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.