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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 2013)
Oregon building trades back Merkley for re-election LINCOLN CITY — U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley picked up his first union en- dorsement Aug. 16 when the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council (OSBCTC) backed his re-elec- tion. The council was meeting at its 52nd annual convention Aug. 16-18 at Salishan Lodge. Merkley, who is entering the final year of his first six-year term, focused his remarks on restoring middle-class jobs. OSBCTC represents more than 25,000 construction workers in 29 unions and six district councils. “If we want this nation to get back on track and grow again, we’d better focus — hard — on jobs for the middle class,” he said. “...The byproducts are going to drive the economy back to success in a much more powerful way.” Merkley said that thanks to a strong labor movement, America experienced a huge growth in its middle class from 1945 to 1975. Workers saw their real wages increase as productivity in- creased. “And then something changed,” he said. With increasingly virulent attacks on unions, wages went flat for the next three-and-half decades (despite contin- ued increases in productivity). Then the Great Recession of 2008 hit and wages declined. “Sixty to 80 percent of the jobs lost (in the Great Recession) were living wage jobs, but only about 40 percent of the jobs we’re getting back are living wage jobs,” he said. “We’re getting a whole lot of no benefit, minimum wage jobs.” Merkley said the United States must invest more in its infrastructure, invest more in career technical education, get back to manufacturing, and require fed- erally-funded projects to use American- made materials. He has sponsored a number of bills that would provide low interest loans and loan guarantees and credits for in- stalling energy-efficient renovations in commercial and multi-family residen- tial buildings. The bills include the Ru- ral Energy Savings Program and the Water Infrastructure Finance and the In- novation Authority (WIFIA). The Ru- ral Energy Savings Program would as- sist rural electric co-ops in offering low- interest loans to their customers, which families and businesses can repay through savings on their monthly en- ergy bills. WIFIA would help urban and rural municipalities replace and repair aged and crumbling water supply infra- structure and wastewater treatment fa- cilities using low-cost federal loans. “This is the most cost effective strat- egy there is — the biggest bang for the buck in creating jobs.You get huge leverage for low interest loans, and you can’t outsource the jobs, and 95-plus percent of the materials are made in the United States,” Merkley said. Both concepts have passed in the Senate but are now bogged down in the U.S. House. Merkley pointed out that the U.S. spends only 2 percent of its gross do- mestic product on infrastructure, com- pared to 10 percent in China and 5 per- cent in Europe. “China has gone from bicycles to bullet trains over the last 10 years,” he said. “We’re barely repairing the infra- structure we already have, let alone building infrastructure for the future economy. That’s no way to prepare for the future economy.” Merkley has championed several amendments on Buy America. One closed a loophole that allowed the San Francisco Bay Bridge to use Chinese steel. Merkley also employed a floor U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley greets delegates after speaking at the 52nd annual convention of the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council. He is pictured above shaking hands with A.J. Blair, financial secretary of Iron Workers Shopmen Local 516. At the left is Stan Daniels, business manager of Insulators Local 36. amendment to include Buy America language in the WIFIA legislation. In addition to Merkley, several elected leaders addressed the conven- tion, including Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian, Secretary of State Kate Brown, state Treasurer Ted Wheeler, state Sen. Lee Beyer (D-Eugene), and state Reps. Val Hoyle, (D-Eugene), Caddy McKeown, (D-Coos Bay), Mar- garet Doherty, (D-Portland), and Julie Parrish, (R-Tualatin). Hoyle was awarded the “Legislator of the Year,” and Doherty was recog- nized as having the “Fastest Gavel in the West.” (Turn to Page 3) (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon as a voice of the labor movement. 4275 NE Halsey St., P.O. Box 13150, Portland, Ore. 97213 Telephone: (503) 288-3311 Editor: Michael Gutwig Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non- profit corporation owned by 20 unions and councils including the Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Ore- gon and SW Washington. Subscriptions $13.75 per year for union members. Group rates available to trade union organizations. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a change of address. When ordering a change, please give your old and new addresses and the name and number of your local union. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS, P.O. BOX 13150, PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 PAGE 2 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS SEPTEMBER 6, 2013
