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March 3, 2017 | NOrTHWEST LABOr PrESS
AT THE OrEGON LEGISLATUrE:
A robust Labor Agenda
Labor muscle helped elect many of Oregon’s legislators. Now Oregon unions are mobilizing behind an agenda
of fair taxes, good jobs, and expanded protections for workers rights. Here are some recent highlights.
FIVE GOOD IDEAS
Tax corporations —
or else cut services
■ Bargain over class size Parents and students hate large classes. So do teachers. HB 2651,
sponsored by Tigard State Representative Margaret Doherty, would make school class size a
mandatory subject of collective bargaining.
■ Rent control: The most effective response to an affordable housing emergency
HB 2001, sponsored by House Speaker Tina Kotek, would repeal the statewide ban on local
rent control ordinances AND cap rent increases statewide at 5 percent through July 1, 2018.
■ Put lawless contractors on notice Tired of seeing businesses that break the law
continue to get public contracts? HB 2670, sponsored by Portland State Rep. Rob Nosse,
bidders on public contracts of over $100,000 to disclose whether in the last three years
they’ve been found to have violated labor laws like the National Labor Relations Act and
laws on minimum wage, overtime, and the prevailing wage.
■ Pay prevailing wage on construction projects funded with tax breaks Why are
Oregon building trades workers paid the area prevailing wage when the state spends money
on construction, but not when the state funds construction via tax subsidies? HB 2194 and
SB 291 would expand the prevailing rate requirement to include public works funded via tax
credits or tax abatements.
■ Require non-profit hospitals to do something to deserve their tax-exempt
status Hospital bills are a key reason health care is so expensive, yet most of the Oregon
hospitals charging sky-high prices are “non-profit” institutions that pay no taxes, and the
law is very vague about the charitable and educational service they must provide. HB 2115,
sponsored by State Rep. Mitch Greenlick, would lay out stricter requirements for nonprofit
hospitals health systems to be exempt from taxation.
Sound familiar? Oregon is once again in a
budget crisis. State revenues are projected
to come in $1.7 billion short of what it
would take to preserve all current services
for the next biennium. To deal with the
shortfall, the state is considering increasing
state college tuition, laying off teachers, re-
ducing social services, closing the recently
opened Junction City psychiatric hospital,
and cutting as many as 335,000 adults from
Medicaid. But Oregon labor leaders are say-
ing they won’t accept those cuts while Ore-
gon corporations still have the lowest taxes
in the nation. And union members have
been bringing that message to a series of
“budget town halls” that state lawmakers
have held. Two more of those remain.
WANT TO STOP THE
cUTS? cOME OUT TO A
BUDGET TOWN HALL
■ EAST PORTLAND Saturday,
March 4, 12-2 pm, IRCO, 10301
NE Glisan St., Portland
■ WASHINGTON COUNTY
Thursday, March 9, 7-9 pm,
Beaverton High School, 13000 SW
2nd St., Beaverton
Fair Work Week:
an end to scheduling abuse
Unpaid on-call hours. “Clopening.”
Schedules that change week to week.
Increasingly, national retail and restaurant
chains are using sophisticated scheduling
software to shift business risk onto the
backs of low-wage workers. San
Franscisco and Seattle have cracked down
on some of those practices, requiring
advance notice of schedules and extra pay
for last-minute schedule changes. Could
Oregon lawmakers be the first to pass
state-wide legislation?
SB 828 – which UFCW Local 555 has
declared a priority – got its first hearing
Feb. 27 at the Senate Workforce
Committee. It would require large retail,
hospitality, and food services employers
(those with 100 or more U.S. employees
and 25 or more in Oregon) to provide:
■ a good faith estimate of an employee’s
work schedule at time of hire
■ 14 days notice of work schedules
■ compensation for last-minute
employer-requested schedule changes
■ extra compensation when fewer than
10 hours separate shifts
■ an offer of additional hours to existing
employees before hiring new
employees or subcontractors.
AND THrEE BAD ONES
Oregonians should not accept cuts to schools and senior services as long
as corporations continue to pay the lowest in the nation, said Steve De-
marest, president of Oregon’s largest union, SEIU Local 503, at a Presi-
dents Day rally on the State Capitol steps.
AT THE SENATE cOMMITTEE HEArING: FOr AND AGAINST
“Most employers in Oregon are doing the
right thing and using adequate schedul-
ing practices … but some employers, es-
pecially those in food service, retail and
hospitality, are not, and are keeping work-
ers in a cycle of poverty.”
—Oregon AFL-CIO chief of staff Graham Trainor
“ SB 828 would impose rigid scheduling
mandates that reduce flexibility of both
employers and employees and would
significantly impact our members’ ability
to manage store operations .”
—Associated Oregon Industries VP Betsy Earls
ONLINE EXTrA
How widespread are scheduling abuses? Very, says a
new study co-authored by researchers at University
of Oregon and Portland State University. Of the 750
Oregonians they surveyed in 2016, 1 in 6 reported
having had less than 24 hour notice of shifts. The
study also found that many workers have wildly
varying shifts, so that total hours and weekly pay-
checks also vary substantially. See their report, “The
Impact on Oregonians of the Rise of Irregular Sched-
uling,” at http://bit.ly/2lSV14Z
■ Privatize liquor sales When the State of Washington privatized liquor sales, hundreds of
union members lost their jobs, and liquor prices soared. Now a bill from Salem State Rep.
Brian Clem would pave the way to privatization in Oregon. HB 2032 would set up a task
force to develop proposals for privatizing the sale of distilled liquors and phasing out the
role of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.
■ Keep young workers poor HB 2378, sponsored by Keizer State Rep. Bill Post, would
allow employers to pay 85 percent of minimum wage to employees under 21 years of age
for the first 90 days of employment.
■ Public subsidy for private payroll HB 2375, sponsored by Grants Pass State Rep. Carl
Wilson, would give employers an income tax credit — if they pay employees wages
greater than the minimum wage.
LABOr IN cOALITION
For the third year in a row, some of the state’s biggest labor organizations are heading to the
Capitol as part of a broad labor-community alliance known as Fair Shot For All. Labor
partners in the alliance include the Oregon AFL-CIO, Oregon AFSCME, AFT-Oregon, Oregon
Education Association, Oregon Nurses Association, SEIU, and UFCW. Community partners
include the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, Basic
Rights Oregon, Bus Project, Causa, Community Alliance of
Tenants, Family Forward Oregon, Forward Together, NARAL Pro-
Choice Oregon, Northwest Workers’ Justice Project, Oregon Latino
Health Coalition, Oregon NOW, Partnership for Safety and
Justice, PCUN, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon,
Portland Jobs with Justice, Rural Organizing Project, Sankofa Collective Northwest, Unite
Oregon, Urban League of Portland, Voz Workers’ Rights Education Project, and YWCA. This
year, they’re united behind a five point agenda:
■ Establishing paid family medical leave for all Oregon workers
■ Ending “no cause” evictions and the ban on rent control
■ Ending racial profiling by police
■ Ensuring health coverage for all Oregon kids
■ Extending reproductive health services to all Oregon residents, not just citizens
Unionists descend upon state capitol
Over the course of this year’s session of the Oregon Legislature, a number of labor
organizations will be bringing members down to Salem to talk to their representatives.
Next up is Oregon AFSCME
Oregon AFSCME Lobby day:
■ Meeting time: March 13, 8 a.m
■ Meeting place: State Library Conference Room 103, 250
Winter St NE, Salem
