NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | June 5, 2015 | PAGE 3
Election of labor candidates May 19 bodes well for workers
Two-thirds of the labor-
Portland Commu-
backed candidates in Ore-
nity College Board:
gon’s May 19 special
PCC instructor (and
election won their races,
OCLS-grad) Michael
including three of the four
Sonnleitner won with
graduates of the Oregon
38 percent in a three-
Labor Candidates School
way race. Sonnleitner
(OCLS) who sought of-
is a member of the
fice. The election was for
PCC Federation of
nonpartisan school board
Faculty and Academic
Burke
and local district offices.
Professionals (AFT
Voter turnout ranged
Local 3922) and has
from 16 to 20 percent.
taught political science
Voters also approved
at PCC for 27 years.
one labor-endorsed ballot
Under state law, he has
measure: a $125 million
to quit his job at PCC
capital
bond
for
in order to serve on the
Reynolds School Dis-
board.
trict, which passed nar-
Portland Public
rowly with 52 percent of
Schools Board: Julie
the vote. Measure 26-
Esparza Brown and
Sonnleitner
164 had the support of
Paul Anthony won
the Northwest Oregon Labor with the backing of Portland As-
Council (NOLC).
sociation of Teachers, but labor
Here’s how labor-backed can-
didates (in bold type) fared:
MULTNOMAH COUNTY
Multnomah Education Serv-
ice District: Stephen Marc
Beaudoin won with 55 percent
of the vote in a three-way race
for MESD position 6 at large,
and American Federation of
Teachers (AFT) member Siob-
han Burke, an OCLS graduate,
scored a lopsided win for 74 per-
cent of the votes for Position 7,
Zone 3.
endorsements didn’t save in-
cumbent Bobbie Regan, who
fell short with 41 percent of the
vote to 44 percent for challenger
Amy Kohnstamm.
Corbett School District:
Lacey Auble, backed by the
Corbett Education Association,
won with 58 percent.
CLACKAMAS COUNTY
North Clackamas School
District Board: Trisha Claxton,
Lee Merrick, and Steven
Schroedl won office. Merrick
and Schroedl were unopposed.
City of West Linn Mayor:
Thomas Frank, backed by
NOLC and United Food and
Commercial Workers Local
555, lost with 45 percent in a
race to fill an unexpired term.
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Hillsboro School District:
Kim Strelchun and Lisa Allen
won, but AFT member Jaime
Rodriguez, an OLCS grad, lost
his second attempt at a school
board seat, with 43 percent of
the vote in a challenge to an in-
cumbent.
Beaverton School District:
Becky Tymchuk, backed by the
Beaverton Education Associa-
tion, won with 52 percent of
vote in a three-way race.
Melissa Potter, also backed by
the Beaverton Education Asso-
ciation, lost.
Tualatin Valley Fire & Res-
cue: Randy Lauer and Brian
Clopton, backed by the Fire
Fighters union, won. Clopton
was unopposed.
COLUMBIA COUNTY
Port of St. Helens: Incumbent
Mike Avent—endorsed by
NOLC, the Columbia Pacific
Building Trades Council, and
UFCW Local 555—won with
45 percent in three-way race.
But incumbent Robert Keyser
placed second in a three-way
race, with 40 percent of vote;
and incumbent Colleen DeS-
hazer got 24 percent, placing a
distant second in a four-way
race.
LANE COUNTY
Eugene School Board: Eileen
Nittler and Mary Walston
won, but Kevin Cronin came in
second in a three-way race.
Oakridge School District:
Oregon School Employees As-
sociation member Susan
Hardy, an OLCS graduate, won
by just four votes—376-372.
Shipyard workers at Cascade General ratify pact
Shipyard workers at Cascade
General ratified a new two-year
contract May 28. The vote was
74-41. It was the third contract
vote for the 184 workers repre-
sented by the Portland Metal
Trades Council, a coalition of 10
craft unions at the shipyard on
Swan Island. The previous con-
tract expired Nov. 30, 2014.
Social Security
Disability benefits:
You paid into the
system while you
worked and if you
can't work anymore,
it's time to obtain
them.
Workers narrowly rejected a
tentative agreement Jan. 16. The
key issue was health insurance.
The sides returned to the bar-
gaining table Feb. 9, at which
time Cascade General agreed to
changes to the medical plan, but
rescinded a ratification bonus
that had been included in the
first proposal. A new tentative
contract eventually was reached,
but in voting held April 6, work-
ers again narrowly rejected the
proposal. In another round of
bargaining May 8, the union
coalition got the employer to
move on a slightly better of-
fer—enough for ratification.
“It was a very difficult nego-
tiations over several months,”
said Bud Bartunek, area director
of Painters District Council 5,
and president of the Portland
Metal Trades Council. “But we
had members involved in the
bargaining process with the em-
ployer. It helps having your
members involved to point out
different perspectives on issues.”
“We were able to avoid a last
best and final. You never know
what that will look like,” said
Gary Moore, a business agent
for Laborers Local 296 and ex-
ecutive secretary-treasurer of the
Portland Metal Trades Council.
The new two-year contract
expires Nov. 30, 2016. It adds
$1.40 an hour to the overall
package the first year, and $1.25
an hour the second year.
Workers can choose their pre-
ferred medical plan—either a
90-10 deductible plan through
Regence Blue Cross or the cur-
rent Kaiser Permanente plan, or
an 80-20 deductible plan with
Regence. Workers who choose
the 80-20 plan will get a $1.02
hourly increase on their check.
Those choosing to keep the 90-
10 plan will see a 20-cent hourly
wage increase.
Workers also will receive a
one-time lump sum payment of
$300 on Dec. 1, 2015 to offset
the cost of health insurance.
Workers must log a minimum of
80 hours in a month to qualify
for the medical plan.
Cascade General is owned by
Vigor Industrial. Vigor Indus-
trial is the parent company of
Vigor Marine at Swan Island,
plus several other ship building
and repair facilities in Seattle,
Tacoma, Everett, Bremerton
and Port Angeles.
Shipyard workers at Cascade
General in Portland, Vigor Ship-
yard in Bremerton and Everett,
Wash., and Washington Marine
Repair in Seattle and Port Ange-
les, Wash., are covered under
one master labor agreement ne-
gotiated and administered by the
national Metal Trades Depart-
ment, AFL-CIO. That agree-
ment expires in June 2017. The
region’s respective metal trades
councils (i.e. Portland Metal
Trades Council) then bargain lo-
cal terms and conditions in side
agreements, such as the one at
Cascade General.
Bartunek and Moore said a
goal of the Portland council was
to align Cascade General’s con-
tract expiration date as closely
as possible with the national
agreement—as well as with
other union contracts at Vigor
Industrial facilities—to better
position themselves for future
negotiations.
You can follow the council on
Facebook at: Metal Trades
Council of Portland and Vicinity.