Inside
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Page 6
Volume 114
Number 17
September 6, 2013
Portland, Oregon
Talks stall over City’s push to end outsourcing protections
By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
The City of Portland is pushing to make it easier to outsource the
jobs of its union workers. In negotiations with the seven-union 1,600-
employee coalition known as the District Council of Trade Unions
(DCTU), the City is proposing to eliminate a protection against con-
tracting out that has been in the union collective bargaining agree-
ment since the 1980s.
Article 6 of the City’s collective bargaining agreement with
DCTU says that the City may not outsource work that is done by
bargaining unit members — unless doing so saves taxpayer money.
And, crucially, those savings can’t come from paying lower wages
and benefits to the workers who do the work. Article 6 also says the
City has to notify the unions if it’s considering contracting out, and
it says no bargaining unit member will lose employment as a result
of contracting out.
DCTU leaders say eliminating those protections would grease the
skids for greater privatization of City services. Not only would that
reduce job security for City workers, but it would signal a turn away
from the notion of the City should be a living-wage employer. It
would also eliminate a brake on corruption and waste, since City
managers would be able to contract out without having to show that
doing so would save money.
DCTU members do much of the city’s most tangible work. They
are blue-collar workers who maintain water and sewer systems, parks
and roads, and white-collar clerical workers in Police and other bu-
reaus. They are members of AFSCME Local 189, Electrical Work-
ers Local 48, Laborers Local 483, Machinists Local 1005, Operating
Engineers Local 701, Painters Local 10, and Plumbers and Fitters
Local 290.
Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman (on stage)
announced at the Labor Day picnic that he’ll run for re-election.
But as symbolized by the sign held by union retiree Willard
Valentine, there’s a cloud hanging over his relationship with
organized labor: A City push to make it easier to outsource
workers, in bargaining with the seven-union 1,600 employee
coalition known as DCTU.
“We have eyes on the ground," said Laborers Local 483 Field
Rep Lon Holston. “We’re the best watchdog a citizen could have.”
Article 6 puts unions in the position of guarding against waste,
since the City must show cost savings before it can outsource union
members’ jobs.
“No citizen is going to come in off the street and ask them if
they’re saving money through contracting out,” said Painters union
member Mike Keebaugh, a shop steward and member of the DCTU
bargaining team. “Unions are the last line of defense of accountabil-
ity.”
Contract bargaining has been under way since February, and the
two sides have agreed on most items. The City’s proposal to undo re-
strictions on outsourcing is now the sticking point preventing agree-
ment on a new contract.
“There’s no reason to change this rule,” said Northwest Oregon
Labor Council Executive Board member Sam Gillispie. Gillispie —
now grievance director of United Food and Commercial Workers
(UFCW) Local 555 — was an AFSCME business representative in
the 1980s, and helped get Article 6 into the DCTU contract. Gillispie
likens Article 6 to the “Davis-Bacon” requirement to pay the pre-
vailing wage on construction jobs, because it sets a standard that gov-
ernment, as a purchaser of labor, won't use its buying power to push
down wages and benefits.
“It’s worked well,” Gillispie said. “The City is still able to contract
something out, if they can show savings that don’t come from lower
wages and benefits.”
Dana Haynes, spokesperson for Mayor Charlie Hales, declined to
offer any explanation or justification for the City’s proposal on Arti-
cle 6, saying it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment on specifics of
(Turn to Page 5)
Unions, allies, march for jobs on 50th anniversary of March on Washington
A large contingent of members from IBEW Local 48 were among several
thousand gathered in Portland Aug. 24 to commemorate the 50th anniversary
of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Among them were
Ettione Dixon, Desiree Dixon, Christina Valentine and Andre Lawrence.
Echoing the themes they marched to
50 years ago, tens of thousands of
unionists and their civil rights allies
marched to the Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, D.C., on Aug. 24 to com-
memorate the 50th anniversary of the
March on Washington for Jobs and
Freedom, and to re-commit themselves
to continue the fight for social and eco-
nomic justice — regardless of race, eth-
nicity, gender, sexual orientation or
place of birth.
Similar rallies were held simultane-
ously around the country, including
Portland, where an estimated 2,000
people marched through the streets.
More than a dozen unions were rep-
resented in Washington, D.C., and in
Portland.
The Portland event was sponsored
by Albina Ministerial Alliance Coali-
tion for Justice & Police Reform, the
Urban League of Portland, NAACP of
Portland, ACLU of Portland, Ecumeni-
cal Ministries of Oregon, and several la-
bor and community-based organiza-
tions. Speakers included John Mohlis,
executive secretary of the Oregon State
Building and Construction Trades
Council. Tom Chamberlain, president
of the Oregon AFL-CIO, and U.S. Sen.
Jeff Merkley participated in the march.
Union banners were scattered among
some 2,000 people marching from
Terry Schrunk Plaza to South
Waterfront Park in Portland.
The actual anniversary of the March
on Washington is Aug. 28. On that day
in 1963 the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. gave his historic “I Have a
Dream” speech, which accelerated pas-
sage of the Civil Rights Act and the Vot-
ing Rights Act.
It’s little known that AFL-CIO vice
president and president of the Brother-
hood of Sleeping Car Porters A. Philip
Randolph, along with labor and civil
rights activist Bayard Rustin and United
Auto Workers (UAW) President Walter
Reuther conceptualized and called for
the march.
“It’s the same fight for the same
principles” that Dr. King stood for,
UAW President Bob King told Press
Associates Union News Service in
Washington, D.C. That fight includes
workers’ rights (to join a union) and the
right to vote.
“This march was just the start,” King
said.
There was no shortage of causes to
rally behind in both D.C. (where the
crowd was estimated at over 100,000)
(Turn to Page 8)