NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | May 15, 2015 | PAGE 7 NATIONAL American Federation of Teachers ends Coke boycott The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has ended its boycott of Coca-Cola products. Last October, the union’s Ex- ecutive Council approved the boycott. The resolution declared Coca-Cola to be complicit in vi- olence against union leaders in Latin America, and guilty of purchasing sugar produced with child labor in El Salvador. It committed that AFT would not only refrain from serving or sell- ing Coca-Cola products at its of- fices, but would encourage affil- iates to participate in campaigns to remove Coke products from schools, hospitals and other AFT workplaces. That got the attention of Coca-Cola executives, who met with AFT leaders in the ensuing months, including Secretary- Treasurer Lorretta Johnson. In February, AFT’s Executive Council voted to end the boy- New officers at OPEIU Local 11 Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 11 swore in a new set of officers at its May 12 general mem- bership meeting. Headquartered in Vancouver, Local 11 represents 1,845 workers in Oregon, Southwest Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Utah. The membership consists of about 600 outside workers at Northwest Natural, 270 employees of Clark County, 130 at the City of Van- couver, and smaller units elsewhere of office professionals, local government employees, and union office support staff, including employees of the Northwest Labor Press. All the newly-sworn-in officers ran unopposed and were elected by acclamation at the union’s March 10 general membership meet- ing. They are: Barb Melton, president; Doug Luse, vice president; Debi Turk, recording secretary; Steve Wyck, sergeant-at-arms; Jinny Jones, trustee; and Executive Board members Sandi Dowling, Util- ities; Chuck Strange, Public Employees; and Shannon Walker and Linda Butterfield, at-large. The president and trustee positions are for three-year terms; all other positions have two-year terms of office. cott, saying “it’s clear the Coca- Cola Company has taken signif- icant steps … including working with global and local unions and other stakeholders to address workers’ rights and child labor issues.” And on March 23, AFT Pres- ident Randi Weingarten signed a partnership agreement with Ed Potter, Coke’s director of global workplace rights, in the pres- ence of Alexis Herman. [Her- man, who was U.S. secretary of labor during Bill Clinton’s sec- ond term, is a member of the Coca-Cola board of directors.] The agreement says AFT and Coke will “collaborate to iden- tify local stakeholders in spe- cific countries with expertise in education and/or addressing child labor to facilitate child la- bor due diligence studies,” and “collaborate on approaches to the remediation of child labor (when it is identified) and the advancement of school atten- dance, including engaging with a broader group of stakeholders, as needed.” Four other national unions continue to boycott Coke: American Postal Workers Union, Communications Work- ers of America, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and Service Employees International Union. ONLINE EXTRA See the full agreement between AFT and Coke at bit.ly/1bvPBGS, Appeals court: Central Point School District broke the law when it outsourced bus service MEDFORD—The Oregon Court of Appeals has ruled that Central Point School District (CPSD) broke state law when it outsourced school bus service to for-profit First Student. A law passed in 2009 by the Oregon Legislature bars state and local public employers from outsourcing public sector jobs unless doing so saves tax dol- lars, and the savings can’t come just from slashing worker wages and benefits. Before a public employer can decide to out- source, it has to conduct a de- tailed cost benefit analysis, in- cluding estimates of wage and benefit costs for the agency and a potential contractor. But that didn’t happen at Central Point, the appeals court concluded in a written decision issued April 22. Leaders of the 4,400-student district, just north of Medford, decided to explore contracting out in early 2011 after concerns that its aging bus fleet would need to be replaced. To satisfy the state legal requirement, Cen- tral Point hired transportation consultant John Fairchild to do a cost analysis. But instead of collecting information on First Student wages and benefits and making an actual estimate, his analysis just “assumed” that a contractor would pay the same wages and benefits as the dis- trict. The school board received his analysis in March, and on June 14, approved a contract with First Student. A week later, the district laid off 38 school bus drivers—members of Oregon School Employees Association (OSEA) Local 6732, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers. First Student hired some of the laid-off drivers, but not all. OSEA filed suit on behalf of driver Stephanie Hicks, who was not hired. The suit called for the First Student contract to be declared void, and for laid-off employees to be reinstated with lost wages and benefits repaid. A Jackson County Circuit Court judge ruled in the school district’s favor in 2012, but OSEA appealed, and won. The state law gives public employers plenty of discretion as to how they conduct the cost- benefit analysis, but it draws the line at analyses that are “clearly erroneous, arbitrary, capricious or contrary to law.” Central Point crossed that line, the appeals court ruled. The decision doesn’t end the lawsuit. Rather, it overturns the Jackson County Circuit Court decision, and orders the lower court to re- consider the case.