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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2016)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | July 1, 2016 | PAGE 7 Carpenters, Operating Engineers rejoin Washington Building Trades The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters and Op- erating Engineers Locals 302 and 612 have re-affiliated with the Washington State Building Trades Council (WSBCTC). The Carpenters disaffiliated from the council in 2008, and Operating Engineers pulled out a few years prior to that. Their announcement to reaf- filiate was made July 13 at the state building trades council’s annual convention in Seattle. The action brings nearly 24,000 union carpenters and operating engineers back under the um- brella of the council, effective Aug. 1. “In the words of Abraham Lincoln: ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ With all of the major crafts together in the same house, we will now have a stronger voice for the en- tire construction industry,” said Lee Newgent, executive secre- tary of WSBCTC. “We are simply stronger to- gether,” added Ben Basom, communications director of the Pacific NW Regional Council of Carpenters. “When the house of labor is united, we can effect so much more positive change and make a larger positive im- pact on the construction indus- try, our communities, and work- ing families in Washington, which is the duty and obligation of the labor movement.” “Executive Secretary Lee Newgent’s leadership and focus on furthering the interests of the construction trades and his will- ingness to fight for job creation was critical for our decision,” said Daren Konopaski, interna- tional vice president and busi- ness manager of OE Local 302. “The Building Trades is heading in a direction that we want to be a part of and affiliated with.” Operating Engineers are affil- iated with the AFL-CIO. The United Brotherhood of Carpen- ters and Joiners are an independ- ent union. They left the AFL- CIO in 2001 and helped form the Change to Win Coalition UNION ORGANIZING DirecTV workers join CWA Salem-headquartered Commu- nications Workers of America (CWA) Local 7906 is getting ready to bargain a first union contract for about 80 DirecTV employees who install and re- pair satellite TV dishes. The company voluntarily recognized the union after a majority of workers signed union cards. That’s because last year, nonunion DirecTV was ac- quired by AT&T, which has neutrality agreements with CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Work- ers. Under the agreements, AT&T doesn’t oppose union campaigns, and grants union recognition if a majority of workers in a unit sign cards within 60 days of the beginning of a union campaign. DirecTV workers in Wash- ington joined Everett-based IBEW Local 89 through that method earlier this year. UNION DEMOCRACY IBEW Local 48 reelects Gary Young Incumbent IBEW Local 48 business manager Gary Young was reelected July 12 in a runoff election, outpolling challenger Jakob Juntunen 711 to 665. In an earlier round of officer elec- tions June 21, Young got 489 votes, followed by Juntunen with 379 and Nancy Cary with 296. The runoff was held because no candidate Gary Young received a majority. Business manager is a full-time position overseeing staff at the 4,300-member union. Local 48 members also chose Wayne Chow as president in the runoff; he overtook Bruce Barnes 679 to 627. Barnes had the most votes in the first round with 386, compared to 353 for Chow and 321 for Lee Duncan. Other officer election results from the June 21 officer election are: Vice president: No candidate filed Recording secretary: Kathy Duncan Treasurer: John Sargent Executive Board: Paul New, Jason Jenkins, Christina Daniels, Marshall McGrady, Jo- celyn Atkins, Aaron Barber- Strong Examining Board: Garth Bachman, Scott Axness, Al Gensitskiy Delegate to the International Convention: Terry Reigle, To- pher Edwards, Alan Keser, Scott Zadow, Lisa Serrano, Ray Lis- ter, Garth Bachman, Christina Daniels SWANSON, THOMAS, COON & NEWTON will soon become THOMAS, COON, NEWTON & FROST as we welcome our new partner CHRIS FROST. with a half dozen other unions. The Carpenters disaffiliated from that alliance in 2009. Only a few unions remain in the Change to Win Coalition.
