Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 2021)
SERVING ORGANIZED LABOR IN OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON SINCE 1900 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS VOLUME 122, NUMBER 20 IN THIS ISSUE NURSE UNION STAFFING AT CRISIS LEVELS A year into COVID, exhausted nurses are leaving. | Page 2 SW WASHINGTON UNION ELECTION GUIDE Ballots go out Oct. 15 for city councils and school boards. | Page 5 Meeting Notices p.4 Massive strike wave? p.8 PORTLAND, OREGON OCTOBER 15, 2021 360 Sheet Metal fired Tanner Womack for sharing information about cus- tomers with his union. He’s now at another union shop, Arctic Sheet Metal. Local 16 ramps up campaign as 360 Sheet Metal fires unionists NOTE TO MANAGEMENT: WE’RE NOT BLUFFING. A massive crowd of more than 700 OFNHP members and supporters gathered for a union rally Sept. 29 outside Kaiser Permanente’s Portland offices. The message: They want safe staffing and a fair contract, and they’re ready to strike if that’s what it takes to get it. Kaiser courting massive strike The votes leave no question: Workers at Kaiser Permanente are ready to strike. Oregon Fed- eration of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) an- nounced Oct. 11 that 90% of its 3,400 Kaiser members voted and 96% of them authorized a strike. The same day, United Nurses Associations of Califor- nia/Union of Health Care Pro- fessionals and United Steel- workers Local 7600 announced that they too voted to authorize a strike, which would involve 31,000 Kaiser workers in Southern California. The three unions are part of a 50,000-worker, 21-union coali- tion, the Alliance of Health Care Unions. They say everything they’ve fought for for decades is at stake. Kaiser is pushing a “two-tier” scheme to cut pay for new hires, and offering below- inflation raises of 1% at a time of massive burnout among health care workers and a grow- ing and severe labor shortage. In a recent OFNHP nurse survey, 60% said they were considering leaving Kaiser. Gladstoned-headquartered Operating Engineers Local 701, which represents 103 stationary engineers at Kaiser, isn’t part of the coalition, but its contract, ex- tended twice, expired Sept. 15. And about 700 members of Op- erating Engineers Local 39 have been on strike in San Franciscoº since Sept. 18. Under federal law, health care workers must give 10-day notice before striking. –DM Film/TV strike would be biggest ever For the first time in the 128- year history of International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE), members have authorized a strike at film and television productions nationwide. Alto- gether, 53,411 members in 36 locals voted—a turnout of 90%. And 98.7% of them voted to authorize a strike, the union announced Oct. 4. From set de- signers and prop makers to gaffers and set painters, the workers are indispensable in film and television production. In contract negotiations with the employer group Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, IATSE is demand- ing an end to the special lower pay rates for productions aimed at streaming services like Net- flix, Amazon Prime, and Ap- ple+. Members agreed to lower rates when streaming was in its infancy, but now that it’s the dominant mode, IATSE says it’s past time for that conces- sion to end. IATSE also wants an end to extreme forced over- time that’s wrecking members’ health and family lives. The In- stragram account @ia_stories has posted over 1,000 exam- ples, including routinely missed meal breaks, 16 hour workdays, and worse. “I hope that the studios will see and understand the resolve of our members,” said IATSE president Matthew Loeb in a press statement. Loeb said Oct. 8 that if a deal isn’t reached soon, a strike by just under 60,000 members would begin within days, not weeks. –DM Local 16’s relationship with the newly unionized Vancouver firm has gone from bad to worse. By Don McIntosh Workers at 360 Sheet Metal Products in Vancouver voted June 21 by 12 to 9 to join Sheet Metal Workers Local 16. Under federal labor law, the vote means the company is obliged to negotiate in good faith with the union over a first-time col- lective bargaining agreement. But leaders of Local 16 say that’s not happening, and in September, owner Joe Martin suspended and fired the worker who was serving on the union bargaining team, and two days later, another union supporter. Martin is a repeat offender: In 2003, the Northwest Labor Press reported he fired five union sup- porters at his previous (now-de- funct) company, Reliable HVAC. The new firings add urgency to the union’s already escalating public pressure campaign on the company. Banners and a giant inflatable fat cat are going up weekly at sites that use 360’s products. And on Sept. 30, Lo- cal 16 sent a letter to general contractors and subcontractors that have employed 360 in the past, letting them know that 360 is under investigation for pre- vailing wage and occupational safety violations. Tanner Womack, the first union supporter to be fired at 360, had been serving on the union bargaining team. He says the contract negotiations went poorly from the start, and not just because Martin rejected all union proposals to improve on the status quo. It is standard practice for union bargaining teams to include workers from the bargaining unit. But after Womack took part in bargaining, Martin issued him an attendance “point”—a first step that could lead to discipline—because the negotiation session took place during his scheduled shift. It’s also the norm for unions to reim- burse workers for wages they lose in order to take part in bar- gaining. The employer pays for the time, and the union reim- burses the employer. But 360 in- sisted that Womack’s pay come out of his paid time off when he took part in negotiations, mean- ing he’d use up any vacation he’d earned. Local 16 warned the company that was out of line, and could lead to legal charges. Martin also reportedly told workers he can’t give them any raises while bargaining is under way. It isn’t true, Local 16 says, and it violates federal labor law to tell workers that. And Martin hasn’t been willing to meet more than once a month to negotiate. Turn to Page 8