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December 1, 2017 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
WORKERS’ RIGHTS
...Volunteers of America
From Page 1
PICKETING PRECISION CASTPARTS Several dozen
union machinists from the Boeing plant in Gresham
brought solidarity to Southeast Johnson Creek
Boulevard Nov. 14. Outside a factory owned by Port-
land aircraft parts maker Precision Castparts, they
joined with a handful of welders for an informational
picket to let the public know what’s happening. On
Sept. 22, rework welders at several Portland-area Pre-
cision Castparts locations voted 54 to 28 to join the
International Association of Machinists District Lodge
W24, but the company has refused to meet and bar-
gain with the union. “We won the vote,” says pro-
union Precision Castparts welder Bryan Britton.
“They’re completely ignoring it. They won’t even let
us talk to each other.” Precision Castparts has filed le-
gal appeals, hoping a newly seated Trump-ap-
pointed majority on the National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB) will agree that a welders-only bargain-
ing unit can’t be allowed. Outside the plant, the hour-
long picket was met with frequent honks of support
from passing motorists. The union has filed six com-
plaints with the NLRB, charging that the company
has committed multiple violations of federal labor
law since the union election.
which workers wouldn’t be re-
quired to join or pay dues to
the union that represents them.
VOA has rejected a union
wage scale that pays all work-
ers equally based on what they
do and how long they’ve been
doing it. Instead VOA pro-
poses to give managers ex-
traordinary latitude over start-
ing pay, which would then be
locked in going forward. Cost-
of-living increases would also
be at the discretion of the
board, which would give raises
if there’s money left in the
budget at the end of the year.
VOA also emailed all em-
ployees, union and nonunion,
announcing a 3 percent cost-of-
living raise, then emailed union
employees back to say they
would not be getting the raise.
VOA even broke federal
law. Residential counselors,
the most numerous and poorly
paid job category, were mak-
ing $10 to $12 an hour when
workers voted to unionize last
September. VOA later an-
nounced they would get raises
of $3 an hour — without dis-
cussing or bargaining that with
the union. The National Labor
Relations Board found that vi-
olated federal labor law, be-
cause the point of having a
union is to be able to negotiate
over terms and conditions, not
have those decisions deter-
mined by management with no
say-so. VOA settled the case,
and agreed to post a notice
promising not to do it again.
The two sides began negoti-
ating with the help of a media-
tor in mid-November. They
will next meet on Dec. 6.
AFSCME represents Volun-
teers of America employees in
New York and New Jersey, as
well as workers in Portland at
Central City Concern, Transi-
tion Projects, and Janus Youth
Programs who do similar
work.
HELP VOA WORKERS GET A DEAL
Show support for the workers at Vol-
unteers of America and learn more
about their fight at a community fo-
rum organized by Oregon AFSCME:
Dec. 9 at 4 p.m. at St Francis is Assisi
Catholic Church. 1131 SE Oak St,
Portland Oregon.