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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 2019)
SERVING ORGANIZED LABOR IN OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON SINCE 1900 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS VOLUME 120, NUMBER 15 IN THIS ISSUE UFCW 555 GETS CARD-CHECK AGREEMENT At proposed reneweable fuels facility near Clatskanie | Page 3 WE DON’T WANT TO DO YOUR WORK Oregon AFL-CIO files ballot measure to limit grocery self-checkout | Page 6 Meeting Notices p.4 Labor Day picnic schedules p.8 PORTLAND, OREGON AUGUST 2, 2019 UNION ORGANIZING Group wooing Major League Baseball signs ‘harmony agreement’ with labor Portland Diamond Project (PDP), the organization behind the effort to bring Major League Baseball to Portland, has signed a “Labor Harmony Agreement” with local trade unions that al- most ensures the stadium will operate with a union workforce, wall-to-wall. The agreement was signed July 29 by PDP founder and president Craig Cheek, and Ore- gon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain on behalf of 13 af- filiated unions. Cheek, a former Nike executive, said bringing baseball to Portland could create as many as 6,500 jobs, includ- ing construction of the stadium. The agreement covers all rep- resented jobs within the park, including concessions, program and retail sales, property serv- ice, security, hospitality serv- ices, stage and theatrical presen- tations, and entertainment and audio/visual services. Agree- ments regarding ballpark con- struction jobs will be addressed at a later date. Once a baseball team is se- cured, a stadium built, and workers hired, unions in the har- mony agreement will have ac- cess to workers within their ju- risdictions, and can organize Members of Machinists Local Lodge 1432 at C-TRAN pose in front of a giant banner that declares the Vancouver, Washington-based transit agency “Best in the Nation!” Standing from left to right are Gabby Soltero, Ed Somotes, John Peters, Jerry Storie, Eino Suomi Jr., Matt Whiley, Brett Nold, Raymond Spaulding, and shop steward Tim Garrett. Kneeling from left to right are Ja- cob Anderson and chief shop steward David White. Lodge 1432 represents approximately 60 workers at C-TRAN. CLARK COUNTY Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain (left) and Portland Diamond Project President Craig Cheek sign labor harmony agreement July 29. them via card-check. The agree- ment also calls for binding arbi- tration should bargaining break down, plus strong successor lan- guage should the organization ever be sold. “By signing this agreement, the Portland Diamond Project has shown us they value and re- spect the rights of working peo- ple and care for the prosperity of our community,” Chamberlain said. “Oregon’s unions are proud to be a part of the efforts to bring baseball to the Rose City and to be a part of the only unionized sports arena in the state of Oregon. By giving workers the unfettered opportu- nity for union representation, we are securing a bright eco- nomic future for the women and men who will make baseball happen in Portland. When working people stand together in unions, we get a fair return on our hard work.” Cheek said his organization is proud to partner with the Oregon Turn to Page 8 Oregon governor and legislators who voted to cut PERS won’t be on stage at Labor Day picnic Oregon legislators who voted to cut Public Employee Retire- ment System (PERS) bene- fits—and the governor who signed the bill into law—won’t be invited to appear on stage with other politicians at this year’s Labor Day picnic at Oaks Park in Portland. The picnic is sponsored by the Northwest Oregon Labor Council and draws thousands of union members and their families to the park. In the recently-concluded session of the Oregon Legisla- ture, lawmakers narrowly passed Senate Bill 1049, a bill said to help shore up the retire- ment system’s finances. How- ever, it also results in a loss of be- tween 7 to 12.5% in workers’ individual retirement accounts. Democrats hold super-ma- jorities in both the House and Senate, and Gov. Kate Brown is a Democrat. Under extreme pressure from Democratic leadership, the bill passed by one vote in both the House and Senate. The ‘aye’ votes were cast by union-endorsed candi- dates, many of whom promised on the campaign trail not to cut PERS benefits. The governor promised as well. In the wake of that vote, del- egates to the Northwest Oregon Labor Council passed a motion July 22 to not invite any of those lawmakers on stage to speak during a special political event at 1 p.m. Several dele- gates at the monthly meeting argued that the politicians shouldn’t be invited to the pic- nic at all, but it didn’t have enough support to pass. C-TRAN named North American mid- sized ’Transit System of the Year’ Congratulations to C-TRAN and its front line workers — mem- bers of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 and Machinists Lodge 1432—for being named the top mid-sized transit system in North America. The honor was announced last month as part of the annual American Public Transportation Association (APTA) awards. ATU represents approxi- mately 330 fixed-route bus oper- ators, paratransit operators, ad- ministrative assistants, customer service reps, supervisors, and paratransit dispatchers at C- TRAN. The Machinists Union represents about 60 field service workers, facility maintenance workers, and bus mechanics. As winner, C-TRAN was judged among other systems with a total ridership between 4 million and 20 million trips per year. C-TRAN tallied about 6.2 million total trips in 2018. Turn to Page 3 U.S. House passes Butch Lewis Act The bill would give federal loans to union multiemployer pension plans to prevent their collapse. The U.S. House of Representa- tives passed HR 397 July 24 on a bipartisan vote of 264-169. All 235 House Democrats voted for the bill, as did 29 Republicans. The bill now moves to the Sen- ate, where it faces a difficult road. HR 397, formally the Reha- bilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act of 2019, protects the benefits union retirees have earned by providing low-inter- est loans and other assistance to troubled multiemployer pension plans, giving them time to re- cover their losses and repay the loans. Sponsors of the legislation note that of the nearly 10 million people nationwide covered by union-sponsored multiemployer plans, about 1.3 million of them are in plans that are quickly run- ning out of money. Among the troubled plans are Western States Office and Professional Employ- ees Pension Fund (members of Turn to Page 2
