...Rally to save USPS
Jim Cook, a retired president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 82, David Goldberg, an activist
with Portland Communities and Postal Workers United, and Elana Guiney of the Oregon AFL-CIO take part in a
Veterans Day march in downtown Portland to save the United States Post Office. Approximately 100 people were at
the rally, including recently re-elected U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley. (Photo by Jamie Partridge)
(From Page 1)
down. We’re trying to keep it from be-
ing slowed down even more,” said
Mark Dimondstein, president of the
American Postal Workers Union
(APWU). “Two days will become
three days and four days. It will be a
slowing down of the mail throughout
the country.” [Last summer, delegates
to the APWU national convention
voted unanimously for Donahue to re-
sign. The union represents 200,000
postal workers and retirees.]
Postal management says the clo-
sures are necessary because the USPS,
which isn’t funded by taxpayers, is los-
ing money.
Postal unions maintain the cuts are
“absolutely unnecessary” and that
postal operations are profitable. USPS’
“red ink,” they say, stems from political
interference, not from the mail. In
2006, a lame-duck Congress mandated
that the Postal Service pre-fund future
retiree health benefits 75 years in ad-
vance, something no other public
agency or private firm is required to do.
That costs the Postal Service $5.6 bil-
lion a year, and that’s the red ink.
Postal unions acknowledge that rev-
enue from First Class mail has been
declining, but they say package deliv-
ery, largely due to the growth of e-
commerce, has been rapidly expand-
ing, resulting in an operating profit so
far this year of more than $1 billion.
Postal unions and their allies are
calling on the next postmaster general
to reverse Donahoe’s policies of low-
ering standards, reducing hours, out-
sourcing work and diminishing a great
American institution. They say if the
shutdowns are implemented, all mail
— medicine, online purchases, local
newspapers, newsletters of religious
organizations, bill payments, letters
and invitations — throughout the
country would be delayed.
“We call on USPS’ Board of Gov-
ernors to immediately freeze Dona-
hoe’s policies and to do no more
harm,” the postal unions said.
What would a REAL pro-worker legislative agenda look like?
Nine ideas to make
Oregon more
worker-friendly
By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
In an era when a dysfunctional Con-
gress can hardly pass federal budgets,
let alone meaningful legislation, state
legislatures have become, more than
ever, laboratories of democracy. That’s
especially the case where one political
party controls both legislative chambers
and the governor’s office, and thus can
enact its agenda. When the Republican
party is the one in power in statehouses,
a corporate-funded group called ALEC
(American Legislative Exchange Coun-
cil) is ready to provide a template of
bills to cut regulation, clip business
taxes, and cripple unions. But what
about states like Oregon, where De-
mocrats find themselves in charge of the
House, Senate and governor’s office?
We Oregonians like to brag about
the landmark laws of yesteryear —
public access beaches, farm and timber
lands protected from sprawl, bottle de-
posits keeping highways clean (and no
sales tax or self-serve gas!) But where
are today’s bold ideas? Today the state
is hobbled by tax limitations and the de-
cline of the high-wage wood products
industry. Compared to other states, it’s
at the high end for hunger and the low
end for higher ed funding. Oregon did
well in the past making a livable envi-
ronment. Maybe it’s time to reopen the
laboratory of democracy to make it liv-
able for working people again.
If lawmakers are interested in inter-
vening decisively on the side of work-
ing people, here are a few ideas:
NOVEMBER 21, 2014
Raise the Minimum Wage Ore-
gon’s low-wage workers need a raise,
and it’s within the Legislature’s power
to grant it. Raising the minimum wage
(currently $9.10 an hour) is the most di-
rect way to help workers who need help
the most. And it’s hard to think of a big-
ger boon to the economy than a law
putting money in workers’ pockets.
How much? If low-wage workers had
gotten their fair share of America’s
workplace productivity gains for the
last 45 years, they’d be making $18.67
an hour today. But we’d gladly settle
for $15.
state get serious about ending wage
theft. Either beef up enforcement budg-
ets and go after violators, or get out of
the way by making it easier for workers
to sue — legislating punitive damages
so that attorneys and unions can better
defend workers.
Paid Sick Leave For All All across
the world, in 163 countries, paid sick
leave is just taken for granted as a basic
workplace right. Not in America. Only
three states have it so far — plus Port-
land and Eugene, in Oregon. Remem-
ber during the 2013 sick leave debate at
Portland City Council, when the local
chamber of commerce said it would be
a hassle to have different rules for Port-
land than surrounding areas? They’re
right: It’s time for every Oregon worker
to have paid sick leave.
Ban the Box Mass incarceration
has become a workers rights issue:
Over 2.2 million Americans are today
behind bars, and they’re overwhelm-
ingly poor and disproportionately mi-
nority. When they get out, they face fur-
ther hurdles getting housing and
employment because they can legally
be discriminated against for past con-
victions, even if that has nothing to do
with what they’re applying for. Model
“ban the box” legislation would give
them an opportunity to start over by re-
moving the “have you ever been con-
victed” box from initial applications.
Employers and landlords could still do
criminal background checks and dis-
criminate based on relevant convic-
tions. But ex-offenders would at least
get a chance to explain their record, and
show they’ve reformed.
Stop Wage Theft It’s very nice to
have laws requiring minimum wage,
overtime and rest breaks, but they only
work if employers obey the law. But ev-
idence is growing that we’re seeing an
epidemic of employer lawlessness. Em-
ployers are illegally classifying work-
ers as independent contractors to avoid
payroll taxes, unemployment insur-
ance, and workers comp. Workers are
being denied breaks or told to work off
the clock before or after shifts. They’re
working under the table, paid piece
rates less than the minimum, and even
being paid late or not at all. It’s time the
Just Cause, not “Just Because”
There’s a basic union contract right
that’s little-known but hugely impor-
tant. It’s called “just cause,” and it
means that employers have to have a le-
gitimate reason, and demonstrate it, be-
fore they can fire a worker. Without just
cause, employment is “at will,” mean-
ing a worker can be fired at any time for
any reason, or for no reason at all. But a
union contract isn’t the only way work-
ers can get just cause. Legislators could
make it legally required. They did so in
Montana in 1987, and as a result, work-
ers in the Big Sky state have a little
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
more job security, and employers are a
little less arbitrary. In 2008, the Col-
orado AFL-CIO had a ballot initiative
that would have done the same, but
dropped it in exchange for withdrawal
of an anti-union initiative. Do Oregon’s
workers deserve the same protection as
Montana’s? Just cause is common
sense fairness, and deserves a look.
Eight-Hour Day Remember May
Day, known throughout the world as
International Workers Day? It got its
start 128 years ago as a general strike
by American workers for the eight-hour
day. Incredibly, American workers still
don’t have the eight-hour day. They
have the 40-hour week. And it’s not the
same, as any worker on a mandatory
12-hour shift will tell you. But there’s a
place where the eight-hour day is the
law of the land, where workers earn
overtime when they have to work
longer. It’s called California. Surely the
Beaver State can do as well.
Do Business With Responsible
Contractors Why is it that for low-in-
come criminals, we have jails, but for
high-income criminals, we have …
public contracts? Big banks defraud
Oregonians and cheat public employee
pensions, but continue to get public
business. Vendors commit wage theft,
or break laws to squash union cam-
paigns, but continue to sell to the state.
Is it too much to ask that the Legisla-
ture stop giving business to companies
that break the law?
Get Something Back for Our
Money You don’t want government
pushing workers’ wages down, so when
the state spends money on construction,
it rightly requires that the workers be
paid at least the prevailing wage. But
what about when the state spends
money through a tax break, as it does
through programs like the Enterprise
Zone tax abatements? Currently, de-
spite hundreds of millions of dollars go-
ing out the door in the form of tax sub-
sidies, there’s no requirement to pay the
prevailing wage. Maybe this will be the
Legislature which changes that.
Paid Family Leave It’s great that
Oregon has a state family leave act. It
requires employers of 25 or more em-
ployees to grant leave when workers
have a baby, or a death in the family.
But many workers can’t afford to take
the leave, because it’s unpaid. A penny
per hour payroll tax would generate
enough to give new parents six weeks
leave at minimum wage. And two pen-
nies might be enough to pay for seven
weeks at $15 an hour.
Unions and their allies spent the last
few months helping elect many of the
lawmakers who will serve in Salem
next year. Now they’ll spend the next
few months getting pro-worker agen-
das ready for the legislative session that
begins in February 2015. The North-
west Workers Justice Project is ready-
ing legislation to combat wage theft. An
alliance of civil rights and labor will
push for Ban the Box. The building
trades council will call for prevailing
wage on tax-subsidized construction
projects. A campaign called Fair Shot
Oregon will call for paid sick leave and
a higher minimum wage.
If Democratic lawmakers rise to the
challenge, they’ll have a chance to re-
store Oregon’s reputation for innova-
tion, and pass pro-worker policies that
inspire others to do the same.
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