NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS |
September 15, 2017 | PAGE 3
WASHINGTON
UNION ORGANIZING
Cowlitz County commissioner cancels presentation
by anti-union Freedom Foundation
Machinists win the right to union election
for welders at Precision Castparts
KELSO, Washington — A
Cowlitz County commissioner
has cancelled a proposed hear-
ing about opening union nego-
tiating sessions up to the public.
The county negotiates collec-
tive bargaining agreements
with nine labor unions, and
those talks customarily take
place in private session. Last
month, Commissioner Arne
Mortensen invited the anti-
union Freedom Foundation to
make a case to the county com-
mission on Sept. 26 in favor of
a resolution to open negotia-
tions to the public. But after
union members and community
supporters demanded equal
time to counter the group,
Mortensen decided to cancel
the Sept. 26 meeting, citing an
urgent need to work on the
county budget as justification.
“This should have never
been scheduled in the first
place,” said Shawn Nyman,
president of the Cowlitz-
Wahkiakum Central Labor
Council in an official state-
ment. “There is absolutely no
reason to set our local family
wage earners up for attack by
this anti-labor group invited by
the commissioner.”
HEALTH CARE
Merkley co-sponsors Medicare for All legislation
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ore-
gon U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley
became one of six Senate co-
sponsors when Sen. Bernie
Sanders of Vermont introduced
Medicare for All legislation
Sept. 13.
Meanwhile, in the U.S.
House of Representatives, 117
House Democrats have so far
signed on as co-sponsors of a
companion bill, HR 676, in-
cluding Oregon’s Earl Blume-
nauer, Suzanne Bonamici, and
Peter DeFazio.
The United States already
has a “single payer” publicly-
sponsored health insurance
program, but you have to be at
least 65 or disabled to get it: It’s
called Medicare. Sanders’ bill
would expand Medicare to all
Americans. When Congress
passed Medicare in 1965, it
was seen as a first step towards
universal health care.
Announcing his co-sponsor-
ship, Merkley said he has heard
from many Oregonians about
the importance of simplifying
the fragmented health care sys-
tem to ensure that no Ameri-
cans fall through the cracks.
“Health care should be a
right for every single Ameri-
can, not a privilege reserved for
the healthy and the wealthy,”
he said. “Right now, our health
care system is incredibly com-
plex, fragmented, and stressful.
It would be terrific to have a
simple, seamless system
where, solely by virtue of liv-
ing in America, you know that
you will get the care you need.”
Medicare for All appears to
have majority public support: a
June Kaiser Foundation poll
found that 53 percent now fa-
vor a single-payer health plan
in which all Americans would
get their insurance from a sin-
gle government plan.
At Precision Castparts, 102
Portland-area welders have an
opportunity to join the Interna-
tional Association of Machin-
ists in a Sept. 22 vote on union-
ization.
Lawyers for Precision Cast-
parts tried to block such an
election, arguing that the union
vote ought to include Precision
Castparts’ entire 2,000-plus lo-
cal production and maintenance
workforce. Workers in that
group as a whole rejected
unionization by about a 4 to 3
margin four years ago. But Na-
tional Labor Relations Board
regional director Ronald Hooks
ruled Aug. 28 that the welders
would constitute an appropriate
bargaining unit on their own,
and therefore the election can
take place.
If a majority of the welders
vote to join the Machinists, it
would be the first union organ-
izing win at one of the Portland
area’s largest nonunion indus-
trial employers.
Eugene Urgent Care clinic network fights
union campaign by SEIU Local 49
At ICCO, LLC, which owns a
network of medical clinics in
the Eugene area, the results of
an Aug. 17 unionization elec-
tion won’t be determined until
the National Labor Relations
decides what do to about 11
workers whose eligibility to
vote was challenged.
Of the ballots that were
counted, a slight majority of 72-
70 favored joining Service Em-
ployees International Union
(SEIU) Local 49.
Local 49 spokesperson Rae
Dunnaville said workers want a
union in order to win raises, ad-
equate paid time off, quality af-
fordable healthcare and a voice
on the job.
Company management op-
posed the union effort, and held
several mandatory and optional
worker meetings with an anti-
union agenda.
UNIONIZATION ] JULY-AUG 2017
The following are Oregon and Southwest Washington workplaces where workers have decided
whether to be represented by a union. The thumbs-up symbol means workers will be union-
represented. Thumbs-down means they’ll be on their own. The information comes from the
National Labor Relations Board and the Oregon Employment Relations Board.
Union election results
Raymond Thomas
James Coon
Employer (Location) Union
Yes-No
PeaceHealth Peace Harbor (Florence) SEIU Local 49
78-72 ^
■ 185 CNAs, cooks, lab assistants, clerical and other support staff
Albertsons (Ontario) UFCW Local 368-A
2-4
%
■ 6 deli clerks
Cynthia Newton
Melissa Haggerty
Chris Frost
Sydney Montanaro
You need a lawyer
who understands
how your union
disability benefits
and your Social
Security disability
benefits will fit
together.
820 SW Second Ave., Suite 200,
Portland, OR 97204
Scott Sell
Chris Thomas
www.tcnf.legal
Eugene Urgent Care (Eugene) SEIU Local 49
72-70
?
■ 160 CNAs, LPNs, and support staff at 13 Eugene-area clinics owned by ICCO, Inc.
City of Brookings Brookings Police Assn. vs. Teamsters Local 223
15-0-0
■ 15 police officers voted to disaffiliate with Teamsters and join an independent union
City of Gervais (Gervais) Gervais Police Officers Association
■ 4 police officers formerly represented by Laborers Local 483
4-0
^