Union members get key committee
leadership posts in Oregon Legislature
SALEM — Oregon House and Sen-
ate leaders announced on Dec. 11 the
committee assignments and chairman-
ships for the newly-elected Legislature.
Many of the choices bode well for Ore-
gon labor, which will be pushing an au-
dacious pro-worker agenda next year.
Having union members as chairs
makes it more likely pro-labor bills will
pass out of committees.
elected and a rep at Oregon Nurses As-
sociation — will be vice chair of the
Health Care Committee, which will be
chaired by Mitch Greenlick.
• Margaret Doherty (D-Tigard) —
a former staffperson at Oregon Educa-
tion Association — will chair the Edu-
cation Committee
IN THE SENATE:
• Michael Dembrow (D-Portland)
— a longtime leader in American Fed-
eration of Teachers — will chair the
newly created Senate Workforce Com-
mittee, with Kim Thatcher as vice chair
and Diane Rosenbaum, Tim Knopp
and Sara Gelser also on the committee.
• Diane Rosenbaum (D-Portland)
— former head of Communications
Workers Local 7901 — will chair the
Rules and Executive Appointments
Committee.
• Laurie Monnes Anderson (D-
Gresham) — a member of Oregon
Nurses Association — will chair the
Senate Health Care Committee.
• Sara Gelser (D-Corvallis) —
newly elected to the Senate and with
substantial labor support — will be
chair of the Human Services and Early
Childhood Committee.
The full list of committee assign-
ments is online at http://ow.ly/FOlps.
The Legislature will convene Janu-
ary 12-14 for an organizational session
and to elect presiding officers. Democ-
rats will have a 35-25 majority in the
House and a 18-12 majority in the Sen-
ate. The session officially begins Feb 2.
Portland International Airport food service workers Jeffrey Jones, Kevin
Bell, and Van Touch joined UNITE HERE Local 8 in September. Now they’re
grappling with layoffs because of a restaurant reshuffling led by airport
managers. They’re asking the Port of Portland Commission, which oversees
the airport, for a policy to allow them to work for the new company coming
in.
...Port of Portland considers ‘social
equity’ policy for airport workers
(From Page 9)
Chamberlain (who’s also president of
the Oregon AFL-CIO) asked to have
input in crafting that proposal. In late
November, Port deputy executive di-
rector Curtis Robinhold (Gov. John
Kitzhaber’s former chief of staff and
heir apparent to Wyatt) met with
Chamberlain and fellow commissioner
Tom Tsuruta, a retail executive, to dis-
cuss concepts. Robinhold gave a brief
report at the Dec. 10 meeting: The
forthcoming proposal will touch on
worker benefits, “job pathways,”
whistleblower rights, a project labor
agreement, and labor harmony. Robin-
hold said the proposal will go before
the Commission in February, after
some legal scrutiny and six weeks of
public engagement.
Will the Port of Portland join with
the other large West Coast port author-
ities in setting higher labor standards?
At the Dec. 10 meeting, Chamberlain
was the only commissioner to react to
the UNITE HERE members — who
had waited two hours to address the
Commission.
“We have an economic system
that’s driven by capital,” Chamberlain
said. “Employers invest their money,
and workers invest the most precious
thing to them, which is their time.
When workers invest their time, there
should be some safeguard.
“We need to come up with a policy
on workforce retention that recognizes
the investment of the workers.”
Francesco Marino, FreeDigitalPhotos.net
IN THE HOUSE:
• Paul Holvey (D-Eugene) — a
union rep for the Carpenters — will
chair the Business and Labor Commit-
tee.
• Brad Witt (D-Clastskanie) — a
union rep at United Food and Com-
mercial Workers Local 555 — will
chair the Agriculture and Natural Re-
sources Committee.
• Jeff Barker (D-Aloha) — a former
president of the Portland Police union
— will chair the Judiciary Committee.
• Rob Nosse (D-Portland) — newly
PLASTERERS
LOCAL 82
&
PLASTERERS
JOINT
APPRENTICESHIP
Financial
Secretary
Calvin McKinnis
12812 NE Marx St., Portland, OR
DECEMBER 19, 2014
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
503-232-3257
PAGE 17