NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | June 16, 2017 | PAGE 7
...Unions react to the MAX killings
From Page 1
years after that. The PTE 17
board was also expected to con-
sider other ways to honor Best’s
bravery at its June 15 meeting in
Seattle, including the possibility
of contributing to the Rick Best
Memorial Scholarship Fund,
since that is where his family
would like donations to go.
Other union members dealt
with the aftermath of the attacks
in the course of doing their jobs,
including members of the Port-
land Police Association, Team-
ster-represented paramedics
who staff American Medical
Response, and TriMet police of-
ficers and the TriMet light rail
operator who halted the train af-
ter the attacks occurred. TriMet
employees are represented by
Amalgamated Transit Union
Local 757, which has been rais-
ing concerns about security on
board buses and light rail trains
for several years.
But in a May 31 statement
about the attacks, Local 757
President Shirley Block ex-
pressed opposition to a proposal
to increase the presence of armed
police officers aboard buses and
trains. “Armed police officers
aboard transit vehicles intimidate
the public, reduce ridership, and
provide little more than expen-
sive security theatre,” Block
wrote. Instead, Block said, the
union is calling for a return to
well-trained fare inspectors “who
can de-escalate and/or assess the
proper response to dangerous sit-
uations,” as well as a reinstate-
ment of TriMet’s “Rider Advo-
cate” program, which “recruited
and paid individuals from low-in-
come communities and commu-
nities of color to ride our buses
and trains as liaisons between op-
erators, fare inspectors, riders,
and even police.” See the full
statement at http://bit.ly/2rmmIpr.
Oregon AFL-CIO President
Tom Chamberlain also issued a
statement May 31 in response to
the attacks: “The unions of the
Oregon AFL-CIO offer our sin-
cere condolences to the families
and friends of Taliesin Namkai-
Meche and Ricky John Best, and
we hope Micah David-Cole
Fletcher has a complete recov-
ery,” Chamberlain said. “The ac-
tions these three took demon-
strates a unique combination of
bravery and compassion. We
hope the two young women who
endured a hate-fueled verbal as-
sault can process and ultimately
heal from what I can only imag-
ine to be a deeply devastating ex-
perience.”
“Incidents of hate and hate
crimes have been on the rise in
our country, and Friday’s vio-
lence remind Oregonians that we
all must stand together in oppo-
sition to those who seek to divide
us through fear and violence.
Oregonians are sickened and dis-
turbed by Friday’s events, and I
encourage all of us to stand to-
gether and continue to take posi-
tive actions to protect the rights
of us all. It’s through unity and
solidarity that we will heal from
this tragic incident. It’s through
standing together against hatred
that we can stop events like this
from happening again.”
Who’s on our side?
By Tom Chamberlain Oregon AFL-CIO President
Protecting Oregon’s
rural workers
O
n June 5, the Oregon House approved Senate Bill
1040, the Rural Worker Protection Act, clearing its
final legislative hurdle and sending the bill to the gov-
ernor’s desk. This groundbreaking law makes sure that
working people are defended against attacks on union
security agreements from local jurisdictions, including
cities and counties. Often referred to as “right to work”
laws, we know they serve one purpose: to dismantle
unions and to weaken the collective power of working
people.
It is because of a recent decision by the Sixth Circuit
Court of Appeals that the Rural Worker Protection Act
is so vital: Late last year, the court ruled that local ju-
risdictions may pass ordinances targeting union security
agreements in the private sector — a decision which sig-
nificantly breaks from how the National Labor Relations
Act (NLRA) has been interpreted and implemented
since 1947. This decision widens the playing field for
opponents of unions, a field which now includes all
three branches of the Federal government as well as bal-
lot measures, state laws, and local ordinances. It’s open
season on unions in America.
The direct result of the Sixth Circuit’s decision is that
Hardin County in Kentucky could maintain a so-called
“right to work” ordinance at the county level. You can
bet the ears of anti-union lawmakers at every level of
government perked up upon hearing that news. That is
why the Rural Worker Protection Act is critical for work-
ing Oregonians across our state – it preserves the pro-
tection of the NLRA and takes back some of the ground
lost by the Sixth Circuit.
Oregon’s union movement was instrumental in help-
ing make sure our lawmakers in Salem understood the
importance of this bill: Union members and leaders
packed hearing rooms, met with legislators and provided
a wide range of testimony about why unions are an in-
tegral part of Oregon’s economy and communities. The
Rural Worker Protection Act is another tool in our kit to
protect working people, complimenting legislation
passed in previous legislative sessions to outlaw captive
audience meetings and to keep tax dollars away from
fighting union organizing drives in the public sector.
While the status quo of private-sector labor relations
is safer in Oregon because of Senate Bill 1040, we are
by no means free from worry. We know that each elec-
tion cycle, ballot measures are circulated with the intent
of pulling the rug from underneath working people.
Whether it’s an attack on the rights of immigrants and
refugees or an attempt to weaken our collective bargain-
ing rights, the ballot remains a battlefield for Oregon’s
values. We expect to see cases before the Supreme
Court of the United States, bills in Congress, and ballot
measures in our own backyard designed to deal
widescale damage to unions and the rights of working
people.
We won with Senate Bill 1040, but the next battle will
be bigger. Get involved in your union, find ways to help
build a stronger organization, learn about the threats we
face and what is needed to be done to defend against
them. When we all stand together, we can build a
stronger movement for a better tomorrow.
Tom Chamberlain is president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, a 130,000-member-
strong federation of labor unions.