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.”
