NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS |
February 1, 2019 | PAGE 7
IWW union hall vandalized
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When members of the Portland
chapter of the Industrial Workers
of the World (IWW) showed up
at the union’s rented office build-
ing Jan. 24, they found it had
been vandalized sometime the
night before. A window that dis-
played a Black Lives Matter sign
was broken, and the front walls
were spray-painted “Antifa
House” and “Smash Commu-
nism.”
Portland IWW is the labor or-
ganization behind union cam-
paigns at Burgerville and non-
profit Janus Youth Programs. The
attack on its hall at 2249 E. Burn-
side Street came four days after
leaders of the Vancouver-based
group Patriot Prayer showed up
there and confronted passersby
and customers of the nearby
Screen Door restaurant, shouting
anti-Muslim taunts through a
bullhorn. On Patriot Prayer’s
Facebook page, the group said
the visit was in response to sev-
eral of its members having been
physically assaulted after they
were turned away from a meeting
of the Democratic Socialists of
America that was held there.
The term Antifa describes or-
ganized groups of “anti-fascists”
such as the Portland group Rose
City Antifa. In the public mind
Antifa is best known for showing
up in masks and tactical gear to
confront white nationalists. Rose
City Antifa and Patriot Prayer
have clashed repeatedly in the
streets of Portland since April
2017.
Effie Baum, a member of the
general defense committee of
Portland IWW, said IWW mem-
bers won’t be deterred by the tar-
geting of their office. If anything,
it provoked a wave of public
sympathy. In the days after,
neighbors and supporters
dropped by with pastries, flowers,
and donations. Officers of
Painters Local 10 and Glazers
Local 740 offered volunteer
union labor to repair the damage.
The Northwest Oregon Labor
Council, AFL-CIO, passed a res-
olution Jan. 28 calling it an attack
on all unions. And a GoFundMe
page that organizers hoped would
raise $2,000, had $5,566 as of
Jan. 28.
Baum said once the graffiti
and window are repaired, IWW
plans to use those funds to up-
grade the building with security
features and improve a wheel-
chair ramp to make the building
more accessible.
“Whatever their goal was in
spray-painting the house,” Baum
said, “it actually had the opposite
effect.”
Police union raids AFSCME at 911
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On Jan. 8, members of the Port-
land Police Association (PPA)
hand-delivered letters to emer-
gency communications dis-
patchers inviting them to leave
their union, AFSCME, and in-
stead join the police union.
That’s known as a “raid” in
union parlance.
For decades, AFSCME has
represented workers at Port-
land’s Bureau of Emergency
Communications (BOEC), as
the 911 call center is formally
known. The roughly 110 work-
ers at BOEC make up AFSCME
Local 189-2, a sublocal of the
union’s City of Portland Local
189.
AFSCME Local 189 repre-
sents 1,000 workers in multiple
city bureaus, including support
staff at the Portland Police Bu-
reau. It’s part of 26,000-member
Oregon AFSCME, which is the
largest union of county and mu-
nicipal workers in Oregon. And
it’s part of a multi-union coali-
tion at the City known as the
District Council of Trade
Unions (DCTU). PPA, with 900
members, is an independent po-
lice union.
PPA members will vote on a
constitutional change Feb. 12
that would allow dispatchers to
join. If the change is approved,
and if over 30 percent of the
BOEC members sign cards after
April 1 saying they want jump
ship, the Oregon Employment
Relations Board would hold an
election to see which union dis-
patchers favor.
Oregon AFSCME spokesper-
son Ross Grami said it was dis-
appointing to see PPA engage in
a raid, but AFSCME plans to
continue doing the work of rep-
resentation for dispatchers.
“We’re focused on getting
into bargaining and winning a
good contract,” Grami said.
The current union contract
covering workers at BOEC ex-
pires June 30, and the two sides
began contract negotiations Jan.
18.
Under Oregon law, emer-
gency dispatchers aren’t al-
lowed to strike. Instead, if bar-
gaining breaks down without an
agreement, the two sides present
their final offers to an arbitrator.