PAGE 20 | December 16, 2016 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Protesting Nov. 30 outside the Swan Island headquarters of Anderson Con-
struction are, from left: Laid-off Instafab project manager Tom Pearson; In-
stafab strikers Laramie Lexow, Allan Stabenow, and Brandon Nelson; Iron
Workers Shopmen’s Local 516 Business Manager Phil Casciato; and Pacific
Northwest Iron Workers District Council organizer Perry Willard.
...Instafab strike continues
From Page 1
group of strikers — and threat-
ened to fire other employees for
talking with them. In the settle-
ment, the company agreed to
backpay plus interest for seven
strikers, totaling $27,500. The
backpay covers the two-month
period from when it fired them
to when it first offered reinstate-
ment. In its initial October 2015
complaint, the NLRB sought
backpay of nearly $33,000, but
the federal agency agreed to a
settlement of about 80 percent
of that figure.
The settlement also commits
Instafab to post official notices
in its shop and on job sites. In
the notices, the company out-
lines employees’ union rights,
and pledges not to do the unlaw-
ful things it was accused of do-
ing. The notices say Instafab has
offered the fired strikers full re-
instatement, and will reinstate
them if they make an uncondi-
tional offer to return to work.
“Our mission moving forward is
to make sure we don’t get any
more of those unfair labor prac-
tices against us,” Instafab owner
Bruce Perkins told the Labor
Press by phone.
Strikers and their allies have
picketed Instafab job sites and
customers such as general con-
tractor Andersen Construction.
Striker Laramie Lexow said he
thinks union picketing and pres-
sure have cost Instafab consider-
able business, especially on the
installation side. For the NLRB
posting, the company provided
the locations of just two installa-
tion worksites. A number of In-
stafab workers have been laid
off, and some have reached out
to the strikers, Lexow said.
“Portland architects and de-
velopers really do want quality
work, and they want the people
on their jobs taken care of,”
Lexow said.
Perkins acknowledged that
Instafab lost business because of
the strike, but says business is
returning.
“We are probably doing a
better job of listening to our
workers because of the strike,”
Perkins said.
Lexow said Instafab has made
a number of workplace improve-
ments since the strike began, but
without a union contract, things
could change back. “We want a
bargaining agreement saying
he’s going to protect all things he
changed,” Lexow said.
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