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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2018)
SERVING ORGANIZED LABOR IN OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON SINCE 1900 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS VOLUME 119, NUMBER 8 IN THIS ISSUE TRIBAL WORKERS STILL HAVE UNION RIGHTS A bill to strip union rights failed in the U.S. Senate. | Page 13 IN MEMORIAM: RON HEINTZMAN The Portland transit union leader was once national president. | Page 14 Meeting Notices p.6 UA Local 290 apprentice contest p.7 PORTLAND, OREGON APRIL 20, 2018 WORKERS MEMORIAL DAY: APRIL 28 remembering OregOn wOrkers whO died On the jOb salem — Oregon AFL-CIO will hold a me- morial ceremony at the Fallen Workers Me- morial on the Capitol Mall in Salem. The serv- ice will feature remarks from elected officials, union leaders, and safety and health advo- cates, and the reading of the names of the 48 workers who died on the job in Oregon in 2017. Workers Memorial Day is observed every year on April 28. It’s a day to honor workers who have died on the job, to remember the suffering expe- rienced by families and workers in all trades, and to recommit to the fight for a safe and healthy work environ- ment for all workers. ■ Time: Friday, April 27, noon ■ Place: Labor and Industries Building, 350 Winter St. NE, Salem pOrtland — Northwest Oregon Labor Council will hold a memorial service at its monthly delegates meeting. Delegates will raise an American flag in honor of each Ore- gon worker who died on the job last year. ■ Time: Monday, April 23, 7 p.m. ■ Place: IBEW Local 48 Hall, 15937 NE Airport Way, Portland WORKER SAFETY SPECIAL ISSUE Each April we publish a special issue on worker safety and health. Inside this year’s: THE TRUMP RECORD ON WORKER SAFETY His appointees halted progress on safety, and proposed elimination of safety programs. | Page 1 WHAT TO DO IF YOU’RE INJURED ON THE JOB In Oregon and Washington, you have rights, and help is available. | Page 2 SAY THEIR NAMES A list of workers who died on the job in Oregon in 2017. | Page 8 OSHA OFFICIAL CAN NOW SPEAK FREELY Jordan Barab, a longtime union safety expert, was number two at OSHA under Obama. He’s not happy about the way things have gone. | Page 10 TIME TO BAN ASBESTOS? Decades after asbestos insulation was banned, the fibers are still in many legal products in America | Page 15 AMERICA’S MOST DANGEROUS JOBS Three of the top 10 are in construction. | Page 16 IN OUR NEXT ISSUE: A UNION GUIDE TO OREGON’S 2018 PRIMARY ELECTION When your Oregon ballot arrives in the mail, visit http://nwlaborpress. org/2018-oregon-primary or wait for the arrival of our May 4 print issue for comprehensive coverage. The deadline to register to vote in 2018 primary elections is April 24. Trump’s record on worker safety By Don McIntosh Presidents are not kings. Under the U.S. Constitution, it’s Con- gress’ job to make the laws, and the president’s job to “take care that the laws be faithfully exe- cuted.” Yet within days of his arrival in the White House, Donald J. Trump announced a new approach to his obligation to enforce the nation’s laws: an executive order directing all federal agencies under his au- thority to repeal two regulations for every new regulation they issue. When it comes to rules pro- tecting worker safety, that’s not just two steps backward for every step forward; it’s also un- constitutional, the Communica- tions Workers of America (CWA) is arguing in a federal lawsuit. Together with Public Citizen and the Natural Re- sources Defense Council, CWA says the executive order is un- constitutional because it re- quires agencies to exceed the scope of the authority delegated Photo courtesy of CSB. See a video about it at youtu.be/Jg7mLSG-Yws Progress on safety has halted, and safety programs have been targeted for elimination Fourteen workers were fatally burned in a 2008 explosion at Imperial Sugar in Georgia. The Chemical Safety Board investigated and found managers had been aware of the danger but failed to take action. Now, the Trump Adminis- tration is calling for the elimination of the Chemical Safety Board. to them by Congress, and vio- lates the statutes under which the agencies operate. Congress has delegated great rule-making authority to mod- ern presidents. Dozens of exec- utive branch agencies today have legal authority to issue and enforce new rules — but the agencies were given that authority by Congress to achieve goals that Congress spelled out in the laws that cre- ated them. In other words, Con- gress gave the president speci- fied authority to make rules, not to repeal them. Worker safety is a perfect ex- ample. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) — to further its statu- tory mission “to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women” — sets and enforces detailed rules known as “standards” for things like fall protection and chemical exposures. Turn to Page 4 Ironworkers protest Facebook Out-of-work members, retirees and staff from Iron Workers Lo- cal 29 showed up April 11 and 12 outside the Facebook data center in Prineville, Oregon, to protest the use of low-wage nonunion ironworkers from out of state in a major expansion. Facebook has received $71.5 million in Oregon property tax credits — and got a special legislative fix to lower its data center tax bills — and yet its general contractor Fortis Con- struction has hired nonunion sub- contractors like Sure Steel of Utah on the Prineville expansion. Local 29 President Shane Nehls said reactions to the union banner were mostly positive, with community members and workers on the site pulling over to find out more, and a friendly news report on Bend TV station KTVZ. But several people in trucks with Utah license plates reacted with scowls and middle fingers. Ironworkers also protested at Prineville city hall and outside a Facebook office in Seattle. The union is planning further actions. Operating Engineers Local 701 held a similar protest at Facebook’s Prineville data center in late March. A reporter for the Bend Bulletin wrote about the protest, but that seemed to irritate the paper’s anti-union editorial board, which told readers in an unsigned April 7 editorial they shouldn’t feel too sorry for union picketers: “If union members have priced themselves out of the job, that’s their problem.” –DM
