National Labor News
Machinists rack up win at Army arsenal in Texas
By a 509-329 margin, workers at the Red River Arsenal near Texarkana,
Texas, voted Oct. 22 to join the Machinists Union. The new unit will repre-
sent 1,000 mechanics, technicians and maintenance workers at URS Federal
Services, a contractor at the depot, the union said. The election was con-
ducted by the National Labor Relations Board.
“Times are changing, and workers are tired of stagnant wages and bene-
fits,” said Machinists Southern Vice President Mark Blondin. “There’s a
growing trend among workers in Texas and throughout the South who believe
it’s time to stand up and time to get their fair share. The new members deserve
credit for looking beyond the anti-union rhetoric and focusing on the oppor-
tunities that only collective bargaining can provide.”
Earlier in 2014, the Machinists Union won a vote among 925 helicopter
mechanics at the Corpus Christi, Texas, Army Depot.
Drivers strike in protest at Uber
Uber, the online taxi startup backed by Goldman Sachs, likes to call itself
a “disruptor” of the traditionally regulated taxi business. On Oct. 22, it faced
some disruption of its own, as Uber drivers in five cities turned off the Uber
smartphone app for a three-hour “virtual” strike. The strike was called to
protest draconian work rules and unilateral decision by Uber to lower fares to
increase the company’s market share.
First union toehold at FedEx
Workers at a FedEx Freight facility in Philadelphia have voted 28-16 in fa-
vor of representation by the Teamsters. If they succeed in getting a contract,
they’ll be the first unionized unit at the company. Teamsters represent more
than 260,000 employees at competitor UPS.
End of the line for the storied mine workers union
chronicled in Salt of the Earth
Workers at Chino Mine in New Mexico voted 236 to 83 on Sept. 18 to de-
certify their union, International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers
Local 890. Local 890 was immortalized by the 1954 movie Salt of the Earth,
based on a 15-month strike against the Empire Zinc Mine, in which Mexican-
American miners struck to attain wage parity with Anglo workers and to be
treated with dignity by the bosses. Made by blacklisted filmmakers with fi-
nancing from the union, the film was cast with men and women who partic-
ipated in the strike, and starred Juan Chacón, then president of the local. Now
the mine is owned by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc, the Mine-
Mill Workers is a part of United Steelworkers of America, and workers at
the open-pit copper mine will be nonunion for the first time in 72 years.
Seattle isn’t enforcing sick-leave rules, report says
“Pretty please, with sugar on top” isn’t going to make Seattle employers
comply with the city’s sick leave ordinance, a recent Seattle city audit con-
cluded. Between Sept. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2013, the City of Seattle re-
ceived 143 complaints that employers weren’t complying with the new ordi-
nance. The City sent letters to those employers, but didn’t conduct
investigations or levy fines, the audit found. That might be because the city
has had just one full-time analyst working on sick-time compliance. For
2015, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is requesting funding for seven full-time po-
sitions. They’ll need to do more than write letters: Seattle must crack down
on the scofflaw employers if it wants to ensure that workers get paid sick
time, auditors said.
Obama Administration backs Amazon, not
workers, in Supreme Court case
After an exhausting 12-hour shift, Amazon.com warehouse workers clock
out, then wait in line 25 minutes to have their bags checked by security offi-
cers to make sure they haven’t stolen anything. Amazon could hire more se-
curity to speed it up, but it doesn’t. The bag checks are mandatory, but work-
ers aren’t paid for them. And that violates federal labor law, argue former
warehouse temps Jesse Busk and Laurie Castro in a lawsuit that went all the
way to the Supreme Court. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with
Busk, saying the workers should be paid for their time. But Obama Admin-
istration lawyers argued in a legal brief that the security checks aren’t “inte-
gral and indispensable” to their job, so they shouldn’t be paid for them. The
Supreme Court heard oral arguments Oct. 8 and could make a decision any
time.
PAGE 10
...ATU ratifies 4-year deal at TriMet
(From Page 1)
family size and which plan is chosen.
Retiree premiums are higher. Part-time
bus operators receive the same health
insurance benefit as full-time employ-
ees.
The agreement also restores TriMet
contributions to funds that benefit
members: a Recreational Trust Fund
that pays for an annual picnic; an Em-
ployee Assistance Fund that helps
workers with substance abuse or psy-
...Home Forward
first local body to
OK $15-an-hour
minimum wage
(From Page 1)
poration that administers public hous-
ing and Section 8 programs locally.
At Buonoacore’s instigation, a new
memorandum of agreement adds to the
existing union contracts a wage guaran-
tee of at least $15 an hour effective Dec.
1, 2014. That means hourly raises of 31
cents to $4 for the 33 least-paid Home
Forward workers, including mainte-
nance workers, office assistants, resi-
dent specialists and program interns —
about 10 of AFSCME Local 3135’s 150
members, and about 20 of the Labor-
ers’ 36 members.
In an email announcing the agree-
ment, Buonocore said the additional
cost of $76,000 a year will be absorbed
within Home Forward’s administrative
budget without any impact to the
agency’s programs.
Home Forward Local 3135 presi-
dent Elyse Alexander said union mem-
bers earlier this year argued for $15 at a
meeting of the Home Forward board,
pointing out that some employees are
paid so little they can sign up for subsi-
dized housing under the same program
they administer.
“For people jumping from $12.55 to
$15, that’s a life-changing wage in-
crease,” said Oregon AFSCME Coun-
cil 75 President Jeff Klatke in a press
statement. Klatke is an accountant at
Home Forward. “We hope to lead by
example, and are optimistic other local
government agencies will follow suit.”
At press time, management negotia-
tors for Multnomah County were con-
sidering a $15 an hour minimum wage
contract proposal from AFSCME Lo-
cal 88. If implemented, it would bring
up wages for 160 county workers.
Earlier this year, Laborers Local 483
pushed for a $15 minimum that would
have affected 330 workers at the Ore-
gon Zoo, but the Metro regional gov-
ernment rejected that proposal.
Broadway Floral
for the BEST flowers call
503-288-5537
1638 NE Broadway, Portland
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
chological issues; and a Child/Elder
Care Fund that pays for daycare or
home care for family members. TriMet
will contribute $55,000 a year to each
of the funds.
The new contract incorporates the
hours-of-service policy the two sides
negotiated after TriMet faced bad pub-
licity over sleep-deprived drivers: The
transit agency now requires at least
nine hours between the end of one shift
and the beginning of another.
The agreement also:
• Allows TriMet’s maintenance de-
partment to hire up to five journey-level
workers per year from outside the dis-
trict, and up to half the new apprentices
in each apprentice program;
• Simplifies the grievance process
by eliminating two steps; and
• Scraps the dysfunctional Joint La-
bor-Management Committee; instead
E
E
FR
the two sides can meet as needed.
A side accord to the agreement set-
tles seven legal disputes that were
pending before the state Employment
Relations Board or in the courts. As
part of that settlement, TriMet will re-
imburse members just under $3.7 mil-
lion for premium costs they paid in
2011 and 2012, $500,000 for out-of-
pocket medical costs in 2011, and
$425,000 for premium costs in 2013
and 2014.
During discussion before the TriMet
Board voted unanimously to approve
the contract, board member Joe Es-
monde, who’s also political director at
IBEW Local 48, called it a fair contract
for all concerned.
The new four-year agreement takes
effect immediately. It is retroactive to
Dec. 1, 2012, and runs through Nov.
30, 2016.
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A UTOMOTIVE
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MOTORCYCLES running or not, boats,
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MOSSBERG MODEL 500, top grade, 410
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’77 MARLIN PLEASURE boat, 455 Olds
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M ISCELLANEOUS
WOOD WORKING BENCH with 2 vices,
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BRIGGS AND STRATTON, riding mower
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BOAT LOADER, EIDE electric, $150; tran-
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FLATBED TRAILER, almost new, 7’6” x
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LARGE COLLECTION antique Flow Blue.
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CHIPPER, 1.5 HP MTD; Generator, 8 hp
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244-1672
BRASS TRIMMED sliding glass shower
doors, fits 5’ tub, excellent condition, $60.
503-320-5724
NOVEMBER 7, 2014