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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 2016)
PAGE 2 | January 15, 2016 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS ...Wanted: A mayor for the 99 percent? NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS From Page 1 (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: 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 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 public-sector union members, he says even on a county com- missioner’s salary he couldn’t afford a house in the inner Southeast Portland neighbor- hood he grew up in. Instead, he and his wife live in a $375,900 ranch house in Multnomah Vil- lage. Wheeler, in contrast, was born into a family of Oregon timber barons that stretches back to the state’s founding. He lives in a $1.25 million 4,000- square-foot home in the South- west Hills, and his personal wealth enabled him and his wife to contribute $270,000 to his past campaigns for chair and treasurer. Bailey says he won’t accept individual campaign contribu- tions larger than $250. Wheeler is not limiting campaign contri- butions, and had to wrap up our interview in order to make fundraising calls. In our interview, Wheeler copped to being a member of the 1 percent, but said people can judge him based on his record: As county chair, he used executive orders to implement transgender health benefits and to “ban the box” in order to give ex-offenders a fairer shot at em- MAY THE BEST CANDIDATE WIN Northwest Oregon Labor Council sponsors a debate JULES BAILEY When: 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25 Where: IBEW Local 48 union hall 15937 NE Airport Way, Portland Who: Mayoral candidates Jules Bailey and Ted Wheeler, in front of an audience of union members Rules: 5-minute introductions, 1- minute responses to questions, 30- second rebuttals, and 3-minute closing remarks. Call the Labor Council at 503- 235-9444 to suggest questions. ployment. And as treasurer, Wheeler supported a bond- funded endowment to help with state college tuition — a pro- posal that was conceived by the union-backed Oregon Working Families Party — though voters rejected the confusingly-titled and thinly-supported ballot measure that was needed to im- plement it. Wheeler also helped develop and pass a program that will help up to 400,000 private- sector workers save for retire- ment when it launches next year. [Service Employees Interna- tional Union, the union that pro- posed it, credits Bailey for the legislation’s passage in the House.] TED WHEELER Relationship with city workers: City labor relations will most likely improve under Wheeler or Bailey. For years, Portland’s mayor and City Council have stood aside while city attorneys and HR managers assumed combative postures to- ward city employee unions. The result: Bad blood, drawn-out contract negotiations, and con- tract violations that resulted in big-dollar losses when unions won in arbitration. Wheeler and Bailey say that will come to an end when they’re mayor: They’ll take charge of HR and will be more hands-on with la- bor. Union relations were frac- tious with the county too — be- fore Wheeler took over. AF- SCME credits him for creating a much more respectful and col- laborative relationship, which continued under Chair Deb Kafoury. Public employee retiree benefits: As treasurer, Wheeler came out early sounding the alarm over PERS difficulty re- covering from investment losses, and he called for cutting retiree cost-of-living increases to reduce the unfunded liability. When Kitzhaber later pushed that proposal, public employee unions fought hard against it, and warned the cuts would be struck down by the state Supreme Court. As state rep, Bailey voted against the PERS cuts; an Oregonian newspaper editorial said the electorate should remember his vote. In the end, the cuts were struck down, as the unions predicted. Wheeler now says that was the right decision. PERS invest- ments have rebounded some- what in recent years under his oversight, and Wheeler has put the message out that the system is no longer in crisis. Trade agreements: Mayors have no say over NAFTA-style Turn to Page 5
