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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2021)
PAGE 2 | October 1, 2021 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the labor 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 ben- efit corporation owned by 20 unions and councils includ- ing the Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union or- ganizations 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. Pay by credit card online at nwlaborpress.org/subscribe, or send a check to our mailing address (above) along with your name, address and union affilia- tion, if any. Group rates of 48 cents an issue per member — $11.52 a year are available for 25 or more subscriptions; call 503-288-3311 for details. CORRECTIONS: See an error? Please let us know at editor@nwlaborpress.org or by phone at 503-288-3311. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: If you move, let us know at nwlaborpress.org/subscriber-ser- vices or by mail at our mailing address (above). Be sure to provide your old and new addresses and the name/number of your local union. Please allow three weeks for the change to take effect. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS P.O. BOX 13150 PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 PLEASE SHOW OUR ADVERTISERS YOU APPRECIATE THEIR SUPPORT FOR THIS LABOR MOVEMENT NEWSPAPER! Hours: Mon-Sat 12-6 pm Closed Sunday 2021 OREGON BUILDING TRADES CONVENTION REPORT Safe From Hate Culture change is coming in construction. Contractors in- creasingly say they will sanction hostile and harassing on-the-job behaviors that used to be over- looked or laughed off. That’s the takeaway from one of the livelier sessions in the three-day conven- tion of the Oregon Building Trades Council: a Sept. 15 panel and audience discussion about an initiative called Safe From Hate. Safe From Hate is a local industry partnership formed last summer after someone hung a noose on a construction job in Portland in May—something that’s not that unheard of on con- struction job sites. Since then, 65 organizations, including contractors, develop- ers and many local unions, have signed the Safe From Hate pledge: to enforce a zero toler- ance policy against racial and sexual harassment, and to pro- mote positive job site culture. A united For a hate-Free workplace “Safe from Hate” panelists, from left: Lisa Palermo of Oregon Tradeswomen; Lou Christian of Plumbers & Fitters Local 290; Sheldon Wormley of Laborers Local 737; Kelly Haines of Worksystems Inc.; Scott Zadow and Garth Bachman of IBEW Local 48, and Zach Culver of Laborers Local 737. campaign web site is expected to launch in October. Safe From Hate is also rolling out a work- place training offered by Oregon Tradeswomen Inc., called RISE Up Oregon. Developed in Seat- tle, the training encourages by- standers to take a stand, to speak up. It’s not a training that seeks to foist guilt on white men or to antagonize or divide. Instead, it calls on union members to be their best selves, and have the guts to intervene when they see one co-worker target another. Addressing harassment isn’t just the right thing to do, Plumbers & Fitters Local 290 Business Manager Lou Chris- tian told delegates; it’s also a priority for union employers, who can suffer economic losses when workers sue after encoun- tering repeated harassment in workplaces. Local 290, together with its contractor association, is adopt- ing an approach aimed at change and reform, not punishment, but that also ends the practice of booting perpetrators off one job only to dispatch them to another. When a member commits egre- gious behavior, the union and employer will refer them for a training, and the union won’t dispatch them for further work until they’ve completed it. The issue is urgent, panelists said, in part because harassment undermines unions’ efforts to di- versify and grow their ranks. On the convention’s final day, delegates voted to make Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council the latest to sign the Safe From Hate pledge. –DM
