THE BULLETIN • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2021 A11
A11
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2021
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BRIEFING
COVID-19
Investigation opens
into Takata airbags
U.S. easing inbound foreign flight restrictions
The U.S. government’s
highway safety regulator
has opened an investi-
gation into a potential
problem that surfaced
last year with 56 million
Takata airbags but that
the agency eventually
deemed safe based on in-
dustry research.
The National Highway
Traffic Safety Adminis-
tration has not posted
an official document on
the investigation yet, but
said that it wasn’t aware
of any injuries or fatalities
due to the problem and
that the public “does not
need to take any action.”
The agency said Mon-
day its investigation will
try to determine if there’s
a defect in nonrecalled
frontal and passenger in-
flators manufactured by
Takata, adding that “no
present safety risk has
been identified.”
More than 25 people
were killed and more
than 300 were injured by
metal flying from the air-
bags, setting off a series
of the largest automo-
tive recalls in U.S. history.
About 50 million inflators
were recalled in the U.S.
and another 100 million
worldwide.
State sets max rent
increase at 9.9%
Most Oregon land-
lords will be allowed to
increase rent by a max-
imum of 9.9% in 2022,
state economists an-
nounced on Monday.
The state calculates
the highest allowable
rent increase for the next
calendar year each Sep-
tember. The maximum
rent increase for 2021 was
9.2%.
The Legislature in 2019
imposed a statewide rent
control policy, making Or-
egon the first state in the
nation to do so. The law
capped rent hikes at 7%
plus inflation during any
12-month period.
The rent increase only
applies to homes that
were built 15 years ago
or more. Newer homes
are exempt, a carve-out
intended to keep the
rule from discouraging
the construction of new
rentals.
Hospitals in need of
staff in Washington
Washington Gov. Jay
Inslee has asked the
federal government for
assistance staffing hospi-
tals and long-term care
facilities in response to
the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic.
“In Washington State,
our hospitals are currently
at or beyond capacity,
and we need additional
assistance at this time,”
Inslee wrote in Friday’s
letter — released pub-
licly Monday — to Jeffrey
Zients, the White House
COVID-19 coordinator.
Inslee wrote that the
state Department of
Health has requested
1,200 clinical and nonclin-
ical staff, and that he was
requesting deployment
of Department of De-
fense medical personnel
“to assist with the current
hospital crisis.”
Inslee spokesman
Mike Faulk said the state
had not yet received a re-
sponse.
Meanwhile on Mon-
day state hospital leaders
said COVID-19 hospital-
izations are ticking down
across Washington.
The Seattle Times re-
ports this week hospitals
counted 1,504 COVID-19
patients throughout the
state, compared to 1,673
last week.
— Bulletin wire reports
BY ZEKE MILLER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — In a major easing
of pandemic travel restrictions, the U.S.
said Monday it will allow foreigners to fly
into the country this fall if they have vac-
cination proof and a negative COVID-19
test — changes replacing a hodgepodge
of rules that had kept out many noncit-
izens and irritated allies in Europe and
beyond where virus cases are lower.
The changes, to take effect in No-
vember, will allow families and others
who have been separated by the travel
restrictions for 18 months to plan for
long-awaited reunifications and allow
foreigners with work permits to get
back to their jobs in the U.S.
Airlines, business groups and travel-
ers cheered — though also calling the
step long overdue.
See Travel / A13
Pfizer says vaccine works in kids 5 to 11
Associated Press
Pfizer said Monday its COVID-19
vaccine works for children ages 5 to
11 and that it will seek U.S. authoriza-
tion for this age group soon — a key
step toward beginning vaccinations for
youngsters.
The vaccine made by Pfizer and its
German partner BioNTech already is
available for anyone 12 and older. But
with kids now back in school and the
extra-contagious delta variant causing
a huge jump in pediatric infections,
many parents are anxiously awaiting
vaccinations for their younger children.
See Pfizer / A13
Oregon’s
labor crunch
is a supply
and demand
problem
BY MIKE ROGOWAY
The Oregonian
grape
escape
Grape stomping, also called “treading.”
Christine Clair, winery director at Willamette
Valley Vineyards, puts Muscat wine grapes into a
vat. Then she holds onto an employee acting as her
“swabbie” for support while she treads on grapes.
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Stomping contest
highlights an old-world
tradition that’s still alive:
‘It’s a heck of a workout’
T
BY SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
Capital Press
TURNER — Christine Clair stomped
zealously on clusters of green Muscat wine
grapes in a vat, trying not to fall in the cold,
slippery fruit.
Juice dripped down her ankles.
“It’s a heck of a workout,” said Clair.
She laughed.
Clair, winery director at Willamette Valley
Vineyards, was gearing up for the Annual Oregon
Grape Stomp Championship and Harvest Cele-
bration. The event, which drew more than 1,500
people in 2019, was canceled in 2020. Now, with
social distancing, the stomp returned for its 30th
anniversary Saturday and Sunday.
“It’s exciting to bring it back,” said Clair.
Contestants competed in pairs, the “stomper”
crushed grapes under foot while the “swabbie”
guided the juice into a jug. The pair to make the
most juice the fastest won a $500 gift card and an
overnight stay in a Winery Suite.
Many contestants each year dress in costume,
including dozens of Lucy and Ethel pairs, a nod to
Italian grape stomping in an iconic “I Love Lucy”
episode.
In past years, stompers from Willamette Valley
Vineyards have represented Oregon in the World
Grape Stomp Championship.
For Willamette Valley Vineyards, the contest is
purely for fun. None of these foot-treaded grapes
from the contest will ever be made into wine be-
cause they’ve been exposed to open air and a large
number of people. But stomping, or “treading,” as
part of real winemaking is not just ancient history.
Willamette Valley Vineyards uses modern
equipment to crush the vast majority of its wine
grapes, as do most U.S. wineries.
See Stomping / A13
Oregon businesses
have been struggling to
find workers all year —
especially in the health
care and hospitality
fields, which have been
among the most tumul-
tuous sectors throughout
the pandemic.
There are many rea-
sons for the state’s labor
squeeze: Some work-
ers are staying home to
care for the kids; some
don’t want to work be-
cause they fear exposure
to COVID-19; others
don’t feel they need to
work after pocketing last
year’s stimulus money;
some were still collect-
ing expanded jobless
benefits.
Above all, though,
there’s a simple mis-
match between supply
and demand. Oregon’s
job openings have been
soaring even as the num-
ber of people looking for
jobs has fallen.
That means that Or-
egon’s job market is
tighter now than it was
in the winter of 2020,
before the pandemic hit,
when the jobless rate was
near an all-time low.
The state’s employers
had nearly 98,000 open-
ings last spring, accord-
ing to a quarterly survey
by the Oregon Em-
ployment Department.
That’s nearly double the
number of openings just
three months earlier and
the highest tally, by far,
in the eight years the de-
partment has been con-
ducting the survey.
Oregon’s jobless rate
was in steep decline
during the same period,
from 10.3% in June 2020
to 5.6% this past June.
That’s easy math: The
number of job vacancies
nearly doubled while the
jobless rate fell by nearly
half. You can see why
hiring might be a chal-
lenge.
Here’s another way to
look at it. Last spring,
Oregon had 1.3 unem-
ployed people for every
open job.
That’s an extremely
tight labor market by
historical standards.
Over the prior eight
years, a stretch that in-
cluded some of Oregon’s
strongest job growth on
record, the average was
2.6 unemployed people
per open job.
The national job mar-
ket was even tighter —
just one unemployed
worker per open job.
Complicating matters,
Oregon’s job openings
aren’t distributed equally.
See Jobs / A13