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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 4, 2017)
SERVING ORGANIZED LABOR IN OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON SINCE 1900 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS VOLUME 118, NUMBER 15 IN THIS ISSUE LABORERS 483 GET TENTATIVE DEAL AT CITY OF PORTLAND: Wages to reach $15 an hour | Page 2 WSLC CONVENTION:“Resist. Persist. Repeat.” was the message to Washington AFL-CIO delegates | Page 3 Meeting notices p.4 Labor Day picnic schedule p. 8 PORTLAND, OREGON AUGUST 4, 2017 LOOKING BACK The 2017 Oregon Legislature Still no DCTU deal at City of Portland Several hundred people rallied in downtown Portland July 19 in a show of support for the Dis- trict Council of Trade Unions (DCTU), which is bargaining a new contract with the City. The DCTU is comprised of a half-dozen locals that bargain jointly for about 1,200 workers. The unions are AFSCME Local 189, Machinists Lodge 63, IBEW Local 48, Plumbers and Fitters Local 290, Operating En- gineers Local 701, and Painters Local 10. The previous contract expired June 30, and the sides have completed their required 150 days of bargaining. At any time, either side can declare impasse and proceed to “self remedy.” “That’s not something I like to think about, but it’s really our final bullet, it’s our final answer, and it’s the only bullet in our gun,” said Rob Martineau, pres- ident of AFSCME Local 189 and spokesperson for the DCTU. “The city says it’s a pro- gressive town, but they’re mov- ing toward a labor dispute,” Martineau said, responding to calls to “shut it down.” At the rally, the DCTU drew support from the Oregon AFL- CIO, the Northwest Oregon La- bor Council, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 (the state’s largest private sector union), and many other unions. Chris Brown (right), a member of IBEW Local 48, Nancy Boch (center), a mem- ber of Local 48, Zach Odil, a member of AFSCME Local 189, and Tracey Briggs (holding camera), take a selfie to send to Mayor Ted Wheeler. Brown and Boch work at the Maintenance Bureau, Signals, Streets, and LIght Division. Odil works at P&D, (Portland and Distributing). Briggs is a supporter. Martineau said the DCTU is looking for three things: a 2 per- cent wage increase across the board, a retroactive cost of liv- ing adjustment (COLA) to June 30, and no HIPPA (Health Insur- ance Privacy and Protection Act) release requirement to maintain lower out-of-pocket insurance costs. “If the City can’t produce those three things, unfortu- nately, we’re going to be in a very different spot in a few months,” Martineau said. Several speakers scolded City commissioners for not being more involved in the bargaining process. “They are hiding behind their HR department,” said Oregon AFL-CIO president Tom Cham- berlain. City workers, who live and work in one of the most ex- pensive cities on the West Coast, “are just trying to keep their Turn to Page 8 Lawmakers passed landmark labor laws, but dropped the ball on tax fairness and housing By Don McIntosh In its now-concluded 2017 ses- sion, the Oregon Legislature passed two pieces of first-in-the- nation labor legislation: crack- ing down on abusive scheduling practices by employers, and pre- venting local jurisdictions from passing antiunion “right-to- work” ordinances. Lawmakers also passed a $5.3 billion trans- portation funding package that was stalled for years. And they passed a tax on health care providers to make up for a long- planned drop in the federal Medicaid funding that pays for the Oregon Health Plan. Could they have done more? Democrats held a 35-25 major- ity in the House and a 17-13 majority in the Senate. Tackling the affordable housing crisis was a top priority for Demo- cratic House Speaker Tina Kotek. Her bill — to curb no- cause eviction and eliminate the statewide ban on local rent con- trol ordinances — passed the House but failed to win passage in the Senate. And most importantly, the Legislature once again failed to pass tax reform, with the result that Oregon continues to have underfunded schools and serv- ices, and the lowest overall tax burden on business of any state in the nation. No proposal was able to get the required 3/5ths supermajority to raise taxes. Here are the top union-backed bills this session: ■ Fair Scheduling: SB 828, which was the top priority for UFCW Local 555, requires large retail, hotel, and food service establishments to provide at least 10 hours between work shifts, post work schedules at least two weeks in advance, and pay for last-minute employer-requested schedule changes. [Passed House 46-13, Senate 23-6] ■ Transportation: HB 2017, the top priority for the Oregon Building Trades, authorizes $5.3 billion over the next eight years for congestion-reducing projects on I-5, I-205, and OR-217, plus highway, bridge, and transit projects around the state. Funds come from a 10-cent gas tax hike, a $16 vehicle registration fee increase, a 0.1 percent payroll tax and a 0.5 percent tax on new car sales. The projects are likely to employ many hundreds of union construction workers. [Passed House 39- 20, Senate 22-7] ■ No local ‘right-to-work’: SB 1040 guarantees the right of private-sector employers and unions to negotiate ‘union security’ agreements (requiring represented members to pay union dues) The law is intended to head off local ‘right- to-work’ ordinances, such as one proposed in Coos County, that seek to ban such agreements, capitalizing on a November 2016 federal court decision. [Passed House 41-17; Senate 17-12] ■ Cover All Kids: Under Obamacare, most Oregon children get free health insurance if their parents make less than triple the poverty line. SB 558 extends that eligibility to an estimated 15,000 immigrant children who lack legal residency status — at a cost of about $36 million.[Passed House 37-23, Senate 21-8] ■ Shore up Medicaid HB 2391 raises over $300 million a year in new funds to Turn to Page 6
