NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | March 16, 2018 | PAGE 7
UNION ORGANIZING
... 2018 Legislature: small gains, big misses Oregon State University faculty
From Page 1
Bear in mind: Democrats
have a 35-25 majority in the
House and a 17-13 majority in
the Senate.
Sponsored by Democrats,
union-supported bills pass the
Oregon House, but they die in
the Oregon Senate, for two rea-
sons. First, Senate President Pe-
ter Courtney (D-Salem) appears
permanently wedded to a by-
gone vision of bipartisanship,
such that he refuses to allow
bills to be voted on unless
there’s at least one Republican
in favor. That gives the minority
opposition party veto power
over the majority agenda — if it
can keep just 13 members in
line. [When Republican majori-
ties came to power in Wiscon-
sin, Missouri, and Ohio in recent
years, they had no such qualms,
and swiftly delivered savage
BILLS THAT PASSED
HB 4005: Transparency for
outrageous drug price hikes. If drug
companies increase prices more than 10
percent for drugs that cost more than $100
for a one-month supply, they will have to
disclose how much they spend on research
as opposed to marketing and profit,
whether a generic is available, how much
they charge for the drug in other countries,
where governments regulate and limit
drug prices. That’s thanks to a bill
sponsored by State Rep (and nurse union
rep) Rob Nosse (D-Portland), which passed
BILLS THAT FAILED
HB 4160: Paid Family and Medical
Leave. Oregon used to be a trailblazer. It
passed the Oregon Family and Medical
Leave Act in 1987, and six years later,
Congress passed a nationwide version of it.
But the leave mandated by both laws is
unpaid, and many workers can’t afford to
take it. In 2007, the Oregon House passed a
bill to set up a paid leave insurance
program funded by a small payroll tax, only
to see it fail in the Senate. Since then,
California, New Jersey, New York, Rhode
Island, and Washington have passed such
programs. But not Oregon. This year’s
version of the bill didn’t get a hearing.
Advocates expect to try again in 2019.
HB 4113: Let teachers unions
bargain over class size. Shouldn’t there
be a limit to the number of kids in a
kindergarten class? Oregon teachers think
A BAD BILL THAT WAS
DEFEATED
HB 4093:The Portland Winterhawks ice
hockey team tried to legislate its way out of
a class action lawsuit in which players are
attempting to be classified as employees.
Their bill would have exempted amateur
launch union campaign
OSU professors could join the
union that represents fellow
faculty at UO and PSU, WOU
blows to the union movement
and lavish tax cuts to business.]
Reason number two is that la-
bor-backed bills—even those
that sail through the House —
reliably fall short of majority
support thanks to two or three
corporate Democrats in the Sen-
ate. That must be incredibly
frustrating for solid labor De-
mocrats in the Senate, like
Michael Dembrow.
There’s always next year.
Below is the blow by blow.
— Don McIntosh
46-14 in the House and 25-4 in the Senate.
The bill was backed by hospitals and
insurance companies and won the support
of all Democrats and about half the
Republicans (but not Knute Buehler, who
sided with the drug companies).
SB 1528: No double tax cuts for pass-
through businesses. The recent tax bill
passed by Congress was on track to cost
$250 million to the state budget because of
the way state income taxes are linked to
the federal income tax. A 2013 state law
brokered by then-governor John Kitzhaber
already gave so-called pass-through
businesses lower tax rates than wage
earners; letting the two bills work together
would have delivered a huge tax break to
the top 1 percent of incomes. But
lawmakers passed a bill to ensure that
Oregon does not copy into state law the
new federal tax deduction. It passed the
House 32-28 and the Senate 16-to-13. All
Republicans voted against it, and they were
joined by four Democrats: Betsy Johnson
(Scappoose) in the Senate, and Paul Evans
(Monmouth), Janelle Bynum (Happy
Valley), and Caddy McKeown (Coos Bay) in
the House.
so. But school districts refuse to negotiate
over class size. For years, the teachers
unions pushed lawmakers to make it a
mandatory subject of collective bargaining.
This year, their bill passed the House 34-24,
… and died in the Senate without a vote.
Let the record show that three House
Republicans voted for it: Jeffrey Helfrich
(Hood River), Andy Olson (Albany), Greg
Smith (Heppner); while four House
Democrats voted against it: Deborah Boone
(Cannon Beach) Pam Marsh (Ashland), Jeff
Reardon (Happy Valley), Janeen Sollman
(Hillsboro).
HB 4154: Crack down on wage theft.
Should we make general contractors take
ultimate responsibility when they contract
with unscrupulous construction
subcontractors who cheat workers out of
wages, get caught, and skip town? A 31-26
majority of the Oregon House thought so,
but … the bill died in the Senate without
a vote. Notably, every Republican state rep
voted against it (including Knute Buehler,
who wants to be governor), and three
House Democrats joined them: Janelle
Bynum (Clackamas), Caddy McKeown
(Coos Bay), and Mark Meek (Gladstone).
ice hockey players from workers’
compensation. Incredibly, the bill passed
the House 35-23, with support from every
Republican and 12 of the 35 House
Democrats: Jeff Barker (Aloha), Deborah
Boone (Cannon Beach), Janelle Bynum
(Clackamas), Brian Clem (Salem), Margaret
Doherty (Tigard), Mitch Greenlick
(Portland), Ken Helm (Beaverton), Sheri
Malstrom (Beaverton), Caddy McKeown
(Coos Bay), Susan McLain (Hillsboro), Jeff
Reardon (Happy Valley), and Brad Witt
(Clatskanie). Unions rallied in outraged
opposition and were able to prevent a vote
on it in the Senate.
HJR 203: Make health care a right.
Since 2006, State Rep Mitch Greenlick (D-
Portland) has pushed to give voters a
chance to amend the state Constitution to
declare that it is the obligation of the state
to ensure that every resident of Oregon has
access to cost-effective, medically
appropriate and affordable health care as a
fundamental right. This year it passed the
House 35-25 along strict party lines, with
every Democrat in favor and every
Republican opposed … and died in the
Senate without a vote.
A drive to unionize faculty at
Oregon State University (OSU)
is in the final stages. On Feb. 15,
supporters of the United Aca-
demics of Oregon State Univer-
sity (UAOSU) began collecting
signatures on union authoriza-
tion cards. Under Oregon law, if
a majority of the faculty sign the
cards within 180 days, their
union would automatically be
recognized.
On March 5, the campaign
announced a milestone: posters
with the union mission statement
signed by over 1,000 faculty.
The mission statement lists goals
of the union, including ensuring
shared governance of the univer-
sity and securing working con-
ditions that promote excellence.
UAOSU is a joint project of
American Federation of Teach-
ers and American Association of
University Professors.
If the union effort succeeds, it
would join five public universi-
ties in Oregon that are union-
ized: University of Oregon, Port-
land State, Western Oregon,
Eastern Oregon, and Southern
Oregon. Only the Institute of
Technology in Klamath Falls is
be nonunion.
ONLINE EXTRA
Find out more about the campaign
at uaosu.org