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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (May 5, 2017)
SERVING ORGANIZED LABOR IN OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON SINCE 1900 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS VOLUME 118, NUMBER 9 In THIS ISSuE RECORD ORgAnIzIng AT uFCW 555: Union drive at Safeway/Albertsons brings in 4,400 members | Page 2 HEADIng OFF RIgHT TO WORk In OREgOn: House bill would ban small town anti-union mischief | Page 12 Sail the portland “mean” Spirit? p.5 Meeting notices p.6 PORTLAND, OREGON MAY 5, 2017 May 16 Special District Election Endorsements of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council DAVID DOUGLAS SCHOOL DISTRICT School Board, Position 1 : A NA DEL R OCIO GRESHAM-BARLOW SCHOOL DISTRICT School Board, Position 5, Zone 4 : J ASON L. D UGAN LAKE OSWEGO SCHOOL DISTRICT School Board, Position 2 : R OB W AGNER PARKROSE SCHOOL DISTRICT School Board, Position 4 : K ORI B ASQUEZ PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS School Board, Zone 4 : R ITA M OORE School Board, Zone 5 : S COTT B AILEY Measure 26-193: School Bond ($790 million bond to improve health and safety, modernize and repair schools, build education facilities.) S UPPORT CITY OF PORTLAND Measure 26-189: Charter Amendment (Amends charter, increases Auditor’s independence from audit agencies, adds duty. Referred to the people by the City Council ) S UPPORT MT HOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE Board, Zone 4 : A NNETTE M ATTSON Measure 26-190: School Bond ($75 million bond to construct Applied Technology Center; enhance safety and technology) S UPPORT MULTNOMAH EDUCATION SERVICE DISTRICT Director, Position 3, Zone 2 : M ARY B OTKIN PORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE Director, Zone 5 : M OSES R OSS Authorized and paid for by the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, 9955 SE Washington, St., Suite 305, Portland, OR 97216 WHAT’S HIS LABOR RECORD SO FAR? Organized labor campaigned for his opponent, but when Donald Trump won, labor leaders like AFL-CIO Pres- ident Rich Trumka (above left) of- fered to work with him on areas of possible agreement, like renegotiat- ing trade deals and investing in infra- structure. Trump seems to care what union leaders and union members think: In January, he invited Trumka (and later, top building trades lead- ers) to Trump Tower, and in April, he addressed delegates at the North America’s Building Trades Unions conference. Have Trump’s acts in of- fice lived up to his pledge to put the American worker first? nAFTA-STyLE TRADE DEALS On Day One, Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Obama’s proposed NAFTA-style trade deal for Pacific Rim nations. In late April Trump said he’d withdraw the U.S. from NAFTA, but then changed course and said he’d renegotiate it. [If he’s interested, the AFL-CIO has some ideas about how to do that.] He’s also threatened to withdraw from the Korea-U.S. trade deal. gREEn LIgHT FOR pIpELInES Trump was praised by building trades union leaders Jan. 24 — for signing executive orders removing obstacles to construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines. AppOInTEES The AFL-CIO opposed Trump’s Supreme Court appointee, Neil Gorsuch, because as a judge he routinely ruled in favor of corporate interests and against workers. Trumka applauded Trump’s nominee for trade representative – Reagan-era trade negotiator (and NAFTA critic) Robert Lighthizer. But Trump’s initial nominee for labor secretary was fast food CEO Andy Puzder, a foe of minimum wage increases. As labor adviser, Trump named antiunion Heritage Foundation researcher James Sherk, who has criticized the Davis- Bacon prevailing wage, and argued in favor of “right-to-work” laws. Trump also hired Geoff Burr, a top lobbyist for anti-union Associated Builders and Contractors, to a lead role in the Labor Department. His education secretary is billionaire Betsy DeVos, a privatization advocate who never attended public schools. Trump’s cabinet as a whole is the richest in history, and not a worker-friendly bunch. InFRASTRuCTuRE pLAn M.I.A. Trump repeatedly campaigned on a plan to spend $1 trillion upgrading America’s infrastructure. 100 days in, there’s still no proposal. BuDgET CuTS The Trump administration is proposing a massive increase in military spending during peacetime, a $4.6 billion increase for VA health care, and a $500 million increase funding for opioid prevention and treatment. But elsewhere he’s proposing huge cuts: A 20 percent ($2.5 billion) cut to the Labor Department – targeting job training, safety and health training, and Job Corps. He’s proposing to eliminate whole programs, including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, federal funding for after-school programs, and a program that helps low- income people heat their homes. He’s also proposing to privatize air traffic control, eliminate subsidies for long-distance Amtrak service, and cut $2.4 billion out of federal transportation programs. CORpORATE TAx gIvEAWAy Few details are out yet, but White House aides are drafting a tax plan that slashes the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent. That would massively benefit owners of corporations — and slash government revenue by about $240 billion a year. MORE: AFL-CIO Trump Watch site: aflcio.org/trump-watch Back to the drawing board for CEIp Portland Mayor Wheeler pulls controversial policy off agenda A coalition of building trades unions and community groups was planning a big turnout at an April 26 Portland City Council meeting when Mayor Ted Wheeler stepped in to remove from the agenda what they were gearing up to oppose: the rewrite of a city policy for increasing minority and women participa- tion in City construction proj- ects. Unions had a hand in craft- ing the previous “community benefits agreement,” a policy that proved to be effective. But a work group of City managers wrote a new policy called the Community Equity and Inclu- sion Plan (CEIP) that took unions out of the agreement. Wheeler put it on hold after pre- siding over a tense April 10 meeting between members of the City work group and three community representatives: Co- lumbia Pacific Building Trades head Willy Myers, Kelli Haines of Metropolitan Alliance for Workforce Equity, and Nate Mc- Coy of the National Association of Minority Contractors. “We feel like there is more we can do to bring the parties closer to consensus,” explained Michael Cox, spokesperson for Mayor Wheeler. “We came in right at the tail end of this process, and our goal is to re- spect the work city staff has put into this, while addressing some of the stakeholder concerns.”
