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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 2015)
...Oregon Highlights and Top Stories of 2014 (From Page 1) raise, followed by annual raises match- ing inflation. Laborers Local 483 got the same terms in a Metro contract for 500 workers at the Oregon Zoo and regional parks, except it got 2.5 per- cent the first year, and it got some new rights for temporary workers. Meanwhile, in the private sector: • 600 workers at NW Natural got a rejiggered wage scale with one-time increases averaging 7.8 percent, plus at least 3 percent in the remaining four years — and a no-layoff guarantee — in a new five-and-a-half-year deal with Office and Professional Employ- ees Local 11. • 570 support workers at Legacy Emanuel got wage increases of 2.5 percent a year in a new three-year contract with Service Employees In- ternational Union (SEIU) Local 49. • 300 hospital support workers, members of SEIU Local 49, went on strike two days in October at for-profit McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in Springfield, but were still without contract at year’s end — a year after their old contract expired. JOBS Unions fought to defend and ex- pand work for members, but had some disappointments over the course of the year. On Jan. 8, the Port of Portland withdrew plans to develop a deep wa- ter marine terminal on West Hayden Island. In February — after the Wash- ington Legislature failed to act on pro- viding its share of the funding for an Interstate 5 replacement bridge — a proposal by Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber for an “Oregon-only” proj- ect failed to win majority support in the state Senate. And in August, the Oregon Department of State Lands denied a removal-fill permit for the proposed Coyote Island coal termi- nal at the Port of Morrow near Board- man in Eastern Oregon. Repeated protests and civil disobe- dience at the U.S. Postal Service failed to stop closures: 82 more mail processing plants are scheduled to close nationally starting Jan. 5, three in Oregon. On the plus side, construction em- ployment continues to pick up, and in October, Vigor Industrial completed installation of North America’s largest floating dry dock on Swan Island, with the promise of hundreds of good union jobs repairing and maintaining large cruise and cargo ships. And in February, Parkrose School District rejected plans by the district superintendent to outsource bus oper- ations, after an energetic community campaign by Oregon School Employ- ees Association. POLITICS No game-changing labor-related legislation passed in the Oregon Leg- islature’s month-long legislative ses- sion in February. But in May, Portland unions helped defeat a badly-written Water District ballot initiative drawn up by big polluters and water users. And in July, Eugene became the sec- ond Oregon city to pass a requirement that employers provide paid sick leave. 2014 was also the year organ- ized labor dodged a bullet (or at least a very expensive defense campaign) when Gov. Kitzhaber persuaded back- ers to withdraw a “right-to-work” ballot measure that would have made union dues strictly optional for public sector workers — in exchange for la- bor dropping ballot measures that would have raised taxes on big corpo- rations and the wealthy. In the November general election, labor helped defeat a “top-two pri- mary” measure placed on the ballot by millionaires and billionaires, and helped add Democrats in the state house and senate, a victory that holds great promise for pro-worker legisla- tion in 2015. Labor also got involved early on to re-elect Democrat Jeff Merkley as U.S. Senator from Oregon. Merkley, who proved to be a real voice for working people in the Senate, easily defeated his Republican challenger. COMMUNITY SERVICE There’s also a side to local labor that doesn’t get much fanfare though it goes on throughout the year: building a better community through volun- tarism and charitable giving. In 2014, there were many examples locally. Members of Iron Workers Local 29 volunteered to build an indoor practice facility for Oregon City High School baseball programs. Bowlers from 13 unions raised $11,000 for the Muscu- lar Dystrophy Association. Union let- ter carriers collected 1.3 million pounds of food in Oregon and South- west Washington in National Associa- tion of Letter Carriers’ annual food drive. Some 279 motorcycle riders raised $75,000 for Doernbecher Chil- dren’s Hospital through the Unions for Kids motorcycle poker run and chili cook-off, and a second motorcy- cle poker run organized by local Ma- chinists raised nearly $3,500 for Guide Dogs of America. Over 300 union volunteers led by Oregon School Employees Association pre- pared and handed out more than 40,000 children’s books to school dis- tricts and nonprofits in east Mult- nomah County. And 100 volunteers helped 300 children of unemployed parents pick three gifts each at the an- nual “Presents from Partners” holiday party put on by Labor’s Community Service Agency and the Northwest Oregon Labor Council. GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN The local labor movement lost a number of prominent figures in 2014, including AFSCME Local 3327 presi- dent Steven Fritz, husband of Port- land Commissioner Amanda Fritz, killed in a car crash Sept. 24. The list also includes notable labor union re- tirees: former Oregon AFL-CIO polit- ical director Lloyd Knudsen; former Iron Workers Local 29 business man- ager Tom Worley; Albany barber and longtime United Food and Commer- cial Workers (UFCW) Local 555 member Garner Pool; Carpenters business agent Jerry Krahn; UFCW Local 555 union rep Jim Zuffrea; IBEW Local 48 officer Phil Parker; Pacific Northwest labor historian Ed Beechert; Machinists union rep Jerry Greer; United Auto Workers activist Ralph Rigdon; and University of Oregon Labor Education and Re- search Center professor Jim Gal- lagher. We ask that you remember them and their dedication to the labor movement. In the words of union martyr Joe Hill: “Don’t mourn. Or- ganize.” That same slogan — “Don’t Mourn. Organize.” — could be ap- plied to the year that ended Dec. 31. If 2014 wasn’t all that we hoped, let’s not lick our wounds, but commit in 2015 to organize and fight together for a better life for working people. 2014 P RESENTS FROM P ARTNERS H OLIDAY T OY D RIVE AND P ARTY PAGE 8 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS JANUARY 2, 2015
