PAGE 2 | December 18, 2020 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
NORTHWEST
LABOR
PRESS
...Safe from Hate
From Page 1
(International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X)
Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of
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drawings demeaning to women
were found in a porta-pottie at
an Adidas construction site in
Portland.
“There’s a problem in the in-
dustry as a whole,” says Labor-
ers Local 737 Business Man-
ager Zach Culver. “It’s been a
longstanding problem. It’s our
job as leaders to step up and be
leaders and not turn a blind
eye.”
Union employers — and
unions — are trying to get the
word out that conduct like that
will no longer be tolerated.
Laborers Local 737, for ex-
ample, is letting its 2,800 mem-
bers know that the union won’t
be protecting those who harass
others on the job.
“Our union constitution and
our collective bargaining agree-
ments don’t protect that kind of
behavior,” Culver said.
Lauri Rollings, executive di-
rector of the union-signatory
Plumbing and Mechanical Con-
tractors Association of Oregon
(PMCA), developed a webinar
for PMCA contractors with a
protocol for handling future in-
cidents like the noose that was
found by a Plumbers and Fitters
Local 290 apprentice in May.
She’s also been working with
leaders of Local 290 to promote
a more positive jobsite culture.
The joint effort may begin with
“respectful workplace” trainings
for all members. PMCA and Lo-
cal 290 are also talking about
ways to intervene more effec-
tively with members who perpe-
trate abusive behavior. In recent
months, Rollings said, one Lo-
cal 290 member was fired for
using the “n” word on a job site,
and another was fired for a ho-
mophobic remark to a fellow
member. But when members are
fired for harassment, they go
back to the hiring hall and get
dispatched to another employer.
“That means the same prob-
lematic behavior potentially cre-
ates liability for the next contrac-
tor,” Rollings told the Labor
Press. To address that, PMCA
and Local 290 are discussing
ways to train and counsel of-
fenders.
“It would be more one-on-one
than a typical diversity training,”
Rollings said. “We want to make
sure we’re counseling why it’s
important to behave respectfully
toward co-workers.”
Via Zoom, Local 290 held a
four-morning 16-hour training
SAFE FROM HATE
JOBSITE CULTURE PLEDGE
■ Training Signers will implement positive jobsite culture training for all current
employees and/ or union members within six months. All employees, including
supervisors and managers, journeymen and apprentices will receive the training, and
unions will provide journeyworker “upgrade” trainings.
■ Zero tolerance Employers will work with labor partners, subcontractors, and others
to hold accountable any employee who instigates, supports, or fails to report jobsite
incidents. Employers will communicate clear protocols and enforce real consequences,
including suspension and termination after prompt and thorough investigation.
over two weekends in July, with
both union leaders and contrac-
tors in attendance. Another
training took place in Novem-
ber. The trainings were led by
longtime labor lawyer Barbara
Diamond and her associate Ma-
rina Moro. Diamond has been
holding workshops on implicit
bias and microaggression theory
since 2012.
“We start by talking about
peoples childhood,” Diamond
told the Labor Press. “People
haven’t communicated well
with each other about what their
life experience has been.”
Diamond, who since retired
from her law practice, is hopeful
progress can be made. What’s
now considered sexual harass-
ment was once just assumed to
be how women would be treated
in the workplace, until it gradu-
ally became unacceptable, Dia-
mond said.
One training Safe From Hate
is considering promoting indus-
try-wide is a program called
Green Dot. Used by general
contractor Hoffman Construc-
tion on the recently completed
Multnomah County Courthouse
project, it trains bystanders to
intervene when one worker ha-
rasses another.
“It took us 20 years to get
safety where it is today,” says
Penny Painter, a 20-year carpen-
ter who now manages the
BOLI-Oregon Department of
Transportation Workforce Pro-
gram. “The culture in the con-
struction industry is not going to
change overnight. However it is
going to change. Those that
want it to happen are ecstatic
about this work being done. And
those that don’t might want to
think about getting on board.”
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