PAGE 2 |
January 5, 2018 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
NORTHWEST
LABOR
PRESS
(International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X)
Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the la-
bor movement. Published on a semi-monthly basis on the
first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor
Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-profit mutual benefit corpo-
ration owned by 20 unions and councils including the Ore-
gon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in
Oregon and Southwest Washington.
Office location:
4275 NE Halsey St., Portland, Oregon
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213
Phone: (503) 288-3311
Web address:
http://nwlaborpress.org
Editor & Manager: Michael Gutwig
Senior staff reporter: Don McIntosh
Office manager: Cheri Rice
Printed on recycled paper, using soy-based
inks, by members of Teamsters Local 747-M.
SUBSCRIPTIONS: Individual subscriptions are
$15 a year for union members, $23 a year for
all others. Pay by credit card online at
nwlaborpress.org/subscribe, or send a check
to our mailing address (above) along with
your name, address and union affiliation, if
any. Group rates of $10.56 a year per per-
son are available for 25 or more subscriptions;
call 503-288-3311 for details.
CORRECTIONS: See an error? Please let us
know at editor@nwlaborpress.org or by
phone at 503-288-3311.
PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID
AT PORTLAND, OREGON.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS: If you move, let us
know at nwlaborpress.org/subscriber-services
or by mail at our mailing address (above). Be
sure to provide your old and new addresses
and the name/number of your local union.
Please allow three weeks for the change to
take effect.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
P.O. BOX 13150
PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150
THIS NEWSPAPER BROUGHT
TO YOU BY AMERICA’S
LABOR MOVEMENT …
AND BY OUR ADVERTISERS.
LET THEM KNOW YOU
APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT!
Low Prices!
Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6
140
Trump NLRB majority puts Machinists election win at
Precision Castparts back in legal limbo
The ruling has national ramifica-
tions, but whether the welders
can unionize is again up to the
Seattle NLRB office
In a Dec. 16 decision, a new
Trump-appointed majority on the
National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) used a Portland-area la-
bor law dispute to overturn a ma-
jor Obama-era NLRB ruling that
curbed employers’ ability to use
legal delays to stymie union
campaigns.
When workers seek to union-
ize, the NLRB determines which
of their co-workers do and don’t
belong in their proposed bargain-
ing unit — if employer and
union don’t agree. Under the law,
units can include all of an em-
ployer’s workers, those at a par-
ticular location or department, or
those in a particular craft spe-
cialty. For decades, employers
have filed frivolous objections to
the units unions propose, win-
ning only 5 percent of the time,
but delaying union elections for
years through multiple stages of
appeal. But in a case called Spe-
cialty Healthcare, an Obama-ap-
pointed NLRB majority ruled in
2011 that when the NLRB has
Precision Castparts welders, above, want to start bargaining a union contract.
But a new NLRB decision could delay that for years.
found the union’s proposed unit
to be an appropriate one, em-
ployers who want to challenge
that decision have the burden of
proof to show that workers they
want to add to the unit share “an
overwhelming community of in-
terest” with workers in the unit
the union proposed.
Employer associations howled
in protest, saying the Specialty
Healthcare decision would lead
to the proliferation of “micro-
unions” like just the fragrance
counter workers in a department
store. But Machinists staff attor-
ney William H. Haller, who
wrote a law review article about
Specialty Healthcare, says that’s
not what happened: The average
size of union-proposed bargain-
ing units has remained about the
same since 2011.
“I think [employer groups’ mi-
crounion argument] is a smoke-
screen to disguise their real mo-
tive, which is to make sure that
the legal process is cumbersome
and takes as long as possible,”
Haller said.
Last July, Machinists District
Lodge W24 asked the NLRB to
hold a union election for a group
of 100 Portland-area welders at
Precision Castparts. Precision ar-
gued that a welders-only bargain-
ing unit was improper, and that
the unit should instead include all
2,500 Portland-area workers.
[Precision has repeatedly de-
feated attempts to unionize that
larger group.] The NLRB’s Seat-
tle office found that the welders
were an appropriate bargaining
unit, and under the Specialty
Healthcare decision, declined to
consider Precision’s objections
and held a union election Sept.
22, which the Machinists won 54
to 38. Then Precision appealed,
saying its objections should have
been considered by the NLRB.
On Dec. 26, the new Trump
majority agreed — voting 3-2 to
overturn the Specialty Health-
care ruling and send the case
back to the Seattle NLRB office,
which must now consider Preci-
sion’s objections.
Will the welders get their
union? It could go either way.
They do the same kind of work,
but in different departments.
NLRB Seattle regional director
Ron Hooks will decide. If he up-
holds his previous ruling, Preci-
sion can appeal through multiple
stages, which could take two
years or more to resolve.