PAGE 6 | August 2, 2019 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
WASHINGTON
Fred Meyer underpays
women employees
Labor Council endorsements
for Aug. 6 primary announced
Oregon Women Labor Leaders (OWLL) teamed up
with the Oregon AFL-CIO for a rally July 24 calling on
management at Fred Meyer to fix the gap between
women’s and men’s wages. More than three dozen
members from several unions attended, including
Operating Engineers Local 701’s “Rat Tracker.” The
rally took place outside the Fred Meyer store on West
Burnside in busy downtown Portland.
An analysis by UFCW Local 555 shows that Fred
Meyer pays its female grocery employees less than
men: $1.31 per hour on average. That’s because
women are twice as likely to be hired into lower-pay-
ing Schedule B jobs at the grocer. Schedule A earns
around 25% more per hour than Schedule B so, for
the average worker, that discrepancy between pay
schedules adds up to more than $200 per month.
At the rally, participants collected signatures on a pe-
tition calling on Fred Meyer to "Fix the Gap." Oregon
AFL-CIO’s Graham Trainor and Russell Sanders drove
box vans around the store with the message: “Shop
Somewhere Else! Fred Meyer Pays Women Less Than
Men” emblazoned on the sides and back. Learn more
at FixTheGapOregon.com.
The Fred Meyer store is located across the street from
Providence Park, where the Portland Thorns women’s
soccer team was hosting a match. Several Thorns
players are part of the U.S. women’s national team,
which recently filed a lawsuit against U.S. Soccer al-
leging gender discrimination and pay equity.
Oregon AFL-CIO files ballot initiative to
reduce self-checkout at grocery stores
The Oregon AFL-CIO filed a
ballot initiative July 18 to reg-
ulate the number of self-check-
out stations in Oregon’s gro-
cery stores.
“The goal of our initiative is
to protect grocery workers and
our communities,” said Tom
Chamberlain, president of the
state labor federation and the
initiative’s chief petitioner.
Chamberlain said self-
checkout machines are part of
a strategic corporate attempt to
reduce costs and eliminate
jobs.
“These machines turn cus-
tomers into unpaid workers
and allow stores to reduce the
number of full-time employ-
ees,” he said.
Chamberlain said the push
towards expanded automation
at grocery stores places older
customers and people with dis-
abilities at a disadvantage
when they are expected to use
machines to purchase gro-
ceries.
It also “significantly impacts
workers of color negatively,
who are disproportionately
over-represented as cashiers in
retail businesses,” he said.
The Grocery Store Service
and Community Protection Act
seeks to limit the number of
self-service checkout stations
operating to two per store at
any one time. The act gives the
Oregon Bureau of Labor and
Industry enforcement authority.
The State of Oregon re-
quires a minimum of 1,000 sig-
natures of registered voters to
accompany an initiative peti-
tion application. The Oregon
AFL-CIO is currently gather-
ing those signatures. Once cer-
tified with an initiative number
and title, the AFL-CIO must
collect 122,020 signatures of
registered voters by July 2,
2020 in order to be placed on
the ballot in November 2020.
If passed, the act would go
into effect starting Jan. 1, 2021.
VANCOUVER, Wash. — The
Southwest Washington Central
Labor Council has issued sev-
eral endorsements for the Aug.
6 primary elections. Ballots
were mailed July 19.
At the non-partisan City of
Vancouver, the labor council en-
dorsed incumbent Erik Paulsen
for Position 2. The labor council
took no action in the Position 6
race, where six candidates have
filed for the seat being vacated by
Bill Turlay.
At Clark County, the labor
council endorsed incumbent
District 4 Councilor Gary Med-
vigy. Medvigy was appointed to
the seat in January when Repub-
lican Eileen Quiring vacated it to
begin her term as Clark County
Council chair. The Aug. 6 elec-
tion is to complete her term of of-
fice, which expires in 2020.
Medvigy is a retired California
Superior Court judge and Army
general. He prefers the Republi-
can Party.
His opponent is Battle Ground
City Councilor Adrian Cortes, a
Democrat and chair of the C-
TRAN Board of Directors.
Cortes is a special education
teacher for the Camas School
District.
The labor council weighed in
on three races for the Vancouver
Public Schools Board of Direc-
tors. Twelve candidates have
filed to run for three seats.
Delegates endorsed Caressa
Milgrove for Position 1, and
Tracie Barrows for Position 5.
Milgrove, a mother of two young
boys in the district, has three op-
ponents. Barrows, a school psy-
chologist at Evergreen Public
Schools, also has three oppo-
nents. The labor council issued a
dual endorsement for Lisa
Messer and Lindsey Luis run-
ning for Position 4. Messer is a
teacher in Evergreen Public
Schools and has children in the
Vancouver district. Luis, 18,
graduated this year from Fort
Vancouver High School Center
for International Studies. There
are two other candidates seeking
the open Position 4 seat.
At Evergreen Public Schools,
the labor council endorsed
Bethany Rivard for Position 2
on the School Board, and Rachel
Rogers for Position 4. Rogers, a
Clark County senior deputy pros-
ecuting attorney, was appointed
to the post in February to fill a
vacancy. Rivard, an English
teacher at Fort Vancouver High
School, is running against an in-
cumbent.
The Southwest Washington
Labor Council made two early
endorsements for the November
General Election. They are back-
ing the re-election of Ty Stober
to the Vancouver City Council,
and they support Jack Burkman
running for Vancouver Port
Commissioner, Position 3.
If you are a Clark County
voter and have not received a
ballot for the August primary,
contact the Elections Office at
564-397-2345. Replacement bal-
lots may also be requested in per-
son at the Elections Office, 1408
Franklin St., Vancouver. Office
hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mon-
day through Friday. Email re-
quests should be sent to elec-
tions@clark.wa.gov.
After August 2, use a drop box
to ensure your ballot is received
on time.
...Vigor Industrial sold to private equity firms
From Page 2
men’s Local 516; another 55 are
represented by IBEW Local 48.
Local 516 is currently in negoti-
ations for a contract that expires
Aug. 31. IBEW Local 48’s con-
tract expires Dec. 31, 2020.
“Negotiations are going well,
My belief is we will have a con-
tract in place before the Carlyle
deal closes,” said Local 516
Business Manager Phil Casciato.
Casciato told the Labor Press
his union also has a memoran-
dum of understanding with
Vigor to represent workers who
will be doing aluminum fabrica-
tion work at a new facility in
Vancouver, Washington. Vigor
landed a 10-year, $1 billion con-
tract with the U.S. Army to build
a new class of landing craft. Re-
portedly, 300 jobs will be cre-
ated once the facility is up and
running.
Just hours before the an-
nouncement of Vigor’s sale went
public on July 25, owner Frank
Foti sent an email to all employ-
ees saying, “Operationally, you
won’t see any change. Our cur-
rent frontline operating leaders
will remain in place.”
In a press release, Foti said
“this evolution takes us where
we want to go, growing sustain-
able jobs into the future.”
Foti said he will continue as
CEO until a new CEO is found.
He will retain a stake in the
combined company and also
serve on its board.
“Together, Vigor and MHI
are well positioned with their
unique, national assets to grow
in the highly attractive ship re-
pair and fabrication markets,”
noted Derek Whang, principal at
The Carlyle Group.
MHI Holdings LLC consists
of MHI Ship Repair and Serv-
ices, Seaward Marine Services,
and Accurate Marine Environ-
mental. It was not known at press
time whether they operate union.
The 10 labor organizations
affiliated with the Portland
Metal Trades Council are
Plumbers and Fitters Local 290,
Operating Engineers Local 701,
Boilermakers Local 104, IBEW
Local 48, Laborers Local 737,
Painters District Council 5,
Sheet Metal Workers Local 16,
Teamsters Local 162, Machin-
ists District Lodge W24, and In-
sulators Local 36.