NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS |
CULTURE
Class struggle takes the
stage at 2020 SAG Awards
By Don McIntosh
Unionism—and a film about
class struggle—got some of the
biggest applause at the 2020
Screen Actors Guild (SAG)
Awards. The event, which aired
Jan. 19 on TNT, is a chance for
film and television actors in the
union known as SAG-AFTRA
to honor the best in their profes-
sion.
This year, the union’s highest
award for Outstanding Perform-
ance by a Cast in a Motion Pic-
ture went to the cast of Parasite,
the runaway hit dark comedy
that depicts a working class
family that connives to escape
dire poverty by getting jobs as
servants for a rich family.
“It depicts a class struggle
taking place, all under one roof,
where some aren’t even aware a
struggle exists,” said actor Park
So Dam, speaking in Korean.
Parasite was the first foreign-
language film ever to win SAG-
AFTRA’s top award.
SAG-AFTRA also presented
a lifetime achievement award to
actor Robert DeNiro.
“I thank SAG-AFTRA for
tirelessly fighting on our behalf
for workplace and economic
gains and respect,” DeNiro said
in his acceptance speech. “And
that especially bears remember-
ing these days when there’s so
much hostility towards unions.”
In Portland, SAG-AFTRA
members gathered at the Lake
Theater in Lake Oswego to
watch the show, and to honor
Todd A. Robinson, board member of
the Portland Screen Actors Guild lo-
cal, spoke of the kindness and in-
tegrity of fellow SAG-AFTRA activist
Robert Blanche.
Robert Blanche, former local
president, who died Jan. 3.
Blanche, who acted alongside
DeNiro in the 2000 film Men of
Honor, was among those ac-
knowledged in the part of the
Los Angeles award ceremony
acknowledging actors in SAG-
AFTRA who had died in the
previous year. After the national
event ended, officers of the Port-
land local presented Blanche’s
widow Christine with a new an-
nual service award named in
Blanche’s honor.
February 7, 2020 | PAGE 3
Portland Public Schools ratifies union contracts
with DCU, custodians, food service workers
Portland Public Schools (PPS)
has ratified new union contracts
with maintenance employees of
the multi-union District Council
of Unions (DCU), and with cus-
todians and nutrition services
staff represented by Service
Employees Local 503.
The school district employs
78 maintenance workers who
are members of 13 craft unions.
That entire workforce will re-
ceive a 12% wage increase over
the next four years, plus a
nearly 12% increase in district
contributions to their health in-
surance premiums. The first
wage hike of 3% is effective
July 1, 2020, followed by 3%
hikes on July 1 in each of the
subsequent three years to 2023.
Effective Jan. 1, 2020, PPS pays
$1,355 a month for health insur-
ance premiums. That will in-
crease 5% in 2021 and top out
Jan. 1, 2023 at $1,524 a month.
Additionally, a wage compar-
ison study conducted by the
school district and DCU re-
sulted in further hourly wage
adjustments for several crafts.
Starting July 1, 2020, plumbers
will get an additional 60 cents
an hour, mechanics will get 90
cents, laborers will get 25 cents,
and electricians and carpenters
will get $1.25. In July 2021,
plumbers will get another 50
sters Local 206.
SEIU Local 503’s new agree-
ment provides both custodians
and nutrition service workers
with large cost of living adjust-
ments (COLAs) to bring their
wages up to a rate that is more
commensurate with neighbor-
ing districts. And long-term staff
will receive bonuses.
Wage adjustments for custo-
dians will result in around a 5%
increase retroactive to July 1,
2019, followed by a 3% in-
crease on July 1, 2020.
“It’s the best we’ve ever got-
ten. It’s the most money we’ve
gotten for these employees in
years,” said Tim Curtin, a cus-
todian at Grant High School and
a member of the bargaining
team.
Nutrition services assistants
got a 5% increase retroactive to
July 1, 2019, plus increases in
2020 and 2021. Some high
school leads will get one-time
$1,000 bonuses, and all leads
will see a 4% wage hike on July
1, 2020, and 5% on July 1,
2021.
The union represents 509
custodians and nutrition service
workers at the school district.
The School Board ratified the
contract on a unanimous vote
held Jan. 21.
cents an hour, mechanics will
get 80 cents, laborers will get 15
cents, and electricians and car-
penters will get another $1.
Hourly wages at PPS cur-
rently range from $24.80 to
$37.93, depending on the craft.
Leads, forepersons, and other
specialty workers are paid an
additional 3 to 10%.
The last two contracts at PPS
were one-year extensions, the
second of which expired on
Dec. 31, 2019.
“This was the least con-
tentious bargaining we’ve had
in decades,” said DCU Presi-
dent Pat Christensen, a business
rep for Plumbers and Fitters Lo-
cal 290. “There was a respectful
tone and real professionalism in
the room.”
DCU members ratified the
pact by a large margin in De-
cember, and the PPS School
Board confirmed the deal with
a unanimous vote on Jan. 7.
Unions affiliated with DCU
are Local 290, Bricklayers Lo-
cal 1, Carpenters, Cement Ma-
sons Local 555, IBEW Local
48, Glaziers Local 740, Labor-
ers Local 737, Floor Coverers
Local 1236, Machinists District
Lodge W24, Painters & Dry-
wall Finishers Local 10, Plaster-
ers Local 82, Sheet Metal
Workers Local 16, and Team-
If your employer forces you to work in
dangerous work conditions you can make
a CONFIDENTIAL report to OSHA
by calling (800) 922-2689.
Raymond Thomas
James Coon
Cynthia Newton
Chris Frost
www.tcnf.legal
Sydney Montanaro
Scott Sell
Chris Thomas
820 SW Second Ave., Suite 200, Portland, OR 97204