ’08 FLEETWOOD Highlander Avalon tent trailer, tandem axle, dual batteries & propane, exc cond, $11,500 obo. 503-349- 7189 ‘94 COMPANION 5th-wheel, 27.5, well maintained with hitch, $5,800; ’02 Chev ¾ HD extra cab,Duramax 12k. 503-667- 1093 AUGUST 2, 2013
