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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2014)
...Paid sick leave scores second Oregon win (From Page 1) 555 represents over 400 workers in Eu- gene whose union contracts provide paid sick leave, but only after an illness has lasted three days. Now those work- ers — grocery workers at Fred Meyer, Safeway, and Albertsons, and meat-cut- ters at Red Apple Market and Long’s Meat Market — will be able to use the sick leave on the first day of an illness. County sneak attack The sick leave ordinance enjoyed broad support from the public, and even from some business owners, like Falling Sky Brewery (which became the site of the sick leave campaign’s victory party July 30.) But because 40 hours a year of paid sick leave could increase payroll costs (by as much as 1.9 percent), the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce fought ve- hemently against the ordinance. The week before the vote, it found sympathy among the Lane County Board of Com- missioners. Months after Eugene City Council held the first hearings on the sick leave ordinance, Lane County Commissioner Jay Bozievich rushed forward three ordinances aimed at un- dercutting or preventing the sick leave ordinance. The first of the three county ordinances exempts other public em- ployers from the ordinance (The city or- dinance ended up doing that anyway). The second declares that city ordi- nances regulating employment condi- tions don’t apply to employers if their addresses are outside city limits. The third, dubbed the “nuclear option,” de- clares any local government ordinance that regulates employment conditions to be “without legal force and effect” in Lane County. All three ordinances de- clare an emergency, so that they could take effect immediately, “for the imme- diate preservation of the public peace, health and safety.” The anti-paid-sick-leave county or- dinances were scheduled for a vote July 21, when Commissioner Pete Sorenson, a supporter of paid sick leave, was scheduled to be out of town. The first two passed 4-0, and the third passed 3- 1. Willamette University law professor Charles Diller, an expert on pre-emp- tion, said Lane County’s pre-emption ordinance may be unprecedented. County governments often set a regula- tory floor that applies county-wide, but Diller said he’s never heard of a county telling cities they may not regulate in a given area. Incredibly, the three county ordi- nances cite the fact that Oregon puts counties in charge of protecting public health as grounds for attempting to strike down a city public health meas- ure. In contrast, when Portland City Council was considering its ordinance, Multnomah County officials testified — quite reasonably — that paid sick leave is justified on public health grounds be- cause it reduces the spread of conta- gious disease in workplaces and schools. The Lane County ordinances also cite the “home rule authority” counties are given under the Oregon constitution. But the City of Eugene has the same home rule authority. By approving the three ordinances, County commission- ers set the stage for a taxpayer-funded legal battle between two public bodies. If and when that comes to pass, inde- pendent legal experts say the County is likely to lose. Sick leave supporters reacted with shock when Lane County approved the three ordinances, and they’re vowing to hold the commissioners accountable: Commissioners Jay Bozievich, Sid Leiken, and Faye Stewart, voted for all three, and County Chair Pat Farr voted for the first two. “Every action has an equal and op- posite reaction,” said Local 555 Secre- tary Treasurer Jeff Anderson. “In 2016, the Lane County commissioners will see theirs.” The Members and Officers of Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 11 honor all working men and women on this important holiday. Happy Labor Day 2014! The Pacific Northwest Iron Workers District Council 3815 Columbia Street, Vancouver, WA 98660 1-800-547-8902 (toll free) (360) 719-1766 (Vancouver line) (503) 257-6691 (Portland line) and Affiliated Local Unions Iron Workers Local 14, Spokane, WA. Iron Workers Local 29, Portland, OR. Iron Workers Local 86, Seattle, WA. Iron Workers Local 751, Anchorage, AK. Iron Workers Local 506, Seattle, WA. Iron Workers Local 516, Portland, OR. We Honor All the Working Men and Women on Labor Day. We wish the working families of Oregon and Washington a very special Labor Day. PAGE 8 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS AUGUST 15, 2014
