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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 3, 2014)
...2013: Year in Review (From Page 1) a campaign by the Machinists to union- ize Precision Castparts went down in a 932 to 1,258 vote. C ONTRACT DISPUTES A unit of 1,800 Univer- sity of Oregon faculty ratified their first-ever union contract in October, delivering greater job security and raises averag- ing 11.75 percent. That was the product of a six-year campaign. But at year’s end, three other large public employee units were hav- ing great difficulty securing ac- ceptable contract renewals: 1,600 members of the District Council of Trade Unions at the City of Port- land, 2,000 members of Amalga- mated Transit Union Local 757 at TriMet, and 3,000 members of the Portland Association of Teachers at Portland Public Schools. And large private sector employ- ers were playing hardball with their union employees. In February, United Grain locked out members of Interna- tional Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) from its export terminal at the Port of Vancouver, and Columbia Grain did the same in May at its terminal at the Port of Portland. ILWU members were still locked out of those jobs at year’s end. Meanwhile, members of Machinists Lodge 1005 and Sign Painters and Paint Makers Local 1094 at Daimler’s Western Star truck plant in Portland struck 22 days and returned to work after agreeing to a contract that was little changed from the one they rejected before the strike: Raises of $1.30 an hour over three years, but also increased health in- surance premiums and an end to post-65 retiree health benefits. And Boeing Inc. told union Machinists it would leave the Puget Sound behind and locate new aircraft assembly elsewhere — if they didn’t vote to end their own pensions and sell out future co- workers with a wage scale that more than doubled the time it takes to reach top pay. With three years still remaining on their existing contract, members turned down that of- fer by a more than two-to-one ratio. Intel’s Ronler Acres campus in Hills- boro in 2013, with thousands employed throughout the year. And in general, work in the building trades was up. In May, the massive remodel of the Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal Building was completed: The $139-million stim- ulus-funded project employed union la- bor under a project labor agreement, and was completed on time and on budget two years and four months af- ter site work began. Union business managers pushed hard in 2013 to develop future work opportunities: If financing comes to- gether for a convention center head- quarters hotel in Portland, Hyatt Corp. and its general contractor pledged in 2013 to use union building trades members to build it — and to remain neutral toward union organizing efforts by the hotel workers union UNITE HERE once it opens. But the area’s biggest jobs project, a new I-5 bridge over the Columbia River, was no closer to reality after years of planning: The Oregon Legislature committed $450 million to the project, but the Washing- ton Senate failed to vote the necessary matching amount. J OBS , JOBS , JOBS U NIONS MERGE , AND SPLIT Union construction workers were kept busy at the massive expansion of In 2013, the 10,400-member Ore- gon Nurses Association joined Ameri- Kedir Wako had a vision that he and fellow cabbies could form a new driver- owned union-affiliated taxi coop. In April, Union Cab became a reality. can Federation of Teachers (AFT); and 200-member Boilermakers Local 500, based in Portland, merged into 350- member Local 242, based in Spokane. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) locals 49 and 503 began merger discussions, which they expected to conclude in Spring 2014; if they unify, the combination would be a 65,000- member union of janitors, security guards, health care workers, and state employees. Nationally, 1.3 million-member United Food and Commercial Workers resolved in August to rejoin the AFL- CIO, the federation it broke away from eight years prior. But International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), went the opposite direction: The 50,000-member union of West Coast dockworkers disaffiliated with the AFL-CIO, citing jurisdictional dis- putes with other AFL-CIO unions. With the help of union labor, Portland’s 18-story, city-block-sized federal building got a “green” remodel, and reopened in September. The names of all the workers are printed on glass at the building’s entrance. D ON ’ T MOURN ; ORGANIZE The local labor movement also noted the passing of a number of long- time union activists in 2013, including Tommy Malloy, former Teamsters business agent and lobbyist; Bill Fritz, former labor educator with the Univer- sity of Oregon Labor Education and Research Center; Ken Jette, former statewide president of the American Postal Workers Union; Kathy Morris, retired United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 official and expert on workers’ compensation; Lin Mayes, former secretary-treasurer of UFCW Local 555; Larry Kenney, former pres- ident of the Washington State Labor Council; Sandy Fahey, co-founder of the Carpenters Food Bank; and Tom Gates, former president of National As- sociation of Letter Carriers Branch 916 in Eugene. Machinists picket the Daimler Trucks plant in Portland on July 1, Day 1 of a strike that lasted 22 days. Low Prices! Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6 JANUARY 3 2014 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS PAGE 7
