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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (June 2, 2017)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | ...Nabisco boycott continues From Page 1 contract since their old one expired Feb. 29, 2016. No negotiations have taken place since April 2016, but the impasse hasn’t yet resulted in a strike or lockout. Mondelēz has made two “last, best, and fi- nal” contract offers, most recently in Decem- ber, but BCGTM rejected the terms. BCGTM says it wants Mondelēz to bring the jobs back, and rejects the company’s proposal to with- draw from the union-sponsored multi-em- ployer pension. Mondelēz is proposing instead to contribute an equivalent amount to a 401(k) plan, because the union pension is headed for insolvency. As of April 28, the Bakery and Confectionery Union and Industry Interna- tional Pension Fund was projected to run out of money in 13 years. But Mondelēz is still honoring the terms of the expired union con- tract, and is continuing to make pension con- tributions, totaling $21 million in 2016. Instead of striking, BCTGM has focused its efforts on promoting the boycott, and has sent laid-off workers around the country, first to speak to union gatherings, and now to college campuses in a tour assisted by the national stu- dent labor organization United Students Against Sweatshops. On May 17 — in a demonstration BCTGM called the “Nabisco shareholders showdown” — union protesters showed up outside a cor- porate meeting space in Lincolnshire, Illinois, for the annual shareholder meeting. Inside the meeting, several union leaders and a laid-off worker Anthony Jackson questioned company executives about the decision to downsize in Chicago. Though Mondelēz reports that sales are declining, the company is still immensely profitable, netting $26 billion in 2016 and pay- ing its CEO $16.7 million. At the shareholders meeting, BCTGM re- gional vice president Jethro Head submitted a shareholder proposal for Mondelēz to create a ...AT&T strike From Page 1 The company is also increas- ingly using outside contractors known as “authorized dealers” to sell products and serv- ices. Workers at those locations aren’t AT&T employees — or union members. Headquartered in Portland, 666- member CWA Local 7901 repre- sents several hun- dred AT&T wireless and DIRECTV workers in the Portland metro area. On Day One of the strike, Local 7901 decided to concentrate its forces at the AT&T retail outlet at Mall 205. There, Local 7901 June 2, 2017 | PAGE 5 MULTNOMAH COUNTY Labor Council takes stand against soda tax initiative The Northwest Oregon Labor Council, AFL-CIO, took ac- tion May 22 against a pro- posed “soda tax” for Mult- nomah County. At the Labor Council’s Executive Board meeting earlier in the day, rep- resentatives of the Teamsters, Bakers Local 114 and United Food and Commercial Work- ers Local 555 spoke in opposi- tion to the tax, which would be regressive because it would fall harder on lower-income people. Union officials ex- pressed concern that it would cause the loss of union jobs. A similar tax has been in effect in Philadelphia for about a year. Advocates of the tax will need to collect 17,000 signatures to get it on the ballot. The Labor Council approved a resolution opposing the soda tax and dis- couraging union members from signing the initiative pe- titions. PEOPLE New leader at Oregon Tradeswomen Outside the Mondelēz shareholders meeting, protesting a proposal to replace Nabisco workers’ pension with a 401(k). (Photo by Nate Zeff) committee that would report on the community impact of Mondelez layoffs and factory clo- sures. The resolution did not get majority sup- port from shareholders. —Don McIntosh ONLINE EXTRA This four-minute video explains the union’s fight: youtu.be/izIbgNshpvs executive vice president Celeste Jones, an employee of the AT&T store in Gresham, led a group of about 20 strikers and supporters. Participation in the strike was stronger at some lo- cations than others: Only some workers at the Mall 205 store walked off the job, and employees at the Lloyd Center store on Northeast Broadway report- edly resolved as a group not to take part in the strike at all, but strike participation was solid at the Gre- sham and Clackamas Town Center locations. “It was really weighing in my heart, and I felt like this was the right decision,” said Mall 205 AT&T employee Jacob Shoda about his choice to take part in the strike. Shoda, who’s worked at AT&T for six years, said he’s reached the top of the pay scale, $17.50 an hour. He also earns $1,200 to $2,000 a month in sales commissions, but a change AT&T made in its commission structure significantly reduced his commission earnings in the last year. CWA wants the next contract to bar the company from changing the commission structure unilaterally. About 90 minutes into the strike, the Mall 205 picketers got a visit from a special guest: U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley. Merkley dropped by to meet strikers and walk the strike picket line, along with several members of his staff. Strikers returned to their reg- ularly scheduled shifts Monday morning May 22. Oregon Tradeswomen Inc. (OTI) has named a new exec- utive director — Kelly Kup- cak. She succeeds Connie Ashbrook, who has led the group since she helped found it in 1989. Kup- Kelly Kupcak cak cur- rently works as director of technical assistance at Chicago Women in Trades. At Chicago Women in Trades, Kupcak managed a 10-state multi-year initiative and a national U.S. Department of Labor contract to improve outcomes for women in nontraditional sec- tors through technical assis- tance to employers, registered apprenticeship programs, and government agencies. Ash- brook will continue to be in- volved with OTI as an advisor. Kupcak will start at OTI July 10, 2017. Barbara Byrd retires from University of Oregon LERC After 22 years, labor educator Barbara Byrd is re- tiring from the Univer- sity of Ore- gon Labor Education and Re- search Cen- ter (LERC), Barbara Byrd which she currently serves as Portland Center Coordinator. Byrd will continue on in her part-time position as secretary-treasurer of the Oregon AFL-CIO. Her term at the state labor federa- tion runs through October 2019. We Know Legal Problems Everyone deserves affordable legal protection. No matter how Can Be Challenging trivial or traumatic, and everything in between. 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