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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 2019)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | Labor loses spot on the Port of Portland Commission For now, Gov. Brown has ended the tradition of having two labor reps on the board. The nine-member Port of Port- land Commission used to have three representatives of organ- ized labor. Now it has just one. Appointed by the governor, Port commissioners may not get a lot of public attention, but they oversee a vast publicly- owned enterprise, including four marine terminals, a river dredging operation, the Port- land International Airport, and five massive industrial parks. The Port’s mission is economic development, and it’s sup- ported by property taxes as well as revenue from its operations. Four-year terms of office ex- pired this year for Port Commis- sioners Tom Chamberlain (who was Oregon AFL-CIO presi- dent) and Gary Young (who was IBEW Local 48 business man- ager.) To replace them, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown nominated Meg Niemi, president of 14,500- member Service Employees In- ternational Union Local 49, and Katherine Lam, a minority busi- ness owner. Both were con- firmed by the Oregon Senate Nov. 20. Niemi’s nomination makes sense: Portland-based Local 49 represents service workers and has campaigned for years to im- prove wages and conditions for workers at the Portland Interna- tional Airport, where the union represents over 550 janitors, cabin cleaners, and workers who assist senior and disabled pas- sengers. And Niemi herself comes from a maritime family that goes back several genera- tions in Astoria, she told the Sen- ate Rules Committee Nov. 19. Lam is co-owner of Bam- buza Vietnam Kitchen, a chain of restaurants that has a conces- sion to operate at the Portland International Airport. She served on the advisory group that selected the Port’s execu- tive director, Curtis Robinhold. And she serves on the commis- sion that oversees Business Oregon, the state agency that gives tax breaks and other sub- sidies to businesses. Her hus- band, Daniel Nguyen, is co- owner of Bambuza and a member of Lake Oswego City Council. As the sole remaining union representative on the commis- sion, Niemi will have to speak for all working people region- wide. Judging by Chamber- lain’s experience, it may be a lonely job. When then-governor John Kitzhaber nominated Chamber- lain to the board in 2011, he joined two others from organ- ized labor: Ken Allen, who was then Oregon AFSCME execu- tive director, and longshore worker Bruce Holte, who was then International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 8 president. When Allen retired, his seat went to a representative of business. Holte was replaced by Young in 2015. With over a billion dollars in planned con- struction in the works, it made sense to have a building trades leader on the commission, Chamberlain said. But even as one of two labor representatives, Chamberlain often felt like a voice in the wilderness. “The Port’s more like a corpo- ration than any other semi-gov- ernment entity in the state,” Chamberlain told the Labor Press in August. “They’re al- ways thinking about the bottom line.” Reached by phone in early November, Chamberlain praised the choice of Niemi: “She under- stands the struggles of low-wage workers. We have a lot of low- wage workers at the Port.” But Chamberlain said he was “extremely disappointed” with the choice of Lam, not for any specific gripe with her, but because she’s taking a spot that was held by a labor representa- tive. Neither Chamberlain nor Young—nor the Northwest Oregon Labor Council—were contacted by the governor’s of- fice for input into who might replace them. “We don’t need another busi- ness owner on the Port Commis- sion,” Chamberlain said. “The majority of [the commissioners] already come from management or are business owners or huge corporate farmers. It’s really im- portant that you have folks rep- resenting workers, not just man- agement or business.” Niemi said she’d hoped both positions would remain occu- pied by representatives of or- ganized labor. “I would love some com- pany,” Niemi told the Labor Press. December 6, 2019 | PAGE 5 UNION DEMOCRACY NW Oregon Labor Council re-elects slate of officers Northwest Oregon Labor Coun- cil—the central labor council for AFL-CIO-affiliated unions in the Portland metro area— elected a slate of incumbent of- ficers Nov. 25. ■ Executive Secretary-Treasurer Bob Tackett, Steelworkers Local 330 ■ President Jeff Anderson, UFCW Local 555 ■ 1st Vice President Everice Moro, Oregon School Employees Assoc/AFT Local 6732 ■ 2nd Vice President Ed Barnes, IBEW Local 48 ■ Executive Board Tracey Powers, Office and Professional Employees Local 11; Darren Hamann, Bakers Local 114; Jaime Rodriguez, American Federation of Teachers- Oregon; Jeff Cuellar, UFCW Local 555; Dave Tully, Teamsters Local 223; Will Lukens, Machinists/District Lodge W24; and Scott Zadow, IBEW Local 48. ■ Reading Clerk 1 Dianna Hess, OSEA/AFT Local 6732 ■ Sergeants at arms 1 – John Hall, Machinists Local 63; and Ellen Ino, Laborers Local 483 ■ Trustees Mike Housley, Machinists Local 1005; Joe Esmonde, IBEW Local 48; and Lucy Carrier, UFCW Local 555. All ran unopposed. The new four-year terms begin Jan. 1, 2020. Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle will officiate at a ceremo- nial swearing-in at the labor council’s Jan. 27 meeting. JOB TRAINING Oregon Tradeswomen is moving to Gresham Bethany Sherer 971.978.9534 12/31/19 2018 Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc. (OTI) is moving. The non-profit works to recruit and prepare women for careers in the con- struction, manufacturing, me- chanical, and utility trades. In re- cent years its staff of 16 has operated out of a ground floor storefront at 3934 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. On Jan. 10, the group will move into a newly renovated 8,300-square-foot space in Gre- sham. Located at 484 SE 187th Ave., it’s part of the 5.5-acre Rockwood Rising development on the site of a former Fred Meyer store. Besides offices, it will include about 4,000 square feet of workshop and classroom space that OTI will use for its pre-apprenticeship training pro- gram. The eight-week program gets women ready to enter skilled trade apprenticeship programs.
