Northwest labor press., July 03, 2020, Page 3, Image 3

NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS |
July 3, 2020 | PAGE 3
CITY OF PORTLAND
Collective bereavement?
Mayor says it’s time to acknowl-
edge Black employees are griev-
ing 400 years of oppression.
After 10 days of street protests
over the Minneapolis police
killing of George Floyd, Portland
Mayor Ted Wheeler announced
in a June 8 email that City of
Portland workers can take up to
a week of paid bereavement
leave “to grieve and reflect.”
That’s a big expansion of the
bereavement leave spelled out in
City union contracts, like the one
covering members of the six-
union District Council of Trade
Unions (DCTU). Up to now,
paid bereavement leave has been
limited to three days, plus up to
two days of necessary funeral
travel time, and only for imme-
diate family: parents, siblings,
grandparents, in-laws and so on.
Paid bereavement leave didn’t
extend as far as uncles and
cousins, though bureau directors
could grant it at their discretion,
“under exceptional circum-
stances.” The contract also gives
City workers up to four hours
paid time off to attend a co-
worker’s funeral.
The new bereavement leave is
temporary, a June 23 email from
the Bureau of Human Resources
explained further, to allow staff
“a chance to grieve over the re-
cent loss of Black lives in Amer-
ica and the trauma that has ac-
companied this.”
“The intention of this bereave-
ment leave centers on the needs
and experiences first and fore-
most of our Black employees
during a movement of Black jus-
tice and a recognition of all the
trauma that Black employees
face in their everyday lives given
systemic racism,” the HR email
said. “Additionally, we intended
to give space for BIPOC com-
munities experiencing racism
and processing a lot of trauma
during this time as well. [BIPOC
is a recently coined acronym for
“Black, Indigenous and people
of color.”] And finally, we
wanted to provide space for indi-
viduals in close proximity to
these experiences as a multi-
racial or white family member
with immediate family members
experiencing the trauma of
racism. We want to encourage
our white employees to do some
reflection on how to step up and
cover the work space so that
BIPOC and those employees that
truly need the time can grieve
and take time to care for them-
selves.”
City unions weren’t consulted
on the new benefits, but neither
were they inclined to refuse the
sudden generosity. Still, it came
as a surprise in a city that has
stonewalled union proposals for
essential worker bonus pay as
well as pay differentials for
workers who are fluent enough
to speak foreign languages with
members of the public.
Eight days after the bereave-
ment leave announcement, the
mayor issued another unilateral
addition: City workers will have
a new paid holiday, Juneteenth
(June 19), to celebrate the eman-
cipation of enslaved people in the
United States. City unions expect
that will come in addition to the
10 paid holidays union contracts
currently recognize.
If you are hurt on a construction site and
another contractor had control over the work
that injured you, you may be able to sue that
company for your injuries in addition to your
workers’ comp claim.
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