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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 26, 2016)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Tuesday, April 26, 2016 Ammon Bundy questions authority of feds to prosecute him Business quiet on new wage rules By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau The business community was nearly absent from a public hearing Monday on draft rules for how itinerant employees will be paid under Oregon’s new regional minimum wage law. The law sets three different regional minimum wage rates. It pays workers the highest rate in the Portland metro area, the lowest rate in most coastal and rural areas and a mid-level rate elsewhere in the state. The proposed rules require employers to pay the regional wage that applies in the location where the employee actually worked in a given week, unless the employee was working outside of their regular location for an “incidental period RIWLPH´,QFLGHQWDOLVGH¿QHGDVOHVVWKDQ four hours per week. About 20 people, a combination of workers and labor activists, turned out at the hearing at the Bureau of Labor and Industries to speak in favor of the proposal. Some speakers requested that WKH ODERU EXUHDX GH¿QH DQ ³LQFLGHQWDO period of time” as one hour instead of four hours. Melchor Rodriguez, a janitor from Beaverton who is a member of the Service Employees International Union 49, said the proposed rules would help him because he often cleans buildings in different cities. He said the rules also would help prevent employers from abusing the system by locating in a region with the lowest minimum wage and dispatching their employees to the Portland area, where wages and cost of living are greater. Kate Newhall of Family Forward Oregon, which supported the new law, said the intent of the regional minimum wage was to “recognize we want people working fulltime to not live in poverty” and to take “into consideration cost vari- ations in the state.” She said the proposed rules were in line with that intent. Representatives from business and industry have indicated the proposed rules would be too onerous for business. Amanda Dalton who represents Northwest Grocery Association and other agriculture groups issued a statement after the hearing that employee wages should be based on where the employee regularly reports to work, not on where the employee works for a temporary period of time. ment of two local ranchers ZKR VHW ¿UHV $ -DQ WUDI¿F VWRS OHG WR %XQG\¶V PORTLAND — arrest and the shooting death Lawyers for Ammon Bundy of occupier Robert “LaVoy” revealed plans to contest Finicum. A September trial has the authority of the federal government to prosecute been scheduled for Bundy their client for the takeover and the more than two of a national wildlife refuge dozen others who took part in the takeover that even- in Oregon. Attorney Lissa Casey tually ended in February. says in court papers that Bundy pleaded not guilty to a forthcoming motion to conspiracy and gun charges. Bundy’s lawyers dismiss the case will chal- lenge the federal govern- presented the basics of their ment’s assertion that it has argument while asking a ownership of the Malheur federal judge to extend the GHDGOLQH IRU ¿OLQJ PRWLRQV National Wildlife Refuge. “The federal government to dismiss the case. Casey relinquished the land when said evidence must be it was previously deeded produced regarding chain of and homesteaded, thus title and actions or inaction relinquishing jurisdiction,” of the government. “Given the complexities Casey wrote. Moreover, she said, the of the evidence involved, it defendant intends to argue is not a simple legal argu- the government largely lost ment that can be briefed and the right to own land inside expedited for the Court,” Oregon once statehood was she wrote. Bundy’s views on the achieved. The U.S. Supreme federal government should Court, however, has twice get an extensive airing at ruled that the government his upcoming trial. Though owns the land in question, often described as anti-gov- presenting an uphill climb ernment, Bundy has said that’s not the case. He said for the attorneys. “We look forward to the federal government has a Ammon Bundy’s attempt responsibility to protect the to re-litigate 200 years of states from outside invaders. jurisprudence regarding the When critics pointed out that property clause, and the his company got a $530,000 1935 Supreme Court case loan through the Small WKDW VSHFL¿FDOO\ HVWDEOLVKHG Business Administration, he the American people’s noted that he’s only opposed ownership of the Malheur to federal policies that go National Wildlife Refuge,” against the people’s will. Bundy, meanwhile, is -HQQLIHU 5RNDOD H[HFXWLYH director of the Center for due to return to a Portland Western Priorities, said in jail early this week. He was a statement posted on the ÀRZQ WR /DV 9HJDV QHDUO\ two weeks ago to make a organization’s website. Bundy and his followers court appearance on charges VHL]HG WKH UHIXJH -DQ LQ related to an armed standoff a protest over federal land at his father’s Nevada ranch policy and the imprison- in 2014. By STEVEN DUBOIS Associated Press Paris Achen/Pamplin Media Group Janitor Melchor Rodriguez speaks to the Bureau of Labor and Industries April 25, 2016, about proposed rules for Oregon’s new regional minimum wage law. “Setting any hourly threshold, whether it is four hours or two hours or even one hour in the higher regions as some have proposed, is arbitrary and requires employers and employees to track their location throughout the day and work week, resulting in massive paperwork and record keeping,” Dalton said. “We were told this new law would be as simple as possible for employees and employers. That is not what we are seeing in the draft rules.” Only one employer turned up at Monday’s hearing. Pieper Sweeney of Country Heritage Farm in Yamhill County said it would be GLI¿FXOWWRWUDFNKRXUVHPSOR\HHVVSHQG LQ UXVK KRXU WUDI¿F PRYLQJ IURP RQH minimum wage zone to another. “We want to do the right thing,” Sweeney said. “If it is simple for us to use, it makes it a lot easier.” “I was actually hoping there would be more business owners here so I could hear their concerns,” said Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, who was active in developing the new minimum wage law. “My understanding is most of that is going to come from written comments. For many of them, Portland is a long trip.” As of Monday, the labor bureau had received only two written comments, said Paloma Sparks, the agency’s legis- lative director. The labor bureau will accept public comments on the proposed rules until May 23, Sparks said. Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian SODQVWR¿QDOL]HWKHUXOHVE\-XQH 7KH ¿UVWRILWVNLQG ODZ WDNHV HIIHFW -XO\EXPSLQJXSWKHVWDWH¶VPLQLPXP wage from $9.25 to $9.75 statewide. In 2017, wage increases will diverge according to region. Under the law, the minimum gradually climbs to $14.75 in 2022 in the Portland urban growth boundary, which includes parts of Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties. It will rise to $13.50 in Benton, Clatsop, Columbia, Deschutes, +RRG 5LYHU -DFNVRQ -RVHSKLQH /DQH Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Polk, Tillamook, Wasco and Yamhill counties, and parts of Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties outside Portland’s urban growth boundary. In rural areas, the wage increases to $12.50. Those areas include Malheur, Lake, Harney, Wheeler, Sherman, *LOOLDP :DOORZD *UDQW -HIIHUVRQ Baker, Union, Crook, Klamath, Douglas, Coos, Curry, Umatilla and Morrow counties. That’s when the proposed rules could become complicated for some employers. For example, an employee who works in Salem for 35 hours and in 3RUWODQGIRU¿YHKRXUVSHUZHHNLQ would earn $10.25 per hour for the time in Salem and $11.25 per hour for the time in Portland. 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Hi 69 85 56 64 48 83 65 55 86 78 54 57 85 54 61 79 56 56 84 82 68 86 76 75 81 73 Lo 46 69 45 51 35 68 43 40 66 61 42 43 61 33 41 54 35 34 72 67 58 63 52 56 63 57 W s pc pc c c pc pc s pc t r pc s c pc s pc c pc t r s t pc t pc Today Louisville Memphis Miami Milwaukee Minneapolis Nashville New Orleans New York City Oklahoma City Omaha Philadelphia Phoenix Portland, ME Providence Raleigh Rapid City Reno Sacramento St. Louis Salt Lake City San Diego San Francisco Seattle Tucson Washington, DC Wichita Hi 82 86 84 48 55 86 83 69 81 77 81 79 40 47 86 42 63 74 81 54 70 63 60 74 86 82 Lo 65 70 71 38 42 66 72 45 58 56 51 58 29 35 64 31 41 50 66 43 59 54 47 50 58 57 W t pc pc c c c pc t t c t s r r s sn pc s c sh s s pc s t t Wed. Hi 78 79 84 50 56 82 86 67 80 71 66 84 53 60 85 38 55 69 77 59 71 64 63 82 66 76 Lo 65 67 72 38 38 65 73 46 51 50 49 61 30 37 65 28 41 52 61 47 60 53 46 56 54 49 Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice. W t t pc c r pc t s s r pc s s s t sn sh t t sh pc t c s c sh
