NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | June 15, 2018 | PAGE 7
...Machinists win toehold at
Boeing South Carolina
Guest Opinion
By Ed Barnes, Retired IBEW Local 48
Washington I-5 Bridge Group focuses on
only one item — replace the I-5 Bridge
The I-5 Bridge Group was es-
tablished in Washington to try
to expedite the replacement of
the I-5 Bridge. We agreed at
the time we formed this group
that the only issue we were go-
ing to take up would be the re-
placement of the I-5 Bridge.
Our group believes that the
I-5 Bridge is a project that not
only has statewide signifi-
cance, but also national signif-
icance in that three presidents
— Eisenhower, Bush, and
Obama — have designated
this project as one that has na-
tional priority.
The Washington Legisla-
ture during the last session de-
veloped legislation that they
hoped would encourage the
state of Oregon to work with
the state of Washington in de-
veloping a project that could
expedite bridge replacement.
This legislation provided that
the state of Washington and
Oregon Department of Trans-
portation would prepare and
submit to a group made up of
legislators from the two states
the plans and reports that have
been prepared in the past con-
cerning the replacement of the
I -5 Bridge.
It was hoped that the leg-
islative group, with the help of
the two state’s governors,
would be able to come up with
a plan that might be consid-
ered by the legislature during
the coming session. We need
to have a project ready to go
that might be considered by
the federal government if an
infrastructure bill is to be
passed and funded this year.
Our community is feeling
the impact that doing nothing
to solve the I-5 Bridge prob-
lem is having. Currently it is
having a real adverse impact
on the economy of both states
and on our Interstate Defense
Highway.
We need the governors of
Oregon and Washington to
agree on a plan and take the
lead with their legislative lead-
ers on establishing a project
that is ready to go and that
both states are willing to fund.
We have talked about a
third bridge and other cross-
ings, but none of these propos-
als will have the impact and
solve the problems that exist
on the Interstate system. We
do need to study in the future
other accesses across the Co-
lumbia River after we solve
our top priority of the I-5
Bridge replacement. We all
know the I-5 project will have
a huge impact on our econ-
omy and the Interstate High-
way System of our two states.
Tolls will be required in the
future, and most everyone rec-
ognizes this. We can not let the
issue of tolls affect the re-
placement of the I-5 Bridge.
The Departments of Trans-
portation of both states of Ore-
gon and Washington will be
the one’s that resolve the toll
issue.
We all need to be working
together to develop a project
that has statewide and national
significance, which the origi-
nal proposal of the CRC had,
and which both states had
come to an agreement upon. It
is important that we review the
agreement we had with the
state of Oregon and see what
parts of that agreement can be
used in expediting replace-
ment of the I-5 Bridge.
Ed Barnes is a retired business manager
of IBEW Local 48 and a former Wash-
ington Transportation commissioner.
He serves as second vice president of
the NW Oregon Labor Council.
Unionization is sweeping the media
On June 6, The New Yorker
magazine voluntarily recognized
NewsGuild-CWA, a sector of
Communications Workers of
America — after nearly 90 per-
cent of its 115 workers signed
cards seeking to join. That came
one day after workers at the
business magazine Fast Com-
pany announced they were join-
ing Writers Guild of America
(WGA). The two unions are wit-
nessing a wave of worker organ-
izing in both print and online
media, demanding greater job
security, fair and transparent pay,
editorial autonomy, and news-
room diversity:
■ The Chicago Tribune newspaper
voluntarily recognized NewsGuild-CWA in
May, after more than 85 percent of its
280+ journalists signed cards. It’ s the first
union in the paper’s 171-year history.
■ Mic in March voluntarily recognized
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NewsGuild as representative of its 50
employees.
Los Angeles Times workers voted 248-
44 to join NewsGuild-CWA in January. It’s
the first union in its 137-year history.
Slate employees voted 45-7 in January to
join Writers Guild of America.
Vox Media in November 2017 agreed to
recognize WGA as the representative of
400 employees at its online media outlets:
Curbed, Eater, Recode, SB Nation, Racked,
Polygon, The Verge and Vox.
Vice Media in September 2017
voluntarily recognized the decision by 430
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employees to join WGA and the Motion
Picture Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700),
and is now in bargaining.
The Intercept online investigative site
recognized WGA in April 2017 as the
representative of its 32-member staff.
Thrillist workers voted 56-3 to join WGA
in March 2017.
Huffington Post ratified its first union
contract in January 2017 covering 200+
workers, after having voluntarily
recognized WGA the year before.
ThinkProgress news site ratified its first
WGA contract in July 2016, covering 30
employees.
Gawker ratified its first WGA contract in
2016 after a 80-27 union vote in 2015.
Salon.com workers voted to join WGA in
2015.
The Guardian US edition ratified its first
NewsGuild-CWA contract in September
2017, two years after workers voted 45-0
to join.
From Page 1
South Carolina Gov. Henry
McMaster wants to keep it that
way.
“Out-of-state union bosses
have no interest in the future of
South Carolina or this remark-
able company,” McMaster
tweeted 10 days before the
Boeing union vote. “We aren’t
going to let out-of-state labor
unions ruin the wonderful
working environment in our
state.”
Boeing brought in anti-
union consultants to talk to the
workers in mandatory meet-
ings. It didn’t work. Flight-line
technicians at the South Car-
olina plant earn about 30 per-
cent less than their union coun-
terparts in Washington state.
The result isn’t a vote
against Boeing, said Machin-
ists International President Bob
Martinez in a press statement:
“It was a vote for the return of
American prosperity. Unions
are the best mechanism for pro-
tecting the interest of working
men and women.”
The IAM represents more
than 35,000 Boeing employees
at 24 locations nationwide.
Boeing said it will appeal
the vote result, saying the
workers aren’t distinct enough
to be allowed to have their own
union, but should be part of a
larger plant-wide group. That
larger group rejected Machinist
representation by 2,097 to 731
in a Feb. 15, 2017 union vote.