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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2017)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | January 6, 2017 | PAGE 5 2016 in review As chronicled in 24 issues of the Northwest Labor Press, here are some of the year’s most important stories ■ NATIONAL Scalia’s death ends Friedrichs threat Unions count Verizon strike as a win Clinton loses in the electoral college Trans-Pacific Partnership, dead at last In a case known as Friedrichs vs. Cal- ifornia Teachers As- sociation, the U.S. Supreme Court was getting ready to im- pose so-called “right-to-work” sta- tus on all public em- ployees in the United States — making dues strictly Antonin Scalia voluntary and thus weakening unions considerably. But the death of conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in Febru- ary resulted in a 4-4 deadlock on the case. The threat to labor could return, however, if a similar case is filed after another anti-union justice is ap- pointed. America’s biggest strike in four years took place in April and May as 39,000 members of CWA and IBEW struck Veri- zon’s East Coast landline opera- tions rather than accept contract concessions at the highly-profitable company. The strike ended after Solidarity in Portland: IBEW 48’s Terry Reigle 45 days with a deal brokered by U.S. Secretary of La- bor Thomas Perez on terms the union called a win, including 10.5 percent raises over four years, and protections against outsourcing of call center jobs. In the general election, Hillary Clinton had the support of nearly every labor union in the country, and she won nearly 3 mil- lion more votes than Donald Trump. But she lost where it mat- tered: The electoral col- lege, thanks to narrow Trump A cardboard cutout at wins in Michi- Hillary Clinton campaign gan, Pennsyl- offices was her only pub- lic appearance in Oregon. vania, and Wisconsin. For the first time since NAFTA, a cor- porate-writ- ten trade deal died on the vine. The 12- nation Trans- Pacific Part- nerhip (TPP) was one of Obama’s top priorities, but broad public hostility to the deal — Carpenters Local 146 union and the de- officer Norm Curry protests the TPP March 21, 2016. fection of some Republicans over industry con- cerns — prevented ratification in Con- gress. Trump’s election sealed its fate. ■ OREGON Biggest union organizing wins With unions prepared to put minimum wage increases on the ballot, the Ore- gon Legislature stepped up to do the job and put the minimum wage on track to 12.50 to 14.75 by 2022, depending on the region. That amounts to an hourly raise of $3.25 to $5.50 an hour for hun- dreds of thousands of Oregon workers. ■ 886 support workers at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center joined OFNHP Local 5017. ■ 793 PSU grad students joined American Federation of Teachers /AAUP. ■ 310 hospital technicians at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center joined AFT. ■ 165 workers at Boeing paint contractor Commercial Aircraft Painting Services joined the Machinists. ■ 80 DirecTV workers joined CWA Local 7906. ■ 61 alcohol and drug treatment workers at Volunteers of America joined AFSCME. Photo courtesy of the Yes on 97 campaign Top legislative win: Minimum wage Oregon Bernie vote: a mandate for bolder action by Democrats? Minimum wage and sick leave Madore is no more, in Clark County Berry boycott ends with union deal Raise the minimum wage to $13.50, and give workers the right paid sick leave? Voters did it, approving union- backed I-1433 by 59-41 percent. Flamboyantly anti-union Clark County Commissioner David Madore — who once pushed unsuc- cessfully for a local “right-to-work” or- dinance — lost re- election in the Au- gust primary. In the general election, union-backed candi- date Tanisha Harris lost to John Blom, but local unions were still pleased to see their nemesis go. A three-year union boycott against Sakuma and Driscoll berries ended in September, when Skagit Valley agri-gi- ant Sakuma Berries agreed to allow a union election and recognize and bargain a contract with the farmworkers union. Photo courtesy of the governor’s office ■ 205 workers at a Jeld-Wen door plant in Chiloquin rejected the Machinists union in a 52-137 vote. ■ 179 workers at Portland Specialty Baking rejected the Bakers union in a 38-123 vote. Hillary Clinton won among Democrats nationwide, but in Oregon, Democrats showed an appetite for a bolder kind of politics — backing a candidate who re- jected Wall Street money and called for universal health care, free public col- lege tuition, and a $15-an-hour mini- mum wage. In Oregon, Bernie Sanders packed arenas and outpolled Clinton by over 70,000 votes, 56 to 44 percent. Gov. Kate Brown signs minimum wage leg- islation, a top priority of the AFL-CIO. Biggest ballot defeat: Measure 97 Despite $16 million in local and na- tional union money, a proposal to raise taxes on the biggest corporations doing business in Oregon was rejected by voters. As a result, instead of new in- vestment in schools, health care and senior services, the state of Oregon faces a budget shortfall next year, once again. Biggest union organizing losses ■ WASHINGTON Sound gets serious transit investment Another ballot victory was voter ap- proval for an ambitious 25-year plan to make $54 billion worth of transit im- provements in the Puget Sound region, including 62 miles of light rail and new bus and heavy rail service to King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. The project will mean union jobs, less congestion, and a cleaner environment.
