Columbia Pacific Building Trades
announces political endorsements
The Columbia Pacific Building and
Construction Trades Council an-
nounced its slate of endorsements for
the Oregon primary elections in May.
The Council, which is comprised of
28 construction union locals represent-
ing some 20,000 workers, supports a
local option levy in Columbia County
to fund jail operations. If passed, Meas-
ure 5-238 will provide funding to con-
tinue operations of the county jail. If it
fails, county commissioners say the jail
will close by June 30. The proposed
levy is 57.97 cents per $1,000 of as-
sessed property value for three years.
The Building Trades Council op-
poses an initiative in the City of Port-
land that would create a new water dis-
trict. The council urges members to
vote no on Ballot Measure 26-156.
Construction unions recommend
voters re-elect Portland City Commis-
sioners Nick Fish and Dan Saltzman.
In Multnomah County, the Building
Trades Council endorsed Deborah
Kafoury for county chair, Jules Bailey
for county commissioner in District 1,
and the re-election of Commissioner
Loretta Smith in District 2.
At Metro, the Building Trades
Council supports the re-election of
President Tom Hughes, and Councilors
Shirley Craddick, Carlotta Collette, and
Kathryn Harrington.
In Clackamas County, the Building
Trades Council endorsed the re-elec-
tion of commissioners Paul Savas and
Jim Bernard.
In Washington County, the con-
struction unions support the re-election
of Chair Andy Duyck. The chair of the
Board of Commissioners represents all
Washington County residents.
Oregon primary election ballots are
in the mail now. Ballots must be re-
turned by May 20.
Machinists-Woodworkers
endorse Sen. Jeff Merkley
The Machinists Non-Partisan Po-
litical League (MNPL), the political
arm of Machinists District W24, en-
dorsed U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley for re-
election to a second term.
MNPL delegates met April 26 in
Astoria in conjunction with the Ore-
gon Machinists Council (OMC).
MNPL also backed the re-election
of state representatives Brad Witt (D-
Clatskanie) and Lew Frederick (D-
Portland). Witt is a union rep for
United Food and Commercial Work-
ers Local 555. He also has main-
tained membership with Woodwork-
ers Lodge 12.
Robert Petroff was re-elected pres-
ident of OMC. He defeated John
Kleibocker in a secret-ballot election.
Will Lukens was elected vice presi-
dent; Marty Demaris was re-elected
secretary-treasurer; and Frank Rouse,
John Hall and Steve Del Gallo were
elected trustees. Lukens succeeds
Dan Sass, who is retiring.
Hall was re-elected president of
the Machinists Non-Partisan Political
League. Also re-elected were Del
Gallo as vice president and Demaris
as secretary-treasurer.
Terms are for one year.
Remembering fallen workers
In the photo above, Janet Irwin and Jeanne Ramsten, members of
AFSCME Local 88, raise an American flag during a Workers Memorial
Day ceremony April 28. The service was held prior to the monthly
meeting of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council. Each flag represents
a worker killed on the job in Oregon last year. In the photo below,
Claudia Cook-Winkler (left) and Anna Cool-MacRae hold up a flag as
the name of Benjamin Cool — Claudia’s son and Anna’s brother — is
read. Ben Cool, a lineman and member of IBEW Local 77 in Seattle, was
electrocuted in a bucket lift truck July 30, 2013 while working on a
transfer box at the Bonneville Power Substation in Gold Beach, Oregon.
Cool, 35, lived in Lewiston, Idaho, but was working for Canby, Oregon-
based Wilson Construction. Claudia traveled from Clarkston,
Washington (near the Idaho border and Lewiston), and Anna flew in
from Las Vegas to attend the ceremony. Ben Cool had a seven-year-old
daughter. “He wanted to be a lineman since he was 12. That’s all he
wanted to do,” his mother told the NW Labor Press. The Workers
Memorial Day observance was one of hundreds conducted throughout
the country by union members on April 28. The Oregon AFL-CIO held
a service at the Fallen Workers Memorial outside the Labor and
Industries Building on the Capitol Mall in Salem. Thirty-nine workers
died in job-related accidents in Oregon in 2013. Another 25 died of heart
attacks, strokes or other ailments while at work. Since 2003, the Oregon
Occupational Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (OR-FACE)
Program has tracked over 600 work-related fatalities in Oregon caused
by a traumatic injury. Nationally, 4,383 job-related deaths were recorded
in 2012 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
State ombudsman can
assist injured workers
SALEM — The Ombudsman for
Injured Workers is a state office that
serves as an independent advocate for
injured workers by helping them un-
derstand their rights and responsibili-
ties, investigating complaints, and as-
MAY 2, 2014
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
sisting to resolve complaints. The om-
budsman’s staff give straight answers,
at no charge, about worker rights and
responsibilities; time loss and medical
benefits; returning to work; claim clo-
sure; and litigation and settlement
processes. The ombudsman can be
reached toll-free at 800-927-1271, or
by email at oiw.questions@ state.or.us.
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