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.