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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 2019)
PAGE 8 | December 6, 2019 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS At a Eugene environmental group, workers move to unionize Workers at the environmental nonprofit Our Children’s Trust are unionizing. Based in Eugene, Oregon, Our Children’s Trust is best known for Juliana v. United States, a lawsuit in which 21 young Americans are suing the federal government for not tak- ing enough action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. On Nov. 19, the Our Chil- dren’s Trust management re- ceived a petition signed by a ma- jority of its 16 workers asking for voluntary official recognition of their choice to join Commu- nications Workers of America (CWA) Local 7901 and asking for a response by Nov. 22. Our Children’s Trust workers think unionizing could help them win a greater commitment to diversity in hiring and a more democratic and transparent deci- sion-making process, a spokesperson for the union or- ganizing committee told the La- bor Press. On Nov. 22, workers did get what Local 7901 President A.J. Mendoza described as a favor- able and respectful response from the president of the board. On Nov. 25, Local 7901 went ahead and asked the National Labor Relations Board to sched- ule a union election, but the re- quest could be withdrawn if management agrees to voluntar- ily recognize the union. Local 7901 has its base at telecom employers like Centu- rylink and AT&T, but it also rep- resents workers at half a dozen non-profits, including Bark, First Unitarian Church, Free Geek, Fund for the Public Interest, KBOO, Portland Jobs with Jus- tice, and Voz Workers Rights Education Project, as well as union staff at SEIU Local 503 and the Teamsters. The union effort at Our Chil- dren’s Trust comes amid a recent surge of nonprofit unionization: ▪ In July, workers at the League of Conservation Voters announced a union, which management recognize on Aug. 23. ▪ On Oct. 10, workers at Food and Water Watch asked for voluntary union recognition; that hadn’t happened as of press time. ▪ On Oct. 16, workers at the climate change group 350.org announced their intent to unionize. ▪ On Nov. 7, over 300 workers at the anti- hate-group Southern Poverty Law Center petitioned for a union election. The notoriously wealthy group, which last year reported $492.5 million in assets, has hired a union-avoidance law firm. A vote will be held by mail, with ballots counted Dec. 16. Marion-Polk-Yamhill Labor Chapter to host Kids’ Holiday Party Dec. 21 in Salem the three-county area are invited — and it’s free! The fun in- cludes live Christmas music, a showing of the movie “The Grinch,” goodie bags for the kids and—of course—a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus. For more information, contact Elissa Edge at elissa@osea.org or call 503-428-3971. Marion-Polk-Yamhill Counties Labor Chapter will host the 79th annual Children’s Holiday Party Saturday, Dec. 21, at the Elsi- nore Theatre, 170 High St., SE, Salem. Doors open at 8:45 a.m. All children and their families in REPRESENTING UNION VALUES On billboards and online, Giovanni Caceres has be- come one of the public faces of his union, Laborers Lo- cal 737, thanks to a publicity campaign by Northwest Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust (NW LECET). A non-profit funded by signatory contrac- tors and local unions, NW LECET helps Laborers locals and their contractors win projects and jobs for Laborers Union members. It does that with a project tracking service that lets contractors know about opportunities to bid on work in their specialties—and by getting the word out to the public about the work union laborers do. In the image, Caceres stands in a 15-foot ditch in downtown Portland where a sidewalk used to be. That day, his employer, Extreme Excavation, was putting electric pipes in the ground, and backfilling with gravel. Workers stay safe thanks to shoring jacks that prevent the trench from collapsing. Earlier this year the photo appeared on several billboards in the Portland area and in Facebook recruitment ads. It’s still up online on a web site called LiUNAcares.com, and on the banner of NW LECET’s Facebook page. It operates in the nine states on the U.S. side of Laborers Northwest region.
