Northwest Labor Press: November 18, 2005

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November 18, 2005 Volume 106 Number 22

News

Building trades protest Benson Tower
More than 150 union construction workers protested the use of non-union labor by out-of-state contractors at a new 26-story condominium in downtown Portland.

[Left: "Those jobs should be union." Union members from multiple unions come together Nov. 9 to protest the Benson Tower at SW 11th and Clay.]

IBEW helps hurricane survivor start anew in Oregon
Former New Orleans resident Eric Guzman has a new life — in Oregon — with the help of Tangent, Oregon-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 280.

Shopping as if the union mattered:
A GUIDE TO BUYING UNION
Some union members may remember that 30 years ago, most consumer products sold in the United States said "Made In USA" and it was possible to "Look For The Union Label" in clothing, as a garment workers union television ad urged.

Sandy teachers strike nears close
Striking teachers in Sandy, Boring, and Welches, Oregon, reached a tentative deal with management of the Oregon Trail School District early morning Nov. 16. Up to that point, neither public pressure nor the intervention of the governor of Oregon had been enough to get the Oregon Trail School District administration to compromise.
AFSCME's new office gets decorated by Venezuelan political muralist
Nelson Santana, who trained at art schools in France and Spain, is well-known in Venezuela as the painter of over 100 murals in one district of Caracas, the capital.
CWA asks union members to use Cingular cel phones
Communications Workers of America is calling on all union members to use Cingular Wireless cell phones. The union is engaged in a national campaign to organize non-union telecom companies, and Cingular has committed to stay neutral during campaigns at its units. In Oregon and Southwest Washington, Cingular is the only all-union cell phone provider.
Unionists named to City of Portland charter review panel
Northwest Oregon Labor Council chief Judy O'Connor and Portland Fire Fighters Local 43 activist Ed Hall were named to the City of Portland's Charter Review Commission by Mayor Tom Potter. It is the first group to review the city's charter since 1922, and is tasked with reviewing the city's form of government, examining the role of the Portland Development Commission and reforming Civil Service rules.

Analysis

Think again
A regular column by Tim Nesbitt
What will we say when the jeering stops?
It's hard to resist a "we-told-you-so" response to the dramatic failures of the free traders, the tax cutters and the government shrinkers that we have witnessed this year.