PAGE 2 | June 16, 2017 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Drawn-out bargaining at City of Portland
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Negotiators for the District
Council of Trade Unions
(DCTU) report that bargaining
with the City of Portland has
been moving at a snail’s pace.
DCTU bargains jointly for
about 1,200 City workers in six
unions: AFSCME Local 189,
IBEW Local 48, Machinists
District Lodge W24, Operating
Engineers Local 701, Painters
Local 10, and Plumbers and
Fitters Local 290. Their con-
tract expires June 30.
DCTU is proposing annual 3
percent raises on top of infla-
tion-based cost-of-living in-
creases, plus selective increases
for some of the lowest-paid
classifications, and spot in-
creases for classifications like
electricians that are in high de-
mand. The unions argue that
bigger-than-inflation raises are
needed because housing costs
are going up so much more
quickly than overall inflation in
Portland.
The two sides have been
meeting once a week for up to
four hours, but Oregon AF-
SCME representative Rob
Wheaton, DCTU chief negotia-
tor, said progress has been
slow.
“I’ve never been in a situa-
tion where I’ve been at the 150-
day mark and not known how
AFSCME Local 189 president Rob Martineau addresses a June 7 rally of
about 100 City employees in a park across the street from the Portland
Building. The rally’s message: “Bring us a counterproposal.”
far apart we are because we
haven’t seen any comprehen-
sive counter-offer from the
City,” Wheaton said. The 150-
day mark is the point, under
state law, at which either side
can declare impasse and call
for mediation. In the case of the
DCTU negotiations, that was
June 11.
The City is proposing to re-
quire employees to get a com-
prehensive medical exam. If
they fail to do so, the City
would increase the employee
share of health care costs.
Wheaton said the union would
like to see something other than
a penalty-only model to get
employees to get the checkup.
The City also wants to end a
provision that gives existing
employees first chance at pro-
motions, Wheaton said. In-
stead, managers would have
free rein to hire from outside.
City negotiators say that’s so
the City can increase diversity,
but Wheaton says the City is
most diverse at the lowest
ranks, and argues those em-
ployees deserve an opportunity
for advancement.
ONLINE EXTRA
Keep tabs on the union negotiations
at DCTUpdx.org, or by liking the city
union coalition’s Facebook page at
facebook.com/DCTUnited
Former Trump nominee will
headline anti-union group’s
fundraiser in Portland
Remember Andy Puzder, Presi-
dent Trump’s first nominee for
U.S. Secre-
tary of La-
bor? Puzder
was CEO of
the company
that owns the
Hardee’s and
Carl’s Jr. fast
food chains,
and a big
Andy Puzder
critic of rais-
ing the minimum wage. He
withdrew from consideration to
be America’s top labor law en-
forcer after it came out that he’d
employed an undocumented im-
migrant housekeeper, and had
been accused by his ex-wife of
domestic abuse. Then he lost his
job as CEO. But he’s been keep-
ing busy with media appear-
ances on MSNBC and Fox. And
in September, he’ll be the fea-
tured speaker at an annual din-
ner to raise funds for the Free-
dom Foundation, a group whose
sworn mission is to undermine
organized labor and talk work-
ers into dropping union mem-
bership. Union foes will pay
$115 to hear him speak Sept. 28
at the Sheraton Portland Airport
Hotel, or $150 for a VIP recep-
tion and photo.
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