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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 2014)
ATU and TriMet reach deal TriMet and Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 757 reached tenta- tive agreement Sept. 30 on a new union contract, but neither side is releasing terms of the deal to the public until members have had a chance to see the agreement and vote on it. Details were made available to Lo- cal 757 members at TriMet on Oct. 14. They will vote on it by mail, with bal- lots to be counted Oct. 24. The agree- ment covers about 2,000 workers and 1,200 retirees, though only active mem- bers vote on it. The TriMet Board is ex- pected to vote on the agreement at its Oct. 22 meeting. The four-year agreement comes nearly two years after the old union contract expired. That contract was the result of binding arbitration: The arbi- trator had to choose one side’s final of- fer, and chose TriMet’s. EE R F Before the tentative agreement was announced, it looked like this contract too was headed for binding arbitration. TriMet declared an impasse in negotia- tions on May 14, but the two sides con- tinued to meet with the assistance of state mediator Janet Gillman. If the deal is ratified, the two sides have also agreed to drop all pending unfair labor practice cases. Local 757 had challenged the arbitrator’s award on the grounds that elements of TriMet’s final offer were unlawful. If approved, the new agreement would be retroactive to Dec. 1, 2012, and would run through Nov. 30, 2016. The two sides got off to a late start ne- gotiating due to a legal dispute over whether bargaining should be open to the public, and made slow progress once face-to-face bargaining began in September 2013. BARGAIN COUNTER 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business ads • 1 ad per issue • All lower case (NO CAPITAL LETTERS, PLEASE) • Ads MUST include area code or they will not be published old woodworking tools, planes, levels, chisels, handsaws, slicks, adzes, wrenches, folding rulers, axes, hatchets, leather tools, tool chests. 503-659-0009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 PAGE 6 By Tom Chamberlain Recently, U. S. Speaker of the House John Boehner was caught on tape expressing his true opinion of the unemployed: “Unemployed people just sit around and don’t think they have to work,” he said. Speaker Boehner must be un- aware that there are two job appli- cants for every job opening. He must be unaware that unemployed workers are listening to the hollow promise that education is the key to a better life, going back to school, racking up debt to pay for their de- gree or certificate, only to find a minimum wage or sub living wage job with no benefits awaiting them. Mr. Boehner must be unaware that his drive to further corporatize our economy has resulted in colleges — especially some for-profit pri- vate colleges — becoming more focused on their bottom line than on providing an education to lift Americans out of the grips of poverty. For-profit colleges such as the University of Phoenix have been the subject of many news articles. There’s reason for that. In 2011, 88 percent of the University of Phoenix’s income came from fed- eral programs, most of it from stu- dent loans that equate to $3.2 bil- lion. Almost a quarter of their students default on their loans. Ac- cording to the Washington Post, in 2013 the University of Phoenix graduation rate was 16 percent. Three out of every 20 students graduate. Seventeen don’t. We have turned into a society that is quick to blame the victim rather than find solutions. Speaker Boehner’s comments on the unem- ployed reveal some insight into the thinking of those with wealth and power. If we can blame those who work minimum wage jobs or the unem- ployed for not working hard enough to better their lives; if we can destroy economies with out-of- balance trade agreements that ex- ploit workers and force those same workers to flee their homelands in search of work to feed their fami- lies; if we can shift the responsibil- ity of health care and pensions from the employer or government onto the backs of the workers, then it be- comes much easier to dismantle America’s tattered social safety net. Unemployment insurance, So- cial Security, Medicare and Medi- caid, food for the hungry, housing, education and a host of other pro- grams from the New Deal of the 1930s and the Great Society of the 1960s are being transformed into for-profit, private sector, programs that put the expense squarely on the backs of workers. Good job creation is just another example of blaming the worker. We all talk a good game about good job creation. Everyone seems to be aware of the shrinking middle class. The loss of jobs is undeni- able. But the blame is placed on the worker. The say more skilled and educated workers are needed, or we can’t compete. I am always in fa- vor of a highly trained workforce. But manufacturing jobs or other types of occupations that histori- cally fit the definition of a middle class job don’t necessarily translate into a good paying jobs. There are thousands of manufacturing jobs in Portland that pay sub-middle class wages with few or no benefits. Those who promote good jobs, the need for increased job skills, the need for greater individual respon- sibility, apparently believe that good paying jobs with benefits just happen. Good jobs don’t just appear. That strategy will continue to fail because the thirst for increased profit will continue to come at the expense of workers. The fact is the only way to counter the blame game and to ensure that we do cre- ate good-paying jobs is to ensure that workers have power. And that requires having a union card in their hands. Tom Chamberlain is president of the Oregon AFL-CIO. cars, trucks, riding lawn mowers, guitars cash paid. 503-880-8183 H OUSING Free classified ads to subscribers W ANTED Who’s On Our Side? 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