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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2015)
PAGE 2 | November 20, 2015 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS NORTHWEST Labor highlights from the November 3 general election 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 For working people and for organized labor, this year’s low- turnout Nov. 3 election was a mixed bag of successes and setbacks. Southwest Washington races Mailing address: P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213 Phone: (503) 288-3311 Web address: http://nwlaborpress.org Editor: 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. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Individual subscriptions are $13.75 per year for union members, $20 a year 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 $9.60 a year per person are available to trade union organizations. Call 503-288-3311 for details. CORRECTIONS: See an error? Please let us know at editor@nwlaborpress.org or by phone at 503-288-3311. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a change of address. When or- dering a change, please give your old and new addresses and the name and number of your local union. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS P.O. BOX 13150 PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 In races for Vancouver City Council, Southwest Washing- ton Central Labor Council was 2-to-1. Labor-backed incum- bent Bart Hansen captured nearly 82 percent of the vote, and Ty Stober won an open seat by 51 to 49 percent. But George Francisco lost his bid to unseat incumbent Bill Turlay by 62 to 38 percent. In Clark County, endorsed Council candidates Mike Dale- sandra and Chuck Green were defeated. And labor-backed Candy Bonneville lost her bid for Battle Ground City Council 40 to 60 percent. Voter turnout in Clark County was 34 per- cent. Tim Eyman anti-tax measure wins in Washington Voters in the state of Washing- ton have a problem: They want good transportation and public services, and they passed a measure to lower class sizes, but they’ve also repeatedly Broadway Floral for the BEST flowers call 503-288-5537 1638 NE Broadway, Portland 140 Low Prices! Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6 passed proposals from conser- vative ballot measure activist Tim Eyman that require an un- attainable supermajority for the Legislature to raise the revenue to do those things. The state Supreme Court has held those measures unconstitutional, and in Washington, voters can’t change the state constitution by ballot measure; only the Legis- lature can do that, by referral to voters. So this year, Eyman got Initiative 1366 on the ballot— to force the Legislature to do that. The measure would de- crease the sales tax rate from 6.5 to 5.5 percent next April 15 (a revenue cut of $1.4 billion a year) unless the Legislature refers to voters a constitutional amendment requiring two- thirds legislative approval or voter approval to raise taxes. Defeating the measure was a top priority of the state AFL- CIO, but it passed by 53 per- cent (57 percent in Clark County). Tacoma voters raise minimum wage to $12, not $15 In Tacoma, Washington, voters faced two questions: Whether to raise the minimum wage (59 percent said yes), and if so, how much and how quickly. There were two choices: a citi- zen initiative to raise it to $15 immediately for businesses with annual gross revenues over $300,000; and a City Council referral to phase in a raise to $12 over two years, for all employers. The $12 in- crease won with 71 percent for $15. As a result, the minimum wage will rise to $10.35 on Feb. 1, 2016; $11.15 on Jan. 1, 2017; and $12 on Jan. 1, 2018. from wrongful termination. That last part would have elim- inated “at-will” employment, instead requiring employers to show “just cause” in order to terminate a worker. The meas- ure was endorsed by 11 local unions, the central labor coun- cil and building trades council, but it was outspent nine-to-one and got support from just 36 percent of voters. Labor backed candidate loses in West Linn GOP wins high-stakes race for Washington state house seat The Northwest Oregon Labor Council was involved in only one race this election cycle, en- dorsing Mike Selvaggio in the non-partisan race for a vacant seat on the West Linn City Council. Selvaggio lost to Robert Martin in a three-person race. Labor-backed Democratic Washington state rep Carol Gregory lost a hard-fought spe- cial election to retain her seat in Federal Way. Gregory was ap- pointed when the previous rep- resentative died of cancer. But big corporations, including Walmart and Georgia-Pacific (Koch Industries) created a PAC called “Enterprise Wash- ington” to back Republican challenger Teri Hickel and get rid of Gregory. By the end, $1.8 million was spent on the race, including a combined $670,000 by the candidates, and another $1.1 million by outside groups. Hickel’s vic- tory reduces the Democrats’ majority in the House to 50-48. Worker Bill of Rights goes down hard in Spokane In Spokane, the group Envision Spokane gathered signatures to place a city charter amendment called The Worker Bill of Rights on the ballot. It would have required equal pay for equal work, a “family wage,” at large employers (150 or more), and a right to be free
