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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2017)
PAGE 4 | September 1, 2017 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS WASHINGTON Washington AFL-CIO rates state lawmakers for key 2017 votes Paid family leave was a landmark win, but legislators tested anti- union bills in the GOP-held Senate. Washington State Labor Council (WSLC), AFL-CIO, has released its 2017 ratings for Washington legislators, and as usual, lawmak- ers from Southwest Washington are some of the best and the worst in the state on issues identified by the state’s labor federation. What lawmakers accomplished This year it took the Washington Legislature one regular session and two-and-a-half special sessions called by the governor before they were able to agree on a package providing school funding as well as funding to make good on the collective bargaining agreements the Gov. Jay Inslee negotiated last fall with state workers. [After years of wage freezes, the new contract gives workers 6 percent raises over the next two years.] The gridlock resulted once again from the fact that Democrats con- trol the state house while Republi- cans control the state senate. But thanks to support of one Re- publican — Sen. Joe Fain (R- Auburn) — Democrats in the legis- lature were able to pass a paid family and medical leave law. The law sets up a public insurance pro- gram funded by employers and em- ployees. Beginning in 2020, it will guarantee workers up to 12 weeks paid time off for the birth or adop- tion of a child, to take care of an ill family member, when a family member is deployed or wounded in the military, or for the worker’s own serious health condition. The pro- gram will replace up to 90 percent of wages. Building trades unions also cel- ebrated the passage of a “respon- sible bidder” law that bars busi- nesses from competing for state and local public works contracts if they have willfully violated wage statutes in the past three years. But lawmakers failed to pass other bills that organized labor pushed hard for, including a bill to add a jobs requirement to a massive tax break lawmakers gave Boeing. Remarkably, every single De- mocrat in the House got a 100 per- cent rating this year, including Sharon Wylie and Monica Stonier of Vancouver and Brian Blake of Longview. WSLC’s ratings tell how legis- lators voted, but in some cases, other actions were more revealing than votes to show whose side they were on. Vancouver House Democrat Monica Stonier co-sponsored bills to tie the state’s multi-billion aero- space tax incentives to job creation and maintenance, to protect work- ers from retaliation for reporting wage violations, and to allow workers to file liens against em- ployers for unpaid wages. None of them became law. On other side, Chehalis-Cen- tralia Senate Republican John Braun was once again unrelent- ingly hostile to unions and working people. He co-sponsored a bill to make Washington a so-called “right-to-work” state (unions mo- bilized to defeat it, with more than 1,100 people signing in to testify in opposition.) He also co-sponsored bills to tax union dues; to allow state and local governments to charge a 5 percent “administration fee” for union dues deduction; to authorize state agencies and col- leges to contract out for services; and to exempt Uber drivers from unemployment insurance. And he voted for bills to allow employers to pay an 85 percent sub-minimum wage to minors; and to allow indi- viduals to sue unions for “unfair or deceptive acts.” None of those bills became law. MORE DETAIL ON HOW THEY VOTED See the Washington State Labor Council’s complete legislative report — and a de- tailed breakdown of how each lawmaker voted — at bit.ly/2wX8Wy7 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING At City of Portland, Laborers and COPPEA ratify new contracts, but DCTU still waiting Bargaining appears to have cur- dled into a standoff for the biggest group of City of Port- land employees, those in the multi-union District Council of Trade Unions (DCTU), but sev- eral other large City bargaining units have ratified new union contracts. Members of Laborers Local 483 ratified two new contracts by strong majorities in votes counted Aug. 7. One covers about 600 laborers at City bu- reaus that maintain roads and sewers. It provides annual cost- of-living increases based on the consumer price index, plus ex- tra longevity pay and selective raises of 1.5 to 10 percent for some classifications. However, members also gave up a re- quirement that the City hire first from among existing employ- ees when hiring for new posi- tions, and agreed to a penalty for employees who fail to schedule one medical checkup every two years. Under the sec- ond Local 483 contract, starting wages will rise to $15 and more for the seasonally fluctuating workforce of 400 to 700 work- ers at City recreation centers, and those who are permanent full-time workers will get health insurance, “just cause” discipline and grievance rights. Professional & Technical Employees Local 17 (the union formerly known as COPPEA) also ratified a new contract, in votes counted Aug. 25. It cov- ers about 700 city planners and other professional, technical and engineering employees. Like the Local 483 laborers’ deal, it includes cost-of-living increases based on the con- sumer price index, plus selec- tive increases for some classifi- cations, and a requirement to get a preventative medical exam every two years. For the DCTU, meanwhile, the last hope to stave off a labor dispute is mediation, which is scheduled to begin Sept. 6. There’s no sign of a deal yet, but DCTU union negotiators say the City finally provided a bona fide counter proposal at their last negotiation session on Aug. 17. —Don McIntosh TriMet declares impasse in contract negotiations After an unsuccessful 14-hour mediator-led bargaining session on Aug. 16, TriMet has once again declared impasse in bar- gaining with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757. Public transit workers aren’t allowed to strike under Oregon law. Instead, if the union and management can’t reach agree- ment, they present their final of- fers to a neutral arbitrator, who picks one side’s offer in its en- tirety. This is the third time in a row that bargaining between TriMet and Local 757 has reached im- passe. In 2010, the impasse led to arbitration, which the union lost. In 2014, the two sides kept meeting after the impasse decla- ration, and reached a deal. That contract expired Nov. 30, 2016. “We are able to get collective bargaining agreements with 23 other employers,” says Jon Hunt, Local 757 vice president. “I know how to close a deal, and I know how to compromise. But I can also recognize when I’ve got somebody across the table that’s just playing games.” Among the many points of disagreement: TriMet wants to cut contract language prevent- ing the contracting out of union members’ work, curtail paid union orientation during em- ployee training, and end a policy of giving cleaners and helpers first dibs when mechanic ap- prentice positions open up.
