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July 20, 2018 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Machinists rally at Precision Castparts
More than three dozen people
from various unions, along
with leaders of the Oregon
AFL-CIO, turned out July 11
for a “Solidarity Rally” at
Precision Castparts Corp.
(PCC) in Southeast Portland.
A group of 100 welders at
PCC voted last September to
join the Machinists Union.
The Portland-based company
owned by Warren Buffett ap-
pealed the election, arguing
that a welders-only bargain-
ing unit wasn’t legal because
the welders work in 18 sepa-
rate departments at three sep-
arate campuses. In May, the
National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB) in Washing-
ton, D.C., ruled otherwise,
saying a welders-only unit at
PCC was appropriate. PCC
has appealed that decision.
According to the Machin-
ists, the company still refuses
to recognize the union, re-
fuses to negotiate with the
union, refuses to allow the
union workplace access for
safety inspections, refuses to
recognize shop stewards and
Weingarten rights, and has
laid off a union steward for
supposedly failing a welding
test. The Machinists has filed
unfair labor practice charges
with the NLRB.
The Machinists hope the
strong show of community
support will send a strong
message to PCC that it will
not go away and that it has
strong community support.
The union anticipates a final
ruling from the NLRB by the
end of July.
Rally at Kaiser
Union workers rallied outside three
Portland-area Kaiser Permanente
facilities July 6 to call for a fair con-
tract. Kaiser is in nationwide bar-
gaining with the newly formed Al-
liance of Health Care Unions— 21
union locals representing over
45,000 Kaiser workers in hundreds
of job classifications. Alliance
unions include locals of AFSCME,
American Federation of Teachers,
United Food and Commercial
Workers, Operating Engineers,
Teamsters, Steelworkers, UNITE
HERE, and International Longshore THE UNION IS MY SHIELD: “Patient defenders” with the Oregon Fed-
& Warehouse Union. The two sides eration of Nurses and Health Professionals rallied July 6 on North In-
terstate Avenue outside Kaiser Permanente.
next bargain on Aug. 28-29.