NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | December 1, 2017 | PAGE 7
TRADE
UNION-MADE GIFTS:
WHERE TO BUY THEM, HOW TO SEND THEM
UNION RETAILERS
Shop Fred Meyer and Powell’s, not Wal-
mart, Target and Amazon
When you buy at Fred Meyer, Portland’s only
unionized general retailer, the money you spend will
employ members of UFCW Local 555 (and Bakers Local
114, at Fred Meyer bakery departments). Or keep it
simple and get a Fred Meyer gift card. And why shop at
Amazon when you could buy books and gifts at
Powell’s Books and support about 420 Portland-area
members of ILWU Local 5, from cashiers to truck drivers
to computer programmers. Powells pays wages that
average over $13.50 an hour, and provides health
benefits for full-time employees. And if you shop online
through ilwulocal5.com, 7.5% of your purchase goes to
the union strike fund.
UNION SHIPPERS
Sending cards and packages? Ship it
union with USPS and UPS, and don’t pa-
tronize antiunion FedEx
U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is a publicly-owned
employer that provides nearly half a million career union
jobs with benefits in every community in America. UPS
is the single largest employer in the Teamsters Union,
with about 250,000 union-represented employees.
Trump would gut NAFTA’s hated ISDS
In the North American Free TradeA-
greement (NAFTA) renegotiation
talks that have been under way since
August, union trade policy experts are
finding that Trump Administration
trade negotiators are more willing to
listen to their suggestions than Obama
trade officials were.
Trump trade representative Robert
Lighthizer wants to gut one of
NAFTA’s most controversial provi-
sions: The so-called Investor-State
Dispute Settlement (ISDS), which al-
lows foreign investors to sue govern-
ments in special trade tribunals if new
regulations deprive them of opportu-
nities for profit. The Administration
proposes to let foreign investors sue
governments over the direct seizure of
property, but nothing more. And each
NAFTA country could opt out of be-
ing sued by foreign investors.
The U.S. is also proposing to signif-
icantly increase “rules of origin” re-
quirements for automobiles: Cur-
rently, to get tariff-free status, just 62.5
percent by value of a vehicle’s com-
ponents must have been manufactured
in the three NAFTA countries. The
White House wants to raise that to 80
percent.
Other proposals would allow coun-
tries to favor domestic industries in
government contracting, and require
the three nations to periodically vote
“These are steps in the right
direction.…
But unless a
renegotiated
NAFTA has
stronger
worker pro-
tections, it still
won’t be a
good deal.”
— Russell Lum, Oregon Fair Trade
Campaign
to keep the deal in place or else face
NAFTA’s expiration in five years.
But Russell Lum, coordinator of the
Oregon Fair Trade Campaign, says
unless a new NAFTA does something
to improve workers’ rights and raise
wages in Mexico, the free-trade zone
will still be a bad deal, and labor and
its allies would oppose it.
Trump has threatened to walk away
from NAFTA if his demands aren’t
met. Lum says that wouldn’t be a bad
outcome — if the alternative is an
agreement that fails to protect workers
rights.
The talks continue this month in
Washington, D.C., and late next
month in Montreal.
Workers at TriMet
ratify new 3-year deal
Workers at TriMet voted over-
whelmingly to approve a new
three-year contract, Amalga-
mated Transit Union Local 757
announced Nov. 28 as this issue
went to press. The vote was
1,220 to 68, or almost 95 percent
in favor. The agreement covers
2,500 bus and light rail operators,
mechanics, cleaners, and cus-
tomer service representatives.
The agreement now goes to
the Dec. 13 meeting of TriMet’s
Board of Directors for approval.
When it takes effect, it 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 will also provide a one-time
$1,000 payment to about 300
journey-level rail mechanics and
a 6.6 percent step increase at the
top of the scale for up to 300
workers who clean buses and
light rail platforms.
WA-Club golf tourney
nets $100k for charity
The Washington CLUB Charity
Golf Classic donated $100,000 to
three charities Nov. 8 at its cele-
bration dinner in Seattle. CLUB
stands for Contractors, Legisla-
tors, Unions and Business. The
largest donation of $50,000 went
to the Diabetes Research Institute
via the national AFL-CIO’s
DAD’s Day (Dollars Against Di-
abetes) campaign. Two chil-
drens’ charities—Holly Ridge
Center and Seattle Childrens
Hospital, each received $25,000.
WA-CLUB was founded by
the Washington State Building
Trades Council in 2000. This
year’s event reached its goal of
$100,000, something it hasn’t
achieved since 2008.
Since its inception, WA-
CLUB has donated nearly $1.4
million to charities.
“It’s fun to look back over the
past 17 years and see how the
event has grown and remained
popular,” Bettendorf said.
CORRECTION
Jill Alcantar
360.787.6975
12/31/17
2017
An article in the Nov. 17 edi-
tion, “Union drive launches at
New Seasons,” incorrectly
listed Cash & Carry in the list
of nonunion grocers. In fact,
workers at all 20 Cash & Carry
stores in Oregon are represented
by Teamsters Local 206. (All
the other union grocery stores
on the list are represented by
UFCW Local 555.) The Labor
Press regrets the error.
CO