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.