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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2016)
PAGE 6 | February 19, 2016 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS WASHINGTON Lawmakers reject bill linking tax breaks to Boeing jobs OLYMPIA — A majority of the Washington State House Fi- nance Committee bowed to The Boeing Company Feb. 5 by re- jecting a union-backed bill that would have tied $8.7 billion in aerospace tax incentives to jobs. The Legislature granted Boe- ing the tax incentives — the largest tax break in U.S. history — during a special session in November 2013 to “maintain and grow” the state’s aerospace workforce of 83,295. It was sup- ported by the Machinists Union and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001, as they expected aerospace jobs to grow in the state because of it. Since then, however, Boeing has shed 4,057 jobs in Washington, including 3,000 high-paying engineering and technical jobs. Three statewide polls showed 73 to 84 percent of respondents support tying the aerospace tax breaks to specific job require- ments in Washington. HB 2638 would have cut the tax benefit in half if Boeing employment fell by 4,000, and would have elimi- nated it entirely if employment fell by more than 5,000. “[This] vote … demonstrates the power of corporate influence to overcome what is clearly the will of the people and the intent of the legislation,” said Machin- ists District 751 President Jon Holden. HB 2638 was supported by seven Democrats on the com- mittee. It was opposed by seven Republicans and one Democrat — Rep. Larry Springer of Kirk- land. The 7-8 vote means the Workers Independent News. Kelliher said lawmakers in South Carolina, Missouri, Ala- bama, and Oklahoma have all passed legislation giving tax in- centives to Boeing. “And all of them had specific job numbers tied to their incentives, which were much less than the incen- tives that our state offered,” Kel- liher said. The $8.7 billion Washington State gave the aerospace indus- try in 2013 was on top of $3.2 billion the state approved in 2003. FREE CLASSIFIED ADS UNION DEMOCRACY New business manager at Insulators Local 36 In ballots counted Feb. 12, Caudle has a family history Walt Caudle defeated with Local 36 dating Alan Davis to become back to its inception in the new business man- 1913. His father Lindy ager of Heat and Frost Caudle and five great- Insulators Local 36. uncles all were mem- Caudle, 57, has been bers of the local. the union apprentice- Caudle is a delegate ship coordinator since to the Columbia Pacific April 2009. He suc- Building Trades Coun- ceeds Stan Danielson, cil, and serves on the Walt Caudle who retired after 30 board of directors of the years at the helm. IBEW and United Workers Fed- Prior to his job as apprentice- eral Credit Union. ship coordinator, Caudle was As business manager, he said the elected business agent at Lo- he wants to bring more partici- cal 36 from 1996 until Decem- pation to union meetings, possi- ber 2008, when he stepped bly through incentive programs. down and briefly returned to Work is “pretty good right work with the tools. now,” he says, but he plans to A native Oregonian, Caudle continue lobbying for large con- worked in concrete after gradu- struction projects, such as the ating from Sherwood High Jordan Cove LNG plant in Coos School. In 1981, his father con- Bay. vinced him to apply for the in- “Stan and I worked together sulators apprenticeship pro- for a long time. I learned a lot gram. from him,” Caudle said. “There will be some changes, but mostly internal office stuff.” Member Dave Gamble was hired to succeed Caudle as ap- prenticeship coordinator. In other election results, vice president Ron Mathis outpolled Executive Board member Matt Grider by two votes to become business agent. Business man- ager and business agent are the local’s two elected staff posi- tions. Davis, the incumbent business agent, did not seek re- election; instead he ran for busi- ness manager, and lost to Cau- dle. Also elected were: Dreng Es- pelien, president; Jeff Marchi, vice president; Nick Garrison, treasurer; Angela d’Esposito, recording secretary; Jesse Markowski, trustee; and five Executive Board members: Level Sneed, Lincoln Caldwell, Gary Downum, Rob Bates, and Mike Thomas. PEOPLE Laborers Local 483 business manager Erica Askin is leaving office to take a position as in-house counsel for Service Em- ployees Lo- cal 49. Askin has a law de- gree from Rutgers Uni- Erica Askin versity, and has been with Local 483 since 2010. She was elected the local’s first female business manager in 2014, suc- ceeding Richard Beetle. Local 483’s Executive Board bill will not advance to a floor vote in the House, and leaves the aerospace giant free to con- tinue taking tax breaks from Washington, even if it keeps moving jobs out of the state. “They’re double-dipping by collecting our tax incentives and securing additional tax incen- tives from other states at the same time they’re creating capa- bility that will be used to com- pete against our Washington State workforce in the future,” Machinists Lodge 751 spokes- woman Connie Kelliher told appointed Local 483 president Wesley Buchholz to replace her. The 1,000-member local repre- sents workers in several City of Portland bureaus at the Oregon Zoo, and several smaller public employers. Askin begins her new posi- tion March 21. Chris Ferlazzo has left his po- sition as longtime organizer for Portland Jobs with Justice af- ter 14 years. Ferlazzo, 48, came to the labor solidarity organiza- tion after years as an activist with the Portland Central Amer- ica Solidarity Committee and the Cross Border Labor Organ- izing Committee. Over the years, he helped organize innu- merable marches and protests in support of embattled workers. Fer- lazzo says he’ll spend time travel- ing before Chris Ferlazzo considering future plans. Portland Jobs With Justice does- n’t plan to immediately fill the vacancy, and will decide later in the year whether to continue the position. AUTOMOTIVE ’67 FORD MUSTANG, V8, automatic. 503-518-8022 NINE 1976-77 world champion Portland Trailblazer Red Hot and Rollin’ 7UP bot- tles, 16 oz.,full, $198. 503-678-6916 HOUSING WANTED ROCKAWAY OCEAN FRONT rental http://rockawaybeachfrontrental.com Sleeps 13, call 503-777-5076 OLD WOODWORKING tools, planes, levels, chisels, handsaws, slicks, adzes, wrenches, folding rulers, axes, hatch- ets, 503-659-0009 BUYING US & world coins to add to col- lection, paying fairly, any amount wel- come. 503-939-8835 COLLECTOR, cash paid, old fishing tackle, wood plugs, reels, creels, salmon fishing photos, etc. 503-775- 4166 COLLECTOR PAYS cash for older toys, oil paintings, American art pottery, and costume jewelry. 503 703-5952 MOTORCYCLES, tractors, boats, VWs, RVs, running or not, cash paid. 503- 880-8183 COLLECTOR SEEKING old beer stuff, signs, cans, bottles; brand doesn't mat- ter; the older the better. 503-357-7862 PAY CASH for firearms, especially Colt revolvers, call Kenny with what you may want to sale. 503-449-0584 WWII GERMAN items, medals, cloth- ing, helmets, firearms, etc. Cash paid. 503-852-6791 1916 INDIAN PARTS for cannonball run; Harley parts for restorations. 503- 351-5054 SPORTING GOODS WINCHESTER MODEL 24, 12 ga, sxs, 28” barrel, nice gun, $400 or trade. 503- 349-8180 MAGAZINES for SKS rifle, new, never used, 2-20 round, 1-30 round, $30. 360- 836-7512 LUPOLD VX3 SCOPE, 4 x14, B & C reticle, as new, never used. $399. 503- 975-9011 MISCELLANEOUS 7 PIECE MILK GLASS, 4 sherbet, 2 candlestick,1 glass; Harvest Grape de- sign, no chips, $15. 360-687-4830 CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS: In the Feb. 5 issue, an article about the Oregon Bureau of La- bor and Industries’ $2.5 million construction wage settlement with Southern Oregon Univer- sity reported that Plumbers and Fitters Local 290 union rep Drew Waits had advised signa- tory contractors not to bid on the dorm portion of the project be- cause it was set at lower residen- tial prevailing wage rates, and that possibly not enough work- ers would be available to staff the job. Waits was a journeyman plumber at the time the project was bid, and he did not discour- age signatory contractors from bidding the work. Waits said his employer, Patterson Plumbing, did not bid the project because of concerns about paying the lower wage rate. CLASSIFIED AD GUIDELINES Subscribers may place one free classified ad per issue. Ads should be 15 to 20 words, all in lower case (NO CAPITAL LETTERS). Ads must include a phone number, including area code, or they will not be published. No commercial or business ads. HOW TO SUBMIT A CLASSIFIED AD Indicate which union you are a member of, and send your ad to michael492@comcast.net or by mail to PO Box 13150, Portland OR 97213. We publish the first and third Fridays of each month, and the deadline is one week prior to that. In 2015, there were 12 major strikes and lockouts involving 1,000 or more workers, higher than in 2014 with 11 major work stoppages. The 12 major work stoppages beginning in 2015 idled 47,000 workers. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ wkstp.nr0.htm
