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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2018)
PAGE 2 | March 16, 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 Associate editor: 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 person 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 140 SHOP LOCAL. AND BUY UNION AND AMERICAN- MADE. Low Prices! Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6 TRADE BUY UNION AFL-CIO applauds Trump for imposing tariffs on foreign steel, aluminum No more ‘American Idle’? President Donald Trump on March 8 signed paperwork enact- ing import tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum during a White House event at- tended by a handful of steel and aluminum workers. To enact the tariffs he em- ployed a rarely used legal provi- sion known as Section 232 that allows the president to impose tariffs unilaterally if imports are determined to pose a national-se- curity risk. Canada and Mexico were temporarily exempted from the tariffs, and Trump held out the possibility that other allies could later be excluded as well. The move drew praise from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. “Wall Street’s hair is on fire over these tariffs because wealthy investors enrich them- selves by closing mills and facto- ries in the United States and mov- ing them overseas,” Trumka said in a statement. “Using tariffs isn’t going to start a trade war. There’s been a war on working people for decades, and we have been get- ting our butts kicked.” Trumka said there are 435 tar- iffs in place today to fight trade cheaters. “People may not like how President Trump rolled these out, but I applaud him for trying.” The tariffs take effect March 23. UAW is calling on Americans to buy American. And sing about it. Remember the “Look for the Union Label” jingle on TV? If you do, you’re probably over 50: The ad, created as part of a union-sponsored contest, last aired in 1981. [Watch it at nwlaborpress.org/buy-union]. United Auto Workers (UAW) is ready for an update: On March 7, it announced a “Make it in the USA” song and video contest with four $5,000 prizes for the best 2018 version of the jingle. The Make it in the USA contest calls on participants to submit short videos that focus on the NATIONAL Teachers strike in West Virginia results in 5% raise A nine-day strike by West Vir- ginia teachers and support staff ended in victory March 6 with lawmakers agreeing to a 5 per- cent wage hike for all public employees in the Mountain State. The work stoppage by 33,000 teachers, who rank near the bot- tom nationally in pay and bene- fits, started Feb. 22 and closed every school in the state. Teachers then took their protest to the state capitol in Charleston, where they found strong support from work- ers across the United States. After much resistance, the GOP-led Legislature agreed to the wage increase. Gov. Jim Jus- tice signed the bill on March 6. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, told Reuters that the strike was indicative of the state’s long history of labor activism as a coal mining hub, and of the planning that educators had done before walking out. “When you are pushed to the brink, people will stand up and show up and they will fight for themselves and their families,” she said. value of manufacturing and buy- ing products domestically. Prizes will be given to winning entries in each of four categories: song; non-song; union member; and people’s choice. The deadline for submissions is April 25, and the winning videos will be an- nounced June 1. “By manufacturing goods in the United States and spending our consumer dollars on those goods, we strengthen our com- munities from the ground up,” said UAW International President Dennis Williams. “This contest is an innovative way to get Ameri- cans to think about how they can reward employers who respect worker rights and the environ- ment, and who hire from the community and give back to those who help us all grow.” The contest will be judged by Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine; Heather McGhee from the think tank Demos; and John Acosta, president of the American Federation of Musi- cians Local 47, which represents more 7,000 professional musi- cians in southern California. TO FIND OUT MORE Visit BuildBuyUSA.org/contest
