NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | February 17, 2017 | PAGE 3
At former Graphic Arts Center,
presses go silent forever
A massive Portland printing
plant will shut down by
March 31, terminating em-
ployment for 72 members of
Teamsters Local 117, and 19
other employees.
Cenveo Corporation an-
nounced Jan. 30 that it will
permanently close the former
Graphic Arts Center plant,
which occupies three-fourths
of a city block at 2000 NW
Wilson Ave.
Teamsters representative
Adam Hoyt said the decision
didn’t come as a complete
surprise. At one time the plant
employed over 300 workers,
but in recent years under the
ownership of multinational
Cenveo, work has been shift-
ing to other locations, and the
plant was operating at about
a third of its capacity. In No-
vember 2015, Cenveo sold its
Portland building and the
3.64 acres it sits on for $7.5
million to developer James
Winkler, and then leased it
back from the new owner.
Winkler Development report-
edly plans to redevelop the
block for industrial or office
use.
Local 117, based in Tuk-
wila, Washington, has repre-
sented the plant since 2014,
when it absorbed Graphic
Communications Interna-
tional Union Local 767-M.
Hoyt said the union will seek
to negotiate some kind of
severance benefit.
The State of Oregon and
Labor’s Community Services
Agency will also meet with
the pink-slipped workers to
help them sign up for unem-
ployment and other benefits.
Union wages at the plant
range from $12 to $25 an
hour.
Cement Masons
Brett Hinsley called up by international
Brett Hinsley, business man-
ager of Portland-based Cement
Masons Local 555, has been
appointed international field
representative for the Operative
Plasterers’ and Cement Ma-
sons’ International Association.
He succeeds Roger Better-
man, who was appointed gen-
eral secretary-treasurer. Better-
man is a former business
manager of Cement Masons Lo-
cal 528 in Seattle.
Hinsley, 50, has been busi-
ness manager of Local 555 since
May 2006. A graduate of Port-
land’s Jefferson High School,
Hinsley joined the union as an
apprentice in 1998, and has been
an active union member. He
served two terms on the Execu-
tive Board and as a trustee on
the health and welfare and pen-
sion trusts; he has served on the
joint apprenticeship training
committee, the NW Conference
Committee, and the Construc-
tion Industry Drug-Free Work-
place Program.
Prior to joining the Cement
Masons, Hinsley was a member
of Laborers Locals 320 and 483,
where he worked at the Port of
Portland.
As an international rep, Hins-
ley will assist locals in Oregon,
Washington, Idaho, Montana,
THOMAS, COON,
NEWTON & FROST
THOMAS, COON,
NEWTON & FROST
Brett Hinsley
Geoff Kossak
Alaska, Hawaii, North Dakota
and Minnesota.
“Basically, I’ll do whatever
the international assigns me,”
Hinsley said. That could include
assisting with contract negotia-
tions, helping with internal union
elections, organizing, and more.
Hinsley’s appointment ex-
pires in 2019. At that time he
will have to run for the position,
along with all the other interna-
tional officers.
Geoff Kossak, a business
agent since March 2012, was
appointed by the Executive
Board to complete Hinsley’s
unexpired term as business
manager. The term is up in
April.
Kossak, 42, is a third-gener-
ation cement mason. His father
and grandfather were both ac-
tive members of Local 555.
A graduate of Portland’s
Franklin High School, Kossak
joined the union as an apprentice
in September 1994. He was
elected to the Executive Board in
1999 and as vice president in
2002. He was elected president
in 2006. He had to resign from
that post to take the business
manager’s job. Jeremy Kendall
succeeded him as president.
Noah Jones and Cliff Johnson
are business agents/organizers at
Local 555, which covers Oregon
and Southwest Washington.
Huge tenant win at
Portland City Council
It’s the closest thing to rent con-
trol: All but the smallest land-
lords will pay tenants a reloca-
tion fee of up to $4,500 if they
raise rent more than 10 percent
or issue a no-cause eviction
On Feb. 2, Portland City Coun-
cil showed just how serious it is
about fighting the city’s crisis of
housing affordability. In a 5-0
vote, it passed an emergency or-
dinance that comes as close as
legally possible to rent control.
[Outright rent control is banned
for now under a state law the
landlord lobby got the legisla-
ture to pass in 1985.]
The new city ordinance re-
quires landlords to provide “re-
location assistance” if they in-
crease rent more than 10 percent
in a year, and that causes a ten-
ant to move — or if landlords
evict a tenant without cause,
which they’re legally allowed to
do. The relocation assistance is
$2,900 for a studio, $3,300 for a
one-bedroom unit, $4,200 for a
two-bedroom, and $4,500 for
three bedroom or larger unit.
The figures are based on two
months rent plus deposit at the
city’s average rent for similarly
sized units. The ordinance does-
n’t apply to landlords that have
only one rental unit in Portland,
or who live with their tenants.
The emergency ordinance
comes amid a rapid rise in rents
that is fast turning Portland into
a city where working people
can’t afford to live. Portland
rents have risen on average 30
percent since 2012. City Coun-
cil declared an official housing
emergency on Oct. 7, 2015, and
later extended that for another
year. The new ordinance took
effect immediately, and will re-
main in effect at least until Oct.
6, 2017, when the official hous-
ing emergency is currently set to
expire.
The ordinance was sponsored
by newly-elected Commissioner
Chloe Eudaly, who defeated in-
cumbent Commissioner Steve
Novick after making housing
affordability her number one is-
sue. Newly sworn-in Mayor Ted
Wheeler co-sponsored the ordi-
nance. The vote took place after
six straight hours of public tes-
timony, including heated oppo-
sition from landlords, and im-
passioned support from tenants
mobilized by the group Portland
Tenants United. Portland Ten-
ants United — which has been
endorsed by Northwest Oregon
Labor Council, the Oregon
AFL-CIO, and other labor
groups — will next campaign
for the state Legislature to lift
the ban on rent control. Oregon
House Speaker Tina Kotek has
said she’s in favor of that.