NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | January 19, 2018 | PAGE 5
IATSE crews strike Golf Channel
HAPPENINGS
how to reinvigorate the labor
movement as a global move-
ment for social and economic
equity for workers.
■ Tuesday, Feb. 20, from 6 to 8:30 p.m.,
White Stag Building 70 N.W. Couch St.,
Portland.
■ Wednesday, Feb. 21, 4 to 6 p.m.,
University of Oregon, Straub Hall Room
145, Eugene.
For more information, call
Sherman Henry at 503-412-
3722. Register online at
lerc.uoregon.edu.
Black history month
University of Oregon’s Labor
Education and Research Cen-
ter (LERC) is hosting three
events for Black History
Month. The events are free
and open to the public, and
free food will be served.
Pioneering a Living Legacy:
IBEW Local 48 rep Donna
Hammond and Portland State
University professor Roberta
Hunte will give presentations
and take part in a discussion
about race. Hammond, who
joined the union in 1978, will
talk about how she overcame
racial and gender barriers in
the labor movement. Hunte
will talk about her research on
women in the trades and pres-
ent her short film, “Sista in the
Brotherhood” about the expe-
rience of a black woman Car-
penters apprentice on a con-
struction job site.
■ Thursday, Feb. 8, 6 to 8:30 p.m., White
Stag Building 70 N.W. Couch St.,
Portland.
Race and Labor – Building
a More Just Economy: Au-
thor and former national
AFL-CIO education director
Bill Fletcher Jr. will talk about
Out of control drug costs
How did drug prices get so
extreme in the United States?
A new hour-long documen-
tary film, “Big Pharma: Mar-
ket Failure” fingers pharma-
ceutical profiteering as the
culprit. It will screen in Port-
land at an event hosted by
Portland Jobs with Justice
Healthcare Committee, and
co-sponsored by the union-
backed group Health Care for
All Oregon and other groups.
The film will be followed by
a discussion with Oregon
Nurses Association union rep
(and state representative) Rob
Nosse, a leading health policy
advocate in the Legislature.
■ When: Sunday, February 18, 7 p.m.
■ Where: Clinton Street Theater, 2522
SE Clinton St, Portland
■ Tickets: $5-20 sliding scale; purchase
online at http://bit.ly/2CWgDWq
Pickets at Burgerville
Burgerville Workers Union is
planning several days of pick-
eting to protest multiple fed-
eral labor law violations that
Burgerville is accused of
committing over the last year
and a half.
■ Jan. 24 at 4:30 p.m.: Meet at the statue
of MLK Jr. by the Oregon Convention
Center and march to Convention Center
Burgerville by 5 p.m.
■ Jan. 26 at 4 p.m.: Meet at Holladay
Park near Lloyd Center and march to
the Convention Center Burgerville.
Calling all union women
Oregon Women Labor Lead-
ers (OWLL) is hosting dis-
cussions for
women union
members
about how to
make work-
places and
unions safe
and inclusive
spaces
for
women. The meetings will
also include training opportu-
nities, an update on legislative
issues of concern to women
workers, and a chance to so-
cialize and meet other women
unionists.
■ When: Feb. 7, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
■ Portland: Sheet Metal Institute, 2379
NE 178th Avenue
■ Salem: OSEA, 4735 Liberty Road S
■ Eugene: AFSCME, 688 Charnelton St.
IATSE-represented employees at
the Comcast-NBC Universal ca-
ble network Golf Channel went
on strike at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 14,
disrupting coverage of the final
round of the PGA’s Sony Open
in Hawaii, the second round of
the WEB.com Tour in the Ba-
hamas, and the non-tour Dia-
mond Resorts Invitational in Or-
lando, Florida. Sticking points
are wages and work hours.
“Despite our best effort to
reach a fair and equitable deal,
and after the unit overwhelm-
ingly rejected the company’s lat-
est offer and approved a strike,
the decision was made to pull the
crews from the three Golf Chan-
nel productions (Jan. 14),” Gary
Kolano, business rep for Seattle’s
IATSE Local 793 wrote in an
email. “IATSE remains in con-
tact with the company, but until
we have something to present to
the unit that can be approved, the
crews will continue to stand
down.”
Deadline Hollywood reported
that at the Sony Open, elements
such as ambient sound from the
course or close-up shots of play-
ers went out the window, with
overhead blimp angles getting
extra duty. Studio hosts handled
the announcing duties from the
network’s Orlando, Fla., head-
quarters, and some on-air com-
mentators tried to operate cam-
eras. Deadline Hollywood
further reported that golf fans
were not pleased with the net-
work’s efforts to carry on during
the labor dispute, and they ex-
pressed their angst on Twitter.
Two tweets read: “golf channel
right now is kinda like when
CNN films trump playing from
behind some bushes.”
“Meanwhile at the @Sony-
OpenHawaii, @GolfChannel
coverage looks like it is being
shot on an iPhone from the edge
of the green. 50% being the
backs of caddies.”
As of press time on Tuesday
morning, no deal had been
reached.
WORKER SAFETY
Seattle contractor faces manslaughter
charges over worker’s trench death
The King County Prosecuting
Attorney’s Office has filed sec-
ond-degree
manslaughter
charges against Phillip Numrich,
owner of Alki Construction, in
connection with the death of
Harold Felton. Felton, 36, was
killed Jan. 26, 2016 when the dirt
walls of the trench he was work-
ing in collapsed and buried him
on a job site in West Seattle.
This is the first time a Wash-
ington employer has faced felony
charges for a workplace fatality.
After a state Department of
Labor & Industries (L&I) inves-
tigation of the death, the state
cited and fined the company
$51,500 for multiple workplace
safety violations, including “will-
ful” violations — the most se-
vere.
“There are times when a mon-
etary penalty isn’t enough,” said
L&I Director Joel Sacks in a
press release. “This company
knew what the safety risks and
requirements were, and ignored
them. The felony charges show
that employers can be held crim-
inally accountable when the
tragedy of a preventable work-
place death or injury occurs.”
... Democratic retake of Washington Senate means new life for labor bills
From Page 1
■ Jobs and infrastructure Last year’s
legislative gridlock prevented passage of
$4 billion worth of job-creating public
infrastructure projects. Now that capital
construction budget bill (HB 1075) is
moving.
■ Ban the box SB 6110, sponsored by
state senator Rebecca Saldaña, would bar
employers from asking about arrests or
convictions until after an applicant is
determined otherwise qualified for a
position.
■ Protect exposed Hanford workers
Hanford workers are cleaning up one of
the most toxic places on Earth and are
routinely exposed to dangerous chemicals
and radioactive materials. So when they’re
diagnosed with cancers and illnesses that
are linked to such exposure, they shouldn’t
have to trace their illness to a specific
incident or prove their job contributed in
order to access the workers’ compensation
safety net. SB 5940, sponsored by Sen.
Keiser, would create a presumption that
those illnesses are work-related for
Hanford workers.
Washington State Labor
Council, AFL-CIO, is hoping to
make the most of 2018’s 60-day
legislative session, and an-
nounced its legislative priorities
Jan. 3. Here are some of the
highlights of its “Shared Pros-
perity Agenda.”
■ No more non-competes Prohibiting
“non-compete” agreements that unjustly
block workers from seeking better jobs in
their industry.
■ Drug price transparency Requiring
drug companies to provide transparency
and disclose reasons for price hikes.
■ A public infrastructure bank.
Establishing a state infrastructure bank to
help local governments finance projects
— instead of sending tax dollars to Wall
Street to finance public infrastructure.
Profits on the loans would fund more
projects.
■ Prevent pesticide exposure Adopting
modern record keeping, notification and
reporting requirements to help prevent
workers and residents in agricultural
communities from being exposed to
pesticides and their negative health
impacts.
■ Public option health insurance —
Establishing a public health insurance
offering to compete with private insurance
and bring rates down, increasing access
and quality of care.
■ Rest for hospital workers Ensuring
that healthcare facilities give nurses and
technical workers access to the breaks and
overtime they have earned.
■ Expand collective bargaining rights
Allowing professional port employees,
part time workers, and interpreters to have
the same rights to join unions as other
public workers.
The 2018 legislative session
is scheduled to run through
March 8.
HOW TO STAY INFORMED
Sign up online for The Stand, Wash-
ington State Labor Council’s out-
standing daily email newsletter, at
http://bit.ly/2r4zX1F