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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (March 21, 2014)
A mixed bag for labor at Oregon’s short legislative session Organized labor had a mixed bag of results at the recently completed 33-day “short session” of the Oregon Legisla- ture. “Top priority” bills for the building trades, firefighters, and grocery work- ers were successful. Other priorities, such as funding for the Columbia River Crossing, were not. Lawmakers passed SB 5703 to pro- vide public bonding for a variety of construction projects, including $198 million for Oregon Health and Sciences University’s (OHSU) cancer center. Nike founder Phil Knight offered OHSU a $500 million donation to es- tablish a world class treatment and re- search facility if the university could Anti-high-capacity transit measure passes in Tigard A labor-opposed ballot measure in Tigard that will stifle high-capacity transit projects in the city narrowly passed in a special election March 11. Ballot Measure 34-210 passed by 220 votes in a special election that drew less than 37 percent of Tigard’s 26,972 registered voters. The vote was 5,066 to 4,846. With passage, the City of Tigard has to amend its city charter to offi- cially oppose high-capacity transit. The city will also have to obtain voter ap- proval before it can change its compre- hensive plan to site light-rail or bus- rapid-transit projects. Additionally, the city is required to send a letter to the governor, the Ore- gon Department of Transportation, TriMet, Metro, Washington County and the Federal Transit Administration annually notifying the agencies of its opposition to high-capacity transit. The ballot measure was sponsored by tea partiers and the conservative Oregon Transformation Project. In addition to labor, the measure was opposed by the Tigard City Coun- cil, the Tigard Chamber of Commerce, and various environmental and pro- transit groups. match it. OHSU turned to the Legisla- ture for help reaching that goal. The bill includes requirements that workers be paid prevailing wage, and that its contractors meet apprenticeship targets. OHSU will have goals for con- tracting with minority and women- owned businesses, and include provi- sions for contracting with businesses based throughout Oregon. Other projects slated for bonding in the bill include urgent health and safety projects at Oregon universities, and in- vestments to support the expansion of higher education in central Oregon. Those projects — ranging from $2 mil- lion to $21 million — include the Uni- versity of Oregon, Oregon State Uni- versity Cascade Campus, Southern Oregon University, Oregon Institute of Technology, Western Oregon Univer- sity, and Central Oregon Community College. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 received strong support for its bill to ease penalties for grocery clerks who unknowingly or in- advertently sell alcohol to a minor for the first time. SB 1546 changes the penalty for first-time offenders from a misdemeanor to a Class A violation. The Oregon State Fire Fighters Council won passage of SB 1518, which allows frontline managers that do not have the authority to hire, dis- charge or impose economic discipline to join the union. The Fire Fighters Union was unsuccessful getting the bill through the longer legislative session last year. Oregon AFSCME Council 75 passed a Corrections “gun bill.” HB 4035 allows Oregon state correctional officers the ability to bring firearms onto Department of Corrections prop- erty and keep them locked in their cars. AFSCME said it’s a personal safety is- sue for Corrections members, who travel long distances to and from work at Oregon’s many rural prisons. AFSCME also got through a work- ers’ compensation bill that protects public employees at Oregon State Hos- pital and at state-operated group homes, where employees are frequently injured on-the-job by clients. HB 4104 man- dates expedited pre-authorization of workers’ comp claims when there’s a disagreement between agencies and in- surance companies. Union officials said injured workers were not getting prompt and appropriate medical care and treatment through the workers’ comp system, leading more and more employees to bypass the system and use their own health care provider. This resulted in skewed under-reporting of on-the-job injuries. Among other bills that passed with labor support: • SB 1542 will enable private indi- viduals to purchase in-home care serv- ices from the Home Care Commission through the Home Care Registry, which employs union-represented care providers; and • A budget bill, HB 5201, adds $2 million to a program of grants to help school districts start career and techni- cal education programs. HB 4122 will require third-party oversight on all outsourced information technology (IT) projects that cost more than $5 million (such as Cover Ore- gon), and certain projects that cost more than $1 million. The Oregon AFL-CIO was success- ful passing one of its four priority bills. HB 4058 adds registered apprentice- ship training programs to the state’s 40- 40-20 education goals. Three other bills lobbied by the state labor federation were not successful. The biggest disappointment by far was failure to move ahead on the Interstate- 5 replacement bridge over the Colum- bia River, which would have created thousands of construction jobs. Last year, the Oregon Legislature approved $450 million toward the bridge project, but the GOP-led Wash- ington Senate refused to allow a vote on a bill that would have matched that contribution. Oregon Gov. John Kitz- haber responded with an Oregon-led plan, which was strongly supported by the AFL-CIO and Oregon State Build- ing and Construction Trades Council. HB 4113 had majority support in the Oregon House, but not in the Sen- ate. The Oregon Department of Trans- portation (ODOT) began shutting down the project after the Legislature ad- journed. I-5 replacement bridge plan- ning has been ongoing for more than 15 years, at a cost of more than $195 mil- lion. ODOT said all of the work will be archived before the project shuts down completely May 31. Also failing to win passage: • SB 1543, to make it illegal for an employer to cut workers hours in order to avoid obligations under the federal health insurance legislation commonly referred to as Obamacare. The federal legislation levies a fine of $2,000 per year on enterprises with over 50 full- time employees that don’t provide health care, but some employers are turning full-time workers into part-time in order to evade the sanction. • A tweak (HB 4054) to the ballot ti- tle of a referendum that seeks to over- turn a law passed last year allowing un- documented residents to get state- issued “driver cards” instead of full- fledged drivers licenses. • HB 4118, which would have re- quired non-profits that employ individ- uals with disabilities to pay state mini- mum wage and comply with state labor and occupational health and safety laws. • HB 4036, to mandate certain vio- lent assaults against staff and other clients at the Oregon State Hospital to be prosecuted as felonies. Broadway Floral for the BEST flowers call 503-288-5537 1638 NE Broadway, Portland (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 MARCH 21, 2014
