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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2018)
SERVING ORGANIZED LABOR IN OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON SINCE 1900 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS VOLUME 119, NUMBER 14 IN THIS ISSUE LESSONS OF THE WEST VIRGINIA TEACHER STRIKE One of the strike’s leaders is in Portland July 23 | Page 2 TRUMP’S SUPREME COURT PICK Judge Brett Kavanaugh has a history of anti-worker rulings. | Page 7 Meeting Notices p. 4 Unionization elections p. 3 PORTLAND, OREGON JULY 20, 2018 OREGON COLLECTIVE BARGAINING Oregon public employee unions drop tax transparency initiative as defensive fights loom AFSCME members ratify first contract at Volunteers of America To unite business and labor against anti-tax measures, governor brokers a stand-down on a union-backed initiative. By Don McIntosh Leaders of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Lo- cal 503 and Oregon AFSCME announced July 6 that they de- cided to withdraw a ballot ini- tiative that might have shed light on how much Oregon’s biggest corporations pay in taxes. The announcement came on the day signatures were due, after their campaign had gath- ered over 130,000 signatures. The stand-down by the two biggest state employee unions followed a visit from Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to Local 503 headquarters and weeks of con- versations between Brown and labor and business leaders. The withdrawal puts Oregon labor in an all-defense posture on ballot measures this No- vember, but it may also result in the addition of new allies as unions campaign to defeat sev- eral initiatives. Money that some businesses might have spent opposing the tax trans- parency initiative known as Ini- tiative Petition (IP) 25 could in- stead now go to fight anti-tax initiatives IP 31 and 37. To that end, top Nike lobbyist (and Portland Public Schools board chair) Julia Brim-Ed- wards formed a new political action committee June 29 called the Common Good Fund, which on July 3 reported a $100,000 contribution from Nike. Listed as president of the fund is Portland real estate de- veloper John Russell, who’s also vice chair of the governor- appointed body that directs the investment of state funds like the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund. Russell, who has been held up as an example for paying his office building’s union janitors and security guards a dollar an hour above the union scale, was also part of the governor’s behind-the- scenes discussions. In a statement released by Gov. Brown’s re-election cam- paign, Russell said Brown helped business and labor lead- ers develop a new coalition fo- cused on “the biggest challenge this fall, a pair of unnecessary and poorly written constitu- tional amendments headed to the ballot.” IP 31, which turned in final signatures June 27, is the latest entry in a series of anti-democ- ratic measures that attempt to Turn to Page 3 WASHINGTON A union guide to Washington’s August primary Washington State Labor Coun- cil, AFL-CIO, is a state-wide federation representing over 500 local unions with a com- bined membership of 400,000. It promotes and defends the in- terests of working Washingto- nians in the State Capitol, and issues ballot recommendations. For this year’s elections, rank- and-file delegates considered endorsements May 19 in Seat- tle and July 17-19 in We- natchee. For Southwest Wash- ington, the candidates they recommend are in bold below: CONGRESS U.S. Senate Maria Cantwell has voted in accord with the national AFL- CIO’s recommendation 91 percent of the time in her three six-year terms in office. U.S. House, 3rd CD Carolyn Long, a political science pro- fessor at Washington State University Vancouver, is one of three Democrats WASHINGTON LEGISLATURE 17th Legislative District House 1 — Tanisha Harris House 2 — Damion Jiles 18th Legislative District House 2 — Kathy Gillespie 19th Legislative District running active campaigns to challenge incumbent Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler. The other two are David McDe- vitt, a Vancouver businessman who has self-funded his campaign with $700,000 in loans, and Dorothy Gasque, an Iraq war veteran and former Bernie Sanders national delegate. Beutler has voted in accord with the national AFL-CIO’s rec- ommendation just 17 percent of the time in her four two-year terms in office. STATE SUPREME COURT Position 2 Susan Owens Position 8 Steve Gonzalez Position 9 Sheryl Gordon McCloud House 1 — Erin Frasier House 2 — Brian Blake 49th Legislative District House 1 — Sharon Wylie House 2 — Monica Stonier If you’re a registered Wash- ington voter, your ballot should be mailed to you no later than July 20 and must be post- marked no later than election day, Aug. 7, to be counted. In Washington’s “top two” pri- mary, voters affiliated with any party or no party can partici- pate, and the top two vote-get- ters, regardless of their party preference, appear on the No- vember general election ballot. About 70 workers at a pair of publicly funded addiction treat- ment centers ratified their first union contract in a 41-1 vote July 13. Kay Toran, CEO of non-profit Volunteers of Amer- ica (VOA) Oregon, had refused to agree to even basic union con- tract features during 18 months of bargaining with Oregon AF- SCME. But that hard-line stance crumbled a week before VOA’s annual fundraising gala, which the union planned to picket. That would have presented a dilemma for gala guests, including many elected leaders.The June 11 ten- tative agreement also came three weeks after union supporters oc- cupied VOA offices in an act of civil disobedience for which 10 were arrested. The new contract provides an- nual inflation-based cost-of-liv- ing increases, if the budget per- mits. It also gives 3 percent wage increases for workers who have work-related certifications, and it provides holiday pay and an easier path to benefit for relief workers. VOA didn’t agree to a formal wage scale, but did com- mit to wage “ranges,” with in- creased wages at the top and bot- tom of the ranges. The contract also includes standard union contract features such as “just cause” progressive discipline procedures. It runs through No- vember 2021. UNION ORGANIZING Workers vote on union at chain- owned Clackamas pet clinic After Mars Petcare swallows up giant VCA chain, workers vote 54- 53 to join ILWU Local 5. A group of 113 workers at the Northwest’s biggest veterinary hospital voted July 5 on whether to unionize, but the results are too close to call. The vote to join International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 5 was 54 to 53 at VCA Northwest Veteri- nary Specialists, but the com- pany challenged the right of four workers to cast ballots, and it could take several weeks for the National Labor Relations Board to decide on those challenges. The Clackamas pet hospital, located at 16756 S.E. 82nd Drive, is part of the massive 800-hospital VCA chain. VCA was a publicly traded corpora- tion until last year, when it was bought for $9.1 billion by an even bigger company, Mars, Inc. Mars — privately owned by America’s third richest family — is the famed and almost en- tirely nonunion candy maker that makes M&Ms, Skittles, Dove Chocolates, and Mars, Milky Way, Snickers, and Twix chocolate bars. But it also has a less well known petcare divi- sion, which owns eight pet food brands, including IAMS, Pedi- gree, and Whiskas, plus three other veterinary chains besides VCA (Banfield Pet Hospital, BluePearl, and Pet Partners). Mars’ acquisition of VCA Turn to Page 3 NOTICE! Due to budget constraints, the Northwest Labor Press will publish only one issue in August — but it’s our special Labor Day edition. Look for it in your mailbox August 24!
