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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 2014)
Who’s On Our Side? By Tom Chamberlain T he June 30th Harris v Quinn decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is one more step down the path of an activist court that contin- ues to march towards increased corporate power. While some will argue that the decision — which allows union- represented workers the option of becoming freeloaders, with all the rights and benefits of a union con- tract — could have been worse. This conclusion ignores the full context of the decisions this court has made on the march to increase corporate power at the expense of the power of middle- and low-wage workers. A little bit on this decision: When I worked for Gov. Ted Kulongoski in 2004-05, home care workers were collectively fighting for wages, health care and workers’ compensation coverage. I’ll admit that there was some skepticism around the office because we as- sumed that the bulk of these work- ers were family members of the pa- tient. Today, I know from experience that home care workers more likely than not are not family members, but professionals who take care of the daily needs of their patients. This is a difficult job. Making sure the patient is fed and taking their medication; getting patients to appointments with doctors, physi- cal therapists, and a list of other professionals; taking care of the pa- tient’s most intimate daily needs. In many cases, on top of all this, a home care worker is a patient’s closest confidant. Understand, too, home care is cheaper for taxpayers and better than placing patients in institutions. Home care workers have a bet- ter life since they joined the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) — better wages, health care, workers’ comp insurance and increased training opportunities. Their patients are now better off as well. The training home care work- ers receive has led to higher qual- ity care for patients and a corre- sponding reduction in trips to the emergency room. Increases in pay and benefits has also reduced turnover. Unionization of home care workers has professionalized the occupation, gaining better out- comes for patients and lower costs for taxpayers. This is the good stuff that only happens when workers have a voice. Now, back to the Supreme Court’s slow march. The U.S. Supreme Court is part of a methodical march toward “cor- poratization” of America. It is a long-term strategy where victory is measured in inches. But those inches are adding up. This march began with President Ronald Rea- gan, whose actions against the Pro- fessional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) and whose administration’s disdain for the Na- tional Labor Relations Board em- boldened corporatists to take on our workers’ movement. We have witnessed the rise of corporate campaigns fueled by consultants and attorneys who bully and frighten workers. Couple that with our outdated labor laws, and it makes forming a union ex- tremely difficult. After four decades of a shrink- ing labor movement — which tracks point by point with the de- cline of workers’ wages and in- creased wage disparity — you would think Democrats would be laser-focused on rebalancing the power dynamic between workers and Corporate America. Sadly, that has not been the case. What is exciting about the home care, child care and domestic worker organizing we’ve seen over the past 10 years is that it is the best example of the union movement not only being innovative to meet the needs of workers in an evolving economy, but it directly betters the living standards of some of our lowest wage workers. Harris v Quinn will not stop our union movement from evolving to meet the needs of workers in the 21st Century. It will not stop the unprecedented coalescing of a worldwide workers’ movement. It will not stop the need for workers’ collective voice on the job. It will not stop the courage and boldness of workers who fight every day for a better life. They took another inch. But we can still regain workers’ power. Tom Chamberlain is president of the Oregon AFL-CIO. ...Longshore bargaining (From Page 1) in Sydney, Australia, were notified they’d be laid off after their employer deploys driverless robots to take over cargo handling. ILWU has grappled before with the challenge of technology: Starting in the 1960s, containerization diminished the need for ILWU members’ labor. The union responded by negotiating its Mechanization and Modernization Agreement in 1960, in which employ- ers committed to give displaced mem- bers the work of maintaining and re- pairing the technologies that replaced them. Along similar lines, the 2002 ILWU contract opened the docks to bar scanners, automated manifest systems and GPS technology. The 2008 agree- ment permitted automated stacking cranes. In each case, maintenance and repair work was assigned to ILWU EE R F BARGAIN COUNTER Free classified ads to subscribers DEADLINE: Friday prior to publication Published 1st and 3rd Fridays Now accepting e-mails Send to: Michael492@comcast.net Mail to: NWLP, PO Box 13150, Portland OR 97213 (Please include union affiliation) • 15-20 words • No commercial or business ads • 1 ad per issue • All lower case (NO CAPITAL LETTERS, PLEASE) • Ads MUST include area code or they will not be published A UTOMOTIVE ’01 vw golf, race/show car, 18k on mo- tor, all trick, clean, lots of new and custom, real looker, $8,500 obo 503-922-9502 4 Matching chrysler goodyear P215/65R17 tires on 5-hole rims, like new condition. 503-799-1715 2 6.5 chEv DiESEl turbos, $100 each. 503-630-4177 H OUSING RocKawaY BEach rental, 3 bed, 2 bth, sleeps 10, Jacuzzi, 5 min to beach/ shops.vacationhomerentals.com/43026 RocKawaY ocean front, 503-777-5076, 5 bdrms/2ba, call for fisherman’s Special, http://rockawaybeachfrontrental.com 6 acRES with 30’ x 48’ shop, water, power and new septic, $125,000. 360-577-5231 100 acRES, trees, wildlife, will carry con- tract, Spray oregon, $750 per acre oBo. 541-468-2961 W ANTED olD wooDwoRKing tools, planes, lev- els, chisels, handsaws, slicks, adzes, wrenches, folding rulers, axes, hatchets, leather tools, tool chests. 503-659-0009 BUYing US & world coins to add to col- lection, paying fairly, any amount wel- come. 503-939-8835 collEctoR, cash paid, old fishing tackle, wood plugs, reels, creels, salmon fishing photos, etc. 503-775-4166 collEctoR PaYS cash for older toys, oil paintings, american art pottery, and PAGE 6 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS members to offset the job losses from new technologies, with some excep- tions: The contract agreed that a num- ber of terminals would be “red-circled,” meaning ILWU members would not do the work of maintaining and repairing cargo-handling equipment there. The arrangement sometimes put ILWU in competition with other unions. ILWU cited jurisdictional disputes as a pri- mary factor in its decision to disaffili- ate from the AFL-CIO in August 2013. Preserving health insurance is an- other big priority. PMA’s health plan is one of the last of the good union health plans, with the employer picking up substantially all health care costs for employees and their dependents, and patients paying just $1 for prescrip- tions. But starting in 2018, under the 2010 Affordable Care Act (also re- ferred to as Obamacare), employers would have to pay a 40 percent excise tax on the amount over $27,500 a year for family coverage. To avoid that dra- conian tax, employers around the coun- try are seeking to make benefits less generous, shifting costs to workers. costume jewelry. 503 703-5952 1947 fRanKlin high School yearbook. 503-522-6542 MotoRcYclES, boat, tractors, trailers, cars, trucks, riding lawn mowers, guitars cash paid. 503-880-8183 M ISCELLANEOUS wooD BURning tEnt StovE, new, $190 (tony). 503-830-8313 7/8 Pool taBlE with balls, cues, rack and chalk, $100. 503-348-5106 wURlitZER wD-2 electronic piano, ex- cellent cond, various effects/functions, incl demo button, $495 oBo. 503-982-5540 S PORTING G OODS S&w MoDEl 66, 4” barrel, stainless steel revolver, 357 magnum, niB condition with box, $795 obo. 503-366-0218 16 ga. SPRingfiElD single shot shot- gun, tenite stock, 28” barrel, pre-1948, ex- cellent bore, $125.503-286-5901 .22 winchEStER RiMfiRE (wRf) 1925 hex barrel, model 90 winchester pump ri- fle, $300. 503-341-5749 attEntion BowhUntERS, camou- flage clothing, large size, everything you would need. 503-652-8590 F OR THE H OME BlUE RocKER recliner, paid $1,050, sell $150; rocking chair, $75. 503-490-2390 or 503-490-2221 JULY 18, 2014
