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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2015)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | August 7, 2015 | PAGE 3 New leadership at Iron Workers Local 29 Longtime business manager Kevin Jensen retires, Joe Bowers steps in Kevin Jensen retired June 30 as business manager and financial secretary of Iron Workers Local 29. To serve out the second half of his three-year term, the union’s Executive Board ap- pointed Local 29 president Joe Bowers. It also appointed vice president Robert Camarillo as the new president. Executive Board member Shane Nehls was appointed vice president, and Jason Fussell was named to the Executive Board. Headquartered in Portland, Local 29 is an affiliate of 124,000-member International Association of Bridge, Struc- tural, Ornamental and Reinforc- ing Iron Workers. Their work in- cludes placing and tying re-bar in concrete forms, erecting and welding iron beams, and in- stalling handrails, windows, doors and other metal architec- tural structures. With 1,318 members, Local 29 has a jurisdiction that extends to all of Oregon plus six counties in Southwest Washington. Un- der the area master agreement, Local 29 journeyman make $35.85 an hour plus benefits. As of 2014, Local 29’s mem- bership included 649 journey- men, 182 apprentices, 52 proba- Joe Bowers, Local 29’s new business manager. tionary members, and 282 pen- sioners, plus 153 honorary members—members who are permanently disabled or inca- pacitated as a result of working at the trade. That fact speaks to how phys- ically demanding iron work is; safety is a big part of the union’s four-year 6,400-hour appren- ticeship program. “There’s not a lot of iron- workers falling off buildings,” Jensen says, “but a lot whose knees, shoulders, and backs are hurting from doing this trade for 35 years.” Jensen, 56, is a second-gener- ation ironworker, the second of See you at the AFL-CIO Summer School, August 7-9, where Chris Frost has a workshop on Workers’ Comp. Go online for more info: http://lerc.uoregon.edu/eve nts/summer-school/ five kids of union ironworker Ralph Jensen. “We always knew that the union was what provided us the lifestyle we had,” Jensen said. Jensen grew up outside of Boring, Oregon, and graduated from Sandy High School in 1977. He joined the union in June 1978, and became a jour- neyman in 1981. He worked many projects over the years, in- cluding the 30-story PacWest Center in downtown Portland and the second powerhouse at Bonneville Dam. “One of the most appealing things about the job,” Jensen said, “is the ability to look back Kevin Jensen (right) will finish out his term as president of the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council in August. He is seen above talking to U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley. at the end of the day and see what you’ve done.” Following the path of his fa- ther, who served as union vice president and executive board member, he got involved in the local, and was elected to the Ex- ecutive Board in 1984 and later, recording secretary and district council delegate. He worked for Carr Construction from 1994 until March 2004, when he was hired as a dispatcher by then- business manager Jeff Carlson. When Carlson left as business manager Oct. 1, 2004, Jensen was appointed to replace him. Jensen said he felt fortunate to be part of the union move- ment, which is about improving the lives of working people. “We not only make lives bet- ter for our members, but for all workers in the industry,” Jensen said. The labor movement’s fu- ture, Jensen said, “comes down to members being involved and caring about what’s happening in their organization and all of organized labor. It’s pretty obvi- ous there’s a concerted effort in certain parts of the political spectrum to weaken the union voice.” Retiring after 37 years in the union, Jensen will continue to serve on the board of directors of the State Accident Insurance Fund (SAIF), Oregon’s non- profit workers’ comp insurer; then-governor John Kitzhaber appointed him to a three-year term in February 2014. He also will finish out his term as president of the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council, which expires later this month. Jensen says he wants to get reacquainted with fishing, hunt- ing, and golf. He is married with four grown daughters and three grandchildren. Local 29’s new business manager, Joe Bowers, got his start on the nonunion side of the trade and was recruited to the union in 1996. Bowers, 41, lived in Saint Croix Falls, Wisconsin until moving to Oregon with his family in 1992. Bowers gradu- ated from the apprenticeship program in 2000, and worked in the field at R2M2 before he was recruited by Jensen as a union organizer in October 2004. As an organizer, he met with nonunion contractors and work- ers in the industry to pitch the merits of signing with the union. Instead of hunting for workers on Craigslist or the Oregon Em- ployment Department, union iron contractors have access to a skilled and ready labor pool through the union hiring hall. “There’s no parallel on the nonunion side to our training program,” Bowers says. In 2005, Bowers was elected to Local 29’s Examining Com- mittee, which tests apprentices when they’re ready to become journeymen. In 2008, he was elected vice president, and in 2013, president. He’s also secre- tary-treasurer for the Iron Work- ers District Council of the Pa- cific Northwest, and president of the Salem Building Trades Council. Bowers said he’ll continue to focus on procuring more work for members. He’ll also reach out to nonunion competition and try to dispel myths they may have about what it’s like to sign with the union.
