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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 2015)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | February 6, 2015 | PAGE 3 The nine major work stoppages of 2014 ...THE DISAPPEARING STRIKE From Page 1 lock-outs by employers. Today’s strikes aren’t just fewer in number than the strikes of old; they also tend to be shorter. Strikes in the ’50s and ’60s lasted two to three weeks on average. Today’s strikes seem to come in two varieties: Short symbolic strikes of a day or two called by unions to protest employer lawbreaking, and drawn-out strikes or lock- outs caused by employers seek- ing dramatic concessions. These nine strikes weren’t the only ones last year, just the only strikes involving over 1,000 workers. California Nurses Association/ ■ University of Illinois (Chicago) National Nurses United held a one- 1,100 members of UIC United Faculty day strike Nov. 11 Local 6456 struck for two days Feb. 18-19. ■ SFO Airport Restaurant Employer Council (San ■ Johns Hopkins Hospital Francisco International Airport) (Baltimore) 2,000 members of 1,000 members of UNITE HERE Local Service Employees International 2 struck for two days Dec. 11-12. Union Local 1099 struck for three days April 9-11. ■ MedStar Washington Hospital Center (Washington, D.C.) 1,900 ■ L-3 Communications Army members of National Nurses United Fleet Support (Fort Rucker, struck seven days Dec. 22-31. Alabama) 3,000 members of Machinists Lodge 2003 struck for five ■ Zodiac Seats US days April 28- May 4. (Gainesville, Texas) 1,300 members of Teamsters Local 767 ■ Waukegan School District 60 struck for 29 days Sept. 23 to Oct. 25. (Waukegan, Illinois) 1,200 members of Lake County Federation ■ FairPoint Communications of Teachers, Local 504 struck for 20 (Maine, New Hampshire, and days Oct. 2-30. Vermont) 1,700 members of Communications Workers of America ■ Kaiser Permanente, Sutter and the International Brotherhood of Tracy, Community Health, and Electrical Workers went on strike Oct. Ascencion Health hospitals 17 and have remained on strike since (Northern and Central then. California) 20,000 members of Port to weigh PDX worker reforms Port of Portland staff are con- tinuing to work on an “equity” policy that could improve condi- tions for workers at Portland In- ternational Airport (PDX). The Port is a public agency responsi- ble for the airport and marine and industrial facilities, and it’s overseen by a commission ap- pointed by the governor. At the Port Commission’s Jan. 14 meeting, Port assistant execu- tive director Curtis Robinhold said the proposed policy would likely be presented at the Com- mission’s March 11 meeting. He said the Port can’t set a minimum wage for airport work- ers because of a state law pre- empting local minimum wage ordinances. But the policy would likely include some “worker re- tention” language providing job security to workers when a con- tract changes hands. New restau- rants or janitorial contractors, for example, might be required to hire from a pool of workers laid off from the previous contractor — if the Port of Portland adopts a retention policy similar to one in place in several other West Coast airports. UNITE HERE Local 8, which represents some conces- sions workers at airport restau- rants, has been calling on the Port to adopt such a policy. On Jan. 8, UNITE HERE re- ported the results of a survey of more than 100 concessions workers at PDX. The union sur- vey found that the majority make just above minimum wage. The median wage for non-supervisory workers like cooks, cashiers and baristas was $9.30 an hour. Just 16 percent got health insurance through their employer. Another 15 per- cent get insurance through Med- icaid, the government insurance program for the poor, and 24 percent said they receive food Get your disability application done right, right from the beginning. We help folk from the start. P ROUDLY S ERVING P ORTLAND W ORKERS F OR O VER 32 Y EARS stamps. And 27 percent said they had chosen not to eat when they were hungry in the past year because of concerns about money. The survey also found high turnover: 40 percent of re- spondents had been working there six months or less, and the median was just one year.
