Machinists Union
challenge slate
moves forward
A Portland Boeing
worker is in the running
for national IAM office
A team of seven candidates has
cleared the first hurdle in a challenge to
the national leadership of 577,000
member International Association of
Machinists (IAM). The slate is led by
Connecticut railroad mechanic and for-
mer union rep Jay Cronk, and it in-
cludes Pat Maloney, a Local Lodge 63
member at Boeing’s Gresham aircraft
parts plant.
On Jan. 25, roughly 800 local
lodges around the United States held
nominating meetings. Cronk’s slate re-
ceived nominations in about 95 of
them. In 14 local lodges, candidates on
Cronk’s slate were the only ones nom-
inated, and thus were automatically en-
dorsed by those locals. The other 80-
plus local lodges will choose who to
endorse in meetings that are scheduled
to be held Feb. 8.
In the Portland area, Maloney’s Lo-
cal Lodge 63 was the only local to
nominate the Cronk slate; the slate of
incumbent Thomas Buffenbarger was
also nominated in Local 63, so it will
hold the Feb. 8 special meeting to de-
Bernard changes mind, votes to give
county ambulance contract to AMR
P AT M ALONEY
cide which to en-
dorse.
Any candidates winning the en-
dorsement of at least 25 local lodges on
Feb. 8 will appear on the national bal-
lot, which will be voted on by members
at the first regularly scheduled meeting
of each local lodge in April.
The entire process is being overseen
by the U.S. Department of Labor,
which found last year that IAM elec-
tion rules ran afoul of a federal law, and
called for a re-run election.
Besides Cronk, who’s running for
IAM international president, the slate
includes Dale Cancienne for general
secretary treasurer and five candidates
for general vice president, including
Maloney. Because election rules re-
quire that locals nominate for all eight
general vice president positions, the
Cronk slate also added three incumbent
vice presidents to its list: Mark
Blondin, Gary Allen, and Lynn Tucker.
That means that regardless of whoever
prevails in April, those three will con-
tinue on as vice presidents. Allen is cur-
rently assigned to IAM’s western re-
gion, while Blondin, who for years was
assigned to the aerospace division, has
been reassigned to IAM’s southern re-
gion.
Clackamas County Commissioner
Jim Bernard has had a change of heart
and will vote to award the county’s
emergency ambulance service to
American Medical Response (AMR).
At a commissioners work session
Feb. 4, Bernard proposed that the
county negotiate a new ambulance
contract with AMR. He was sup-
ported by Commissioners Martha
Schrader and Paul Savas, and op-
posed by Chair John Ludlow and
Commissioner Tootie Smith.
About 140 paramedics, emer-
gency medical technicians (EMTs)
and dispatchers are members of
Teamsters Local 223.
AMR won the open bidding
process on April 24, 2013, as it was
the only company to submit a pro-
posal. Nonunion rival Metro West
Ambulance had a bid prepared, but
missed the filing deadline.
Commissioners voted 3-2 in May
to “issue an intent to award” the con-
tract to AMR, with Bernard and Lud-
low dissenting. AMR then entered
into negotiations with county staff
and other stakeholders and came to
terms on a final contract.
But when Savas and Schrader
tried to move the contract forward,
they were opposed by Ludlow and
Smith. Bernard abstained from vot-
ing, leaving the board deadlocked at
2-2. In recusing himself, Bernard
AFSCME backs Bailey in Multnomah County
At its Jan. 15 meeting, members of
AFSCME Local 88 voted to endorse
Jules Bailey for Multnomah County
Commission. Local 88 represents 2,600
employees of Multnomah County. Bai-
ley and fellow candidate Brian Wilson
are vying for the commission seat va-
cated by Deb Kafoury, who’s running
for County chair.
Local 88’s political action commit-
tee interviewed Bailey and Wilson, and
held a forum for members to hear from
the two. In the members-only discus-
sion that followed, members praised
both candidates, but Bailey was the
unanimous pick in the vote to endorse.
Bailey is a three-term state represen-
tative with a stellar pro-labor voting
record. In the 2013 legislative session,
Oregon AFSCME awarded him a 110
percent rating: Not only did he vote in
accord with the union 100 percent of
the time, but he worked behind the
scenes to advance legislation.
Bailey was one of only a handful of
legislators to publicly criticize Gov.
John Kitzhaber’s “grand bargain” legis-
lation in a September 2013 special ses-
sion, and he voted against the legisla-
tion, which cut public employee
pensions (PERS) and gave big tax
breaks to small businesses. Ironically,
the Oregonian editorial board singled
out Bailey for that defiance, writing that
“County voters should remember his
PAGE 8
position on PERS reform.” Bailey said
he’d be only too glad if they did: Cut-
ting pension benefits of retired workers
is wrong.
For Bailey, PERS is personal, too:
His father, a lifelong AFSCME mem-
ber, collects a public employee pension
after a career at the Oregon Department
of Land Conservation and Develop-
ment. Bailey credits his dad’s union-ne-
gotiated health benefits for the afford-
able medical treatment he received
when at age 15 he fractured his spine in
three places.
As a legislator, he also helped pass
“green jobs” legislation, including the
law that created Clean Energy Works
Oregon and set wage, benefit, and ap-
prenticeship standards for workers on
publicly subsidized residential weather-
ization projects.
Bailey came to labor’s aid outside
the Capitol too: walking strike picket
lines with members of AFSCME at the
Metropolitan Education Service Dis-
trict, officiating in a card-check union-
ization effort, and writing a letter to Xe-
rox calling on them to settle a contract.
The other contender for county com-
mission, Brian Wilson, is a commercial
real estate developer and investor. At the
Local 88 forum, he said all the right
things on the labor litmus issues: Pre-
vailing wage, he said, is the right thing
to do, while as for “union busting” Ini-
tiative Petition 9, “it’s bullshit.” Wilson
also earned kudos from Local 88 mem-
bers for his volunteer service on count-
less task forces and commissions, in-
cluding his work alongside the union to
pass a special library funding district.
But between the two it was hard not
to see Bailey as the union pick.
Bailey said he would commit to rais-
ing money to oppose IP 9, which he
said is part of a national effort to attack
unions.
“We don’t just want to defeat it,”
Bailey told Local 88 members. “We
want it to go down in flames.”
Besides Local 88, Bailey is endorsed
by Communication Workers of Amer-
ica Local 7901, United Food & Com-
mercial Workers Local 555, and IBEW
Local 48.
claimed he had been “threatened” by
AMR: An email by AMR General
Manager Randy Lauer said he would
raise money to back a candidate to
run against Bernard and refers to
Bernard as “enemy #1.”
AMR and the Teamsters Union
think that Bernard — a former mayor
of Milwaukie and the board’s longest-
serving member (since 2008) — or-
chestrated putting the ambulance
service contract out for bid in 2012.
AMR has held the ambulance serv-
ice contract in Clackamas County
since 1993.
Bernard, who is up for re-election
this year, denies the allegation.
The board’s inaction spurred resi-
dents of Clackamas County and em-
ployees of AMR to attend weekly
commission meetings and work ses-
sions, where they pressed commis-
sioners to finalize the contract. The
county’s Emergency Medical Serv-
ices Council and all of the county’s
fire departments agreed that AMR
should get the contract.
At a standing-room-only work
session on Jan. 21, Bernard surprised
everyone when he voted with Lud-
low and Smith not to accept AMR’s
bid, and to reissue the request for pro-
posals (RFP).
AMR then filed a $20 million tort
claim demanding that commissioners
approve its proposal or, at least extend
its existing contract for four years. The
company said confidential informa-
tion had been published on the
county’s website that revealed trade
secrets, which put it at a disadvantage
should the county issue a new RFP.
Bernard surprised everyone again
at the Feb. 4 work session.
“Two weeks ago, I made a deci-
sion that I felt strongly about,”
Bernard said. “On quiet reflection,
I’ve realized that the decision I made
was the wrong one.”
Bernard apologized to residents of
Clackamas County and to AMR em-
ployees, “who are my heroes.”
Bernard said his goal has always
been to provide the best emergency
response service possible for the best
price. “I failed to see that we had
achieved a contract that is not only
responsive, but is at a reduced price,
is innovative, and has a greater part-
nership,” he said. “These are all
things that we can be proud of, and
now it’s time to move forward.”
“I am grateful that it’s not too late
to do the right thing.”
LERC to host PERC March 20
The University of Oregon Labor Education and Research Center (LERC)
will host its 28th Public Employment Relations Conference (PERC) Thurs-
day, March 20, at the Salem Conference Center. PERC is a gathering of public
sector labor relations professionals from across Oregon, including attorneys,
neutrals, and representatives from both unions and management.
This year, a morning plenary session will cover recent cases before the Ore-
gon Employment Relations Board. That will be followed by workshops deal-
ing with labor lawyer ethics, Obamacare’s impact on public employee health in-
surance, and mediation, arbitration, and family and medical leave and other
topics. The conference will conclude with a social hour.
For more details and registration information visit lerc.uoregon.edu or con-
tact Helen Moss at hmoss@ uoregon.edu.
Low Prices!
Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
FEBRUARY 7, 2014