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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2016)
PAGE 10 | July 1, 2016 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS Portland School District agrees UNION DEMOCRACY Machinists District Lodge W24 to lead testing for all workers New leadership at Willet, 57, has been a union “I look forward to the chal- The Portland School Board on June 21 approved a budget for 2016-17 that includes up to $250,000 to make free lead test- ing available to any Portland Public School (PPS) school worker who requests it. The new funding comes from an agreement made between the district and leaders of four unions representing school workers at PPS over the course of two meetings—the school board meeting on June 14, and a district and employee stake- holder meeting on June 16. Showing a united front on issues of safety, accountability, and trust, the union leaders con- fronted the board about two ma- jor issues. The first issue: Lead testing results had been held secret from employees, as well as the public, degrading trust and potentially endangering students, faculty, and staff. The second issue: The District had been refusing to pay for lead testing for school employees not currently assigned to Creston or Rose City Park schools. At the stakeholder meeting, PPS Superintendent Carole Smith and management agreed to open lines of communication on vital issues, including health and safety, with unions and school workers; and to provide free lead testing to any school worker who requests it, regard- less of their worksite. Taking part in the discussions were representatives from Port- land Federation of School Pro- fessionals, Local 111, AFT-Ore- gon; the Portland Association of Teachers, Oregon Education Association; Service Employees Local 503; School Employees Union Local 140; and the Dis- trict Council of Unions. “I’m pleased that we’ve reached an agreement that will improve the peace of mind and safety of workers who are dealing with this situation,” said Belinda Reagan, president of Local 111. ... A doctors’ union contract From Page 1 wanted to have a say in how medicine is practiced.” The new union contract bars the hospital from outsourcing their jobs. And it sets up a com- mittee of three doctors and three administrators which will meet regularly to discuss patient loads and staffing levels. Any signifi- cant changes to work load or working conditions will have to be approved by a majority of the committee. Schwartz says it took solidar- ity — and the threat of a picket- line — to get agreement. PNHMA became part of a coali- tion of Sacred Heart unions — Service Employees Local 49, Operating Engineers Local 701, and Oregon Nurses Association (a fellow AFT affiliate). They at- tended each each other’s con- tract bargaining sessions, wore each other’s stickers on days of action, and supported each other in other ways. By June it became clear PeaceHealth managers were dragging out negotiations with the doctors. Management nego- tiators were scheduling sessions farther and farther apart, and walked out of a June 7 bargain- ing session when observers from other unions showed up. The following day, PNHMA an- nounced that doctors would picket outside the hospital on June 23. Management returned to the bargaining table almost immediately and by June 14, the two sides had a tentative agree- ment. Now ratified, the contract runs through October 2017. PNHMA isn’t the only union representing doctors in the United States, but it may be the only one representing just doc- tors who are employees of a hospital. It’s unusual enough that their struggle was written about in the New York Times. Schwartz says he’s gotten calls from doctors around the country who are interested in unioniz- ing. “Anyone who works in health care is fed up with how corporate it has become,” Schwartz said. “Decisions on how hospitals are run are being taken away from physicians, nurses, CNAs, pharmacists, technicians — the ones who ac- tually know how to do the job — and are increasingly in the hands of people who have busi- ness degrees, who say you need to maximize profits, minimize expenses. But they’re so far re- moved from what we actually do that they don’t understand what is good health care.” Noel Willet succeeds Chip Elliott as Directing Business Rep Chip Elliott has retired mid-term as president/ directing business representative (DBR) of Ma- chinists District W24. He will be succeeded by Assistant DBR Noel Willet, effective July 1. Machinists District Lodge 24 and Woodworkers District Lodge W1 merged in January 2011 to create Machinists Dis- trict W24. Elliott, 62, is a resident of Dryad, Wash- ington, an un- incorporated town south- east of Cen- tralia. He is a 43-year mem- ber of Wood- Chip Elliott workers Local 130 in Centralia. After working 26 years as a log processor opera- tor for Weyerhaeuser, in 1997 he joined the staff of Local 130 as a union rep. In 2004 he was ap- pointed as a district representative for Woodworkers Lodge W1, and in 2010 he was named assistant DBR. He served as one of three assistant DBRs at Machinists District W24 following the merger. He was appointed to the District’s top post in July 2013 to finish out the term of Robert Wilson, who retired. He was elected to a full term in Decem- ber 2014. member for 38 years. He comes lenge of leading this District and from a union family—his father representing our members,” and grandfather were Operating Willet said. “The District will Engineers who helped build the continue to evolve in the next Astoria-Megler Bridge. few year as business reps retire Willet started work- and new reps come on ing for Weyerhaeuser board. My primary focus in 1978 and was a will be improving our member of Wood- service to our members, workers Local W2 in organizing new mem- Aberdeen, Wash. [Lo- bers, engaging our mem- cal W2 has since bers through mentoring, merged into Local and increased involve- W130.] Over the years ment within our commu- he has held several po- nities. It is vital that we Noel Willet sitions in the Local, in- organize new members.” cluding president. One of his first actions Woodworkers Lodge W1 ap- as DBR was to appoint business pointed him as a business rep and representative Britt Cornman of organizer in 2007. He held the Lodge 1005 as vice president/as- same title when W1 merged with sistant DBR. the Machinists. Machinists District W24 rep- Willet was elected assistant resents 155 contracts serving DBR in December 2014. He 6,500 members in Oregon, now will finish out the remain- Washington, Idaho, Montana der of Elliott’s term, which ex- and Northern California. Mem- pires in December 2018. bers work in aerospace, truck Willet currently serves as a manufacturing, automotive re- delegate to the Oregon Machin- pair, general manufacturing, log- ists Council. He also is co-chair ging, sawmills, plywood, parti- of the Nelson Trust Healthcare cleboard, pole yards, sort yards, Plan and he’s a vice president on dock workers, tree farm opera- the Oregon AFL-CIO Executive tions, microbreweries, manufac- Board. turing of styrofoam containers, Willet lives in rural Grays prefab homes, and flight training Harbor County, Washington, for the defense industry. The with his wife Shelley, who union also represents service in- works in law enforcement. They dustry workers in the areas of have been married for nearly 32 deputy sheriffs, corrections sup- years, and have a son who is a port staff, city public works de- maintenance mechanic in Min- partment, prosecuting attorneys, neapolis, Minnesota. church employees, and health care workers. The district lodge headquarters is located in Gladstone, Oregon. Farrell Richartz appointed business manager at Laborers Local 483 Farrell Richartz was sworn in June 2015. June 21 as the new full-time He becomes business man- business manager for ager because Local 483 is Laborers Local 483. temporarily combining Local 483 — part of the jobs of business man- LiUNA’s public sec- ager and secretary-trea- tor division — repre- surer until the next sched- sents about 1,000 uled officer election. workers at the City of Richartz will serve out Portland, Oregon the remainder of former Zoo, and several other business manager Erica public employers. Askin’s term, which runs Richartz, 52, is a Farrell Richartz through June 2017, and longtime City of Port- said he expects to run for land employee. He first worked re-election. Askin left in March to at the Parks Bureau, then for the become in-house attorney for Bureau of Maintenance as a Service Employees Local 49. The street cleaner and dump truck Local 483 Executive Board ap- driver. Over the years he served pointed Local 483 president Wes- as a union steward, newsletter ley Buchholz as a part-time in- editor, and recording secretary, terim replacement. Buchholz and was elected secretary-trea- nows return to his full-time job as surer, a full-time position, in a storekeeper for Portland Parks. Everice Moro tapped First VP of NOLC Everice Moro, a retired member of Oregon School Employees Association Local 6732, was elected first vice president of the North- west Oregon Labor Coun- cil (NOLC) on June 27. She succeeds Jeff Ander- son, secre- Everice Moro tary-treasurer of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, who earlier this year was elected president. Moro has served as NOLC’s second vice president for many years.
