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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2015)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | February 20, 2015 | PAGE 7 Common Sense Economics introduced at Labor Law Conference The program illustrates why today’s economy isn’t working for working people, and what steps workers can take to help create an economy that benefits everyone By Michael Gutwig Editor-Manager A capacity crowd at the annual Labor Law Conference in Port- land Jan. 30 was introduced to the AFL-CIO’s latest program — Common Sense Economics. With America witnessing the largest redistribution of wealth in its history, the CSE program will bring workers together to talk about how it happened. “With this information — and knowing how we got to this economy ‘of, by and for the 1 percent,’ we can then move peo- ple to action to build a powerful enough social movement that can actually do something about it,” said Bob Bussel, director of the Labor Education and Re- search Center at the University of Oregon. LERC is working with the Oregon AFL-CIO to help dis- seminate the course to workers, unions, and community organi- zations throughout the state. The national AFL-CIO has a goal to reach 1 million people. Bussel told Labor Law Con- ference attendees that lots of people believe the Great Reces- sion was accidental — the natu- ral byproduct of a free market society. “But this winner-take- all politics and this winner-take- all economy came about be- cause of conscious political (Photo left) Bob Bussel of LERC gives a pres- entation of the Common Sense Economics program. (Above) Britt Cornman of Machin- ists District W24 looks through material at Labor Law Conference Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian (lower right) waits to speak at Labor Law Conference held Jan. 30 at the IBEW Local 48 union hall in Northeast Portland. Avakian was the keynote luncheon speaker. choices,” he said. Bussel pointed to the indus- trial billionaire Koch brothers (Charles and David), who intend to raise a staggering $889 mil- lion from their billionaire bud- dies to spend in the 2016 elec- tion cycle (more than double what they spent in 2012). That’s about as much money as each political party raises on its own, Bussel said, which makes the conservative Koch brothers a third political party. “And what is the Koch broth- ers’ agenda?” he asked. “It’s an agenda to maintain an economy that is of, by and for the 1 per- cent.” CSE’s goal is to help put workers in the driver’s seat so they can start changing the di- rection of the economy so that it is an economy that works for all workers. Bussel said union reps from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the Oregon Nurses Association, LERC and the Oregon AFL- CIO have been trained and are ready to present the course. There is a three-hour program, one- or two-hour versions, even 20 minutes, if need be. For more information, or to arrange for a presentation, con- tact Russell Sanders at the Ore- gon AFL-CIO, russell@orafl- cio.org. NW labor history mini conference March 14 bers identified Astoria as play- ing an important role in the la- bor history of the Beaver State, and they wanted to know more about it,” said Ron Verzuh of the PNLHA. The Finnish commu- nity of radical trade unionists is part of the city’s heritage, as are the histories of other ethnic communities, Verzuh said. The celebrated Astoria Labor Tem- ple also speaks to the richness of the region’s labor history. Astoria’s vibrant and sometimes volatile labor history will be re- visited March 14 at a day-long mini-conference at the Colum- bia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, sponsored by the Pa- cific Northwest Labor History Association (PNLHA). “Several of our Oregon mem- The Labor Law Conference was founded in 1996 by Norm Malbin, who retired last year as general counsel for IBEW Local 48. It is co-sponsored by the Ore- gon AFL-CIO, Center for Worker Rights, Northwest Oregon Labor Council, LERC, and the Colum- bia Pacific and Oregon State Building and Construction Trades councils. Each year it sells out, at- tracting nearly 300 union officers, staffers, stewards and others who participate in workshops, listen to experts, and learn new ways to better represent their members. Among the plenary speakers this year were Ronald Hooks, re- gional director of the National La- bor Relations Board, management attorney Rick Liebman, labor at- torney John Bishop, Oregon AFL- CIO President Tom Chamberlain, and Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian. Avakian reported on several bills the Bureau of Labor and In- dustries supports this legislative session. There’s a bill to provide funding for three new investiga- tors in the Wage and Hour Divi- sion. Avakian said he will create a team to travel the state spot checking prevailed projects, and businesses with a history of cheating workers. Two other bills would give BOLI cease and desist authority while investigat- ing a wage and hour complaint, and garnishment authority when an employer is found to have cheated their employees out of wages and/or benefits. Avakian also supports a bill that would give BOLI the au- thority to enforce an Oregon statute that bans professional strikebreakers. “There’s a statute in Oregon that says it’s illegal to be a pro- fessional strikebreaker, but there’s nobody in charge of en- forcing the statute,” Avakian said. “A bill this session would give BOLI the ability to step in the middle of professional strike- breakers, find the businesses hir- ing them, find the strikebreakers that are going to cross your picket lines, and kick them out of our state.” Avakian also supports a raise in the state minimum wage, as well as a series of bills that would eliminate wage disparity among workers. Labor educator Marcus Widenor will moderate a labor history panel, and labor educa- tor Bob Bussel will moderate a low-wage panel. At the end of the day, Pacific Northwest his- torian and labor educator Norm Diamond will lead a discussion about the future of labor history in the region. For more information, con- tact Verzuh at 541-852-5540, or email him at rverzuh@shaw.ca.
