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