IBEW Local 280 raising funds for injured member

This important request to help a badly injured union brother comes to us by way of the Northwest Labor Press:

Bill Mize, a journeyman electrician and member of IBEW Local 280,

has summited most of the major West Coast mountains. But in the pre-dawn

light on the slope of North Sister July 6, he was unlucky.

Aug 16, 2024
ByDon McIntosh

Bill Mize was just 150 feet from the summit of North Sister mountain in the Central Cascades when a watermelon-sized rock came off the lip of a ledge right above him and hit him in the head, knocking him down a steep incline 60 feet. Regaining consciousness after what he thinks was half an hour, he realized his left leg was badly injured. Then another rock fell and struck him on the right shoulder, sending him down another 40 feet.

Mize, a 28-year-old union electrician in Prineville, is an experienced mountaineer and had summited North Sister three times before. He had left the Pole Creek Trailhead solo around midnight July 6 in order to reach the peak by sunrise. Now he was alone on the side of the mountain without the use of his legs. He tried to use his cell phone to call 911 but couldn’t get reception. So he crawled — he thinks about 40 feet — to the other side of a ridge, and was able to get a signal.

Not long after, a rescue helicopter landed a Lane County Sheriff’s Office search and rescue team on a glacier below, and after hours of effort, they were able to get him off the steep slope where he landed, onto a stretcher, and into the helicopter. At St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, he learned the extent of the damage: a kneecap broken, and all the ligaments in his left knee torn. Six surgeries — and some surgical complications — later, he still doesn’t know whether he’ll be able to use the leg again.

“I never took my legs for granted,” Mize says. “I was always very appreciative of them.”

Mize joined IBEW Local 280 in 2018, and completed his apprenticeship last September. At the time of the accident, he was working for Aspen Ridge Electric at a remodel project at Redmond High School.

Reached by phone a month after the accident, he relates what happened that day without a trace of self-pity. Mountaineering is inherently dangerous, and looking back Mize doesn’t think anything he did or didn’t do made the rock decide to tumble when it did.

“I pride myself on being safe,” Mize said.

He also declined a suggestion by friends that a GoFundMe page be created to help him.

“Things are tight, but I had a savings account for a reason. I wanted to be prepared.”

Mize’s union brothers and sisters at Local 280 are raising funds anyway, to help him with lost income. The union is raffling off a Blackstone 36-inch propane-fueled outdoor griddle. Tickets are $10; Taunia Blakely, 541-220-3570, is coordinating sales.

Mize doesn’t know what the future holds, but has no regrets. “I really like the trade, and I really like the guys in the trade,” Mize said. “It’s been a great experience.”

Support Reed College housing advisors and OPEIU Local 11!

Reed College housing advisors (HAs), who are represented by OPEIU Local 11, help, counsel, and support hundreds of students every academic year. They are the frontlines of helping ensure student success. And last year, Reed College added new job duties that required HAs to perform security rounds without offering additional compensation for the added work. Instead, during contract negotiations for their first contract, Reed College administrators have said it’s compensation enough that HAs receive a room on campus, which is a requirement for their job, and a meal plan.

Working for a room and food is not enough, and Reed College must step up to compensate its HAs fairly. HAs are asking for a $4,000 annual stipend to pay them for their hard work. This request is reasonable and recognizes the value of their work. It would cost Reed less than $200,000 per year, and it is similar to the stipends that other institutions on the East Coast have agreed to pay their student workers (many who are represented by OPEIU Local 153).

Help support the HAs’ fight for fair compensation at Reed College sending letters to the college president, vice president of student life, director of residence life, dean of students, director of human resources and vice president of finance. Many of these administrators are sitting across from the union at the bargaining table! You can send a digital letter with the press of a button – or customize your own – online at https://actionnetwork.org/letters/reed-housing-advisors-deserve-more-than-room-and-food/

 

Action Alert: Help Save Union Jobs!

From the United Electrical Workers (UE):

For months now, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has been moving work done by union members at its Service Centers in California, Vermont, and Nebraska to low-paying, non-union contract locations.

Fee processing at all Service Centers has been relocated to contract workers at USCIS “Lockboxes.” The remaining work is being redistributed among the Service Centers, resulting in mass layoffs of hundreds of UE Local 1008 members in California, with hundreds more soon to follow for Local 208 in Vermont. According to bid solicitation documents obtained by the UE, the plan doesn’t stop there. Once USCIS has eliminated good union jobs in California and Vermont, it will then shift to eliminating good union jobs in Nebraska, where UE Local 808 represents hundreds of workers.

To save a few bucks and silence the voices of organized workers, USCIS is jeopardizing the U.S. immigration system. When all is said and done, USCIS will have eliminated the jobs of roughly one thousand skilled union workers, many of whom have served the agency for decades. This move dramatically undercuts USCIS’s capacity to handle its still massive backlogs, including H-1B visas, asylum cases, and VAWA petitions.

It’s not too late for USCIS to reverse this reckless decision. USCIS can decide today to protect the rights of workers and to ensure that immigrants have access to an efficient legal process. The members of UE Locals 208, 808, and 1008 deserve better than being used for their expertise and then callously discarded. Petitioners deserve better than endless delays when trying to navigate the immigration process.

Save USCIS Service Center Jobs!

Go here to sign a petition supporting USCIS Union Jobs!

Attacks on UAW and Other Unions Seek to Curb Union Power, not “Anti-Semitism”

From the United Electrical Workers:

August 11, 2024

Pittsburgh

Statement of the UE officers

In the face of rising working-class militancy, anti-union forces have launched various legal attacks on the labor movement, using the false claim that union involvement in protests demanding a ceasefire in Gaza is somehow “anti-Semitic.” Most prominently, the federal monitor charged with rooting out corruption in the United Auto Workers has engaged in wildly inappropriate behavior, in a clear attempt to use his immense legal power over the union to shut down their criticism of Israel. The National Right to Work Committee and union-busting law firms like Jones Day have also launched a series of legal cases, including some against UE locals, aimed at undermining union shop and exclusive representation.

On December 13, a little under two weeks after the UAW released a statement calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, the court-appointed monitor overseeing the union, Neil Barofsky, made a phone call to UAW President Shawn Fain, urging him to reconsider the union’s position. In February, Barofsky sent a letter to the UAW executive board reiterating his criticism of the union’s position, and also brought it up in a virtual meeting with the executive board on February 19.

Barofsky was appointed in 2021 as part of a consent decree between the union and the federal government, stemming from rampant corruption under previous UAW leadership. In his role, Barofsky has extensive power to oversee all aspects of the union’s operation, including the power to impose discipline on UAW officers and members. The current leadership of the union was elected to reform the union; they have democratized the UAW and led important and militant fights, and have in fact worked closely with the monitor to root out corruption.

The consent decree which gives Barofsky authority over the union charges him with “remov[ing] fraud, corruption, illegal behavior, dishonesty, and unethical practices” from the union. Nothing in this mandate is applicable to the union’s position calling for a ceasefire, a position voted on by an executive board elected through a democratic process overseen by Barofsky himself.

After the union refused to change its position, and sent Barofsky a letter raising concerns that he was acting outside of his jurisdiction, Barofsky opened a new investigation into the union and demanded that the union turn over more than one hundred thousand documents, including communications that could potentially expose the union’s internal plans for taking on corporations

The attacks on labor over positions on Israeli policy towards Palestinians are not limited to the UAW, however. In July, a lawsuit against the Professional Staff Congress, the union representing faculty and professional staff of the City University of New York, was appealed to the Supreme Court. The National Right to Work Committee, which is providing legal counsel in the case, seeks to further weaken public-sector unions by asking the Supreme Court to eliminate the principle of exclusive representation. If exclusive representation is eliminated, then employers will be free to reward non-members with higher wages and other perks. This would further undermine public-sector unions, which are already suffering under the effects of the 2018 Janus decision outlawing union shop in the public sector. Two UE locals have also been the target of legal actions making false claims of anti-Semitism to attempt to undermine the union shop in the private sector, instigated by the National Right to Work Committee and the notorious union-busting law firm Jones Day.

These lawsuits, like the UAW monitor’s attack on that union, are justified by personal differences of opinion with positions taken by the union’s democratically-elected leadership, or in some cases by the membership as a whole. However, in a democracy, differences should be resolved, not by lawsuits, but by persuasion. UE has never taken action against a member for holding an opinion which differs from the union’s policy. Indeed, the preamble to our constitution directs us to unite all workers regardless not only of “craft, age, sex, nationality, race, [and] creed,” but also of “political beliefs,” and we encourage robust discussion of the union’s policies through our democratic structures.

It is ironic that several of these legal assaults alleging that criticisms of Israel’s military actions constitute “anti-Semitism” are being supported by the National Right to Work Committee, an organization whose history is steeped in actual prejudice against Jewish people. Vance Muse, the lobbyist who was central to the passage of so-called “right-to-work” laws throughout the country in the 1940s, was both a rabid anti-Semite and a committed white supremacist. His organization, the Christian American Association, sought to portray CIO unions like UE and UAW as agents of “Jewish Marxism” — precisely because our organizations united workers regardless of race, creed, and political beliefs.

It is not an accident that these attacks are specifically targeting unions which are growing, leading militant struggles, and daring to take independent positions on U.S. foreign policy. In this and in many other ways, they resemble the attacks on the progressive wing of the labor movement in the 1940s and 1950s when the unions which were growing, leading militant struggles, and taking independent positions on U.S. foreign policy were tarred as “communist-dominated” and subjected to government persecution — all of which only aided the corporations. The attacks on so-called “anti-Semitism” are nothing more than a new McCarthyism.

Just as we have always rejected any attempts by the government, corporations or special interests to dictate UE policy, we forcefully condemn the attempts by the federal monitor to influence the policies of the UAW, and to retaliate against them for taking a courageous and just stand for peace. We urge the court which appointed Barofsky to replace him with a monitor who will not exceed his authority.

More broadly, we condemn the cynical misuse of claims of anti-Semitism to attack union security and exclusive representation. We call upon the rest of the labor movement to close ranks against these attacks on exclusive representation, on the union shop, and on the right of unions to democratically take policy positions independent of the government or any political party.

Carl Rosen
General President

Andrew Dinkelaker
Secretary-Treasurer

Mark Meinster
Director of Organization

Support Post-Gazette Strikers With a Pittsburgh Union Progress T-Shirt!

 CWA members at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette (PPG) have been on strike for over 18 months, the longest strike currently running in the U.S. The workers are represented by NewsGuild-CWA Local 38061 and CWA Locals 14827 and 14842.

Donations to the worker strike fund have been keeping these individuals and families afloat and are greatly appreciated. Striking workers have been handing out t-shirts and encouraging donations on the picket line and at events, and now supporters from across the country can get them too! Learn how at cwa.org/pup-shirt.

YouTube Music Workers Need Solidarity

From the Communications Workers of America:

Last week, workers at YouTube Music received support from Congressional Democrats, who sent a letter to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) urging a swift investigation of the unfair labor practice charges CWA filed after the company illegally terminated the entire Content Operations team in February. The workers, members of Alphabet Workers Union-CWA Local 9009, were blindsided with the news of the mass firing while they were speaking at an Austin, Texas, City Council meeting.

The congressional response was spearheaded by Representative Greg Casar (D-Texas), who said, “Rich and powerful corporations like Google are seeing workers across the country rise up, organize, and win. The NLRB should quickly and thoroughly investigate if the rights of these workers, like the YouTube Music workers in my district, were violated. Union organizing and collective bargaining should be a right—not a fight.”

“We welcome the attention that Representative Casar and members of the Labor Caucus are bringing to Google's continued intimidation of workers who want to organize unions at the company,” said Derrick Osobase, Vice President, CWA District 6. “Swift action by the NLRB in this case will send an important message to the entire tech industry that they are not above the law and that they must respect workers' right to organize and collectively bargain here in Texas and across the country.”

Parul Koul, Software Engineer and President of the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA, also warned, “If Google is allowed to violate its legal responsibilities to its workers and ignore the directives of the National Labor Relations Board in this case, it will set a terrible precedent for the future of workers’ rights in this country.”

Flights Attendants to kick off Solidarity Summer with picketlines on June 13

On June 13, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) Flight Attendants will kick off “Solidarity Summer” with a Worldwide Day of Action, and you can join your CWA siblings as they make their voices heard. A recent survey of Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants found that nearly 10 percent of those who responded live with family or friends because they cannot afford rent in the city to which they’ve been assigned.

Click this link to take part in a global action!

As the summer travel season begins, Flight Attendants are demanding fair contracts, respect, and livable wages. Join them at any of over 30 airports on June 13. Flight Attendants are putting corporate executives on notice: corporate greed won’t fly!

Click here to find a local picket.

CODE RED: Summer travel is coming and corporate greed is in full swing.

We’re kicking off this red hot Solidarity Summer with a Worldwide Flight Attendant Day of Action to demand our contracts. Airline executives have had no problem dolling out massive raises for themselves. We’re coming for our share of the profits we create.

Our solidarity transcends airlines. Together, in the height of summer travel season, we’ll show management and the flying public that we’re united in the fight to raise the standards for our careers. No matter what uniform we wear, we’ve earned the long-term security, benefits, flexibility, dignity, and respect that comes with a strong contract. It’s time for airline management to pay up and get this done.

Join us on Thursday, June 13, at more than 30 airports for a Worldwide Day of Action. It's our turn.

Urgent Solidarity Request: The United Mine Workers of America Needs Our Solidarity Now

The Monongalia County, West Virginia Courthouse and County building.

The United Mine Workers of America is seeking to organize and represent workers employed by Monongalia County in West Virginia. The County Commission Office is resisting the Union. The Union has the support of the workers involved. One of the problems here is that the Commission Office is attempting to portray the Union as an outside force, but the UMWA has long-standing and vital links to the region and has had a base in Monongalia County for most of the Union's existence. Please help by going here and lending a hand.   

Despite workers expressing their support for joining the UMWA, the Commission Office is obstructing the unionization process. Mon County states they will allow their employees to vote but they have said they disagree with having an “intervening third party” representing their employees. So, our question is…

WILL THEY RESPECT THE PROCESS?

and

WILL THEY RESPECT THE RESULT?

Monongalia County Commissioners need to take the following steps:

1. Review the Resolution that has been submitted by the United Mine Workers of America.

2. Come to a workshop with the Union to discuss the Resolution before adoption.

3. Adopt the Labor Resolution in question.

4. Adhere to the vote of the Employees of Monongalia County addressing the right to Unionize.

 

Happy Pride Month!

 

A Request For Immediate Union Solidarity With Disneyland Workers

Tomorrow I’ll be flying out to California for Magic United’s union election. The Characters and Parades Cast Members at Disneyland have put in so much work already: organizing their fellow Cast Members, getting cards signed, speaking up about the challenges they face at work and preparing for this election.

Magic United will vote on May 15, 16 and 18 – that's Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. This is the final step these Cast Members need to take for Actors’ Equity to be recognized as their official bargaining representative.

I’m so proud of these Cast Members for stepping up to tell their employer that they deserve a better workplace, and I hope you are too. Let’s show Magic United that we’re all standing with them – use our toolkit to show your support for @dlrmagicunited on Instagram!

This is going to be a busy week for Magic United. Keep an eye on Equity's social media and on our vote count webpage on Saturday evenings for live updates from the count. We will be in touch with an update when the election is over.

In solidarity,

Stefanie Frey

National Director of Organizing and Mobilization

 

Solidarity With Farm Workers

 

March With Farm Workers in the Skagit Valley, Washington

Sunday, April 21, 2024

Begin gathering at 9:00 am, March begins at 10:00 am

Edgewater Park

600 Behrens Millett Rd

Mount Vernon, WA 98273

From Community to Community: Dear supporters and allies,

We are one week away from this year's Marcha Campesina. We invite you to join us and show your support for Tulip and Daffodil workers through participation and donations.

This year’s Marcha will be a single purpose march, all messaging will be relevant to the tulip workers struggle for equitable wages, better working conditions, respecting seniority and no union busting.

Please respect the Marcha messaging protocols requested by the tulip workers organizing committee:We ask that you do not bring any banners, the march will be single file, we will be marching on the shoulders of rural country roads, and will not have the ability to march on the road due to heavy traffic.
We recommend you do not bring any signs, we will have plenty ready for you to carry, if you want to bring your own sign, for example expressing solidarity from your group or organization, it must be vertical on sticks, flags or cardboard that can be held up.Please do wear comfortable shoes and bring water, we will be walking a 7.5 mile loop.

Please do not bring pets, scooters, bicycles. Strollers are ok.

We appreciate anyone who can stay and support us with cleanup after we are done.
To volunteer, or for more information contact: marchacampesina87@gmail.com

Join us April 21 @ Edgewater Park, Mt Vernon
9:00am | Begin arriving
9:30am | Marchers line up, short send off ceremony
10:00am | March begins
2:00pm | March returns to Edgewater Park
2:30pm | Tacos de Azada will be served (bring cash or check to donate for food)
3:30pm | Worker declarations and other speakers
4:30pm | Closing ceremony and farewells

Healthy Workers Create Healthy Communities

This year's march continues our efforts to advance Farmworker Tribunal declarations, most critically to ensure the health and well-being of farmworkers is protected and nurtured.

C2C and the 2024 Farmworkers Tribunal judges denounce: Attempts to undermine overtime pay mandated by SB-5172 in
2021, when it has just begun to be fully implemented as of January
1, 2024.
The industrialization of agriculture that reduces workers to
machines as climate change creates more dangerous working
conditions.
Companies who dehumanize workers and retaliate against them
for taking time off to care for their families, particularly women
workers.Read more about the Tribunal Declarations and Farmworker legislative priorities here.

Other Ways Show Your Support

Buy this year's Marcha T-shirt
Marcha Campesina 2024 Commemorative T-Shirt — C2C (foodjustice.org)

Make a Donation
Donate — C2C (foodjustice.org)

Some Leading Labor Movement News And Events: organizing, a boycott, attacks on civil rights, requests for solidarity, and union victories!

From Portland Jobs with Justice:

The monthly Early Ed social is happening this Friday, April 12th, on the heated back patio at Bye and Bye, 6:30 - 9pm. Get support and strategies from fellow early educators, about anything from working conditions to education!

Under 21 welcome until 8pm. Tell a friend.
Preschool teachers, nannies, sitters, any childcare workers - please stop by if you can! Solidarity means a lot to people working in a tough field.

Friday, April 12th from 6:30 - 9pm!
Bye and Bye (1011 NE Alberta St)
Contact: pdxccla@gmail.com / IG @pdxchildcarelaboralliance

Please join Postdocs at OHSU for a picket on April 16, gathering at Elizabeth Caruthers Park outside of OHSU CHH2 building. This marks the only day of mediation that OHSU is willing to schedule, despite that they have made no indication they are willing to invest in their postdoc researchers. Join us to call for justice for Postdocs!

Tuesday, April 16 from 12 - 2pm
Elizabeth Caruthers Park (outside of the OHSU Center for Health & Healing)

Radio Jornalera - Day Laborers & Oregon Migrant Community Launch Community Radio Station - Get involved!

On Friday, March 29, Viva Inclusive Migrant Network and NDLON (National Day Laborers Organizing Network) launched Oregon’s “Radio Jornalera” at Augustana Lutheran Church! The radio station in Portland will aim to promote migrant rights, workers rights, music, art, and culture through programs hosted by Day laborers, other members of the migrant community, and other social justice movements.

How you can help:

* Volunteer to support the radio show and expand the programming by adding your own show, too! Every Wednesday there will be a training on the boards.
* Are you skilled in content creation (banners, flyers) or setting up websites? Help the radio station with theirs.
* Do you have experience with setting up 501c3s, websites, and/or writing grants? Viva Inclusive Migrant Network is looking for help with setting up its nonprofit.
* Connect with Viva's community defense project, Defensa del barrio, to be ready to respond when there is wage theft or when there is a raid.
* Please tune in to the programming on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube, which is currently Monday and Friday, 6pm.

Please email, call, text Francisco Aguirre at VIVA Inclusive Migrant Network at  francisco@oregonviva.org, 503-752-4882) about any of these opportunities.

Boycott Coors!

The Coors family, executives, and stockholders are living the high life while refusing to negotiate a fair contract with workers who make the beer. The workers behind the Molson-Coors brand beverages and record profits were forced onto the picket line Feb. 17 after the company refused to offer more than 99 cents an hour in new wages. Teamsters have renewed their long-running national boycott of the brand for it's anti-worker positions.

Until Molson Coors serves up a fair deal for hardworking Texas Teamsters in Fort Worth, join us in putting them on ice. Take part in a bit of history, renewed by Texas Teamsters, and join us in supporting the Boycott!

Teamsters Local 223 members in Eugene kicked off a Day of Action by flyering customers and supermarkets about the Boycott. Here in Portland, members circulated flyers and promoted the Boycott at recent actions! Support the Boycott and circulate the flier, here!

From Red Hot Worker Hits:

From Portside:

FEDERAL COURT STRIKES MAJOR BLOW TO BLACK VOTING RIGHTS

A federal district court’s order on Thursday allowing South Carolina to use a racially discriminatory congressional map for the 2024 election cycle is a gut punch to Black voters.

“For over a century, the NAACP has worked fervently to protect Black Americans’ access to the ballot box. Make no mistake — these discriminatory maps are a direct attempt to suppress Black voices ahead of a consequential election,” Brenda Murphy, the president of the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, a plaintiff in the case, said in a statement.

Without a fair map, it would be enormously difficult for Black voters to elect a representative who has their interests at heart and who would fight for them on issues ranging from education to criminal justice to health care. READ MORE HERE.

From Jacobin:

Ron Carey’s Lessons in Labor Movement Reform by STEVE EARLY RAND WILSON

Books about union presidents are usually penned by professional writers — either academic historians, labor journalists, or paid flacks. Past accounts of the life and work of labor organization chiefs like John L. Lewis, Walter Reuther, Jimmy Hoffa, or Cesar Chavez have run the gamut from hagiographic to constructively critical. Few have had a biographer whose view of their leadership role is rooted in firsthand experience as a blue-collar worker in the same industry and union.

Ken Reiman’s personal connection to the subject matter of Ron Carey and the Teamsters resulted from his long career as a UPS driver and activist in the local union that Carey led before becoming president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) in the 1990s. Reiman’s insights into the workplace culture and organizational politics of IBT Local 804 in Queens, New York, before, during, and after Carey’s presidency provide a rank-and-file perspective on the challenges of institutional change in organized labor over the past fifty years.

Carey’s story, as told by Reiman, contains many important lessons for younger union activists, whether they are Teamsters or involved in other unions. Organized labor today is in a state of very positive ferment. A reform movement in the United Auto Workers (UAW), modeled after Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), has had similar success winning direct election of top officers and using that system to oust old-guard officials. READ MORE HERE.

From IATSE:

Following three days of in-person negotiations, IATSE Local 871 reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on their craft-specific issues on Wednesday. Now seven of the 13 West Coast Studio Locals (80, 600, 695, 706, 729, 800 and 871) have reached tentative agreements with the AMPTP.

More information regarding these Local agreements will be provided to members by their Local Unions once Memorandums of Agreement have been formally drafted by the lawyers of both parties and submitted to the corresponding Local for approval. It’s important to note the process is not complete until the conclusion of Basic Agreement General Negotiations, which cover issues like wage increases, pension and health contributions, artificial intelligence (AI), job security and residuals. In other words, members should expect the Local agreements to be only part of the overall package to come in the General negotiations, which are expected to restart on April 29 and run through May 16. READ MORE HERE.

Dodger Stadium Tour Guides Vote to Unionize Join Local B-192

During a National Labor Relations Board election on Tuesday afternoon, a group of nearly 40 tour guides, tour leads and one plant data collector (a.k.a. the guide of the stadium’s “garden tour”) voted to join IATSE B-192, a growing Local that represents fellow tour guides at Universal Studios Hollywood and ushers at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre. Workers are responsible for leading the wide array of tours that the stadium now offers — from basic stadium tours to pregame tours to Jackie Robinson and “Fernandomania” (devoted to Fernando Valenzuela) tours, with offerings in English, Spanish and Japanese — the tour guides work year-round.

An urgent appeal from the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions to union members in the USA

The opinions expressed in this post belong to their authors and to their organizations and do not speak for the Marion-Polk-Yamhill Central Labor Chapter or the Oregon AFL-CIO. 

Please Support AFSCME Local 2067 City of Salem Workers!

AFSCME Local 2067 represents the main body of City of Salem workers. Their contract expires on June 30 of this year. Contract bargaining started on February 21. The Local is holding an infomational rally at noon on Friday, March 15.in Peace Plaza (the space between the library and the Civic Center). Please show up!

According to the union's website, there have been two negotiating sessions and the second one has been more productive than the first. 

Kathy Knock, a Local 2067 leader, did a great interview on  KMUZ on January 25 that sets a strong context for contract negotiations. Thanks to Tina Turner-Morfitt, President of the Oregon Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and an AFSCME retiree and a Labor Chapter leader, and Melanie Zermer of KMUZ for doing that grewat interview. Sister Knock breaks down some complex issues in the interview.

A solidarity request from the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3903

CUPE 3903 represents the contract faculty, teaching assistants, graduate assistants, and research assistants at York University in Toronto. With almost 3,700 members, CUPE 3903 is the largest trade union on campus. Our local is a member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Canada’s largest union with over 740,000 members across the country. CUPE represents workers in health care, emergency services, education, early learning and child care, municipalities, social services, libraries, utilities, transportation, airlines, and more. CUPE has more than 70 offices across the country, in every province.

This post and this post will help you understand why Local 3903 is on strike.

A recent bargaining tream report from Local 3903 reports the following:

Since we began bargaining in June 2023, the Employer has repeatedly attempted to unilaterally define what bargaining is and how it works. Early on they told us that they would not engage with our monetary proposals (such as wages and benefits) until we had given them all of our non-monetary proposals. Now they have reversed their position, communicating via the Conciliator that they will not come to the table to negotiate other proposals until we lower our wage demands, while publicly pointing to “the advice of the provincially appointed conciliation officer” to justify their refusal to come to the table. Today the bargaining team met with the Conciliator and reiterated that we are ready to bargain at any time. We also pointed out that the two sides had reached substantial agreement on important equity and other proposals before talks broke off nine days ago, and that we could be meeting to resolve these non-monetary issues. The CUPE 3903 bargaining team intends to present unit-specific and all-units focused proposal packages to the membership at the next Strike SGMM. Meanwhile, we will continue to signal our willingness to bargain and call on the Employer to come to the table this week.

We can all help by hitting this link and sending our support message.

 

A request for solidarity from The NewsGuild-CWA members at The Desert Sun

Donate to Support The Desert Sun NewsGuild Strike Fund

The NewsGuild-CWA members at The Desert Sun are set to go on an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike starting today, March 1. The Desert Sun is the only daily newspaper serving Palm Springs and the surrounding Coachella Valley in Southern California.

A supermajority of The Desert Sun NewsGuild has voted to authorize a ULP strike after its corporate owner Gannett's refusal to offer consistent cost-of-living raises and health care protections that allow members to sustainably live in the Coachella Valley. Donate below to help workers fight for a fair contract!

Donate here.

Please read this.

And please read this for added context.

Two views on Oregon's 2024 legislative session so far

Our first take on Oregon's 2024 legislative session comes from the Northwest Workers Justice Project (NWJP). NWJP modestly describes their work in the following terms:

NWJP protects workplace dignity by supporting the efforts of low-wage, immigrant and contingent workers to improve wages and working conditions and to eliminate imbalances in power that lead to inequity.

In fact, NWJP does much more and meets their goals and does movement-building. They show up when and where it makes a difference and they ae a more-than-competent progressive voice for worker rights. I am not partial to non-profits, but NWJP is a winning exception. Please support them with a contribution today. Their legislative update says:

We are in an even-numbered year, so that means a short session at the Oregon Legislature. The 35-day session kicked off on February 5th. As most of you probably know, the focus is on housing and Measure 110 (related to drug decriminalization.) Very few bills related to workers were introduced, and even fewer are moving forward on the tight timeline of the short session. We submitted testimony regarding a bad bill that would have undermined Oregon’s strong Pay Equity Law by creating a vague “business necessity” exception. We supported the Oregon AFL-CIO’s successful effort to stop this bad bill from becoming law. NWJP is focused on supporting efforts to fund a number of programs that our client community needs: the Climate Change Fund, the Home Fund and Universal Representation. These funds are part of the larger Oregon Worker Relief Fund, which advocates created during the pandemic to help undocumented Oregonians survive when workplaces were shuttered. The Climate Change Fund grew out of the rulemaking on extreme heat and wildfire smoke. Advocates realized that Oregonians who do not qualify for unemployment insurance, including undocumented workers, need a way to be paid when they have to miss work due to climate emergencies. We are asking for $9 million to replenish this fund. The Home Fund provides financial relief to immigrant Oregonians at risk of eviction and homelessness. NWJP hears from workers every week who are at risk of eviction or who have recently been evicted. We are asking for $6 million for this fund, which is a drop in the bucket of what is needed during our current housing crisis. Finally, Universal Representation (U-Rep) is the idea that all immigrant Oregonians need legal support during immigration proceedings. Studies make clear that immigrants without legal counsel are more likely to be deported. Oregon passed U-Rep in 2022, but the current funding does not meet the great need for this support. The request is $7.5 million. Please send an email as soon as possible to your elected representatives in support of these important budget requests through PCUN’s action alert here. Our second legislative update comes from Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor. The strength of this report is that it demonstrates how so much of our labor political work is about the nuts-and-bolts of policies that affect our daily lives as workers, things that we often forget until we or someone close to us says, "Hey, I need that!" This is why I keep paying dues to three unions and donating to our poitical action funds. Please join me in doing that. In a press release dated February 23 Brother Trainor offered the following: The 2024 Oregon Legislature is moving at a rapid pace, with many of Oregon Labor’s priority bills moving out of committee, into the budget committee, and onto the floor for votes. We’re excited to see bills defending healthcare workers, education workers, and public employees among many others get closer to becoming law, as well as our priority bill to ensure labor standards are a part of all offshore wind development. With only a few weeks left in this 35-day session, unions and worker advocates are working diligently to ensure as many of our priorities pass as possible before the gavel falls. Here’s an overview of where Oregon Labor legislative priorities are at this point in the short session: HB 4080: Offshore Wind - Strong Labor Standards and Roadmap Directive Led by the Oregon AFL-CIO and a priority of a number of our affiliates, HB 4080 ensures that if and when Offshore Wind Development comes to Oregon, there are strong labor standards required. Oregon has a few opportunities to influence the process to develop Offshore Wind development in federal waters. In addition to strong labor standards like apprenticeship utilization, prevailing wage and living wages and family supporting healthcare, the bill also includes a robust roadmap process to support engagement between offshore wind developers and impacted organizations, communities and tribes. The bill passed on a party-line vote out of the House Business and Labor Committee. SB 1552: Supporting All Education Workers A priority of OSEA, this education omnibus makes important technical fixes to support workers in K-12, higher ed, early learning and redefines educators to finally include classified instead of just teachers. This bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Education committee. SB 1594: Behavioral Health Worker Safety SB 1594 is a priority of Oregon AFSCME to require behavioral health safety plans and include minimum staffing levels and protocols for addressing safety risks at these facilities. These adjustments will help keep clinicians safe and reduce burnout. Furthermore, funding for apprenticeships and training programs will provide more students with the knowledge they need to be successful as clinicians. This bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Health Care committee. SB 1595: Debt Collection Reform Led by a coalition of unions and consumer advocates, SB 1595 offers protections for families and ensures that they can meet their basic needs while facing debt by increasing the amount of take-home pay protected from court seizure or garnishment, protecting the first $2,500 in an individual’s bank account, and increasing the value of a home protected from seizure. These adjustments will offer some stability for working people in times of extreme stress, and better allow them to take care of themselves and their families. The bill passed on a party-line vote in the Senate Labor and Business committee and unanimously in the Senate Finance and Revenue committee. SB 1578: Healthcare Interpreter Portal A priority of Oregon AFSCME, SB 1578 creates a portal for health care interpreters to help streamline the process and give these workers much better wages and benefits, while also improving patient outcomes. This bill passed on a party line vote out of the Senate Health Care committee. HB 4006: Equity for Construction Workers & Contractors A priority of the Ironworkers, HB 4006 requires a contracting agency to accept from contractors surety bonds in lieu of retainage for construction projects and public improvement contracts. This will help ensure that historically and currently marginalized contractors and workers have a fair shot at getting ahead. After a unanimous vote in the House Business and Labor Committee, the bill passed unanimously on the House floor. HB 4045: PERS “High Risk” Tier HB 4045 is a priority of the Firefighter and Oregon AFSCME to help over 3,200 public safety workers qualify for improved retirement benefits. The bill includes state hospital workers and 911 operators into PERS and lowers the retirement age for firefighters. The bill passed unanimously out of the House Emergency Management General Government committee and in the Ways and Means subcommittee. HB 4050: Pay Equity Subversion (opposition) Brought by Oregon Business and Industries, HB 4050 would have subverted Oregon's pay equity law which ensures that women, people of color, and other workers from protected classes are not paid unfairly. We successfully made sure that this bill in its current form does not move forward this session. HB 4077: Incident Reporting Access in Schools A priority of OSEA, HB 4077 takes a massive step toward ensuring education workers feel safe at work and is the next common-sense bill for OSEA’s Work Shouldn’t Hurt campaign. The bill increases access to incident forms after a worker is injured on the job by making an online form that can be completed on a smart phone and computer. This bill passed unanimously out of the House Education committee. HB 4085: Immigration Legal Assistance HB 4085 provides grants to help individuals and families afford immigration legal assistance. In Oregon, we know our communities are most successful when we all feel safe, respected and welcomed. Proactive affirmative immigration legal services will create pathways to citizenship and provide safety, security and stability for our immigrant and refugee communities. This bill passed unanimously out of the House Early Childhood and Human Services Committee. HB 4088: Addressing Violence Against Healthcare Workers HB 4088 creates a pilot program to address and prevent hospital workplace violence and make assaults on hospital workers a Class C felony. This is a priority of ONA, AFSCME and other unions representing healthcare workers. This bill passed nearly unanimously in the House Judiciary Committee. HB 4112: Clean Energy Tech Supply Chain HB 4112 has the potential to make Oregon a regional leader in clean tech manufacturing while promoting good high skilled manufacturing jobs through state procurement preference. This is a priority of the Blue Green Alliance and a number of Building Trades affiliates. This bill passed out of the House Climate, Energy and Environment Committee on a bipartisan vote. HB 4124 & SB 1582: Post-Pandemic Funding for the Arts HB 4124 and SB 1582 allocate funding to help cultural and arts programs who are struggling to bounce back after the pandemic. As union workers at many of these facilities, this is a priority of IATSE and AFM among others. These bills passed nearly unanimously out of the House Economic Development committee and Senate Business and Labor committee. HB 4125: Adjunct Faculty Trend Study Bill AFT-Oregon's priority bill, HB 4125 funds a report on higher education workforce to understand trends and information on the quality of the jobs and governance systems nationwide. This bill passed nearly unanimously out of the House Higher Education Committee. HB 4130: Protecting Against Corporate Control of Healthcare HB 4130 protects against corporatization by closing the LLC/LLP loophole in our current laws. HB4130 also bans non-competes, non-disparagement clauses, and stock transfer restriction agreements to bolster physician independence. These changes will strengthen Oregon’s existing protections against corporate control of healthcare. By doing so, our state will be preventing increased healthcare corporatization and keep healthcare costs low for Oregonians. After a bipartisan vote in the House Health Care committee, it also received a bipartisan vote on the House floor. HB 4158: Expanding Child Care Capacity for Home-Based Providers, Small Centers, and Rural Areas A Fair Shot for All priority, the bill helps fund childcare infrastructure to provide financial assistance grants to child care providers. The bill passed nearly unanimously out of the House Early Childhood committee. Thank you for everything you do to build power for working people! If you have any questions about legislative priorities or how the Oregon AFL-CIO can support your union’s priorities in Salem, please contact Catie Theisen, our Political and Legislative Director. In Solidarity, Graham Trainor President, Oregon AFL-CIO He/Him/His