SERVING ORGANIZED LABOR IN OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON SINCE 1900
NORTHWEST
LABOR
PRESS
VOLUME 118, NUMBER 22
IN THIS ISSUE
TENTATIVE DEAL AT CITY OF PORTLAND DCTU wins
long-overdue raises and greater gender parity. | Page 2
PRECISION CASTPARTS STILL STALLING The
company is refusing to recognize union vote | Page 3
Meeting Notices p. 4 Why GOP tax bill hurts workers p. 6
PORTLAND, OREGON
UNION ORGANIZING
NOVEMBER 17, 2017
WASHINGTON
Union drive launches at New Seasons Big night for Washington
By Don McIntosh
On Wednesday, Nov. 1, 9 a.m.,
a dozen employees of New Sea-
sons Market filed into the com-
pany’s fourth floor headquarters
in the rehabbed former high
school now known as Revolu-
tion Hall, and asked to speak
with CEO Wendy Collie. As
they waited in the reception
area, awkward minutes crept by
— until one worker began hum-
ming the union anthem “Soli-
darity Forever,” and the rest
joined in.
Collie, they were informed at
length, was not available to see
them. So the workers presented
a letter to her assistant, accom-
panied by signatures from 260
workers, announcing the forma-
tion of a new organization, New
Seasons Workers United. The
letter requests a meeting, and
asks the company to sign a code
of conduct committing to re-
spect workers’ right to organize.
Half an hour later, joined by
labor as votes come in
After six years, Democrats re-
take Senate majority. And a top
labor political aide wins elec-
tion to Seattle City Council.
WILL NEW SEASONS AGREE TO UNION NEUTRALITY? “If this company
truly practices the values that they promote, they should have no hesitation
in agreeing to this set of standards,” declared union supporter Rev. Andrew
Guthrie of Lynchwood Christian Church at the North Williams New Seasons.
another couple dozen workers
and community supporters out-
side the New Seasons grocery
store on North Williams Ave. in
Portland, they made a public an-
nouncement: A union organizing
campaign has begun at New
Seasons — backed by United
Food and Commercial Workers
Local 555.
Turn to Page 5
DIVERSIFYING THE BUILDING TRADES
Portland City Council mandates
diversity in public construction
Portland City Council voted 4-0
Nov. 8 to adopt several ordi-
nances to increase participation
of women and minorities as
workers and contractors on pub-
lic construction projects. City
projects over $25 million will
operate largely union under
what amounts to a project labor
agreement; those between $10
to $25 million would try to meet
the same targets but without a
formal role for unions. City
managers will report back later
on the success rate of the two
approaches.
Meanwhile, a new fund will
set aside 1 percent of hard con-
struction costs to fund pre-ap-
prenticeship training programs
to prepare women and minori-
ties for construction trades, and
technical assistance for women-
and minority-owned businesses.
Though Commissioner Chloe Eudaly (left) was out for the vote, all five mem-
bers of Portland’s City Council are in support of a new policy that enlists
unions in efforts to get more women and minorities in construction.
“This is a living, breathing
document that can be adjusted
to meet our needs,” said Mayor
Ted Wheeler introducing the or-
dinances.
“I appreciate the leadership
you’ve shown to get us to where
we need to be today,” said Colum-
bia Pacific Building Trades
Council Executive Secretary-trea-
surer Willy Myers. “We’ve gone
way past window dressing to ac-
tually having a policy that works.”
The City of Portland has hun-
dreds of millions of capital proj-
ects in the pipeline, including
wastewater treatment plant up-
dates and a new filtration plant.
The Nov. 8 general election re-
sulted in some great news for
working people in Washington,
said the Washington State Labor
Council (WSLC), AFL-CIO.
In the critical 45th Legisla-
tive District race to determine
which party controls Washing-
ton’s State Senate, labor-en-
dorsed Democrat Manka Dhin-
gra beat Republican Jinyoung
Lee Englund, 55.4 percent to
44.6 percent in King County.
Other labor-endorsed De-
mocrats capturing Senate seats
were Rebecca Saldaña in Dis-
trict 37, and Patty Kuderer in
District 48. In District 31, Re-
publican Phil Fortunato de-
feated Democrat Michelle Ry-
lands, but both candidates were
endorsed by WSLC.
The state labor federation fell
short in Senate District 7, where
endorsed Democrat Karen
Hardy lost to Republican Shel-
ley Short.
In the House, labor-endorsed
Democrat Vandana Slatter de-
feated Republican Ciaran
Dougherty in District 48, and la-
bor-endorsed Republican Mor-
Turn to Page 5
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
ATU reaches deal at TriMet
After almost a year of rocky
negotiations, TriMet and
Amalgamated Transit Union
(ATU) Local 757 announced
Nov. 10 they’ve reached tenta-
tive agreement on a new three-
year contract covering 2,500
union-represented bus and
light rail operators, mechanics,
cleaners, transit police officers,
and customer service represen-
tatives.
Local 757 President Shirley
Block says the deal was struck
after an 8 a.m. meeting over
coffee and orange juice with
TriMet General Manager Neil
McFarlane, as the two sides
prepared to go to binding arbi-
tration. The final step in that
process was for each side to
make a final comprehensive
contract proposal. TriMet in-
cluded approximately 40 of
ATU’s proposals in its pro-
posal, and that proved to be
enough to clinch the deal.
If ratified, the agreement
will provide an immediate 3
percent raise retroactive to the
Dec. 1, 2016 expiration of the
previous contract; another raise
of 3.25 percent Dec. 1; and a
third raise of 3.25 percent on
Dec. 1, 2018. It would also pro-
vide a one-time $1,000 pay-
ment to about 300 journey-
level rail mechanics and a 6.6
percent step increase at the top
of the scale for up to 300 work-
ers who clean buses and light
rail platforms. And it increases
the night shift differential to $1
an hour (up from 25 cents) for
maintenance employees, dis-
patchers, road and rail supervi-
sors, and others.
TriMet dropped several pro-
posals the union objected to,
including one that would have
reduced opportunities for serv-
ice workers to apply for ap-
prentice openings as mechan-
ics. The agency also agreed to
a cost-neutral health insurance
plan change that will save re-
tirees money.
The union agreed to allow
light rail vehicles to be over-
hauled off-site by outside con-
tractors, and it dropped its de-
mand to return to a 90-10
health premium split.
The agreement now goes to
union members for a ratifica-
tion vote. If approved, the
agreement would run through
Nov. 30, 2019.