March 15, 2002

Labor headlines from the March 15, 2002, edition
of the Northwest Labor Press

Custodians turn up heat to keep jobs at schools: With state and local government budgets bleeding revenue in the current recession, some public administrators are looking to replace public employees with low-wage private contractors as a way to save money.
Hansen succeeds Cook as president of Letter Carriers Portland Branch 82: Leadership of Portland-based Branch 82 of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) is changing hands as L.C. Hansen, 49, succeeds Jim Cook , 49, as president.
September trial date set in RICO lawsuit against Sizemore's OTU: The unions are alleging fraud, racketeering and falsifying tax returns in OTUs collection of signatures for several anti-union initiative petitions that appeared on the ballot in November 1998 and 2000.
Steelworkers' settlement at Wah Chang remains uncertain: Despite indications from management that they were ready to accept a "framework" for settling a six-month-old lockout at Allegheny Wah Chang three weeks ago, the company delivered a "best and final" offer to the union March 6 that fails to comply with that framework.