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NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | June 17, 2016 | PAGE 3 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING Finally: Oregon Shakespeare Festival signs IATSE contract A year after stagehands voted to unionize, they have a contract with raises and job security By Don McIntosh Associate editor Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) has reached agreement with IATSE on a first-ever union contract for a group of 70 stagehands. Ratified June 13, the collective bargaining agree- ment raises wages and greatly improves job security. The agreement covers sea- sonal stagehands who run back- stage operations during the nine months of the year that shows are being rehearsed and per- formed. On June 10, 2015, they voted 37 to 25 to join Interna- tional Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Then, after fending off legal maneuvers by the employer, they began contract bargaining Sept. 28. The resulting contract pro- vides immediate raises for workers whose pay is less than it’s supposed to be under a new unified pay scale. That’s fol- lowed by annual raises of 25 to 50 cents an hour. The con- tract expires Nov. 15, 2019, a date which coincides with OSF’s budget year. The contract also results in greater gender pay equity: By the end, all the master-level workers will be earning the same hourly wage — tradi- tionally-female wig-masters will earn the same as their tra- ditionally-male counterparts who handle electrical equip- ment, for example. The agreement maintains current health care benefits, and locks in current paid holidays and a 4 percent employer match to 401(k)-style retirement sav- ings accounts. OSF will also on its own contribute 0.5 percent of payroll to the accounts for workers who’ve been there 10 years, and 1 percent after 15 years. It also contains a number of job protections: ▪ Only union members can do the work of union members. ▪ Workers can’t be terminated ex- cept for just cause, and will have the right to a grievance and ar- bitration process to challenge unfair discipline. ▪ After a worker’s first season, considered a probationary pe- riod, they automatically return subsequent seasons. ▪ Most of the unit will be guaran- teed at least 40 hours a week; others 35 or 30, depending on classification. ▪ Shifts will be at least 2.5 hours long for those who change sets between shows. The union worked to remain positive throughout. That spirit is reflected in the contract’s pre- amble: “Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the Union are com- mitted to a relationship of mu- tual respect, trust, accountabil- ity, and communication; to work together to create an envi- ronment which allows and en- courages every employee to do their best work and every patron to have the best possible expe- rience.” Management of non-profit OSF opposed the union effort, but never resorted to the kind of scorched-earth tactics many employers use to keep unions out. The tentative agreement was reached in an all-night ne- gotiation session that wrapped up at 4 a.m. June 7. OSF made a number of late-breaking con- cessions after union stagehands and their supporters, wearing union T-shirts, assembled pub- licly outside a theater before a performance. The crew will now officially be members of IATSE, and will be part of brand-new IATSE Local 154. The number 154 was chosen because it’s the number of sonnets William Shakespeare wrote in his life- time. Oregon study to look at single-payer health insurance system RAND Corporation, a promi- nent national think tank, was hired by the Oregon Health Au- thority in mid-May to study the merits of a single-payer health insurance system and other health care options. RAND was awarded $395,525 to conduct the study, to be completed by Nov. 1. The study was mandated by the 2015 Legislature. It’s also supposed to identify a funding mechanism for a single-payer system. Back when the legislation that became known as Oba- macare was being debated, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) was able to pass an amendment al- lowing states to experiment with single-payer systems starting in 2017. Under the legislation, states would be allowed to re- purpose federal subsidies that currently support the Oba- macare insurance exchange in order to pay for universal health care. RAND will also look at the feasibility of a public insurance option that could be sold on the insurance exchange. AFL-CIO rates Washington state lawmakers after low-energy session Elections matter: That’s the lesson Washington State La- bor Council (WSLC), AFL- CIO drew from the 2016 ses- sion of the Legislature. WSLC went to the State Capitol in Olympia with an agenda to make Washington a better place to live and work. It was stymied by Republican control of the Senate, and even the House, controlled 50-48 by Democrats, failed to pass some of its proposals. But then, WSLC knew it was going to be tough going in. “Expectations were low for the 2016 legislative session, and these expectations were met,” wrote WSLC President Jeff Johnson in the state labor federation’s 2016 legislative report. Some examples of what went wrong: ■ Flirting with contempt of court on school funding The state Supreme Court ruled that the Legislature has failed to adequately fund K-12 education — violating a voter-approved ballot measure. To comply with the court order, next year the state must come up with an additional $3.5 billion to fund public schools. But this year’s Legislature made no decision on how to do that. And Washington has one of the most regressive tax structures in the nation: all sales and property taxes, and no income tax. ■ Boeing whistling on the way to the bank In 2013, Washington lawmakers gave Boeing the biggest tax break in history — valued at $8.7 billion over 16 years. Since then the company has laid off hundreds of workers. This year, some lawmakers wanted to tie the tax incentive to job creation and maintenance. But the bill couldn’t even make it out of its House committee, much less get a Senate vote. ■ Not dying at work: Maybe next year After a 2015 incident in which a farmworker drowned in a manure pit, WSLC and United Farm Workers pushed a bill to mandate more frequent inspections and improved safety training at dairies, among other things. It died in the House Appropriations Committee. ■ Know the law before you bid Washington State Building and Construction Trades backed a bill to require that public works contractors be trained in prevailing wage standards and compliance in order to qualify as responsible bidders. It passed the House 50-45, but died without a hearing in a Republican-led Senate committee. Among Southwest Wash- ington legislators, labor had some solid allies. Five local Democrats had 100 percent voting records for 2016: State Sen. Annette Cleveland and state Reps. Jim Moeller and Sharon Wylie of District 49 in Vancouver, and Brian Blake and JD Rossetti of District 19 in the Longview area. But six Southwest Wash- ington Republicans had the lowest possible score. No one got 0 percent rating, because WSLC included several bills that passed unanimously, in- cluding a bill to extend reim- bursement for corrections workers who are assaulted by inmates. ONLINE EXTRA See the full report, and the list of bills and votes, at http://bit.ly/1Uo1ZqZ WASHINGTON LEGISLATIVE VOTING RECORDS AS RATED BY WSLC, AFL-CIO 2016 Lifetime Sen. Annette Cleveland (D) 100 97 Rep. Sharon Wylie (D) 100 91 Rep. Jim Moeller (D) 100 91 Sen. Don Benton (R) 25 26 Rep. Lynda Wilson (R) 18 14 Rep. Paul Harris (R) 18 27 Sen. Ann Rivers (R) 22 15 Rep. Brandon Vick (R) 18 10 Rep. Liz Pike (R) 18 10 Sen. Dean Takko (D) 89 80 Rep. JD Rossetti (D) 100 100 Rep. Brian Blake (D) 100 90 DISTRICT 49 DISTRICT 17 DISTRICT 18 DISTRICT 19 DISTRICT 20 Sen. John Braun (R) 22 5 Rep. Richard DeBolt (R) 18 15 Rep. Ed Orcutt (R) 18 13
