Northwest labor press., November 06, 2015, Page 3, Image 3

NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | November 6, 2015 | PAGE 3
NORTHWEST
LABOR
PRESS
(International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X)
Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the la-
bor movement. Published on a semi-monthly basis on the
first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor
Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-profit mutual benefit corpo-
ration owned by 20 unions and councils including the Ore-
gon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in
Oregon and Southwest Washington.
Office location:
4275 NE Halsey St., Portland, Oregon
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213
Phone: (503) 288-3311
Web address:
http://nwlaborpress.org
Editor & Manager: Michael Gutwig
Associate editor: Don McIntosh
Office manager: Cheri Rice
Printed on recycled paper, using soy-based
inks, by members of Teamsters Local 747-M.
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for all others. Send a check for that amount,
indicating mailing address and union affilia-
tion, to P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213.
For 25 or more subscriptions, group rates of
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tails.
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LTC-1807
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WASHINGTON
At Longview paper mill, strike
is over, but dispute continues
The strike at the Kapstone paper
mill and box plant in Longview,
Washington, ended Sept. 8 after
12 days, but there’s still no con-
tract between the company and
the Association of Western Pulp
and Paper Workers (AWPPW).
Union Vice President Greg
Pallesen says he wouldn’t be
surprised if Kapstone locks out
AWPPW members before the
end of the year.
“We think they would do it
just to try to scare people,”
Pallesen said.
Workers went on strike sev-
eral weeks after Kapstone im-
posed the terms of its final offer,
which includes health benefit
cuts and changes to seniority
and transfer rights. The work
stoppage reportedly cost work-
ers $2.4 million in wages and
benefits—and the company $14
million in net income.
Kapstone refused to allow
five of the strikers to return to
work. Managers also sent home
a worker who put a “no scabs”
sticker on his coffee thermos,
and threatened to fire him if he
returned to work with the sticker.
“Even though people know
they have a legal right to do
something, there’s not a lot of
them that can go without a pay-
check for six months or a year,”
Pallesen said.
On Oct. 12, Kapstone wrote
AWPWW demanding that it
schedule another vote within six
days on the company’s imposed
offer, but the union declined.
“We have no intention of re-
voting,” Pallesen said. “They
want us to vote yes on what we
already received.”
Pallesen says Kapstone has
also switched to mostly non-
union maintenance contractors
in Longview, after members of
the Bricklayers, Plumbers, Car-
penters, and other unions refused
to cross AWPPW’s picket line
during the strike.
AWPPW has accused Kap-
stone of multiple labor law vio-
lations, including refusal to bar-
gain in good faith. A hearing on
the charges before an adminis-
trative law judge of the National
Labor Relations Board was
scheduled for December but has
been postponed until February
2016. A lot could rest on the out-
come: If the judge rules Kap-
stone broke the law, workers
could strike over the violations
and the company would not be
lawfully allowed to permanently
replace them. AWPPW hasn’t
ruled out another strike.
Airport retailer fires union activists
At Portland International Air-
port, World Duty Free has ter-
minated three of the most vo-
cal supporters of a union
campaign. The Italian-head-
quarted company runs the
Kiehl’s, Rich’s News, The
Oregonian, and “The Market”
kiosks at the airport. In Febru-
ary, a group of workers there
came out in favor of joining
UNITE HERE Local 8, but the
company declined to voluntar-
ily recognize the union.
On Oct. 22, pro-union em-
ployees Jim Waltz and David
Cry were told they were being
permanently laid off in a re-
structuring. Apparently their
job title will no longer be
needed, so those who held the
title are being let go—even
while the same locations were
hiring for other jobs.
“I think my support for the
union had everything to do
wtih it,” Waltz said. “They
hired six people the week I was
let go.” Waltz earned $13 an
hour; his five-year tenure made
him the second-most senior in
a workplace of about 45.
Local 8 says a third key
union supporter was termi-
nated for trumped-up infrac-
tions. The union filed charges
Oct. 30 with the National La-
bor Relations Board.
LOCAL MOTION ] SEPT/OCT 2015
The following are Oregon and Southwest Washington workplaces where workers have voted on
whether to be represented by a union. The thumbs-up symbol means workers will be union-
represented. Thumbs-down means they’ll be on their own. Decert means a decertification
election, where union-represented workers vote whether to remain union. The information comes
from the National Labor Relations Board and the Oregon Employment Relations Board.
Election Results
Employer (Location) Union
Yes-No =
First Student (Gresham) Oregon School Employees Assn. DECERT 32-62 %
Life Care Center (Coos Bay) Teamsters Local 206
3-11 %
Peacehealth Laboratories (Longview) AFT Healthcare NW
15-1 ^
First Student (Molalla) Oregon School Employees Assn. DECERT
22-9 ^
Oregon Child Development Coalition (Klamath Falls) AFSCME 24-10 ^