UNION LABEL: The ultimate hard-to-find gift
Remember Charles Dickens and the ghost of
Christmas future? One hundred seventy years after
A Christmas Carol was published, today’s Tiny
Tims will have a grim future indeed if they wait
for a change of heart from today’s Ebenezer
Scrooges. We need the Bob Cratchetts of the world
to unionize and win back health care, paid time off
and a living wage. In that spirit, we propose the
following early New Year’s Resolution — Buy
nothing from sweatshops, and look for the union
label. Of course the union label can be hard to find
these days. So we’ve done the looking and come
up with 10 gift ideas for goods and services
brought to you by union members.
1) BLANKETS. The gift of
warmth starts with wool. Beau-
tiful Pendleton Woolen Mills
blankets, like the queen-size
mineral-umber Yakima camp
blanket, $139, are quality-made
by members of Service Em-
ployees International Union
(SEIU) at mills in Pendleton,
Oregon, and Washougal, Wash-
ington. And they last a lifetime.
Buy them at Pendleton outlet
stores, retailers like Made In
Oregon, and online at pendle-
ton-usa.com.
7) COOKWARE. There’s quality American
steel in All-Clad pots and pans, union-made by
members of the United Steelworkers (USW) Local
3403 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
3) BOOKS. Forget Amazon.com, notorious for
its nonunion sweatshop warehouses. At Powell’s
Books, the nation’s largest independent book store,
workers are represented by International Long-
shore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 5.
Books, gifts, and gift cards are available at six Port-
land-area locations and online at powells.com.
8) MUSIC. Visualize a union member. Do you
see the trombone? At most major symphony or-
chestras, American Federation of Musicians helps
ensure a living wage for musicians. For $15 to $42,
you can see AFM Local 99 members in the Ore-
gon Symphony perform Comfort and Joy, a Dec.
22 matinee of classical Christmas favorites.
4) WINE. Year after year,
Chateau St. Michelle produces top-
ranked wines as judged by Wine
Spectator and Wine & Spirits maga-
zine. And they’re made by members
of United Farm Workers and Team-
sters Local 117 in Washington’s Co-
lumbia Valley wine region. [Tip: It
tastes best and costs least when pur-
chased at unionized retailers like
Fred Meyer or Safeway.]
2) BOOTS. Danner hiking and hunting boots
— made in Portland by members of United Food
and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 555 —
are serious business. We won’t say they’re inde-
structible, but let’s just say you could go through
three $100 pairs of sweatshop-made boots at other
manufacturers or you could buy one $300 pair of
West Virginia, by members of Glass, Molders, Pot-
tery, Plastic and Allied Workers (GMP) Local 419.
built-to-last Danner boots and support a fellow
union member. Get them at Danner’s Portland out-
let store, 12021 NE Airport Way, or at Al’s Shoe’s
and Boots — a long-time supporter of the NW La-
bor Press — at 5811 NE 82nd Ave. [Danner does
import some boots, so check the label: If it’s U.S.-
made, it’s union-made.]
5) CHOCOLATE. See’s Can-
dies gift boxes are available in all
price ranges, and are made in Cali-
fornia by members of Bakery, Confectionery, To-
bacco and Grain Millers. A 29-piece Christmas
Gold Wreath box runs $32.75.
6) DINNERWARE. Fiesta dinnerware is col-
orful, timeless, and proudly U.S.-made in Newell,
9) BLADES. For the family hunter or fisher,
knives made by Gerber Legendary Blades make a
sharp-looking gift, and they’re made in Southwest
Portland by members of Machinists District Lodge
W24. [Some Gerber knives are imported, but if it
says Made in Portland on the blade, it’s union-
made.]
10) AUTOMOTIVE. At In and Out Auto Care
in Gladstone, Oregon, automotive service is pro-
vided by members of Machinists District Lodge
W24. All-purpose gift certificates for any amount
fit neatly in a stocking, and can be used for tune-
ups, maintenance, or repairs. Visit inandoutauto-
care.com or call 503-786-0700.
Last but not least …
HOLIDAY CARDS: Who knew? Homestead
Cards, a division of Portland-based Morel Ink
(877-515-5010), and American Greetings holiday
cards are U.S.-made by union Teamsters.
You can buy American Greetings cards from a
UFCW member for $2.99 at Fred Meyer, and have
them delivered anywhere in the United States for
46 cents by a member of the National Association
of Letter Carriers. Drop by the post office or online
at usps.com for holiday-themed forever stamps.
STOCKING SWEETS: Fill up your stock-
ings with Seattle-made Almond Roca or San Fran-
cisco-made Ghirardelli chocolates, both produced
by members of the Bakery, Confectionery, To-
bacco and Grain Millers.
GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP: When you run out
of room for out-of-town relatives, the Portland
metro area’s four unionized hotels are surprisingly
affordable, and they support family wages and
benefits for members of UNITE HERE Local 9:
Downtown Hilton Hotel and Executive Tower, The
Benson Hotel, Paramount, and the Vancouver
Hilton & Convention Center.
UO graduate fellows begin contract talks
By STEFAN OSTRACH
Special Correspondent
EUGENE — Surrounded by more
than 100 union members and support-
ers, the University of Oregon’s man-
agement negotiating team on Nov. 22
received a comprehensive proposal
from the Graduate Teaching Fellows
Federation (GTFF) Local 3544. The
GTFF, an affiliate of the American Fed-
eration of Teachers, represents more
than 1,500 graduate student teachers
and researchers at UO. Members teach
a third of the classes at the college. Bar-
gaining is being held in open session,
though management and union cau-
cuses are closed.
GTFF organizer Amber Cooper pre-
sented the union’s proposals for im-
provements in working conditions,
health care, and economics. The union
wants basic kitchen appliances and
wireless internet available in all work
areas, paid parental leave, expanded
PSU professors protest bottom-
tier pay and no job security
“I don’t have any job security,” said
Portland State University philosophy
professor Brian Elliott at a Nov. 19
union rally. “That’s why I’m here.”
Full-time PSU faculty are repre-
sented by American Association of Uni-
versity Professors (AAUP), but this
year’s union contract talks have not pro-
duced an agreement, and the two sides
begin mediation this month.
Elliott, who wore a cap and gown to
the rally, was a tenured professor in
University College Dublin, but fol-
lowed his wife to Portland in 2008.
“There I made $100,000 and had a job
for life,” Elliott. “Here I make $40,000
and have no job security whatsoever.”
AAUP is pushing a number of pro-
PAGE 8
posals to improve job security for non-
tenured faculty. For example, they
would be on year-to-year contracts in-
stead of term-to-term as now, and two-
or three-year contracts after they’ve
worked there four years. PSU adminis-
tration said ‘no’ to that.
PSU is proposing a 1 percent across-
the-board pay raise — at a school
whose faculty are among the least-paid
in the United States. AAUP is propos-
ing a series of raises, including a 2.5
percent COLA, a 1 percent across-the-
board raise, and bigger raises when fac-
ulty are promoted.
The sides will meet with a mediator
Dec. 18 and 19.
protection against discrimination, job
security, getting paid on payday, major
dental and improved vision coverage,
compensation for student fees, and
wage increases.
Cooper stressed that good family
health insurance, which is provided
through a union trust, is a big draw for
graduate students considering coming
to UO, but lack of coverage for major
dental work like crowns and fillings is a
serious gap in that coverage.
Explaining the GTFF’s opening pro-
posal for a 6.1 percent wage increase,
Cooper cited an estimate by the univer-
sity’s own financial aid office that
$1,620 a month was needed, Cooper
said, “We are only asking for salaries to
cover at least basic costs of living as a
graduate student in Eugene.”
Pay for a typical teaching fellow, she
said, is $960 per month.
UO said it will respond with a pro-
posal of its own at the next session
scheduled for Dec.13.
GTFF was first organized in 1976,
making it one of the earliest unions of
graduate student employees in the U.S.
Other unions at the University of
Oregon have all settled their contracts.
They include faculty (United Academ-
ics, American Federation of Teachers,
and American Association of University
Professors); classified workers (Service
Employees Local 503); and printers
(Teamsters).
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Historical Society recognizes Ken Fry
Ken Fry, a member of IBEW Local 48 and a retired executive director of
NECA-IBEW Electrical Training Center, was presented with the “2013
Volunteer of the Year” award Nov. 21 by the Clark County Historical Society
in Vancouver, Washington. Making the presentation above is museum director
Susan Tissot. Fry was recognized for his involvement in the museum’s
summer neighborhood walking tours, as well as his contribution to the
“Labor: A Working History” exhibit currently underway at the museum. Fry
did extensive research on both projects. He also designed and constructed an
electrical tool identification game for children (and adults). Fry estimates he
donated more than 500 hours to the museum in 2013. The Clark County
Historical Society also gave Special recognition to Roben White, president of
Painters Local 10, for his work on the labor exhibit, which highlights Clark
County’s union workers through words, images and artifacts, plus interactive
displays. The exhibit runs through Dec. 31, 2014.
DECEMBER 6, 2013