NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS |
January 1, 2021 | PAGE 3
POLITICS
Labor prepares 2021 state legislative agendas
State lawmakers in Salem and Olympia
will open their 2021 legislative sessions
Jan. 11. Given COVID chaos, it’s anyone’s
guess how it will go.
OREGON
Having discovered their power to stop
all legislation by walking out to deprive
the Legislature of quorum, Oregon’s
Republican delegation may again exer-
cise a minority veto this year. A pair of
re-introduced prospective ballot meas-
ures sponsored by the big public sector
unions AFSCME and SEIU Local 503
could curb that tactic, but in the best
case scenario, they’re nearly two years
away from being going before voters.
Organized labor will be going to
Salem with a fairly modest agenda this
year when compared with recent years’
campaigns like sick leave, minimum
wage increases, and paid family leave.
Here are some of the top proposals:
Grant workers’ comp to essential workers who
contract COVID-19 So-called essential workers
who face the public would automatically get workers’
compensation benefits if they contract COVID-19,
relieving them of the burden of proving they got the
virus at work in order to get their medical bills and
lost wages paid for. The so-called workers’ comp
presumption is the top priority for the state’s largest
private sector union, UFCW Local 555, which
represents grocery workers.
Let workers sue when employers break labor
laws Minimum wage, overtime pay, sick leave, and
other labor laws only matter if they’re enforced, and
there’s reason to believe Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and
Industries is too understaffed to effectively enforce
them. A proposal modeled on California’s Private
Attorneys General Act would give whistleblowers the
right to sue employers as individuals or
organizations, on behalf of the state. Penalties
awarded by the court would go to pay for better
enforcement. A “just enforcement” proposal that was
introduced in previous sessions as a bill called the
Oregon Corporate Accountability Act would make
that possible.
Extend paid sick leave to union construction
workersWhen Oregon’s paid sick leave law was
passed in 2015, union construction workers were
exempted because of the complexities of providing
paid leave through union trusts to workers who have
multiple employers. Now, the Oregon Building Trades
Council says it’s time to figure out a way to give union
construction workers the same rights.
Set safe staffing levels in corrections Nurses
recently won a state law setting minimum staffing
levels — a boon for both patient safety and nurse
stress levels. Now corrections officers, represented by
Oregon AFSCME, are ready to make a similar case,
arguing that understaffed prisons create an unsafe
environment for staff and for inmates. Understaffing
is also leading to abuse of overtime by prison officials,
taking a toll on workers.
Calculate a simpler and better prevailing wage
The Oregon Building Trades Council and Pacific NW
Regional Council of Carpenters will argue that the
current method of computing the prevailing wage on
state and local public construction projects—an
expensive and time-consuming quarterly survey of
employers—doesn’t produce accurate results.
Instead, the proposal is to adopt the union rate of pay
and benefits when setting the prevailing wage, like
the State of Washington does.
Ensure opportunity for construction apprentices
In order to make sure construction trades have the
chance to train the next generation and diversify their
ranks, the Oregon Building Trades will advocate for
minimum standards for apprentice utilization on
public construction projects.
End abuse of non-competes A bill supported by the
Oregon AFL-CIO would ensure that “noncompetes”
—agreements binding workers to not work for a
competitor for a certain time — would only apply to
high wage earners.
Honor the Sixth Amendment A bill backed by
Oregon AFSCME, which represents public defenders,
would put Oregon on course to end the severe
underfunding of the public defender system. A
similar bill appeared headed for passage in 2020, but
died due to the Republican walkout.
WASHINGTON
Given plans to meet remotely, state law-
makers are encouraging all parties to
keep expectation in check. Labor’s leg-
islative priorities this year will include:
Pass a high-income capital gains tax Because the
Washington state budget is highly dependent on the
sales tax, lawmakers are looking at a potential shortfall
of up to $1 billion a year, unless they find new revenue.
The state AFL-CIO is preparing to support a tax on
capital gains that would affect only the top 2%.
Let workers sue when employers break labor laws
Just like a similar bill in Oregon, a Washington bill
dubbed the Worker Protection Act would give workers
the right to sue employers as individuals or
organizations, on behalf of the state, over labor law
violations. Vancouver state representative Monica
Stonier is expected to be one of the bill’s chief sponsors.
Reform unemployment insurance The Washington
State Labor Council plans to support a proposal to cut
down on unemployment insurance fraud and make it
easier for workers to navigate the unemployment
insurance system.
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Beware of “nurse case managers” in a
workers’ compensation claim. You do not have
to allow a nurse case manager to
accompany you to your doctor’s appointments.
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