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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 2020)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | January 17, 2020 | PAGE 5 Boise Cascade busts Carpenters Union campaign in Medford Martin Luther King Jr.’s unfinished labor A union campaign among 375 workers at a pair of southern Ore- gon plywood mills ended in a crushing union election defeat. The Dec. 20 vote, which came af- ter Boise Cascade fired half a dozen outspoken union support- ers, was 61 in favor of unionizing, and 279 against. More than half of the workers had signed union authorization cards as of Nov. 25, when the union asked the Na- tional Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold an election. Pacific Northwest Regional We honor and celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. the third Mon- day every January, but the ver- sion of King we hear most about has been sanitized, white- washed. We hear a lot about King the dreamer, King the in- tegrationist, King the civil rights icon. Too often neglected is the King who hungered for eco- nomic justice, who stood with black workers in union strug- gles, who called for a massive government jobs program. That King, in the final days of his life, was organizing a Poor People’s Movement — to march on Washington, D.C., and set up a tent city there until the govern- ment got serious about ending poverty. That King was the tar- get of dismissive newspaper ed- itorials and surveillance by a paranoid FBI. Even when we hear about the 1963 March on Washington — at which he made the “I Have A Dream” speech — it’s too often forgotten what they were marching for. The march — the largest demonstration in U.S. history up to that point — wasn’t just for an end to racial discrimination. It was the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” Not just free- dom, but jobs. Not just an end to racial discrimination in housing, but a guarantee of decent hous- Council of Carpenters has filed at least eight separate charges with the NLRB challenging the firings and other alleged viola- tions of federal labor law, such as supervisors asking workers how they’d vote. The company fought the union effort even though about one fifth of Boise Cascade em- ployees are union-represented. Nine collective bargaining agreements cover roughly 1,350 Boise Cascade workers. The union campaign at Boise Cascade’s plywood mill in Medford and its laminated ve- neer lumber mill in White City was begun by the Carpenters In- dustrial Council, a nationwide union representing workers in plywood mills and cabinet man- ufacturing. Last April, locals of the council were merged into re- gional councils of the Carpen- ters Union. For the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, that meant over 4,000 new members in 13 locals in six states. ... Among Oregon Dems, Schrader is lone holdout From Page 1 thus avoiding any real account- ability for union busting,” the state labor federation said in a statement. A recent study by the Eco- nomic Policy Institute found employers were violating fed- eral law in roughly 42% of all union election campaigns, with 20% involving a charge that a worker was “illegally fired” for union activity. Additionally, in nearly a third of all union elec- tions, employers were charged with “illegally coercing, threat- ening, or retaliating against workers for supporting a union.” These numbers only repre- sent elections supervised by the National Labor Relations Board. “Corporations and anti-union special interest groups will con- tinue to exploit loopholes in our outdated labor laws to keep workers from standing together in strength. We have a chance to fix this problem, but Rep. Schrader does not seem to see it that way,” Trainor said. The Oregon AFL-CIO is ask- ing members to call Schrader’s district offices at 503-588-9100 (Salem) and 503-557-1324 (Oregon City) and tell his staff that you want him to co-sponsor or support the PRO Act, (H.R. 2474) so that more working people have the opportunity to join a union. Schrader is up for election this year. He is being challenged in the Democratic primary by Milwaukie Mayor Mark Gamba. The 5th District covers Lincoln, Marion, Polk, Tillam- ook and portions of Benton, Clackamas and Multnomah counties. ing for all Americans. Not just an end to racial discrimination in employment, but an increase in the minimum wage to $2-an- hour — which would be over $17 in today’s dollars. Not just an end to voting restrictions, but a comprehensive program to train and employ all unem- ployed Americans. Those were King’s goals in 1963, and they remained his goals in 1968 when he was as- sassinated. Too many of them today remain undone. So this MLK Day, let’s not congratulate ourselves on all that he and we achieved. Let’s take up his unfinished labor. Let’s demand that government intervene to reverse growing economic inequality. “We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really does- n't matter with me now, because I've been to the moun- taintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life; longevity has its place. But I’m not con- cerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” — Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis in support of striking public-sector workers, the day before his assassination “UNIONS HAVE BEEN THE ONLY POWERFUL AND EFFECTIVE VOICE WORKING PEOPLE HAVE EVER HAD IN THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY.” — BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
