...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