NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | March 20, 2015 | PAGE 5
ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT
Middle class incomes suffer
without collective bargaining
By Ross Eisenbrey
Economic Policy Institute
As a broad attack on unions
continues, with Republican
politicians leading efforts to
eliminate unions or weaken
them in Illinois and Wisconsin,
Missouri and West Virginia, and
county-by-county in Kentucky,
it’s wise to think about what’s at
stake. We now know what hap-
pens when employers hold most
of the cards and employee
power is diminished: profits and
CEO pay skyrocket, and worker
pay flatlines.
It is no coincidence that the
share of income going to the
broad middle class began to fall
as union membership and power
were reduced (see graph). The
middle 60 percent of families
depend primarily on wages for
their income, so as the unions’
ability to raise wages dimin-
ished, so did the ability of mid-
dle class families to earn a fair
share of the nation’s growing in-
come. Research has shown that
as unions were less able to es-
tablish wage standards the
wages of nonunion workers in
the same occupations and sec-
tors were also reduced. Politi-
cians who care about the middle
class should be looking for ways
to help workers gain access to
collective bargaining and restore
union strength. They certainly
ought not weaken them further
and limit or forbid collective
bargaining.
Portland considers ‘Ban the Box’ ordinance; Metro OKs resolution
The City of Portland is consid-
ering an ordinance to give peo-
ple with criminal records a bet-
ter shot at starting over and
becoming gainfully employed.
The ordinance would require
employers to postpone asking
about or checking criminal back-
grounds until after they make a
conditional offer of employ-
ment. It would also bar employ-
ers from legally discriminating
against people for their criminal
backgrounds unless the em-
ployer determines that their of-
fense has a direct relationship to
their ability to perform the job.
And employers would be ex-
pected to consider the nature and
gravity of the offense, as well as
how much time has elapsed
since the offense took place.
The proposed ordinance,
sponsored by Mayor Charlie
Hales, got a first hearing March
11. Oregon AFL-CIO President
Tom Chamberlain spoke in sup-
port, saying the current process
penalizes people who’ve al-
ready paid their debt to society.
Fair Chance for All is the
name of the coalition working to
pass the ordinance, which is also
known as “Ban the Box.” The
coalition is led by the Urban
League of Portland. It is sup-
ported by the Oregon AFL-CIO
and many unions.
As of press time, no date had
been set for a vote on the ordi-
nance, versions of which have
passed in other municipalities
around the country.
On March 12, Metro council
members passed a “Ban the
Box” resolution on a 6-0 vote.
The regional council will re-
move questions about criminal
history from its job applications.
Background checks will still be
completed later in the hiring
process to ensure appropriate
employment.
“Metro will now allow people
to make the case for their quali-
fications on a fair playing field,”
Metro councilor and resolution
sponsor Sam Chase said in a
press statement.
Oregon governor signs first
‘motor voter’ bill in nation
SALEM — Oregon’s newly
sworn-in Gov. Kate Brown (D)
signed a “motor voter” bill into
law March 16. The legislation,
supported by organized labor,
passed largely along party lines,
with all Republicans and one De-
mocrat in each chamber opposed.
Under the new law, Oregoni-
ans who obtain a driver’s license
and otherwise meet criteria for
voting (such as age) are automat-
ically registered to vote. It is es-
timated that 300,000 voters will
be added to the voting rolls.
“Citizen engagement is cen-
tral to democracy, so ideally, we
should make participation as
easy as possible,” said Brown,
who authored the legislation dur-
ing her tenure as secretary of
state.
Oregon is the first state in the
nation to automatically register
voters using DMV records.