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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2015)
PAGE 10 | June 19, 2015 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS NATIONAL At Walmart, charity really really starts at home D.C. Jobs with Justice and a dozen other labor and commu- nity groups filed a complaint with the IRS June 15 — accus- ing Walmart of inappropriately using its nonprofit Walmart Foundation to soften up local opposition to the company’s ef- forts to expand. The Walmart Foundation, which is com- pletely controlled by the com- pany, has had a habit of ramping up local giving just before local votes on whether to approve new stores. For example, the foundation donated just over $200,000 to Los Angeles organ- izations in 2008 and 2009, in- creased that to $1.4 million in 2011, just as plans to open a store were getting underway, and then dropped back to about $230,000 in 2013, the year that store opened. Such a practice vi- olates the terms of the founda- tion’s tax-exempt status, the complaint argues, because it shows that the charitable dona- tions are directly benefiting the donor’s business. $15 minimum passes in LA, and will go to Tacoma voters Los Angeles became the latest —and largest—U.S. city to raise its minimum wage June 13, when mayor Eric Garcetti signed a bill for a local mini- mum wage that will rise in steps to $15 by 2020. And on June 6, the group 15 Now qualified a ballot measure that will ask Tacoma, Washing- ton, voters this November to ap- prove a $15 an hour minimum, for businesses with annual gross revenues of over $300,000. Tacoma City Council is working on a counterproposal to refer to voters. Sanders finds labor backing for his campaign for president The first candidate to earn labor support for the 2016 presidential race is … Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. On June 15, the North Carolina AFL-CIO passed a resolution urging sup- port for Sanders’ campaign, cit- ing his longstanding and heart- felt commitment to union principles and labor’s values, and policy proposals that put the interests of the labor movement Who’s on our side? By Tom Chamberlain Oregon AFL-CIO President Free trade — a litmus test for labor A fter 20 years of NAFTA, CAFTA and a host of other free trade agreements, none of which have fulfilled their promise of new jobs, the data shows that American workers have paid for free trade with lower wages and cuts to benefits. America has lost millions of good-paying, middle class jobs. The American labor movement, spear- headed by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, has been very clear about our posi- tion on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Fast Track. We will not support any trade agreement that costs jobs, undermines the sovereignty of our nation, and ignores labor and environmental standards. Our answer from President Obama is to trust him. But the little we know about the TPP does nothing to convince us that it will be any different than the previous free trade agreements. The labor movement has been united—and we have been clear with Congress: Trade Pro- motion Authority, also known as Fast Track, forces an up or down vote on the TPP. Organ- ized labor will hold those who side with cor- porate America accountable. The TPP is po- tentially the largest free trade agreement in history, representing 40 percent of the world’s economy. It will be the last trade agreement to allow nations to simply sign on. On June 4, Roll Call magazine ran an arti- cle titled “Democrats Frustrated by Unions’ Cash Freeze over Fast Track.” The article speaks to how upset some members of Con- gress are that organized labor will not make political contributions until after the vote on Fast Track and the TPP, and evaluating whether to find more worker-oriented candi- dates to challenge supporters of corporate-dri- ven free trade agreements. What is upsetting about the article is the backlash the labor movement is receiving from those members of the Democratic House Caucus, who labor is holding account- able for their support of Fast Track and the TPP. They’re even going so far as referring to President Trumka as a “bully.” I wonder if the named and unnamed mem- bers of the U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Caucus members who spoke out in the article understand that their vote for Fast Track and for the Trans-Pacific Partner- ship is the biggest labor vote of their careers. Taking issue with how unions hold Congres- sional Democrats accountable defines the growing fissure between workers and some politicians. This appears to be based on a be- lief that unions have no place to go but the Democratic Party. In reality, we do have a place to go: It’s to sit out elections or to find better candidates who understand that work- ers need help. The endorsement of any labor organiza- tion, including the Oregon AFL-CIO, is earned through voting records, candidate questionnaires, and how candidates actively support workers. Do they support cuts to so- cial programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid to balance the federal budget? Or do they ensure that business and the one-percenters pay their fair share? Do they go to union events and glad-hand? Or do they walk the picket line and send letters to CEOs in support of workers? Labor’s endorsements and political contri- butions aren’t a right. They’re an honor. Tom Chamberlain is president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, a 120,000-member-strong federation of labor unions. front and center. The resolution comes after similar resolutions from the Vermont AFL-CIO and the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America. FedEx drivers are employees after all, in California anyway FedEx Ground announced June 12 that it will pay $228 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that it illegally misclassified over 2,000 FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery pickup and de- livery drivers as “independent contractors” when they were in reality employees. The com- pany has been sued numerous times for the practice, which is meant to skirt payroll taxes and the law giving workers the right to unionize. ...Fast Track runs off rails From Page 1 of all of this discussion that we could find a path to yes for the Fast Track legislation,” Pelosi said. “Some bumps in the road along the way … unfortunately, I think, sinkholes as well. But that doesn’t mean that that road cannot be repaired. I just believe that it must be lengthened.” Pelosi seemed to suggest in her House floor speech that Fast Track should come after Con- gress deals with more urgent matters, like climate change and highway fund reauthorization. How the Oregon/Southwest Washington delegation voted Democrat Peter DeFazio was the only Oregon House member to vote against the Fast Track and TAA bills. His fellow De- mocrats Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, and Kurt Schrader, and Republican Greg Walden, all voted for the Fast Track and TAA bills, as did Southwest Washington Repub- lican Jaime Herrera-Beutler. 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