PAGE 2 | May 20, 2016 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
NORTHWEST
NATIONAL
LABOR
PRESS
Uber recognizes a quasi-
union of NYC drivers
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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
