Image provided by: SEIU Local 503; Salem, OR
About The Oregon public employe. (Salem, Oregon) 1981-???? | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1981)
In Brief Former OSEA Members Win $800,000 Suit A federal court awarded $800,000 on Sept. 5 to four people who were twice fired as Lincoln County sheriff’s deputies by former Sheriff Everett Hockema. The former Oregon State Employes Association (now OPEU) employes contend they were fired for union activity. Each of the plaintiffs was awarded $100,000 in compensatory damages ' and $100,000 in punitive damages. Hockema and the County are appealing the verdict and the award. The former deputies—Henry Blum, Barbara Dollowitch, Richard Shawver and Donald Schmidt— sued the County and Hockema, NLRB Hits Union Busting Strategy A recent National Labor Relations Board ruling may set a precedent for attacking the sophisticated psychological tactics used in some union busting campaigns. Ruling that the tactics employed by General Electric Corp, were part of an illegal strategy to discourage support for the union, the NLRB has thrown out the result of an election at the GE plant in Winchester, Virginia, which the International Union of Electrical Workers lost. Management strategy to defeat the union included surveillance of union meetings, coercive inter rogation of employes, plus more subtle devices such as a survey of employes designed to determine what problems the workers wanted corrected and the establishment of an employe-management “ sound ing board" to deal with problems unearthed in the survey. Using Time Clocks Against Unions Against ATT A new personnel policy which required unionized clerical and technical employes—but not non union workers—to punch time clocks, has been ruled dis criminatory by an arbitrator. He ordered the time clock rule at Aetna-Standard Engineering Co. in Pennsylvania rescinded, because the An employer’s refusal to furnish a union with photocopies of griev ance-related materials unlawfully hinders a union’s ability to fulfill its duties as bargaining representative, the U,S, Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled. The court found no legal basis for American Telephone and Telegraph’s historic refusal to furnish the Com munications Workers of America with copies of informât ion needed to process grievances. ATT has in sisted the information be copied by hand. r H E OREGON A publication of tha Oregon Public Employas Union, SEIU The Oregon Public Employe is published monthly (except August) by the Oregon Public Employes Union, a public employe labor organization. Editorial and advertising offices are located at 1127-25th Street S.E., Salem, Oregon 97301. Second Class postage paid at Salem, Oregon. Subscriptions: $5 per year. USPS: 411-480 ISSN: 0279-9367 POSTMASTER: If undelivered, please send form 3579 to OPEU, P.O.Box 12159, Salem, OR 97309. HEADQUARTERS O FFIC E 1127-25th S.E. P.O. Box 12159 Salem, OR 97309-0159 Telephone: 581-1505 Portland members call: 223-1569 Elsewhere; 800-452-2146 (8 a.m. - 5 p.m.) P EN D LETO N OFFICE 424 S.W. 6th P.O. Box 1659 Pendleton, OR 97801-0510 Telephone: 276-4983 (10 a.m. - 2 p.m.) P O R TLA N D O FFIC E 2154 N.E. Broadway, Suite 204 Portland, OR 97232-1571 Telephone: 249-2981 (8 a.m. - 5 p.m., except 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.) SALEM O FFIC E 1870 Hawthorne, N.E. Eldred Realty Bldg., Suite 103 Salem, OR 97303-1620 Telephone: 588-9230 (8 a.m. - 5 p.m.) M EDFO RD O FFIC E 1133 S. Riverside, Suite 7 Medford, OR 97501-0160 Medford members call: 779-4324 Elsewhere: 800-452-7965 (8 a.m. ■ noon) EUGENE O FFIC E 1748 W. 18th Avenue Eugene, OR 97402 3625 Telephone: 342-1055 (8 a.m - 5 p.m.) Page 2 Blum was president of the local chapter of OSEA. The other three served on the OSEA negotiating team. The Oregon Employment Rela tions Board subsequently found Hockema and the County guilty of multiple unfair labor practices and ordered the deputies reinstated immediately. The plaintiffs were rehired on Oct. 12, 1978, but were immediately fired by Hockema, who this time gave each a letter stating several reasons for dismissal, including irresponsibility and dishonesty. Court Rules VOLUME XXIN, No. 8 OCTOBER 1881 P U B L IC EM PLOYE contending they suffered embar rassment, ridicule and loss of pay as a result of Hockema’s actions in 1977 and 1978. The plaintiffs alleged that Hockema, after having expressed “great displeasure” over the depu ties’ association recent affiliation with the Oregon State Employes Association and over the union’s bargaining proposals, fired them Aug. 9, 1977. They said Hockema gave no written reasons for the firings, but that he later indicated the terminations were “ because of the collective bargaining negotia tions.” Cities Increase Revenues Through User Fees In a survey of 594 cities, the congressional Joint Economic Com- .m itte e found th a t m ore and m ore cities are imposing a user fee for previously free services. Half the cities surveyed were expecting to be short of money this year, with the likely result of higher taxes, service cutbacks and layoffs. In addition, more than half of the union contracts in big city police, fire and sanitation departments will expire this year. In response, 20 percent of the nation’s cities are requiring user fees, particularly in the West and Northeast. California cities are perhaps the most creative in devising new sources of income. Sports leagues are charged $1,000 to use playing fields. An ambulance ride costs $50. A home buyer faces an array of charges that can add an average $6,000 to the cost of buying a house. The user fees now pay for fire stations, schools, water, sewer and other services formerly paid from property taxes. Portland OPEU Office Plans Open House The Portland branch office of the Oregon Public Employes Union has moved and will hold an open house on Oct. 21 from 5-7 p.m. The new address is 2154 N.E. Broadway, Suite 204, Portland, OR 97232. The new telephone number is 249-2981. The branch office was previously at 2300 S.W. Sixth Avenue. company “ has not proved that it has a substantial business justifica tion for the rule.” The arbitrator also noted that the rule is discriminatory because some nonunion employes may consider a time dock “ demeaning,” and there fore might be discouraged from joining the Steelworkers. Family Fund Established for PATCO Strike activity by the nation’s air traffic controllers is continuing despite th e Reagan a d m in istra tio n ’s claim that PATCO members have been fired and will not be allowed to return to work. Union members who want to walk picketlines along with PATCO members in Portland and Eugene are always welcome, according to PATCO officials. In addition, OPEU members can help by contributing to the PATCO Family Fund, which was established by the AFL-CIO. Contributions to the fund can be mailed to 815 Sixteenth St., N.W., Washington,' D.C. 20006 or to PATCO’s Local 540 office at 915 N.E. Davis, Portland, OR 97332. A retired couple from Maine were the first to contribute to the PATCO Family Fund. In a letter accompanying their $10 contribution, they said they were outraged at the jailing of strikers, the heavy fines levied against the union and by other tactics which they had “ associated with totali tarian regimes.” They said they had followed through with letters to Reagan and the Maine congressional delegation protesting the “ vindictive punish ment of strikers.”
