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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2018)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | January 19, 2018 | PAGE 7 UNION DEMOCRACY Plumbers & Fitters Local 290 members elect Lou Christian as business manager tion, and plans to appoint a com- mittee of members to develop a bylaws resolution about discrim- ination. Members of United Association “We’re a brotherhood and sis- of Plumbers and Steamfitters terhood, and everybody should (UA) Local 290 elected Lou feel welcome,” Christian told the Christian to a three- Labor Press. year term as business Local 290 repre- manager in ballots sents about 4,300 counted Jan. 8. A for- members in the west- mer assistant business ern two-thirds of Ore- manager of the local, gon, three Southwest Christian outpolled in- Washington counties, cumbent business and Humboldt and Del manager Al Shropshire Norte counties in Cal- 708 to 561. It was his ifornia. Specialists in third race against the fabrication, instal- Lou Christian Shropshire; this time, he lation and servicing of campaigned alongside former piping systems, they earn $43.82 union representatives Dennis hour plus $28.58 an hour in ben- Mask, Joe Neely and John Kim- efits under their contract with the berling. Taking office Jan. 19, Plumbing and Mechanical Con- Christian will appoint Mask as tractors Association, a coalition assistant business manager, and of more than 250 union-signa- Neely and Kimberling as busi- tory employers. ness agents. Christian, 60, is a resident of Christian’s campaign centered Tualatin and 39-year member of on stabilizing the local’s fi- the UA. Born in Springfield, nances, increasing financial Christian lived all over Oregon transparency, improving the ap- growing up as the son of a prenticeship experience, and in- school teacher and a union mill- creasing member involvement in wright at Weyerhaeuser. After decisions about training. He also graduating high school in Cen- pledged to take a strong stand tral Point, he studied welding at against all forms of discrimina- It was his third race against incumbent Al Shropshire Lane Community College and became an apprentice at UA Lo- cal 481 (which became part of Local 290 in 1985.) Over the years, Christian worked as a steamfitter at paper mills, medical facilities, facto- ries, shipyards, and water filtra- tion and nuclear power plants. His most recent job was for Harder Mechanical; his last day there was Jan. 12. He also served Local 290 as vice president, president, trustee, and delegate to AFL-CIO and building trades councils. In 2001, he was appointed full-time business agent by then-business manager Matt Walters. Local 290 members also elected: President Robert Porter Vice president Rick Two Bears Executive Board John Foote, Region 1; Shawn Mask, Region 2; Dominic DePiero, Region 3 Examining Board Eric Fanning and Erv Garrison, ACR: Bill Duke and Jim Eastman, Metal Trades; Ed Burner and Pete Bakker, Oil Burner; Randal Nelson and Ramon Ramon, Pipefitter; Russell Hill and Josh Zimmer, Plumber Finance Committee Dave Hauth and Chris McNicholas Inside Guard Josh Rudzik Bob Carroll (right), president of the Columbia-Pacific Building and Construc- tion Trades Council, AFL-CIO, led the oath of office for officers Jan. 9. From left to right are Steven Purdy, Nate Stokes, Geoff Kossak, and Willy Myers. Terms of office are three years. New officers at Columbia Pacific BCTC Willy Myers was re-elected un- opposed to a third term as exec- utive secretary-treasurer (EST) of the Columbia-Pacific Build- ing and Construction Trades Council. The CPBCTC repre- sents approximately 20,000 con- struction workers employed by more than 2,000 signatory em- ployers, in 25 crafts with juris- diction in Multnomah, Clacka- mas, and Washington counties in Oregon, and Clark County, Washington. Myers, 48, is a member of Sheet Metal Workers Local 16. He was first elected to the post in December 2013. EST is a full-time paid position. In other election results, IBEW Local 48 business agent Bob Carroll was re-elected pres- ident; Mitch Ricker of Laborers Local 737 was tapped for vice president; and Sprinkler Fitters Local 669 business agent Steven Purdy was re-elected sergeant- at-arms. Russ Garnett, business man- ager of Roofers Local 49, Geoff Kossak, business manager of Cement Masons Local 555, and Nate Stokes, a union rep for Op- erating Engineers Local 701, were elected trustees. All candidates ran unop- posed. Terms are for three years. Were you part of it when it happened? The Northwest Labor Press is look- ing for stories of labor union mem- bers who participated in the strug- gle for civil rights, who helped win racial justice improvements in the workplace, or fought to make unions more equitable and inclu- sive. To share your story, call us at 503-288-3311 — or email us at editor@nwlaborpress.org. UNIONIZATION ] NOV-DEC 2017 The following are Oregon and Southwest Washington workplaces where workers have decided whether to be represented by a union. The thumbs-up symbol means workers will be union- represented. Thumbs-down means they’ll be on their own. The information comes from the National Labor Relations Board and the Oregon Employment Relations Board. Union election results Employer (Location) Union Yes-No Frontier Rehab & Extended Care (Longview) SEIU Local 775 16-1 ^ ■ 23 registered nurses and licensed practical nurses Swire Coca-Cola (Wilsonville) Teamsters Local 162 25-28 % ■ 56 production employees Legacy Emanuel Hospital (Portland) SEIU Local 49 20-0 ^ ■ 22 behavioral health assistants Rightline Equipment (Rainer) Boilermakers Local 104 6-43 % ■ 48 welders, fitters, press operators at forklift attachment manufacturer PeaceHealth Sacred Heart (Springfield) OFNHP/AFT 5017 ■ 352 medical techs in 51 occupational classifications 221-64 ^
