NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS |
NLRB goes back to holding
union elections
After a two week suspension,
the National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB) began holding
union elections again on April 6.
Holding elections to determine
whether a majority of employ-
ees in a workplace want a union
is one of the agency’s core mis-
sions, and it was the first time in
85 years the agency had halted
them. The suspension was justi-
fied as a way to protect NLRB
agents and observers from con-
trcting the coronavirus.
Some anti-union lawyers
hoped the suspension would go
on longer: 20 of them wrote to
the NLRB April 20 saying the
suspension should continue —
because the pandemic is pre-
venting some employers from
holding anti-union meetings!
City of Portland asks
unions for pay freeze
With the pandemic response
causing the loss of tens of mil-
lions of dollars in revenue from
business licenses, lodging taxes,
parking fees, gas taxes, and Parks
Bureau fees, the City of Portland
is looking to cut payroll costs. On
April 14, the City notified non-
union workers and managers that
they’ll have to take 10 days of
unpaid furlough and give up all
scheduled raises this year.
May 1, 2020 | PAGE 9
The City is asking unions to
agree to the same in bargaining
with the six-union District
Council of Trade Unions
(DCTU) over a new contract
that would start July 1. The
City’s contract with Laborers
Local 483 mandates raises
through July 2021, but the City
is also asking Local 483 to give
up this year’s raises to prevent
layoffs. Nothing has been
agreed to yet, and union nego-
tiators are asking the City for
more detail about the budget hit.