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