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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 2019)
PAGE 2 | September 6, 2019 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the labor movement. Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fri- days of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-profit mutual benefit corporation owned by 20 unions and councils including the Oregon 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: Cheri Rice 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 $10.56 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 CORRECTION The Sheet Metal Workers Local 16 Labor Day advertisement that ap- peared in the Aug. 16, edition inad- vertently left off a name, and trans- posed two others. The NW Labor Press apologizes for the errors. Low Prices! Coats, etc. Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6 Raises at Schnitzer scrapyard COLLECTIVE BARGAINING Nurse pickets go up at Astoria hospital By Don McIntosh About 200 nurses and support- ers took up picket signs Aug. 20 outside Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria to call for a fair contract and publicize the message that “safe staffing saves lives.” About 135 members of Ore- gon Nurses Association (ONA) have been working at Colum- bia Memorial without a union contract since their previous one expired May 31. Nurses there want an end to high-de- ductible health insurance and highly erratic work schedules: Part-time nurses can see their hours fluctuate from 20 to 35 in any given week. ONA mem- bers also want the hospital to put minimum staffing rules in its collective bargaining agree- ment, something other hospital employers have done. A state law passed in 2001 requires hospitals to have a minimum staffing plan developed by a joint committee of nurse man- agers and direct care nurses, but ONA says Columbia Me- morial violated that law in its birthing department. The union has a pending complaint about that with the Oregon Health Authority. A unit of 123 workers at Schnitzer Steel’s North Portland scrap yard has ratified a new contract that raises wages 10 percent over three years, reports field representative supervisor Nate Stokes of Operating Engi- neers Local 701. Effective July 1, the contract also for the first time provides short-term and long-term disability benefits and life insurance. At the yard lo- cated in the Rivergate Industrial District, members operate shredders, burners, and cranes with powerful magnets to process material brought in by truck and barge. First contract for stationary engineers at Providence Nurse understaffing is a real problem at Columbia Memo- rial, says ONA rep Amber Cooper: nearly every depart- ment has open positions they cannot fill. One of the reasons is wages that are the fifth low- est of any hospital in Oregon. Registered nurses there start at $34.98 an hour and top out at $52.48. “I have nurses saying they earned more as a bartender and are considering going back to it,” Cooper told the Labor Press. Columbia Memorial is fi- nancially healthy. In 2017, the most recent year for which fig- ures are publicly available, the 25-bed hospital paid its CEO Erik Thorsen $645,000 and paid for his country club mem- bership. A group of five stationary engi- neers at Providence Milwaukie Hospital joined Operating Engi- neers Local 701 late last year, and last month ratified a first contract with raises of up to $7 an hour, retroactive to January 2019. They’ll also enroll in the Operating Engineers national pension. The contract brings them up to the level of their counterparts at Providence Port- land and Providence St. Vincent. Most Local 701 members oper- ate heavy equipment in con- struction, but the union also rep- resents numerous small units of stationary engineers who operate and maintain building systems.
