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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 5, 2018)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | January 5, 2018 | PAGE 11 2017 in review As chronicled in 24 issues of the Northwest Labor Press: some of the year’s most important developments for labor and working people. NATIONAL Goodbye Barack Obama, hello Donald Trump On Jan. 20, organized labor bid farewell to the Obama years, dur- ing which unions lost half a mil- lion members. Obama passed NAFTA-style trade deals with Korea, Panama and Colombia (which George W. Bush had ne- gotiated), and “fast track” legis- lation to speed ratification of fu- ture NAFTA-style deals. Trump helped kill Obama’s Trans-Pa- cific Partnership, and removed obstacles to construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines. But it also became clear in 2017 that Trump ap- pointees in the Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board are going to re- verse Obama-era progress on an array of workers rights and safety regulations. Nearly a year in, his Administration’s biggest efforts have been to pass a massive tax cut for corporations and the wealthy, and a failed attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. bor. That’s because Gorsuch is considered very likely to tip the court into anti-union 5-4 deci- sion in a pending case, Janus v. AFSCME, about whether union- represented public sector work- ers can be required to pay union dues or fees. Right-to-work on the march Kentucky and Missouri be- came so-called “right-to-work” states in 2017, banning any re- quirement that union-repre- sented workers pay dues or fees to the union. In both states, the laws were passed by Republican legislators and signed by Re- publican governors, without any support from Democrats. Next up in the “right-to- work” queue is an assault on public worker unions nation- wide. In April, the Republican- majority Senate confirmed Trump nominee Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court. Gorsuch’s appointment is ex- pected to have very far-reaching consequences for organized la- Strike at AT&T The year’s biggest strike oc- curred in May, when 37,000 AT&T workers took part in three-day strike — the first-ever walkout for workers in the com- pany’s wireless division. The South stays nonunion In February, Boeing workers in South Carolina said no to the Machinists in a 2,097 to 731 vote. Then in August, workers at a Nissan plant in Mississippi said no to United Auto Workers in a 2,244 to 1,307 vote. Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals. OREGON Washington Legislature passed a paid family and medical leave law, which sets up a public in- surance program funded by em- ployers and employees to guar- antee workers up to 12 weeks paid time off starting in 2020. ‘Fair Work Week’ law 2017 was a year of significant labor wins in the Oregon Legis- lature, including first-in-the-na- tion labor legislation cracking down on abusive scheduling practices by employers. The new law will give retail, hospi- tality and food service workers predictable schedules — and ex- tra pay when schedules change at the last minute. Other major wins included a long-overdue transportation funding package, and a law preventing local juris- dictions from passing antiunion “right-to-work” ordinances. Biggest organizing win At Springfield’s PeaceHealth Sacred Heart hospital, medical techs voted overwhelmingly to unionize. The new 350-member bargaining unit will be part of WASHINGTON New state law will mandate paid family leave Election breaks deadlock In November, Democrats retook a majority in the state Senate for the first time four years. And Washington State Labor Coun- cil Political Director Teresa Mosqueda won election to Seat- tle City Council. Union deal for farmworkers Farmworkers at the massive Sakuma Brothers berry farm rat- ified a historic first union con- tract in 2017. After a four-year strike and boycott campaign, 200 farmworkers will get $15 an hour and job protections.
