Labor gets ready for an action-packed
session of the Oregon Legislature
The five proposals from the new
Fair Shot for All coalition [see related
story on Page 1] may end up being
some of the marquee issues consid-
ered by Oregon lawmakers this year,
but labor and workers’ rights organi-
zations will be campaigning for
dozens of other important bills when
the Legislature convenes Feb. 2.
With increased Democratic ma-
jorities in both legislative chambers
— and key committees led by law-
maker who are actually union mem-
bers — the mood is optimistic.
“There were some clear messages
that came out of the November elec-
tion,” says State Sen. Michael Dem-
brow (D-Portland). “Voters are con-
cerned about economic inequality,
and they see that the fruits of the re-
covery are not being shared.”
Dembrow — a community college
instructor who’s also a longtime
union leader in American Federation
of Teachers-Oregon — is now chair
of the newly formed Senate Work-
force Committee, where many of the
labor-related bills will go to be
worked on. And its counterpart House
Business and Labor Committee will
also be led by a trade unionist: state
representative Paul Holvey (D-Eu-
gene), a union rep at the Pacific
Northwest Regional Council of Car-
penters.
Here are some of the labor-related
proposals lawmakers will consider:
APPRENTICE UTILIZATION.
A bill supported by the United Broth-
erhood of Carpenters would require
large public construction projects to
meet certain minimum targets for uti-
lizing apprentices. Not only would it
open up pathways for more young,
women and minority workers to gain
entry into high-skill, high-wage build-
ing trades, but it could also mean more
business for “high-road” construction
employers — those that are already
making investments in apprenticeship
training, as union contractors do.
WAGE THEFT. Oregon Coalition
to Stop Wage Theft, a broad labor-
community alliance initiated by the
nonprofit Northwest Workers’ Justice
Project, will be backing a bill to crack
down on wage theft. Wage theft is a
catch-all term for when employers
cheat workers out of wages or benefits
they’re lawfully entitled to. Besides
outright non-payment or under-pay-
ment of wages, wage theft includes
cases where employees don’t get paid
rest breaks, don’t get time-and-a-half
for overtime, or work off-the-clock be-
fore or after shifts. It also includes
cases where employers falsely classify
employees as “independent contrac-
tors,” because the employees don’t get
workers compensation or unemploy-
ment insurance, and must pay the em-
ployers and their own Social Security
and Medicare taxes.
MAKING COLLECTIVE BAR-
GAINING AGREEMENTS STICK.
To combat a growing tendency by pub-
lic employers to push through changes
outside of normal contract bargaining,
Oregon AFSCME will back a bill to
require mediation and binding arbitra-
tion before management can impose
new changes during the life of a col-
lective bargaining agreement — when
those changes are mandatory subjects
of bargaining.
INFRASTRUCTURE JOBS. For
the Oregon State Building and Con-
struction Trades Council, the number
one priority will be robust infrastruc-
ture funding, including roads and
bridges. State gas taxes fund roads, but
haven’t kept up with increased costs.
The Building Trades Council — in a
coalition with three dozen other stake-
holders called the Oregon Transporta-
tion Forum — is calling for the state
gas tax to be increased and then in-
dexed to offset the loss of road repair
funds as cars become more fuel effi-
cient. And they’ll support plans for lot-
tery bonds to fund a new round of in-
vestment in “multimodal” transporta-
tion infrastructure, including air, rail,
marine, transit, bicycle and pedestrian
facilities. The Building Trades Coun-
cil will also support increasing bond
authority for the Oregon University
System, both for new construction and
for needed energy and seismic retrofits
of existing buildings.
CONTRACTING OUT. Oregon
AFSCME, together with other public
sector unions, will also be promoting
bills to bring greater transparency and
accountability — and fairness — to
public contracting. One bill would re-
quire that contract negotiations be open
to the public, and that contracts be
posted on a state transparency web site.
Another bill would make it harder for
governments to outsource if that in-
volves chopping worker pay and bene-
fits.
SINGLE PAYER HEALTH
CARE. Last year, advocates of creat-
ing a universal public health insurance
system were able to pass a law author-
izing a study of how such a thing could
be set up in Oregon. But the study was
to be funded with private money, and
supporters so far have raised only
about $50,000 of the $200,000 needed.
This year, the union-backed coalition
Health Care for All Oregon will seek
to extend authorization for the study,
and seek a state match for private dol-
lars raised.
PAY IT FORWARD. Oregon
Working Families Party will advocate
further development of a plan that was
conceived by students in former party
co-chair Barb Dudley’s Portland State
University class. Under the “Pay it For-
ward” proposal, students at public col-
leges and universities in Oregon could
opt to attend tuition-free in return for
an agreement to pay 2 to 4 percent of
their income for the next 20 years, after
graduation. In 2013, legislators author-
ized a work group which met in 2014
to design a pilot program. Its pilot pro-
gram proposal — starting with 1,000
students a year — would need at least
$56 million in funds by the time the
JANUARY 16, 2015
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
first group graduated in four years.
FUSION VOTING. Oregon Work-
ing Families Party will also push a pro-
posal for full-fledged fusion voting,
along the lines of the system that pre-
vails in New York, where the union-
backed minor party is strongest. Under
fusion voting, candidates can be en-
dorsed by more than one political
party. Oregon Working Families Party
was able to pass “partial fusion” in
2009, so Oregon candidates today can
run with the endorsement of more than
one political party, but all the endorse-
ments are listed together next to the
candidate’s name. Under “full fusion,”
each party can list the candidate’s
name on their own ballot line. As a re-
sult, candidates know how many votes
each party delivered, giving minor par-
ties more potential influence. The Ore-
gon Working Families Party sees fu-
sion voting as key to its strategy of
delivering votes to candidates who
commit to and deliver on a pro-worker
agenda.
CANNABIS WORKERS RIS-
ING. Last November, Oregon voters
legalized recreational marijuana effec-
tive next January, but many of the reg-
ulatory details about retail sales will be
worked out this year by the Oregon
Legislature. UFCW Local 555, which
backed Ballot Measure 91, will be pay-
ing close attention. If lawmakers place
limits on the number of retailers, the
union will advocate that the state issue
permits not by lottery but with a merit-
based system that would favor respon-
sible applicants, giving credit for good
labor practices, for example. UFCW
represents the workers at medical mar-
ijuana dispensaries and other legal
cannabis operations in several other
states.
Low Prices!
CAREER AND TECHNICAL
EDUCATION. Career and Technical
Education — which includes things
like shop classes and computerized
drafting — has atrophied during Ore-
gon’s perennial budget crises, and is in
need of reinvestment. Labor Commis-
sioner Brad Avakian, with labor sup-
port, will call for further restoration of
CTE in high schools and middle
schools. The governor is asking for a
$25 million increase, and trades unions
would like to see even more.
Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6
“Working people did a lot of work
during this election cycle to make sure
candidates were running on issues that
matter, and it paid off,” says Graham
Trainor, Oregon AFL-CIO political
and legislative director. “Now the Leg-
islature has an incredible opportunity
to move the ball forward for working
Oregonians.”
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