nwLaborPress.org

Archived issues

January 21, 2011 Volume 112 Number 2
	Plumbers Local 290 defends 'broomball' title vs. Fire Fighters Apprentices from Plumbers and Fitters Local 290 battled members of Fire Fighters Local 43 to a 0-0 tie in their annual hockey faceoff during a break in a Winterhawks game. The event promotes residential fire sprinkler systems as a way to save lives.
Fired teacher at Portland French School reinstated Thanks to a federal judge's order, Portland French School will offer French citizen Patricia Raclot her job back, and will renew legal work on the H-1B visa she needs in order to be employed legally in the United States. Raclot will also receive back pay. The judge found Raclot was fired for supporting a union drive by AFT-Oregon. U.S.-Korea trade deal draws protests in Portland, Eugene Kim Kyung-Ran of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions told protesters that the agreement will not only encourage off-shoring of U.S. manufacturing jobs but will also weaken labor’s hand in South Korea. Union pilots at Evergreen Airlines authorize strike Members of Air Line Pilots Association voted overwhelmingly to strike Evergreen International Airlines — a cargo airline headquartered in McMinnville, Oregon — if an agreement is not reached with management. Bargaining for a new union contract has been going on, without success, for six years. UNITE HERE warns of possible labor disputes at Portland and Seattle hotels Union contracts expire this summer at a number of Portland and Seattle hotels, and UNITE HERE Local 9 is calling on meeting planners to negotiate language — in rental agreements with hotels — to prevent cancellation fees or lost deposits in the event of a labor dispute. Workers have engaged in strikes or boycotts in several recent contract disputes with the Hilton hotel chain. Narrow majority votes to join SEIU Local 49 at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend Workers at St. Charles Medical Center voted Jan. 5 by a narrow margin to unionize with Portland-headquartered SEIU Local 49. The tally was 255 to 251, but 34 other ballots were challenged — enough to affect the outcome. Unions prepare to defend working families agenda in Salem Oregon’s citizen legislature convenes Feb. 1. For the Oregon AFL-CIO, the number one legislative priority will be supporting good jobs. Conciliator called in to resolve ATU dispute at TriMet Before leaving office, Gov. Ted Kulongoski asked state conciliator Robert Nightingale to “clear his schedule” in order to assist ATU Local 757 and TriMet in resolving their dispute. A meeting has been set for Friday, Jan. 28. Major union contracts coming up for negotiation in 2011 To defend living standards, union members will need to support their bargaining teams, as employers — both private and public sector — propose takebacks in a bad economy. Advocates of single-payer health system feature Conyers at Portland forum Supporters of a “single payer” public health insurance system are gearing up for a daylong Jan. 29 conference in Portland at which they’ll hear from the leading single payer advocate in Congress — and strategize how to support a single payer bill that will be introduced in the Oregon Legislature. Portlander Veda Shook rises to top job in flight attendants union Longtime Portlander Veda Shook became president Jan. 1 of the 42,000-member Association of Flight Attendants — 13 years after getting involved with the union. At 43, she’s one of America’s youngest national union leaders. She will steer a union that's straining to secure first-time contracts at newly-unionized airlines and mourning a spectacular union election loss at Delta Air Lines. Iron Workers Local 29 elects leaders Kevin Jensen was sworn in Jan. 6 to a third term as financial secretary-treasurer and business manager of Iron Workers Local 29. Also re-elected to a third term as president and business agent was Jim Pauley. Shiprack seeks open Metro seat Freshly retired union official Bob Shiprack has thrown his hat into the ring to fill an open seat on the Metro Council, the regional government that coordinates land-use and transportation planning in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties. Kitzhaber taps Shepard for labor adviser Duke Shepard, Oregon AFL-CIO political director since January 2006, has been hired by newly-sworn-in Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber as labor and human services adviser. Shepard worked for Kitzhaber once before as a field coordinator of Kitzhaber’s 1994 campaign for governor. IBEW’s Malbin to co-chair prevailing wage advisory panel Norman Malbin, in-house counsel for the IBEW Local 48, has been named labor co-chair of the Prevailing Wage Advisory Committee by Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian.