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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 2017)
SERVING ORGANIZED LABOR IN OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON SINCE 1900 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS VOLUME 118, NUMBER 2 IN THIS ISSUE LABOR’S COMMUNITY SERVICE AGENCY Executive Director Vickie Burns retires | Page 2 SEA OF RED Corporate conservatives plot their course in many of the nation’s state capitals. | Page 5 ObamaCare defense rally p. 3 Meeting Notices p. 4 PORTLAND, OREGON JANUARY 20, 2017 Staples boycott ends with union win THE OBAMA YEARS Obama ignored labor on trade and healthcare, and pro-worker reforms came mostly too late Photo by Jamie Partridge Postal unions declared victory this month when the United States Post Office notified the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) that the “Ap- proved Shipper” program at roughly 500 Staples stores will be shut down by the end of February 2017. Late in 2013, USPS set up post offices staffed by Staples employees in 82 Staples stores — a move postal unions called a first step in privatizing the Post Office. APWU launched a Stop Sta- ples campaign, staging protests at Staples stores throughout the country. The demonstrations were followed by a national Staples boycott. That pressure resulted in USPS ending the mini post office idea, but it did- n’t stop it from expanding postal services with Staples through the already existing “Approved Shipper” program. The union filed unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Postal workers and supporters demonstrate against postal privatization at a Staples store in Northeast Portland June 20, 2014. Board (NLRB) arguing USPS was improperly subcontracting bargaining unit work to Sta- ples. The NLRB agreed, and on Jan. 4 it ordered the Postal Service to discontinue its retail relationship with Staples. By Don McIntosh As Donald Trump takes office, some union true believers may be tempted to look back with rose-colored glasses on the Obama years. Unfortunately, the real record of his administration shows that Barack Obama was no great friend to labor. American unions lost half a million members while Obama occupied the White House, even as America’s workforce grew by more than 9 million workers. At a rally in 2007, Obama said if American workers were being denied their right to or- ganize and collectively bargain, as president he’d put on com- fortable shoes and walk the picket line with them. That never happened. Obama did and said nothing when Wisconsin stripped 175,000 public em- ployees of collective bargaining rights, when Michigan and three other states passed anti-union right-to-work laws, or when 30,000 teachers went on strike — against Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s for- mer chief of staff. Obama fought tooth and nail for his NAFTA-style Trans-Pa- cific trade pact (it failed), but kept his powder dry when it came to raising the federal min- imum wage, still at $7.25 after eight years of his presidency. He never lifted a finger to help with labor’s top priority, the game- changing labor legislation known as the Employee Free Choice Act, which would have made it easier for workers to unionize and get a first contract. In fact, Obama aides told labor to cool its heels on the bill until after Congress passed health care legislation. By the time that was done, Democrats had lost their filibuster-proof Senate su- permajority. Turn to Page 8 Instafab hires union-buster Bob Tiernan Anti-union ‘right-to-work’ Vancouver steel fabricator In- stafab, the target of a 23-month strike by ironworkers, is now paying the former head of the Oregon Republican Party for labor rela- tions advice. The adviser is attorney Bob Tiernan, a former GOP legislator from Lake Oswego who now repre- Bob Tiernan sents compa- nies in labor disputes. Tiernan is a familiar name to many union members. As a leg- islator, he worked to cut public employee retirement benefits in the 1990s, and he was chief pe- titioner on a 1994 ballot meas- ure that would have diverted 6 percent of public employee salaries to the pension system. (It passed narrowly but was struck down in court.) He chaired the Oregon Republican Party from 2009 to 2011. In 2011, he was hired by Dosha, a chain of Aveda- branded salons, after workers voted to unionize. Tiernan told workers the company would act as if the union wasn’t there, and 16 months later, the union was no more: Communications Workers of America Local 7901, unable to get a first union contract, walked away. Federally-required disclo- sures also show that Tiernan was paid $65,000 for advising a successful 2011 effort to de- certify United Food and Com- mercial Workers Local 5 at Berkeley Bowl, a natural foods market in Berkeley, California. And UFCW Local 8 blames Tiernan for a 10-day strike in 2012 at Raley’s, a West Sacra- mento grocery chain. Instafab is a nonunion steel fabrication and erection com- pany. A handful of workers there walked out Feb. 27, 2015, and were later joined by others. Strikers learned of the Tiernan hire in a Dec. 23 text message from company owner Bruce Perkins in which he says the company won’t be attempting any further negotiations with the strikers: “Your group has never shown any real interest in set- tling anything,” Perkins wrote. “What you seem to value is conflict, misinformation and negativity. We have come to re- alize that any harm you and your ‘backers’ can do to In- stafab has, for the most part, al- ready been done. We know we can withstand whatever you send our way. Our workforce is unified, and we intend to keep it that way. Our customers and suppliers have grown numb to your attacks and threats … We are looking forward to a busy, prosperous and profitable 2017, and we wish you the same. If you have any questions, feel free to email myself or my Gen- eral Counsel, Bob Tiernan … with questions. Happy Holi- days!” — Don McIntosh laws spreading quickly Less than a week after Republi- cans took control of the Kentucky state House, Senate, and gover- nor’s office, Kentucky became the nation’s 27th right-to-work state. Missouri is up next: right- to-work legislation is expected to pass there within weeks. Right- to-work also has a chance in New Hampshire this year. Right-to-work is the rather misleading term for a law that prohibits any union contract that requires union-represented workers to pay union dues or fees. It’s intended to keep unions weak and poorly funded. And it’s on the march. Michi- gan and Indiana went right-to- work in 2012, followed by Wis- consin in 2015 and West Virginia in 2016. That’s not all: On Nov. 18, 2016, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling that could allow county govern- ments in Ohio to pass local right-to-work ordinances. And several dozen test cases are now in federal courts that challenge the Supreme Court’s 1977 Abood ruling, which allows public employee union contracts to require represented workers to pay, if not union dues, then at least their “fair share” of the costs of representation. If and when a Trump nominee makes it to the U.S. Supreme Court, the court would likely have a 5-4 majority to overturn Abood, making America right-to-work nationwide for all public em- ployees. UNDERSTANDING RIGHT TO WORK In coming issues of the Northwest La- bor Press, we’ll take a look at what it means when right-to-work takes ef- fect – and how that changes unions.
