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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (May 20, 2016)
PAGE 2 | May 20, 2016 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS NORTHWEST NATIONAL LABOR PRESS Uber recognizes a quasi- union of NYC drivers (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the labor movement. Published on a semi-monthly ba- sis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-profit mu- tual benefit corporation owned by 20 unions and coun- cils including the Oregon 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 affiliation, to P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213. For 25 or more sub- scriptions, group rates of $9.60 a year per person are available to trade union organizations. Call 503-288-3311 for de- tails. 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 ad- dress. When ordering 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 Uber announced May 10 that it has a five-year deal with the In- ternational Association of Ma- chinists to create a kind of quasi-union for New York City drivers. Uber sets rates and terms for its drivers, but labels them as independent contractors who lack the right to unionize. Members of the new Independ- ent Drivers Guild won’t get a union contract, but they’ll be able to attend monthly discus- sions with local Uber manage- ment, and they’ll have the right to representation in disciplinary appeals. The Machinists union agreed not to encourage drivers to strike, try to have them recog- nized as employees, or try to unionize them for five years. Is an AFSCME/SEIU merger on the horizon? A committee of leaders from Service Employees Interna- tional Union (SEIU) and Amer- ican Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AF- SCME) has spent more than a year discussing a closer partner- ship. The two giant unions rep- resent public sector workers, and have long competed, but they’re increasingly collaborat- ing and are even discussing the possibility of a merger at some point. On May 5, the board of 2- million-member SEIU approved a resolution that calls for close cooperation with 1.6-million- member AFSCME across the United States — in political campaigning, organizing and bargaining. The two unions would take part in joint organiz- ing drives and joint lobbying ef- forts, and would try to prevent politicians from playing one union against the other. AF- SCME’S board will consider a similar resolution in June; both would need to be ratified at con- ventions later this year. OREGON Burgerville opposes union, Bernie Sanders supports it On May 6, a letter went out to Burgerville workers with their paychecks: CEO Jeff Harvey is worried that a union effort would disrupt the low-wage company’s “special culture.” The letter is full of standard anti- union boilerplate about interfer- ence from “outsiders.” Harvey seems unaware that the Burg- erville Workers Union, launched April 26 in Portland, is a grass- roots effort by workers them- selves. But on May 10, the cam- paign got a statement of support from presidential candidate Bernie Sanders: “The Burg- erville Workers Union is a per- fect example of the type of po- litical revolution that we need,” Sanders said. Burgerville worker Mark Medina spoke at a May 10 Sanders rally in Salem. AFSCME 88 says Multnomah County Sheriff must go The AFSCME Local 88 Execu- tive Board is calling on Mult- nomah County Sheriff Dan Sta- ton to resign. Local 88 represents 3,500 Multnomah County em- ployees, including 133 civilian employees in the Sheriff’s Of- fice. Two years ago, Local 88 endorsed Staton’s unopposed re- election campaign, but he’s been plagued by scandal since then. “It is common knowledge across the County that Sheriff Staton has practiced vindictiveness, dis- respect and retaliation against anyone who disagrees with him,” the union said in a May 10 statement. “It has played out in his brash and boorish treatment of other elected officials, women, people of color, judges and others in law enforcement.” TriMet wants ATU contract extended (or does it?) TriMet management likes the agency’s union contract so much that it’s proposing to extend it two years, along with two 3 percent raises. On Thursday, May 12, TriMet labor relations direc- tor Randy Stedman faxed that proposal to Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 President Shirley Block “In the spirit of labor-man- agement cooperation and part- nership, we would like to dis- cuss an extension of the collective bargaining agree- ment for two additional years through November 30, 2018,” Stedman wrote. The professed cooperative spirit lasted all of two business days: Monday morning, May 16, with no heads-up to Local 757 and before having heard back from the union, the tran- sit agency issued a press re- lease touting its offer to the public. Is that how TriMet management thinks trust is built? Returning a call from the Labor Press, TriMet spokes- person Mary Fetch suggested that two days was enough time for the union to have notified its members about the offer. The current TriMet union contract expires Nov. 30, and negotiations are expected to begin this summer. But the current contract was the product of negotia- tions led by Bruce Hansen, Block’s predecessor as Local 757 president. Block ran on a platform that criticized that contract, and defeated Hansen last June, and again in an April 25 re-run election. “Congratulations, again, on your re-election as president,” Stedman opens in his letter to Block. Block, reached by phone, said the union can’t take a po- sition on TriMet’s offer until the offer has been thoroughly reviewed and presented to the membership. Though they voted to ratify it, many union members were unhappy with health insurance concessions in the current contract that TriMet is proposing to ex- tend. ONLINE EXTRA See TriMet’s letter to the union at bit.ly/1TWepZq
