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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2016)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | July 1, 2016 | PAGE 3 OREGON Join Oregon Working Families Party, says MoveOn.org Thousands of members of the Oregon Working Families Party, a union-backed minor party, be- came Democrats to vote for Bernie Sanders in the May 17 primary. Now the party is scrambling to get them back. To maintain its ballot status, it must have at least 10,825 registered voters by Aug. 10. It got a boost June 16: The online advocacy group MoveOn.org emailed its Oregon members asking them to register as members of the Oregon Working Families Party. “One of the most important building blocks of the political revolution in Oregon is in trou- ble—and it needs our help,” said the email. “From taking on student debt, to fighting for sin- gle payer health care, to oppos- Labor legislator Brad Witt gets the nomination of Democrats, GOP, and Independents State Rep. Brad Witt (D-Clat- skanie), a business rep for United Food and Commercial Workers Lo- cal 555, won nominations from the Democratic, Brad Witt Republican, and Inde- pendent parties in May’s pri- mary election. The five-term Democrat rep- resents residents in District 31, Oregon Tradeswomen wins $650,000 to recruit women region-wide to the trades Oregon Tradeswomen Inc. was just awarded a $650,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to expand its work region-wide. The Portland-based group re- cruits and supports women in- terested in joining high-skilled, high-wage construction and manufacturing trades — jobs that were traditionally male- only. Women make up 47 per- cent of the U.S. workforce, but just 3 percent of the construction workforce. The new grant, awarded over a two-year period, will fund the continuation of a multi-state Technical Assistance Resource Center — to support region- wide efforts to increase the number of women entering non- INTERNATIONAL ing unfair trade deals, the Work- ing Families Party is building the movement for Bernie’s agenda in Oregon.… We can’t let the WFP disappear.” End of the line for union at local Miller-Coors distributor Workers at General Distributors on June 22 voted 40 to 32 to de- certify the Teamsters union. About 80 members of Team- sters Local 162 went on strike Nov. 17 in response to company demands for concessions to match the union’s contract with rival Maletis. But the company hired replacement workers, and the strike ended after 16 days. General Distributors distributes Miller-Coors beers and dozens of craft beers, wines and ciders from Salem to Hood River. which includes Columbia County and portions of Wash- ington and Multnomah counties. Witt was first appointed to the seat in January 2005 to replace Rep. Betsy Johnson, who re- signed to take a seat in the State Senate. “I am honored to receive such an outpouring of support from members of all parties through- out the District,” said Witt. “The results from the primary election show what our office is all about, representing the entire district and being a voice for all in Salem, regardless of party af- filiation.” The Secretary of State’s of- fice certified the primary elec- tion results on June 16. traditional occupations and reg- istered apprenticeships. It’s one of three such grants that the DOL announced on June 14. The other grantees are Chicago Women in Trades, and Nontra- ditional Employment for Women, a group based in New York City. In the West Coast re- gional center, Oregon Trades- women partners with Seattle- based Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Employment for Women and Oakland, Califor- nia-based Tradeswomen Inc. Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici issued a joint press statement congratulating Ore- gon Tradeswomen on the grant. The grant program was on the chopping block last year, but Wyden and Merkley helped re- new its funding. South Korean labor leader faces eight years in prison South Korean prosecutors are calling for an eight-year jail term for the leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Union (KCTU), an 800,000-strong in- dependent union federation. Han Sang-gyun is accused of traffic and public-safety violations in connection with unauthorized rallies in 2015 to protest two- tier-wage legislation and gov- ernment austerity measures. Prosecutors claim he attempted to incite violence at a Nov. 14 rally in Seoul when he yelled, “Let’s advance towards the Pres- idential Palace.” The rally did turn violent: Riot police cor- doned off the streets and water- cannoned peaceful protesters in- cluding a 69-year-old farmer ac- tivist who was knocked down and remains comatose with irre- versible brain damage. After the rally, Han took sanctuary for 24 days at a Buddhist temple in Seoul before turning himself in to the police. His sentencing is scheduled for July 4. The country’s unions, once one of the best organized and militant in the global labor movement, have suffered set- backs since the late 1990s, when the government made it easier for employers to lay off workers and hire casuals. Fewer than one in 10 workers is now unionized, the country’s lowest level ever, including in the 1970-80s when Korea was under a harsh mili- tary dictatorship. CORRECTION In our June 17 issue we reported erroneously that Oregon Shakespeare Festival would contribute to 401(k)s for workers who’ve been there over 10 years. That was part of an earlier proposal, not part of the final agreement for the stagehands’ first union contract. More importantly, we under-reported the sizable raises stagehands got— $0.75 to $1.50 an hour, not $0.25 to $0.50 as reported. Over the course of three years, some stagehands will rise from $13.60 to about $19 an hour. Mexican police attack teachers union At least eight protesters were killed and 53 injured June 19 when police in Oaxaca, Mexico, attacked teachers’ union mem- bers and supporters as they blocked a highway. The teach- ers union in Oaxaca has been leading protests against the fed- eral government’s move to im- pose a national education plan that includes teacher evalua- tions. Demonstrators were also protesting arrests of union lead- ers, mass firings of protesting teachers and the freezing of union bank accounts. Since the massacre, protests continue, spreading to Mexico City and to the Guatemalan border, where roadblocks were set up June 27. Nappe Blueberry Farms 10280 S.E. Orient Dr. Boring, OR 503-663-0885 nappefarms.com Oregon Grown — Fresh & Local Since 1947
