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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 2019)
PAGE 2 | August 2, 2019 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the la- bor movement. Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-profit mutual benefit corpo- ration owned by 20 unions and councils including the Ore- gon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Office location: 4275 NE Halsey St., Portland, Oregon Mailing address: P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213 Phone: (503) 288-3311 Web address: http://nwlaborpress.org Editor & Manager: Michael Gutwig Associate editor: Don McIntosh Office manager: Jill Lukens Printed on recycled paper, using soy-based inks, by members of Teamsters Local 747-M. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Individual subscriptions are $15 a year for union members, $23 a year for all others. Pay by credit card online at nwlaborpress.org/subscribe, or send a check to our mailing address (above) along with your name, address and union affiliation, if any. Group rates of $11.28 a year per person are available for 25 or more subscriptions; call 503-288-3311 for details. CORRECTIONS: See an error? Please let us know at editor@nwlaborpress.org or by phone at 503-288-3311. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: If you move, let us know at nwlaborpress.org/subscriber-services or by mail at our mailing address (above). Be sure to provide your old and new addresses and the name/number of your local union. Please allow three weeks for the change to take effect. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS P.O. BOX 13150 PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 PLEASE SHOW OUR ADVERTISERS YOU APPRECIATE THEIR SUPPORT FOR THIS LABOR MOVEMENT NEWSPAPER! Low Prices! Coats, etc. Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6 Vigor Industrial sold to private equity firms Portland-based Vigor Industrial LLC has been sold to global in- vestment firm The Carlyle Group and private equity firm Stellex Capital Management. As part of the deal, Vigor will merge with MHI Holdings, LLC, an 800-employee ship re- pair and maintenance company in Norfolk, Virginia. MHI is owned by Stellex. The Carlyle Group will be majority owner of the combined company, which it has named Titan Acquisition Holdings. It is not clear whether the headquarters will remain in Portland. Vigor builds and repairs ships and performs complex fabrica- tion projects for several indus- tries. The company employs 2,300 people and operates eight drydocks across the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. It has a large union workforce at the Portland Shipyard on Swan Island, with approximately 750 workers currently employed there. The shipyard’s workforce fluctuates, and can at times top 1,000 workers. Another 405 union workers are employed at Vigor Works (formerly Oregon Iron Works) at facilities in Clackamas, Oregon, and Van- couver, Wash. In Puget Sound, the union workforce is around 250 to 300 at Washington Marine Repair Seattle, Vigor Marine Seattle, and Vigor Shipyard Seattle. The shipyard workers are represented by 10 unions affili- ated with the Metal Trades Council of Portland and Vicin- ity, and the Puget Sound Metal Trades Council. They are in the middle of a contract that expires Nov. 30, 2021. Pat Christensen, president of the Portland Metal Trades Coun- cil, told the Labor Press he was aware that the company was looking for investors, “but we were blind-sided by the an- nouncement.” Christensen said the transac- tion is still subject to review, and the sale isn’t slated to close until the end of the third quarter 2019. “It’s very early, so we’ll just have to wait for the process to play out,” Christensen said. “Our hope is that it brings investors in who have a long term interest in growing the company and bring- ing more work to Portland.” At Vigor Works, approxi- mately 350 workers are repre- sented by Iron Workers Shop- Turn to Page 6 ...U.S. House acts to save multiemployer pension plans From Page 1 OPEIU Local 11), and Portland- based Plasterers Local 82 Pen- sion Plan. Both plans in recent months have cut their pension benefits for current and future re- tirees to save them from insol- vency. The OPEIU plan was cut 30% and Plasterers pension cuts ranged from 22% to 31%. The plans were allowed to do that un- der the 2014 Multiemployer Pen- sion Reform Act, which was rammed through Congress with little debate. If HR 397 passes, those cuts would be reversed, and retirees would be paid retroactively for any benefits they lost. HR 397 is known as the Butch Lewis Act, named after an Ohio truck driver and member of the Teamsters Central States Pension Plan who fought to protect re- tirees’ benefits before succumb- ing to a stroke in December 2015. His widow Rita joined hun- dreds of union members in the House Gallery of the Capitol to watch the debate and vote on July 24. The bill is widely sup- ported by organized labor. “This shows when we all act together we can get anything done. We got Democrats…we got Republicans, and we can get this to the Senate and get the bill passed, and then we can live in peace knowing we have our pen- sions,” Lewis said. “We all whooped and cheered,” said Karen Friedman, executive vice president of the Pension Rights Center, “and the members of Congress on the floor looked up at us and waved while they also cheered.” The Butch Lewis Act was reintroduced in the Senate July 24 by Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Senate Bill S. 2254 has 26 co- sponsors, including Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon. It goes to the Senate Finance Committee, where Oregon’s Ron Wyden is the ranking Democrat. The com- mittee chair is Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
