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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 2015)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | May 15, 2015 | PAGE 5 Arbitrator orders Portland Parks & Rec must halt use of nonunion casuals An arbitrator has ruled that the City of Portland violated its union contract with Laborers Local 483 when it regularly as- signed the work of bargaining unit members to nonunion em- ployees who were classified as seasonal or casual. The May 1 decision by arbi- trator David W. Stiteler settles a dispute the union has been pur- suing since 2002. It has to do with Portland Parks & Recre- ation, where the equivalent of 80 full-time union-represented employees work side-by-side with as many as 250 to 300 less- than-full-time “recreational sup- port persons,” who are limited to 1,200 or 1,600 hours a year. Stiteler ruled that the City has been misclassifying those work- ers as outside the union—de- spite their performing the same work as union members on a regular basis. The nonunion workers are paid roughly $3 an hour less, and have no benefits or job security. They work in aquatics, fitness, tennis, arts, music, and other programs of the bureau. The fact that the City changed its argument going into arbitration didn’t help its case with the arbitrator: During the grievance process, City man- agers said those employees don’t do the same work as unit members, but during arbitration, they said the employees do the same work, and had always done so, so it should be allowed to continue. Local 483 filed the grievance in April 2013, took it to binding arbitration that November, and presented its arguments at a Incumbents at Port of St. Helens add union support erty at Port Westward. It is one of the largest sources of jobs and economic activity in the county, which includes Scappoose, St. Helens, Columbia City, Rainier and Clatskanie. Keyser, who currently serves as chair, is seeking his fourth four-year term. He is a lifelong resident of Clatskanie, and owns Clatskanie Builders Supply. He was a member of the United Pa- per Workers Union while em- ployed at what is now Georgia- Pacific in Wauna. In a question- naire response submitted to the Northwest Oregon Labor Coun- cil, Keyser said he also was a member of Fire Fighters Local 696 while working for the City of Astoria, and that he helped or- ganize the staff of Clatskanie and Rainier fire departments into Fire Fighters Local 3651 while employed at Clatskanie Rural Fire District. DeShazer is in her 15th year as a Port commissioner. A resi- dent of Warren, she works under contract as a project manager for Bonneville Power Administra- tion. One of her opponents, Larry Ericksen, last year ran un- successfully against Brad Witt for state representative in House District 31. Witt is a union rep for UFCW Local 555 and a for- mer secretary-treasurer of the Oregon AFL-CIO. Avent, who is seeking a third term, is a resident of Rainier. He is co-owner of a development business that buys and remodels properties. One of his opponents is Scappoose resident Mike Stanton, president of the Inter- national Longshore and Ware- house Union Local 8. NATIONAL Merkley bill would require American-made materials on all federal transportation projects WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D- Wisconsin) introduced the In- vest in American Jobs Act to re- quire federally-funded trans- portation projects to use Ameri- can steel, iron and manufactured products whenever possible. Currently, similar require- ments—known as “Buy Amer- ica” standards—exist for key as- pects of highway and water infrastructure, but many projects the case, says the City will now have to either hire them as union members, or stop assigning them the work of union members. “The union has been fighting for over 10 years so that the low-paid temporary workers at Parks and Rec would be given fair wages and benefits,” Dia- mond said. “I see this as a great win.” STORY UPDATES Unitarian union leads to fund drive WASHINGTON COUNTY ST. HELENS — Three incum- bent commissioners on the Port of the St. Helens continue to pick up endorsements from or- ganized labor. Robert Keyser, Mike Avent, and Colleen DeShazer—run- ning on a slate—have received endorsements from the North- west Oregon Labor Council, the Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council, IBEW Local 48, Operating Engineers Local 701, United Food and Commer- cial Workers (UFCW) Local 555, and others. Seven other candidates have filed to run in the May 19 elec- tion. Keyser and Avent have two opponents, and DeShazer has three challengers. The five-member Board of Commissioners oversees the Port of St. Helens and its prop- hearing held Jan. 21–23, 2015. The arbitrator said it was out- side his authority to order that the employees become union members under the contract. But he ordered the City to stop assigning bargaining unit work to employees who aren’t mem- bers of the bargaining unit. Attorney Barbara Diamond, who represented Local 483 in do not fall under the requirement. The legislation would expand Buy America provisions so that all major projects overseen by the U.S. Department of Trans- portation would fall under Buy America requirements, with fed- erally-funded transit and Federal Aviation Administration projects eventually having to meet a 100 percent Buy America standard wherever feasible. “When we make things in America, we grow the middle class in America,” said Merkley. “Ensuring that American tax- payer dollars go to support American businesses and work- ers wherever possible is just common sense.” Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manu- facturing commended the sena- tors. “American workers and manufacturers stand ready to re- build America’s infrastructure— this bill will give them a chance to do just that.” In our Feb. 20 issue, we reported that Portland’s First Unitarian Church agreed to recognize a union of church support employ- ees known as sextons. Church leaders initially rebuffed the idea that the workers could be represented by Communications Workers of America Local 7901, pointing out that federal labor law doesn’t require churches to recognize employee unions. But pressure from members of the famously progressive con- gregation prompted a change of heart, and on Feb. 7, church leaders agreed to recognize and bargain with the union for the 19 employees. Negotiations on a first union contract have been under way since then. The church also launched a fundraising campaign, asking members to dig deeper by pledging an addi- tional $120,000 a year — in order to raise wages to at least $15 an hour. As of late April, the congregation was reportedly close to meeting that goal. Grand Central Baking union effort falls flat In our March 20 issue, we reported on accusations that Grand Central Baking closed its Northwest Portland cafe early in re- taliation for employees’ union-like demands. Workers at the 2240 NW York retail location had been talking with Laborers Local 483 about unionizing, but in January, the company an- nounced it would close the cafe on March 31 to expand the ad- jacent wholesale bakery. Workers demanded preferential rehir- ing to open positions at other company locations, but company owners didn’t agree, and then closed the cafe Jan. 22, two months earlier than announced. Local 483 filed a charge Jan. 23 with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the sped-up closure was illegal retaliation. But Local 483 withdrew the charge March 17, after the investigating agent said the union was unlikely to prevail. To date, the company has not hired any of the laid-off workers to new positions. Ban the Box nearly ready for council vote Remember the “ban the box” ordinance we reported on in our March 20 issue? A citizen working group is near completion on an ordinance for Portland City Council to consider, says union ally Midge Purcell of the Urban League of Portland. Pur- cell has been working on the task force alongside Graham Trainor of the Oregon AFL-CIO to hone the details of an ordi- nance that would give formerly incarcerated individuals a better chance at finding work after their release — by barring em- ployers from asking about criminal history on the initial appli- cation. Employers could still do criminal background checks later in the process and decline to hire for relevant convictions, but the ordinance would at least give individuals a chance to explain the circumstances, and show how they’ve been reha- bilitated. Purcell says an ordinance is likely to see the light of day sometime in late May.
