NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | October 2, 2015 | PAGE 3
SW Washington Labor Council joins opposition to I-1366
VANCOUVER, Wash. — The
Southwest Washington Central
Labor Council has added its
name to a growing list of organ-
izations opposing Initiative
1366, a statewide ballot measure
sponsored by anti-union tax ac-
tivist Tim Eyman that will be on
the ballot in the Nov. 3, 2015
general election.
The Washington State Labor
Council, AFL-CIO, voiced
unanimous opposition to the ini-
tiative at its convention in July.
I-1366 calls on the Washing-
ton Legislature to refer to the
ballot a constitutional amend-
ment that would require a two-
thirds super-majority vote for
lawmakers to pass any tax in-
creases. [To refer a constitu-
tional amendment to the ballot
itself requires a two-thirds vote
in both the House and Senate.]
I-1366 gives lawmakers a
deadline of April 15, 2016 to
act. If they don’t, the state sales
tax—one of Washington’s pri-
mary revenue sources for public
schools and institutions of
higher learning—would imme-
diately be cut from 6.5 percent
to 5.5 percent, wiping out $8 bil-
lion in revenue over the next six
years, according to the state Of-
fice of Financial Management’s
fiscal impact statement.
“If passed, this measure
would allow as few as 17 ideo-
logical legislators out of 147 to
dictate the agenda for all our
state,” said Shannon Walker,
president of the Southwest
Washington Central Labor
Council.
In political races, the Labor
Council endorsed Ridgefield
resident Chuck Green for
Clark County Council, Dis-
trict 2. The district, created un-
der a new county charter,
stretches from Felida through
Ridgefield and La Center to the
northwest county border. G
reen,
a Democrat, is the project man-
ager for C-TRAN’s Bus Rapid
Transit Project, and was Clark
County’s transportation program
manager from 1992 to 1998.
At Vancouver City Council,
the Labor Council endorsed the
re-election of Bart Hansen to
Position 4, and the election of
Ty Stober for Position 5 and
George Francisco for Position
6. Hansen has served in the post
since January 2010. Francisco
is an insurance company owner
trying to unseat incumbent Bill
Turlay. Francisco served on the
Vancouver City Charter Review
Commission in 2014, but other-
wise has never run for elective
office. Stober, a small business
owner in the clean energy sec-
tor, is running for an open seat.
He is a longtime neighborhood
and community activist who
served on the 2014 City Charter
Review Commission.
In Battle Ground, the Labor
Council is backing Candy Bon-
neville in her bid to unseat in-
cumbent City Councilor Phil
Johnson in Position No. 7. Bon-
neville is active in the Clark
County Democratic Party.
ONLINE EXTRA
See Colbert’s spoof on Donald Trump’s
Oreo oath at http://bit.ly/1JVdwf2
Massage Envy, Elements, and
Hand & Stone. Customers there
might pay $50, and only $16 of
that goes to the person providing
the service. And to get there,
that LMT might have spent 500
hours — and $5,000 to $15,000
— in massage school.
Even on the medical side,
where an insurer might pay $45
per 15-minute unit of massage,
a clinic might pay the practi-
tioner just 40 percent of that
rate.
It’s also an overwhelmingly
female profession: 82 percent of
Oregon’s 6,790 active licensed
massage therapists are women.
And it’s incredibly hard work,
taking a toll on bodies: 16
“massage hours” a week is con-
sidered full time, and 25 is the
outer limit of what’s possible.
To raise public awareness
about conditions in their profes-
sion — and eventually shed
light on good and bad players in
the industry — Weiser and other
LMTs formed the Massage Ad-
vocacy Project (MAP).
“We want to open the eyes of
the public,” Weiser said, “to let
them know that of the $120 you
pay at the high-end spa, your
Glaziers Training Center
Mt. Hood Community College
26000 SE Stark St., Gresham, OR
Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.
Veterans GI Benefits may apply
1638 NE Broadway, Portland
140
The five U.S. plants are
union-represented, but Bakery
union officials say the Mexi-
can plants are nonunion. Don’t
assume your area will have
products from the closest
Nabisco facility. On the
shelves of one Northeast Port-
land Rite-Aid, we found Ritz,
Chips Ahoy and Wheat Thins
from Chicago; Premium
Saltines from New Jersey;
Chicken in a Biskit crackers
from Portland; Fig Newtons
and Honey Maid graham
crackers from Monterrey; and
Oreos … from Salinas Mex-
ico.
A union for massage therapists?
From Page 1
Applications will be taken
Oct. 19 thru Oct. 30, 2015
Monday thru Friday,
9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m.
503-288-5537
HOW TO TELL IF
YOUR OREO IS
UNION-MADE
AE - Chicago, Illinois
AH - PORTLAND, OREGON
AP - Fair Lawn, New Jersey
AX - Atlanta, Georgia
AZ - Richmond, Virginia
MM - Monterrey, Mexico
MS - Salinas, Mexico
The Oregon & SW Washington Glaziers
Joint Apprenticeship & Journeyman
Training Program will be open to
accept applications to create a pool of
eligible applicants. Applicants must
be at least 18 years old. Must apply in
person and furnish a copy of a high
school diploma and grade transcript or
GED and test scores at time of
application.
for the BEST flowers call
From Page 1
There’s no union label on
Nabisco products, but the
inkstamp on the end of each
package tells you where it was
made — if you know what to
look for. On most products,
right next to the expiration
date, there’s a two-letter code.
Here’s your decoder:
GLAZIERS
Broadway Floral
No union boycott of Oreos … for now
BCTGM’s national contract
with Nabisco expires Feb. 29,
2016.
Nabisco had 13 U.S. plants in
1983. Today it has five. One of
those is in Portland, at 100 NE
Columbia Blvd. The Portland
plant has six production lines:
Oreo, Ritz, Premium, Chips
Ahoy, Wheat Thins and Chicken
in a Biskit. The operation em-
ploys about 200 members of
Bakers Local 364; 35 members
of Machinists District W24;
Teamsters in the warehouse, and
a handful of members of IBEW
Local 48 and Operating Engi-
neers Local 701.
Apprenticeship Opening
massage therapist is only getting
$25 of it.”
So far, the campaign has con-
tacted over 1,300 LMTs, and set
up booths at four Portland street
fairs. About 100 LMTs have
signed on, and 20 to 30 attend
monthly organizing meetings.
Molenda says the group has al-
ready had its first success —
getting one small operator to
foreswear making use of a non-
compete agreement that it made
LMTs sign. And for Weiser and
other LMTs, the group has also
created community in what can
be an isolating, mostly solo pro-
fession. The groundwork done,
Low Prices!
Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6
the campaign is preparing to of-
ficially launch Oct. 21.
■ Time: Wednesday, Oct. 21. Registration
starts at 2:30 p.m., and the program
begins at 3 p.m.
■ Place: 721 NW 9th Ave, Portland.
■ More info: www.facebook.com/
MassageAdvocacyProject
HELP OUT
Know a licensed massage therapist?
Go to a licensed massage therapist?
Tell them about the Massage Advo-
cacy Project. And be sure to “Like” it
on Facebook: www.facebook.com/
MassageAdvocacyProject