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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 2016)
PAGE 8 | November 4, 2016 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS A 300,000-square-foot urban office development (artist rendering above) is under construction at 2030 NW 17th Ave. in Portland, financed by the National Electrical Benefit Fund. Representing construction trades at an Oct. 26 groundbreaking ceremony are, from left: Iron Workers Local 29 business agent Shane Nehls. IBEW Local 48 union rep Bob Carroll, Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council executive secretary treasurer Willy Myers, Roofers Local 49 business manager Russ Garnett, IBEW Local 48 union rep Jon Jensen, and retired Local 48 union rep Joe Esmonde. Union pension fund invests in new urban office campus in NW Portland An electricians pension fund is financing construction of an ur- ban office campus at Northwest Front and 17th Avenues in Port- land, assuring that it will be built with all union labor. A ground-breaking ceremony was held Oct. 26 for Field Of- fice, a two-building, six-story development that will offer 300,000 square feet of office and retail space. Project developers envision a campus hub for high tech and creative companies that will provide office space with con- nections to the natural environ- ment. The buildings will be clad in dark brick, and feature green roofs and other sustainable amenities. There will be 17 out- door spaces, an underground Daimler unions ratify new contract From Page 1 union trust on the same terms.) Daimler will continue to con- tribute $4.47 an hour toward the Machinist-sponsored multi-em- ployer pension plan, plus a $6.15-an-hour rehabilitation sur- charge meant to forestall insol- vency. [The plan lost assets in the 2008 financial meltdown and has had trouble recovering, in part because there are fewer active employees than there used to be at Daimler and other employers.] The new contracts also stipu- late a tobacco-free workplace by 2018. Employees won’t be al- lowed to use tobacco of any kind on the premises, and given the distance from the plant floor to the street, it’s unlikely they’d be able to use tobacco during breaks. The contracts also provide a measure of job security. While Daimler isn’t guaranteeing it won’t close the Portland truck plant, it committed to a generous severance package, suggesting it’s not planning to close: In the event of a permanent plant clo- sure, workers will get two weeks of pay for every year they’ve worked there. The Portland truck plant, lo- cated in the Swan Island Indus- trial District, employs about 500 workers (350 Machinists, 85 Teamsters, 50 Painters, and 18 members of SEIU). It produced Freightliner trucks until 2007. Production of Western Star Trucks is down, and layoffs ear- lier this year led some workers to worry about the future of the brand, but Kear says Daimler has a goal of increasing the com- pany’s market share to 8 percent, up from 2 percent currently. Three years ago, contract ne- gotiations at the Portland plant were much more acrimonious. Machinists and Painters mem- bers struck for 22 days — and still gave up company-provided MediGap coverage for new re- tirees. This time, Kear said, man- agement seemed to listen better, and came up with contract offers that workers were happy with. The four contracts were rati- fied by lopsided margins. Ma- chinists voted 248 to 15 to ap- prove it (a second Machinist bargaining unit called Custom Truck Services also approved it 10-1.) Teamsters approved it by 79-1, Painters by 44-2, and SEIU by an unspecified margin. parking garage for 355 cars, communal areas, and a com- muter lounge. The $100 million project is being financed by the National Electrical Benefit Fund (NEBF), a pension fund of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Na- tional Electrical Contractors As- sociation. Developers are Port- land-based project and National Real Estate Advisors, a real es- tate investment firm out of Washington, D.C. National is wholly owned by a subsidiary of the NEBF. This is their first project in Portland. Lease Crutcher Lewis is the general contractor on the all- union project. Willy Myers, executive sec- retary of the Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council told the Labor Press that union pen- sion funds currently have more than $1 billion in play in Ore- gon, financing 28 projects (Field Office is the 28th.) Field Office is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2017.
