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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (May 17, 2019)
PAGE 6 | May 17, 2019 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS UNION DEMOCRACY AFT-Oregon elects new leadership AFT-Oregon, a state council of He’s also been a very active the American Federation of member of Portland Commu- Teachers, elected new leader- nity College Federation of Fac- ship at its May 3-5 convention ulty and Academic Profession- in Sunriver, Oregon. als (PCCFFAP), AFT Local Portland Community College 2277, and has served on union employee Jaime Rodriguez was contract negotiation teams, as elected president without oppo- local vice president, and as vice sition. He succeeds president for political David Rives, who has action for AFT-Ore- been president since gon. 2009. [The union’s AFT-Oregon presi- constitution limits a dent is a full-time president to five two- salaried position, over- year terms.] seeing about a dozen union staffers. AFT-Oregon serves Rodriguez told the about 9,100 members Labor Press he hopes in 21 locals. Members include community Jaime Rodriguez to increase member engagement with more college and university faculty, and classified support outreach and organizing. Also elected at the conven- staff at colleges and K-12 tion: school districts. Rodriguez grew up in Cali- ■ Executive Vice President Jeff Grider, PCC Federation of Faculty and Academic fornia’s Central Valley as the Professionals, 3922 son of farmworkers, and was the first in his family to graduate ■ Treasurer Melody Hansen, Hillsboro from college, earning a degree Classified United (HCU), Local 4671 from Fresno State University. ■ Secretary Shaun Cain, Eastern Oregon He served in the Army and the University Associated Academic National Guard. Since 1999, Professionals (AAP), Local 6200 he’s worked as a career coach at ■ Vice President of Political Action Portland Community College, Kayleigh Peterman, University of Oregon and has helped hundreds of vet- Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation erans and people on public as- (GTFF), Local 3544 sistance get training so they can Together with the president, enter the workforce. ...Cornman From Page 5 involvement. The case went all the way to Washington, D.C. Be- cause the union campaign at the mine was by now basically ka- put, the USW organizer told Cornman to accept a sizable back pay settlement offer, which the company offered on condition that he not return to the mine. But now Cornman found he was blackballed by other mines in the area, and with three kids and a wife to support, he decided it was time to return home to Oregon. After operating heavy con- struction equipment a few years, he got a job at Portland’s Freight- liner truck plant in 1992. Work- ing the assembly line for truck chassis, he became an active member of his Machinists Local Lodge 1005, and soon, an elected shop steward and member of the negotiating committee. He started sitting in on Executive Board meetings, and ran for and won an election for union trustee. He became a delegate to the larger Machinists District Lodge 24 and the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, AFL-CIO. In 2002, Cornman became an apprentice union organizer with the Grand Lodge — as the Ma- chinists international parent or- ganization is known. He spent two years in Washington and Nevada supporting union cam- paigns among aerospace work- ers, auto dealer mechanics, and workers at a U-haul trailer repair facility in Henderson, Nevada. At that last campaign, Cornman recalls, the owner said he’d shut- ter the facility rather than go union, and illegally fired more than 50 workers. Returning home to work at the truck plant, Cornman was ap- proached to join a reform slate of candidates for business represen- tative in Machinists District Lodge 24; the others were Bob Petroff, Joe Kear, Scott Lucy and Phil Dilsaver. All five were elected in 2005. Cornman has continued to serve as a business representative ever since, respon- sible for negotiating and enforc- ing union contracts at as many as 19 workplaces over the years. In these four make up AFT-Ore- gon’s executive committee. Delegates also elected 10 at large vice presidents: ■ Ira Erbs - Portland Community College Federation of Faculty and Academic Professionals (PCCFFAP), Local 2277. ■ Chloe Hughes - Western Oregon University Federation of Teachers (WOUFT), Local 2278 ■ Michael Hames-Garcia ,United Academics, University of Oregon, Local 3209 ■ Mike Magee, University of Oregon Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation (GTFF), Local 3544 ■ Ariana Jacob, Portland State University Faculty Association (PSUFA), Local 3571 ■ Anastasia Hernandez-Vasquez. Hillsboro Classified United (HCU), Local 4671 ■ Hazel Daniels, Oregon State University Coalition of Graduate Employees (CGE), Local 6069 ■ Anna St. Lorenz, OSU Coalition of Graduate Employees (CGE), Local 6069 ■ DeAnna Timmerman, Eastern Oregon University Associated Academic Professionals (AAP), Local 6200 ■ Ted Cooper. PSU Coalition of Graduate Employees, no assigned local number yet. The vice presidents, plus the executive committee, make up AFT-Oregon’s executive coun- cil. All offices are for a two year term that begins July 21. 2011, District Lodge 24 merged with Woodworkers District Lodge W1 to become Machinists District Lodge W24. In August 2016, Cornman was appointed assistant directing business rep- resentative, the number two po- sition at the district lodge. In De- cember, he won re-election to the position for a three-year term. He also served on the Execu- tive Board of Oregon AFL-CIO, on the advisory board of the Uni- versity of Oregon Labor Educa- tion and Research Center (LERC), and as a trustee on the Nelson Trust, which provides health coverage to about 5,000 woodworkers and their families. But in his 14 years on staff at the Machinists District Lodge, Corn- man says what gave him the most satisfaction was having helped half a dozen of his fellow union members get their jobs back after they were terminated. Cornman’s assignment for the last three years has been repre- senting workers at Boeing’s Gre- sham plant. To take over that re- sponsibility, the District Lodge is hiring Carol Krohn, the chief shop steward at the plant. Who’s on our side? By Tom Chamberlain Oregon AFL-CIO President How inclusive movements build power While America has always been a divided nation based on our identities, it seems that these identifications are super-charged today. We identify ourselves racially, economically, politically, by gender and sexuality. Donald Trump seems gleeful to use in- tentionally explosive words to create further and wider divisions. These loaded words embolden groups to exploit and vilify large segments of our society. Since the formation of our nation, divisions of identity groups have pitted one group of workers against another. Whether it has been the color of one’s skin, the country or origin, the god one chooses, treating women as second class citizens, or one’s sexuality – division among the working class is a means to build power and a way to advance an agenda that hasn’t been in the best interest of the majority of Americans. We have to realize that these divisions are used as a smoke screen to divert the at- tention of the electorate. In 1968, Nixon played to the white voters in the south who opposed the 1964 and 1968 passage of the Civil Rights Act. Rea- gan used similar tactics to defeat Jimmy Carter. Bush I and II used the diversionary tactic of focusing on same sex marriage to divide working people. Trump’s success in scapegoating immi- grants, objectifying women and alienating communities of color, sadly led him to the White House. In this era of Trump-style diversionary tactics that have em- boldened hate groups, it is more important than ever that the union movement is solidly the most safe and welcoming place we have for all workers. Our workers reflect the full diversity of America. Today’s union leaders must understand this diversity and embrace measures, trainings and programs that address workplace and living issues equitably for all workers. For example, transgender issues have become more pro- nounced over the last several years as workers find the courage to speak out about their identities. If unions are to be inclusive organizations, these workers need to feel totally safe and wel- come. Our responsibility is to work with our transgender mem- bers and develop programs that fully educate our leadership and members. Over the last 14 years, the Oregon AFL-CIO has been on the forefront of moving forward with difficult and ground breaking issues. We have partnered with CAUSA on addressing immi- gration issues and working to pass the Workplace Fairness Act which: • Prevents employers from asking for nondisclosure agree- ments that relate to discrimination at the time of hiring, during settlement and during severance negotiations; • Prevents employers from requesting provisions that prevent the rehiring of previously discriminated-against employees dur- ing settlement agreements; • Extends the statute of limitations for discrimination in em- ployment situations from one to five years; • Directs BOLI to create policies and procedures for employ- ers/employees that relate to sexual harassment; and • Ensures that where employers have made a good faith de- termination that harassment has occurred, any severance given to the harasser, if an executive, is rendered unenforceable. Our union movement must be constantly evolving to meet the needs of our diverse membership. Not only must we develop trainings, but we must incorporate these lessons into our sum- mits, conferences, conventions, and ourselves. It is our job to take on any and all issues that impact workers. We build power for our worker’s movement when we recognize and embrace our diversity. It is our strength not our weakness. The Oregon AFL-CIO is a 138,000-member-strong federation of labor unions.
