PaGE 8 |
November 3, 2017 | nortHWESt laBor PrESS
‘unions for Kids’ poker
tournament raises cash
for Doernbecher, lcSa
Unions For Kids raised critical funds for
community nonprofits at their Oct. 7
Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament, in-
cluding $10,000 for Labor’s Community
Service Agency (LCSA). Additional pro-
ceeds will be given to Doernbecher Chil-
dren’s Hospital.
LCSA Executive Director Eryn Byram
said the money will go directly toward
continuing to serve over 1,200 children
throughout the community with safety
net, holiday, and educational programs.
The 6th annual Poker Tournament was
held at the IBEW Local 48 Hall in North-
east Portland.
The card game originally was held in
conjunction with the Unions for Kids mo-
torcycle poker run, which took place in
June. The poker run was discontinued in
2014, but Unions for Kids maintained its
non-profit status and the card game con-
tinued. This year’s event attracted 21
sponsors and 60 players. Top finishers
were: 1st Justin Stevens, 2nd Gerardo
Arizmondi, 3rd Dustin Hysmith, 4th
Micah Herrera, and 5th Lynn Sayer.
Sixty players (above) participated in the 6th annual Unions for Kids Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament held Oct. 7 at IBEW Local 48’s hall in Northeast
Portland. The tournament raises money for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and Labor’s Community Service Agency. In the photo below left,
LCSA Executive Director Eryn Byram tries to deposit the donation check at IBEW and United Workers Federal Credit Union. With her is Joe Harris,
president of Unions for Kids, Jeanine Lopez, vice president of the credit union, and Barbara Mathey, CEO of the credit union. Harris is a business
rep for Sheet Metal Workers Local 16. The credit union was a major sponsor of the event. In the photo below right are players who made it to the
final table.
ScotuS: Do workers have a right to class-action suits?
By Eric tegehoff
Public News Service
Workers across the country
watched the U.S. Supreme Court
closely Oct. 2 as justices heard
oral arguments in a case to deter-
mine whether employers can ban
class-action lawsuits.
The case, Epic Systems Cor-
poration vs Lewis, involves arbi-
tration agreements often found in
the fine print of employee con-
tracts. About one-quarter of pri-
vate-sector employees, or nearly
25 million Americans, have
signed agreements that waive
their right to sue employers col-
lectively, according to the Eco-
nomic Policy Institute.
Elizabeth Hanley, an employ-
ment law attorney for Reed,
Longyear, Malnati and Ahrens
law firm, says class actions are
important in cases of wage theft.
“There’s often very small
amounts of money affecting
many, many employees, and it
can be cost-prohibitive for them
to litigate them individually,” she
explains.
Epic Systems and other com-
panies argue that employers need
to know if class-action waivers in
their workers’ contracts apply. If
they don’t, the companies say,
that will change the employer-
employee relationship. A decision
on this case is expected in June
2018.
During arguments, Justice
Stephen Breyer said a ruling in
favor of employers would rip out
“the entire heart of the New
Deal” and change our under-
standing of labor relations dating
back to the Great Depression.
Hanley says class actions have
been important tools for workers
in labor disputes.
“I don’t think, without the
weight of class actions, that you
will be likely to see the enforce-
ment of wage and hour laws or
employers incentivized to change
any unlawful practices,” Hanley
warns.
The Epic Systems case deals
with the conflict between two fed-
eral laws. The Federal Arbitration
Act of 1925 favors arbitration. But
the National Labor Relations Act
of 1935 encourages workers to sue
collectively in labor disputes.
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