SERVING ORGANIZED LABOR IN OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON SINCE 1900
NORTHWEST
LABOR
PRESS
VOLUME 116, NUMBER 11
INSIDE
USPS reprieve 2
Shipyard contract 3
Union meetings 6
Free classifieds 10
PORTLAND, OREGON
JUNE 5, 2015
Trumka to Oregon’s labor movement: Organize
National AFL-CIO president
Richard Trumka visited the Port-
land area May 19 to deliver the
keynote address at a summit on
union organizing. The summit—
sponsored by the Oregon AFL-
CIO and held at the Vancouver
Hilton Hotel and Convention
Center—drew 180 attendees, in-
cluding professional organizers,
union leaders, staff, and active
members. What follows is his
message, edited for space.
“The American labor move-
ment is in transition. And organ-
izing has to be front, center, and
back, for us to go forward.
Our labor movement is in
transition in every way and at
every level. We’ve got to reach
out and join with those who
share our values. We have to go
back to our roots, back into the
community, and we have to be
part of the community and the
community part of us. And to do
that, we have to take a hard look
at ourselves. The labor move-
ment grows from the bottom up,
not from Washington, D.C.,
down. Without central labor
councils and local unions that
are fully engaged in organizing
and bringing us together with the
community, it doesn’t happen.
We, each of us, have to be-
come more professional, and
quite frankly, more accountable.
Sometimes we ignore the fact
that our brothers and sisters
aren’t holding up their end of the
deal. And we can’t do that any
more, because we need every-
body hitting on all eight cylin-
ders if we’re going to succeed.
And when one union for what-
ever reason lays back, the rest of
us have to encourage them to
come forward and carry their
load, and to help us so that all of
us can win.
Wearing a tie that says “Stop TPP,”
national AFL-CIO President
Richard Trumka—America’s top
union official —called on unions
to work together to win a better
life for working people.
When I say that we’re joining
together with allies and like-
minded partners, I really mean it.
We’re committed to it. This isn’t
a flavor of the month or a cam-
paign slogan of the year. This is
a fundamental of the labor
movement — back to our roots,
back to where we came from,
the community.
This is transformative work,
and it’s not going to happen
overnight. It’s going to be long,
hard work, and it’s going to have
some setbacks. And trust me
when I tell you this: Do not let
the first disagreement with an-
other group destroy a partner-
ship. Don’t allow little stumbles
to prevent us from seeing the big
picture down the road — a com-
plete, inseparable partnership
with our progressive friends and
allies.
Everything ultimately that we
do comes down to one simple
mission, and that’s making
Turn to Page 9
Senate passes Fast Track
If House follows, NAFTA-style
deals like TPP would proliferate
WOMEN IN THE TRADES. Union women played a major role at the 22nd annual Oregon Tradeswomen’s
Women in Trades Fair, held May 14-16 at the IBEW Local 48 Union Hall in Northeast Portland. In the photo
above, Joy Crays (in background with hardhat and yellow raincoat), and Jasmine Varela (yellow raincoat) help
participants stop a water main break. The women work at the Portland Water Bureau and are members of
AFSCME Local 189. Varela is currently in a training program to become an operating engineer. Fairgoers who
stopped by the Water Bureau booth also got to break down and reassemble a water meter; test water for
turbidity; and tap a 1-inch pipe. More than 2,000 people attended the fair. The first day was reserved for mid-
dle school students — 687 of them. Friday was open to high school students (575), and Saturday was open
to the general public. For more photos of union women at the fair, go to Page 5.
Fast Track is halfway to the fin-
ish line. The U.S. Senate passed
it 62 to 37 on May 22, and now
it goes to the U.S. House for
consideration. House Speaker
John Boehner (R-Ohio), has
said he wants to pass fast-track
by June 30. The national AFL-
CIO is campaigning hard to de-
feat it.
“This piece of legislation will
affect the lives of working peo-
ple more than any other piece of
legislation out there right now,”
said AFL-CIO President Rich
Trumka at a May 18 press con-
ference in Portland.
What is fast track? Don’t be
duped by its re-branding as
“trade promotion authority” —
the president has all the author-
ity he needs to promote trade.
Fast track is legislation that
would speed up the Congres-
sional process for considering
future trade agreements, and
lower its threshold for passing
them. In other words, it puts fu-
ture trade deals on a “fast track”
to passage.
If fast track passes the House,
then any future trade deals
signed by any president—for
the next six years—would be
Turn to Page 4