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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2015)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | June 19, 2015 | PAGE 5 Unfair labor practice charges piling up against Instafab VANCOUVER, Wash.—Unfair labor practice charges are piling up against Instafab, a steel fab- rication and erection company based in Vancouver, Wash. A group of construction iron- workers launched an unfair la- bor practice strike Feb. 27 and sought union representation from Iron Workers Local 29 af- ter their employer refused to lis- ten to their list of grievances re- garding working conditions. All of them were fired. (See North- west Labor Press, May 15.) On May 18, four workers from the fabrication shop pre- sented their boss with a list of demands similar to those of the field workers. When they too were ignored, they went on strike and are seeking represen- tation from Iron Workers Shop- men’s Local 516. Another field ironworker joined the picket line May 18, bringing the number of In- stafab’s employees on strike to 14—including a job superin- tendent and a foreman. Locals 29 and 516 have joined with several community and religious organizations, in- cluding Portland Jobs with Jus- tice, to form the Instafab Work- ers Coalition for Justice. The coalition has filed nu- merous new unfair labor prac- tice complaints with the Na- tional Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The most recent filing was June 8. The coalition al- leges the company fired em- ployees for engaging in pro- tected union activity; threatened to fire employees if they talk to striking ironworkers or any Lo- cal 29 union reps; threatened to fire or discipline an employee if he didn’t remove a pro-union decal from his personal automo- bile; interrogated a new hire about his sympathies toward the union; granted pay raises to dis- courage employees from engag- ing in union activity; and told a new hire the company would close before it ever signed a col- lective bargaining agreement with the Iron Workers Union. The charges are currently un- der investigation by the NLRB. “The employer is retaliating against these workers for engag- ing in protected, concerted ac- tivity; it’s as simple as that,” said coalition spokesperson Diana Pei Wu, who is executive direc- tor of Portland Jobs with Justice, a coalition of more than 90 labor organizations and community groups dedicated to protecting the rights of working people and supporting community strug- gles. The coalition is planning sev- eral actions in the coming weeks and months, Pei Wu said. Robert Camarillo, a business agent for Iron Workers Local 29, said Instafab also is under investigation by the Washington Department of Safety and Health over striking worker complaints about safety training certification. Instafab is a primary subcon- tractor for Anderson Construc- tion and Skanska USA Building. Coalition members have pick- eted and leafletted several proj- ects, including Block 67—the Burnside Bridgehead apartment project in Portland; an apart- ment project in the Pearl Dis- trict’s Block 17; at The Landing Drive Project in Southwest Port- land; and at the Pringle Square project in Salem. Several organizations with the Instafab Workers Coalition for Justice have sent letters to the general contractors asking them to look into the labor prac- tices of Instafab, and to cut ties with the company until the labor dispute is resolved. Striking ironworkers William Russell and Laramie Lexow say they feel bolstered by the strong showing of support from labor, community and religious organ- izations. “It is incredibly powerful to see so many people coming to- gether to help us get a union so that we can have a voice at work,” said Russell. “We’re really gaining mo- mentum,” Lexow added. Outsourced school bus drivers vote to rejoin Oregon School Employees Assoc. A group of 15 school bus drivers and bus aides in Dillard, Ore- gon, joined Oregon School Em- ployees Association (OSEA) Local 6732 in a unanimous 10- 0 vote held June 9—the day be- fore the school year ended. The workers are employed by for-profit First Student, which got the contract when the Win- ston-Dillard School District out- sourced its student transporta- tion in mid-2013. The district, southeast of Roseburg, serves over 1,400 K-12 students in ru- ral areas of Douglas County. OSEA, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teach- ers-Oregon, previously repre- sented the workers when they were employed by the district, and fought to oppose the out- sourcing. Representatives of OSEA said pay fell as much $500 a month after the outsourc- ing, due to cuts in hours.
