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
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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.