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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 2017)
PAGE 2 | October 6, 2017 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS WORKERS RIGHTS NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the la- bor movement. Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-profit mutual benefit corpo- ration owned by 20 unions and councils including the Ore- gon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Trump cabinet nominee Andy Puzder headlines Portland fundraiser for union-busting group Freedom Foundation is attacking Laborers Local 483 and others Office location: 4275 NE Halsey St., Portland, Oregon Mailing address: P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213 Phone: (503) 288-3311 Web address: http://nwlaborpress.org Editor & Manager: Michael Gutwig Associate editor: Don McIntosh Office manager: Cheri Rice Printed on recycled paper, using soy-based inks, by members of Teamsters Local 747-M. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Individual subscriptions are $14 a year for union members, $22 a year for all others. Pay by credit card online at nwlaborpress.org/subscribe, or send a check to our mailing address (above) along with your name, address and union affiliation, if any. Group rates of $10.08 a year per per- son are available for 25 or more subscriptions; call 503-288-3311 for details. CORRECTIONS: See an error? Please let us know at editor@nwlaborpress.org or by phone at 503-288-3311. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: If you move, let us know at nwlaborpress.org/subscriber-services or by mail at our mailing address (above). Be sure to provide your old and new addresses and the name/number of your local union. Please allow three weeks for the change to take effect. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS P.O. BOX 13150 PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 THIS NEWSPAPER BROUGHT TO YOU BY AMERICA’S LABOR MOVEMENT … AND BY OUR ADVERTISERS. LET THEM KNOW YOU APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT! Low Prices! Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6 140 Andy Puzder was the CEO of the company that owns Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. He almost became President Trump’s Secretary of Labor. How far he’s fallen — since revelations of spousal abuse cost him both positions. On Sept. 28, Puzder was the fea- tured speaker at a fundraiser for the Freedom Foundation, a group whose sole mission is to harass and drain the financial lifeblood out of unions. But to get to the fundraiser at the Portland Airport Sheraton, attendees had to pass by two large inflatable rats, one large inflatable “fat cat” and a crowd of noisy protesters from a dozen or more unions. If most of the protesters looked like they worked for a living, it’s because they do. Led by Laborers Northwest Re- gional Manager Bob Abbott, construction laborers turned out in force in defense of public sec- tor Laborers Local 483, which has come under direct attack from the Freedom Foundation. coworkers to pick up the tab for union representation. To help, they called the Free- dom Foundation, which wants more than anything for union members to stop paying dues. In Oregon, the group has paid for ads and sent staff to union work- places and residences to talk homecare workers and others into quitting their union. Last month, Freedom Foundation lawyers asked the City of Port- land for the names of every Lo- cal 483 member in the unit. [Lo- cal 483 is fighting the request.] Paid staff from the Freedom UNION MEMBERS UNDER ATTACK: WHAT DO WE DO? STAND UP, FIGHT BACK! Union members picket a fundraiser for antiunion Freedom Foundation. Foundation also showed up out- side Portland Bureau of Trans- In August, Local 483 mem- ing union dues. It turns out portation’s Kerby maintenance bers who maintain sewers and there’s a process under Oregon’s yard with the deauthorization roads ratified a new contract public employee collective bar- petitions. There they were con- with the City of Portland — one gaining law to do that: Gather fronted by union loyalists, and of the best they’ve negotiated in signatures from 30 percent of reportedly given an angry send- years, with raises of up to 10 represented workers, and you off. percent on top of cost-of-living can trigger a special “deautho- It’s a shame that any union increases and a 2 percent rization of a union security member would call an anti- longevity bump for senior em- agreement” election. In plain union group for help, PBOT jet ployees. But a handful of Local English, it means you can vote truck operator Amil Zell told the 483 members at the city waste- on whether to turn financial sup- Labor Press. water treatment plant, led by a port for the union into an indi- “The way our union is organ- one-time union bargaining team vidual choice instead of a group ized, anybody that gets involved member, are unhappy with the commitment. If they prevail, has influence in the decision contract, and want to stop pay- the objectors could leave their making,” Zell said.
