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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2015)
PAGE 2 | May 1, 2015 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the la- bor movement. Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-profit mutual benefit corpo- ration owned by 20 unions and councils including the Ore- gon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Office location: 4275 NE Halsey St., Portland, Oregon Mailing address: P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213 Phone: (503) 288-3311 Web address: http://nwlaborpress.org Editor & Manager: Michael Gutwig Associate editor: Don McIntosh Office manager: Cheri Rice Printed on recycled paper, using soy-based inks, by members of Teamsters Local 747-M. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Individual subscriptions are $13.75 per year for union members, $20 a year for all others. Send a check for that amount, indicating mailing address and union affilia- tion, to P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213. For 25 or more subscriptions, group rates of $9.60 a year per person are available to trade union organizations. Call 503-288-3311 for de- tails. CORRECTIONS: See an error? Please let us know at editor@nwlaborpress.org or by phone at 503-288-3311. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a change of address. When or- dering a change, please give your old and new addresses and the name and number of your local union. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS P.O. BOX 13150 PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 IRS PROBLEMS? • Haven’t filed for ... years? • Lost records? • Liens - Levies - Garnishments? • Negotiate settlements. • Prepare offer in Compromise. Call Nancy D. Anderson Enrolled Agent NPTI Fellow/America’s Tax Expert LTC-1807 www.nancydanderson.com 503-244-2577 Unions protest anti-union moves by KGW Three local unions held a public rally April 25 in Pioneer Court- house Square to publicize their growing dispute with Portland’s KGW television station. KGW is owned by the media chain Gannett, which is propos- ing to eliminate union jurisdic- tion in contract bargaining with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Lo- cal 48, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 600, and Screen Actors Guild-American Federa- tion of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). Elimi- nating union jurisdiction would mean that union contract terms would apply only to current union members, and the com- pany could hire new employees to do the same work under dif- ferent terms. Dave Twedell, business repre- sentative for IATSE Local 600, said the jurisdiction proposal would pave the way for the sta- tion to diminish the quality of news by using work from non- professionals. Twedell said Gan- nett’s business moves could also have wider consequences: Cor- porate raider Carl Icahn owns a chunk of Gannett stock, and may push for the company to sell off rights to some TV broadcast fre- quencies to cell phone providers. “Our members don’t want to lose their jobs,” Twedell said, “but more importantly, this com- munity cannot afford to lose this station. It’s not an asset that be- longs to Carl Icahn. It belongs to all of us.” Gannett announced April 22 that it’s spinning off its broadcast division into a new company un- der the name Tegna, which in- cludes letters from the name Gannett. “Basically they laid off two letters [in the new name], and they haven’t been able to find work yet,” quipped State Rep. Lew Frederick (D-Portland), one of three local elected officials who spoke in support of workers at the rally. Frederick was him- self a KGW employee for 17 years, and a board member of AFTRA for 15. When he was a broadcast journalist, Frederick said, all four local network-affil- iated TV stations had on-air em- ployees in AFTRA; today only one does. Rally-goers also heard from Lory Olson, a television news videographer at KOIN-TV. Workers there are members of the National Association of Broadcast Employees & Techni- cians (NABET), a division of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), but they’ve been without a union contract since their last one expired in mid-2013. State Sen. Michael Dembrow (D-Portland), and Multnomah County Commissioner Judy Shiprack also spoke at the rally, and union blues musician Nor- man Sylvester and his band— members of Musicians Local 99 —performed. Multnomah County Chair Deb Kafoury said she couldn’t be at the rally, but said in a letter that she supports their effort to hold Gannett to community standards. Duane Hansen, SAG-AF- TRA local president, said the tough negotiations come in a broader context of an employer war on workers. “If we’re going to have a mid- dle class 10 years from now,” Hansen said. “It’s going to be because people like me and you stand up and do what’s right.”
