Inside
MEETING NOTICES
See
Page 21
Volume 115
Number 16
August 15, 2014
Portland, Oregon
E
very year, labor unions throughout
Oregon and Southwest Washington
hold Labor Day picnics.
The largest gathering by far takes place at
Oaks Amusement Park in Southeast Port-
land. Sponsored by the Northwest Oregon
Labor Council, the picnic attracts members
from multiple unions, who enjoy barbecue,
music, games, carnival rides, raffle drawings,
and time to visit with local politicians. The
picnic runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Political
speeches take place at 1 p.m.
Food and beverage scrip sells for 50 cents.
Three scrip gets you a hamburger and chips;
two scrip a hot dog and chips; four scrip for
beer; two scrip for pop; and one scrip for water
and chili. Deluxe ride bracelets are $9.50. The
Oregon Pacific Railroad Shuttle Train will
transport people to and from Oaks Park from
8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Cost is $5 per person round
trip for adults. Children under 12 can ride for
free. Street parking is available near the
McLoughlin Overpass, McCoy Millwork, and
the Portland Opera. The train boards at 4th and
Caruthers. For more information about the pic-
nic, call the Labor Council at 503-235-9444.
Following is a list of all the other Labor Day
picnics in Oregon and Southwest Washington:
ASTORIA — Cullaby Lake — in the North
Shelter off U.S. Highway 101 between Astoria
Central Oregon Central Labor Council, there
will be music, games and fun for the whole
family.
Labor Day
PICNICS
EUGENE/SPRINGFIELD — John Lively
Picnic Shelters, behind SPLASH at 6100
Thurston Road in Springfield. Noon – 4 p.m.
Please bring a side dish. Sponsored by the Lane
County Central Labor Council.
Labor Day – Monday, Sept. 1
MEDFORD — TouVelle State Park, 8425
Table Rock Road, Central Point. 11 a.m. – 3
p.m. Lunch served from noon to 1 p.m. Labor
music, games and fun for the whole family.
There is a $5 charge for parking. Sponsored by
the Southern Oregon Central Labor Council.
For more information, call Kathy McUne at
541-664-0804.
and Seaside. Noon to 5 p.m. Parking is $3 per
vehicle. Sponsored by the Clatsop-Tillamook
Central Labor Council.
COWLITZ-WAHKIAKUM COUNTIES
— Toutle River RV Resort, 150 Happy Trails,
Castle Rock, Wash., Exit 52 off I-5. Grilling
hamburgers and hot dogs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Bring your favorite picnic dish to share. There
will be swimming, kids’ games and a great
chance to socialize with union members.
BEND — Pioneer Park, NW Wall St. Pic-
nic hours are noon to 3 p.m. Sponsored by the
NORTH BEND/COOS BAY — Ferry
Road Park in North Bend. 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Mu-
sic, games and fun for the whole family. Spon-
sored by the Southwestern Oregon Central La-
bor Council. The council is asking for a
donation of non-perishable food items.
SALEM — Waterfront Park. 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. Food, music, and guest speakers. There
will be a bouncy house for the kids! Sponsored
by Marion-Polk-Yamhill Central Labor Coun-
cil. Cost: two non-perishable food items per
person.
Labor steps up big to help pass paid sick leave
By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
Activists in Eugene, Oregon, are cel-
ebrating a major win for workers’ rights
and public health: A city ordinance
mandating paid sick leave.
The ordinance, which passed July 28
on a 5-3 vote, gives Eugene workers up
to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year,
to be used when they or a family mem-
ber need treatment or diagnosis. It will
take effect July 1, 2015, and will cover
all employees who perform their work
in Eugene, regardless of where their
employer is based.
Eugene’s ordinance is stronger than
the similar ordinance that took effect in
Portland in January, because it applies
to all workers, whereas Portland’s ordi-
nance doesn’t require employers with
fewer than six employees to provide
paid sick leave.
The Eugene ordinance contains two
exceptions. It doesn’t apply to federal,
state, county or school district employ-
ees, because the City lacks authority to
regulate their employment conditions.
And it doesn’t apply to construction in-
dustry workers who are covered by a
collective bargaining agreement, be-
cause their employers don’t provide
benefits directly: They make hourly
benefit contributions, and benefits are
administered independently by area-
wide trusts that are overseen jointly by
union and employer group representa-
tives.
To win passage of the ordinance, Eu-
gene activists followed the same play-
book as their Portland counterparts: The
foundation-supported nonprofit Family
Forward Oregon spearheaded a local
coalition with the substantial support of
unions and sympathetic business own-
ers. United Food and Commercial
Workers (UFCW) Local 555, in partic-
ular, stepped up to make it happen. It
helped fund the salary of a full-time
community organizer, repeatedly mobi-
lized members to show support for the
ordinance, and paid for a canvass which
knocked on over 10,000 doors and de-
veloped a list of several thousand sup-
porters, in a city of 158,000.
“Sick leave was the hot topic in Eu-
gene in the last seven months,” said
Family Forward Oregon organizer Lori
Trieger.
According to her group’s estimate,
half of Eugene’s private sector work-
force — just over 25,000 workers —
don’t currently have paid sick leave.
The ordinance will improve the lives of
those workers, and of other workers
who do have sick leave. UFCW Local
(Turn to Page 8)
UFCW Local 555 members in yellow union shirts pack the house at a hearing on Eugene’s proposed sick leave
ordinance, which passed July 28.