Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 2014)
NLRB says painting contractor broke federal labor law Nonunion Edwards Painting of Oregon City will go before a judge May 6 By DON McINTOSH Associate Editor The owners of family-run Edwards Painting, based in Oregon City, may not want a union, but federal law says workers have the right to unionize whether an employer likes it or not. Judging by an 11-page complaint is- sued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Feb. 27, the Edwards clan ran right over that law. As outlined in the complaint, own- ers Gene and Connie Edwards and their son Grant, a foreman, repeatedly inter- rogated employees about their union activities during the summer of 2013. Workers were ordered not to “stir up union stuff,” were told that Edwards is not and will never be a union shop, and were threatened with termination if they attended a union meeting or were found to be union members. Grant Ed- wards told workers the company would have work for them through the winter — if they stopped talking about and trying to organize a union. He also told employees their working conditions would improve if they removed their union T-shirts. The union is mafia, he told workers, and it’s trying to steal their work. Edwards did some hiring, but re- fused to consider four pro-union appli- cants, including one who had decades of experience as a painter. Connie Ed- wards told applicants Edwards doesn’t hire union painters. Gene Edwards promised wage in- creases if workers would stop support- ing the union. He also threatened to fire them if they signed a pro-union peti- tion, ordered them not to hand out union fliers on the job site, and called the police when some employees dis- tributed union fliers to coworkers at the office. By the end of the year, Edwards had fired four pro-union workers. The company failed to respond to the NLRB’s complaint before a March 13 deadline, but company owner Gene Edwards did file a response two weeks later, categorically denying most of the allegations. One exception: Edwards admitted he called the police, but said it was “because of the altercation that ap- peared to be about to take place.” Over 20,000 charges a year are filed alleging violations of the National La- bor Relations Act, the federal labor law that protects workers rights to unionize, but only about 6 percent of those charges — known as “unfair labor practice” charges — result in a formal “complaint.” In part, that’s because the NLRB (the agency responsible for en- forcing the act) doesn’t issue a com- plaint unless it finds enough evidence to think it can win a case before a fed- eral administrative law judge. It wasn’t hard to find evidence at Edwards Paint- ing — a contractor with about 20 em- ployees that does a fair amount of com- mercial painting work for general contractor Walsh Construction. It helped that workers there knew the law, and took notes. Some of them, in fact, were “salts,” — union activists who applied for jobs at Edwards in or- der to organize a union. One of them was Scott Oldham — a veteran painter who became a staff or- ganizer with Painters District Council 5 in 2010. Oldham says union painters had watched as Edwards underbid their employers — paying inexperienced workers far below the union scale, and not providing much training. “We felt this was the bottom of the barrel,” Oldham said. “These are the workers who are most exploited.” So District Council 5 sent in “salts,” as the underground organizers are re- ferred to in union parlance. As far as the NLRB is concerned, salts have the Painters District Council 5 organizer Scott Oldham says an Oregon City painting contractor called police when he showed up to pass out fliers. same rights as other employees. Oldham said some Edwards work- ers, as they got to know the experi- enced union painters, decided that union pay, benefits, and apprenticeship training were pretty appealing. Just over half signed a union petition. Oth- ers were leery. But employer tactics — including the terminations — put a chill on support for unionizing, Old- ham said, and it’s not clear there’s ma- jority support for a union now. A federal administrative law judge is scheduled to hear the case May 6. Unionists to bowl for Muscular Dystrophy Association on April 13 The 25th annual Labor Bowl Chal- lenge for the Muscular Dystrophy As- sociation will be held Sunday, April 13, at Sunset Lanes in Beaverton. The Labor Bowl Challenge consists of four-person teams that compete for prizes. Money is raised through pledges and from a silent auction, and goes to buy wheelchairs and braces for chil- dren, as well as for research and sum- mer camps. Since the Labor Bowl be- gan in 1989, union members have donated $351,025 to MDA. Credit union to celebrate 60th anniversary April 15 Mark your calendars for Tuesday, April 15, to attend the IBEW & United Workers Federal Credit Union’s 60th anniversary annual meeting. The meeting will be held at the IBEW Local 48 Hall, 15937 NE Air- port Way, Portland, starting at 7 p.m. For more information, call the credit union at 503-253-8193. Low Prices! Muscular dystrophy is a hereditary condition marked by a progressive weakening and wasting of the muscles over time. The event is coordinated by the Na- tional Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 82 and the Northwest Oregon Labor Council. For more information, or to sign up and receive fundraising packets and in- structions, call Jim Falvey, president of Letter Carriers Branch 82 at 503-493- 5903. To donate silent auction items, call NALC’s MDA Coordinator Debby Burbank at 971-404-5384. ...Strike averted (From Page 1) since it answers most objections mem- bers had to the earlier versions. DCTU bargaining team members were unified in supporting this agree- ment, whereas last time, the ratification process was complicated by the fact that Laborers Local 483 representatives on the bargaining team didn’t vote for the tentative agreement, yet felt con- strained by the democratic nature of coalition work not to speak against it. Public sector bargaining team members are also obliged by state law to recom- mend passage if they sign a tentative agreement. Broadway Floral for the BEST flowers call 503-288-5537 Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6 APRIL 4, 2014 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS 1638 NE Broadway, Portland PAGE 9
