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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (June 18, 2021)
PAGE 2 | June 18, 2021 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the la- bor movement. Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-profit mutual benefit corpo- ration owned by 20 unions and councils including the Ore- gon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Office location: 4275 NE Halsey St., Portland, Oregon Mailing address: P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213 Phone: (503) 288-3311 Web address: https://nwlaborpress.org Editor & Manager: Michael Gutwig Senior staff reporter: Don McIntosh Office manager: Jill Lukens Printed on recycled paper, using soy-based inks, by members of Teamsters Local 747-M. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Individual subscriptions are $15 a year for union members, $23 a year for all others. 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Hours: Mon-Sat 12-6 pm Closed Sunday COLLECTIVE BARGAINING Wages rise $4.96 an hour in new Roofers contract Members of Portland-based Roofers and Waterproofers Lo- cal 49 got a pretty healthy set of raises in the new contract that will take effect July 1. Journeymen wages—which are currently $36.23 an hour in the Portland metro area—will rise $4.96 an hour over three years: $1.50 July 1, 2021; $1.65 July 1, 2022; and $1.75 July 1, 2023. Foremen get 10% to 20% above the journeyman wage. Apprentices start at 60% of the journeyman wage and get raises in regular increments as they complete 4,000 hours of on-the-job training to be- come journeymen. All other terms remain basically the same, including $19.23 for full-family health insurance, pension, and other fringe ben- efits. That means as of July 1, the total package will be $57.21 an hour. “Most of our members were pretty happy with it,” said Lo- cal 49 business manager Russ Garnett. Garnett said contrac- tors initially offered much less, pointing to the effects of COVID-19. But union roofers haven’t seen much if any im- pact from the pandemic, Gar- nett said. Aside from a slight reduction in hours, members are basically at full employ- ment right now, particularly on prevailing wage public works jobs and big hotel and tech projects. Garnett said the con- tract passed pretty easily. The agreement covers most of the local’s 650 members when they work for any of the 12 roofing contractors that make up the Union Contractors Group. A separate recent agreement covers contractors in the Eugene area; they got a $2 an hour raise in a one-year contract that runs to June 1, 2022. The new agreement runs through July 2, 2024. –DM UNION ROOFERS ABC Roofing Anderson Roofing Arrow Roofing & Sheet Metal Carlson Roofing FD Thomas Waterproofing Garon Roofing & Sheet Metal Griffith Roofing McDonald & Wetle McGilchrist & Sons Roofing Pacific Roofing Snyder Umpqua Roofing Serious outbreak of wage increases across nursing home industry Since April, when the Avamere nursing home chain signed a breakthrough contract with Service Employees Interna- tional Union (SEIU) Local 503 raising starting wages up to $4 an hour, three other Oregon nursing home chains have agreed to match those stan- dards. The life-changing raises come as signed letters of agree- ment with Avalon, Prestige, and EmpRes, all which have cur- rent union contracts that run through Sept. 30, 2021. “It’s really clear why,” said Local 503 spokesperson Ben Morris. “They’re having a hard time hiring across the industry.” At Avalon, the new $18 an hour wage floor took effect June 7 for all certified nursing assistants and certified medica- tion aides—a 23% increase in starting wages. At Prestige, the new wage floor is also $18 an hour— for certified nursing as- sistants, certified medication aides, and restorative aides. It’s the single largest one-time pay increase at Prestige since work- ers there unionized. Avalon and Prestige reached their agreements May 11. And on May 16 at the Em- pRes chain, starting wages rose to $21 an hour for certified medication aides and $18 an hour for certified nursing assis- tants. Dakavia is the only remain- ing hold out among unionized nursing home chains in Ore- gon. Nonunion Marquis Compa- nies has also raised wages. All told, Local 503 repre- sents 550 workers at Avamere nursing homes; 649 workers at 10 Avalon facilities; 882 at 17 Prestige facilities; and 307 at 10 EmpRes facilities.
