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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 20, 2019)
SERVING ORGANIZED LABOR IN OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON SINCE 1900 NORTHWEST IN THIS ISSUE LABOR PRESS It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! L CLARK COLLEGE FACULTY AUTHORIZE STRIKE CCAHE says they’re overdue for catch-up raises. | Page 2 VAL HOYLE TO TRIMET: BACK OFF The commissioner of labor opposes a plan to cut apprenticeship | Page 6 Meeting notices p.14 VOLUME 120, NUMBER 24 Iron worker Santa p.24 PORTLAND, OREGON DECEMBER 20, 2019 abor unions from Oregon and Southwest Washington came to- gether to host an amazing Presents from Partners holiday party Dec. 14 for families experiencing difficult times. Some 350 kids — from toddlers to teens—and 250 parents and/or caregivers en- joyed the festivities. Labor’s Community Service Agency, the North- west Oregon Labor Council, members from 50 union locals, and 14 community allies, including United Way of the Columbia- Willamette, donated toys, cash, and volunteers for the event. Each child took home three presents, plus a game, sports ball, books, and a stuffed animal. All the families ate a hot lunch donated by Spin Catering. For dessert there was cake made by members of Bak- ers Local 114. Radio Cab, where dispatchers are members of Team- sters Local 305, donated rides for families to and from the event. ILWU Local 8 members and their Portland Local 8 Federal Credit Union raised over $15,000. With that money they purchased 70 bi- cycles, books, and gifts for older teens. The bikes were assembled Turn to Page 26 UNION ORGANIZING Grand Central Baking workers join union By Don McIntosh Workers who make bread for Grand Central Baking in Port- land voted to unionize Dec. 12 in an election held by the National Labor Relations Board. The 29- to-9 vote affirmed what the workers had told management three weeks earlier: Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco, and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 114 has the support of a majority of the workers at the company’s wholesale bakery at 2249 NW York St. For now, just the 44 bakers and dishwashers at that location will be union-represented. Work- ing three shifts a day, they make all the Grand Central bread and rolls sold in local Fred Meyer, QFC, Whole Foods, and New Seasons Market stores. The com- pany’s 12 retail locations, its NE Fremont pastry bakery, and its Seattle wholesale bakery, remain nonunion, but supporters of the new-born union at the Portland wholesale bakery have given After winning the vote, supporters gather with their new union’s banner: From left: Cameron, Lou, Autumn, Ashlee, Allie, Dana (and lower right, Mae the dog.) workers at all other locations an open invitation to join the union effort. Grand Central employs about 460 workers in all. In the weeks before the union election, a company-wide memo told all employees not to talk to the press. It even directed them to ask TV camera crews to leave the property … if any showed up. Nor did the company respond to messages from the Northwest Labor Press. But a spokesperson for the Turn to Page 15 TRADE AFL-CIO endorses Trump’s revised re-write of NAFTA trade treaty For the first time in a genera- tion, NAFTA is getting a re- write, and even America’s premier trade union federation has endorsed the final draft. NAFTA, which took effect in 1994, eliminated tariffs on goods and services made and traded within the three na- tions of North America, and granted special rights to for- eign investors. That made it easier for U.S. corporations to shift production to Mexico, where wages are lower and workers’ rights are weaker and environmental enforce- ment is more lax. Donald Trump pledged in his 2016 campaign to renego- tiate or pull out of NAFTA, and in September 2018, he announced a new deal had been negotiated. The pro- posed U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) con- tained a number of improve- ments over NAFTA: ▪ It committed Mexico to reform its labor law to guarantee workers right to choose their unions and approve union contracts via secret-ballot votes. ▪ It mandated that at least 40% of auto content be made by workers earning over $16 per hour, and that 75% of the value of materials within a car or truck be produced in North America in order to cross borders tariff-free (up from 62.5% under NAFTA). ▪ It scaled back NAFTA’s controversial Investor-State Dispute Settlement process, which allows foreign investors to sue governments in special trade tribunals if new regulations deprive them of opportunities for profit. But national AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka—and top Democrats in Congress— said that wasn’t good enough. Turn to Page 25
