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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2018)
SERVING ORGANIZED LABOR IN OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON SINCE 1900 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS IN THIS ISSUE NEW LEADERSHIP AT UA LOCAL 290 Lou Christian outpolls incumbent Al Shropshire. | Page 7 YEAR ONE OF THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY What are the impacts so far for working people? | Page 8 SAG-AFTRA awards nominees p. 2 VOLUME 119, NUMBER 2 Meeting Notices p. 4 PORTLAND, OREGON As part of a statewide effort to turn out union vot- ers, volunteers helped out at the Southern Oregon offices of the Oregon AFL-CIO. ‘YES’ FOR HEALTHCARE A message from the Oregon AFL-CIO: “A YES vote on Measure 101 protects healthcare for vulner- able Oregonians, including seniors, people with disabilities, and 400,000 children. That’s why Oregon’s unions support voting YES in this important election. Everybody should be able to see a doctor or get medications when they’re sick, without fearing bankruptcy. Measure 101 makes that pos- sible by protecting Medicaid. Measure 101 asks hospitals, insurance companies and coordinated care organizations to pay a small assessment, which gets matched by the fed- eral government, to fund healthcare for the 1 in 4 Oregoni- ans who rely on the Oregon Health Plan for their basic care. The providers who pay the assessment all support Measure 101, along with 160+ other trusted organizations across the state, because they know that access to affordable healthcare is critical to the success of our communities.” BALLOTS ARE DUE THIS TUESDAY, JANUARY 23! The following labor organizations have endorsed Measure 101: AAUP Oregon AFT-Oregon Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation IATSE Local 488 IBEW Local 48 National Assn. of Letter Carriers, Branch 82 NW Oregon Labor Council Oregon AFL-CIO Oregon AFSCME Oregon Education Association Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals Oregon Nurses Association Oregon School Employees Association Oregon State Firefighters Council Pacific NW Regional Council of Carpenters Professional and Technical Employees Local 17 SEIU Local 49 SEIU Local 503 UFCW Local 555 GREEN JOBS Oregon climate response: Cap and invest? Big carbon emitters would get market incentives to convert By Don McIntosh Oregon legislators tend to shy away from significant legisla- tion in the short session, but this February they’ll consider a biggie. The “Clean Energy Jobs” bill is the culmination of over a year of legislative committee work, and comes at a time when the federal government has abdicated any responsibility for slowing or mitigating climate change. With president Trump’s an- Turn to Page 6 JANUARY 19, 2018 LEGISLATIVE SEASON OREGON Audacious bills. Short timeline. And a big ‘if.’ When the Oregon Legisla- ture begins its every-other- year “short” session Feb. 5, state lawmakers will have a chance to pass important pieces of legislation, includ- ing funding for affordable housing, setting up a system of paid family and medical leave, and establishing a “cap-and-invest” system to limit greenhouse gas emis- sions in a way that would generate hundreds of mil- lions of dollars for renewable energy and transportation in- frastructure. But if Measure 101 fails, all bets are off. The referen- dum asks voters to ratify the law legislators passed last year that funds the state Med- icaid program; if voters reject it, lawmakers would likely spend the six-week session grappling with how to come up with other revenues — or make painful cuts and take away federally-subsidized health insurance from tens of thousands of low-income Oregonians. As ever, unions will be at the State Capitol as a voice for Oregon working people. Turn to Page 6 WASHINGTON With logjam gone, new life for labor bills that died last year Elections have conse- quences. Last November, a hard-fought labor-backed campaign put Democrats back in charge of the Wash- ington Senate. That one- vote majority — plus a nar- row majority in the House and a Democratic governor — means an end to five years of legislative gridlock, and new life for bills that could help working people. The Senate Labor and Commerce Committee — which last year took testi- mony on an anti-union “right-to-work” bill — is now chaired by Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Kent), the former communications director of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. She’s now queuing up legislation that last year passed the House only to be killed by Senate Republicans. Several pro-worker bills were already moving, with hearings held just days after the 2018 legislative session’s Jan. 8 opening: ■ Equal pay SB 5140, sponsored by State Senator Annette Cleveland (D- Vancouver), would address gender- based income disparities by prohibiting pay secrecy policies, allowing workers to discuss wages, and prohibit retaliation when workers ask for equal pay. Turn to Page 5
