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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (July 4, 2014)
Without federal highway bill, 700,000 jobs at risk WASHINGTON, D.C. — Trans- portation and construction unions are lining up behind a bipartisan plan in the U.S. Senate that will pay for highway, bridge and mass transit funding pro- grams, which are about to run out of money. The AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, North America’s Building Trades, and the Laborers Union all endorsed a plan introduced June 18 by Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). The pro- posal would raise the federal gasoline tax by 6 cents in each of the next two years. After that it would be indexed to inflation. The senators estimate their plan would raise about $164 billion over the next decade — enough to sup- port the Highway Trust Fund at cur- rently projected spending levels for 10 years. The trust fund, which helps states pay for transportation construction and upkeep, is due to run out of money by the end of summer. If Congress does- n’t act soon, more than 700,000 middle class jobs will be at risk. In spite of that, Sen. Murphy told Roll Call magazine that a formal bill has yet to be introduced. “We acknowledge that ultimately this is going to be passed as part of a package coming out of the Finance Committee (which will draft the fund- ing plan) and the Public Works Com- mittee (which oversees transportation policy),” he said. Oregon U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden chairs the Finance Committee. Roll Call also reports that neither senator expects any action until after the November elections. Meanwhile, they believe Congress will pass a short-term patch to keep transportation programs funded through the end of the year. Building Trades Department Presi- dent Sean McGarvey lauded Corker and Murphy for “saying ‘enough is enough,’ and for putting partisan poli- tics aside and working across the aisle to construct a serious, bipartisan solu- tion to deal with the shortfall. Their ef- forts will make our country safer, will grow our economy, and will create thousands of middle-class wage jobs across the United States.” The proposal, however, was criti- cized by the conservative Club for Growth. The Tea Party-influenced House Republicans are dead set against raising any taxes. They favor turning all road, bridge, bus and subway responsi- bility back to the states. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), a member of the Finance Committee, wants to cut highway project costs by slashing construction workers’ pay — through repeal of the Davis-Bacon pre- vailing wage law. And the U.S. House leadership has floated a proposal to fund highway projects by eliminating Saturday mail delivery. Even the Corker/Murphy plan calls for making about $190 billion in tar- geted tax breaks permanent. The federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon has not been raised since 1993. The Highway Trust Fund has also been hurt by the recession and slow eco- nomic growth, which caused user-fee revenues to drop. Reduced driving and increasingly fuel efficient vehicles are also taking bites out of federal rev- enues. As a result, user-fee revenue has lagged behind spending, and the deficit is expected to continue into the future. To avoid cutting transportation funding, since 2008 Congress has made up the gap between user-fee rev- enue and spending by transferring $55 billion into the Highway Trust Fund. Some states, not sure if a funding measure can make it through such a di- P ROUDLY S ERVING P ORTLAND W ORKERS F OR O VER 32 Y EARS JULY 4, 2014 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS vided Congress, have canceled and/or postponed projects. The Oregon De- partment of Transportation announced last month that it was postponing new road construction projects for at least a year. RAISE A CUP TO SOLIDARITY: New beer will take its name from a local union A craft brewery in Bend, Oregon, is naming a beer after a Portland labor union: Local 36 of the International As- sociation of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers. The beer, by Wor- thy Brewing, will be called Local 36 Red Lager, and there’s a story behind it. Brewery owner Roger Worthington is a California lawyer specializing in representing workers exposed to as- bestos. Asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral, is made up of tiny fibers that are as strong as steel but can be woven like cotton and are highly resistant to heat. Before 1975, it was used heavily in shipyards, construction, and many other industries. But breathed into the lungs, the fibers can lodge in tissues, re- sulting in changes to the cells that may eventually lead to mesothelioma, as- bestosis and other cancers. Long after they knew the harm asbestos was caus- ing, companies continued to expose workers, and that became the grounds for decades of lawsuits by workers who developed asbestos-related diseases. In 1989, when Worthington was just starting out as a lawyer, he opened a Portland law office in space rented from Carpenters Local 247. Local 36 (better known as Asbestos Workers Local 36) gave Worthington a shot, and referred some of his first clients. Today his firm Worthington & Caron, P.C., has offices in Dallas, Texas, and in San Pedro and Dana Point, California. The harm of asbestos is personal for Worthington: His father, David “Punch” Worthington, worked in Port- land-area shipyards, paper mills, and power plants in the 1960s as a member of the Painters Union, and was exposed to asbestos while sandblasting fire- proofing off of steel. He died in 2006 of asbestos-related lung cancer. Worthington closed his Portland of- fice after his father died, but returned to Oregon in 2011 to found the brewery and a related enterprise growing hops. He says Local 36 Red Lager is a way to thank the union that gave him a start. “I’m always grateful,” Worthington said. “They gave me a shot. One thing led to another, and I did pretty well.” Worthington plans to launch the beer July 16 at a special event for active and retired Local 36 members. After that, the beer will be available in 22 oz. bot- tles and in kegs, distributed to local bars and retailers by Columbia Distributing. The bottle’s label will sport a salaman- der borrowed from the union’s logo. According to legend, the salamander is associated with fire, and is variously said to be born out of, or unharmed by, flames. Worthy Brewing is making one batch of Local 36 Red Lager, but Wor- thington said it could make more if the beer proves popular. DETAILS: All local 36 members and retirees are invited for beer and din- ner at the Sextant Bar and Galley, 4035 NE Marine Drive, Wednesday, July 16, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. PAGE 5
