Internet Web designers have contract with UFCW

An internet Web design and e-commerce company in Portland has signed what is believed to be the first union contract in the state.

Allen Brown and Bob Chin, owners of ABBC Web Design have signed a union contract with Tigard-based United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555.

Brown is a 19-year member of Local 555 working at the Tualatin Fred Meyer.

"I applied for a job there before the store opened. I was a member of the old Local 1092," said Brown, whose son and brother also work at Fred Meyer stores.

Brown teamed up with Chin in the Internet business two years ago after meeting him via a CB radio chat. The two discovered they lived only few miles apart.

Before jumping in the Web design business full time, Chin was a chemical coatings chemist. He has taken classes on html coding, Web scripting and design and continues to educate himself on the always-changing Internet learning curve.

Brown has long been interested in computers, toying with them at home and also helping his wife design a Web site for her work at a non-profit agency.

Both men work out of their homes - Brown only part time because he still works a regular shift at Fred Meyer.

ABBC can design the most basic of Web pages to the most sophisticated sites on the net.

"It depends on what the customer wants," Chin said. "Whether or not they want to sell a product via e-commerc or simply provide a service to people who log in. Of course the more elaborate the site the more expensive it will be."

After designing a Web site ABBC also will maintain the page on a regular basis for a negotiated fee. Right now ABBC Web Design is offering a 50 percent discount to new customers for Web design - only $37.50 an hour.

The company designed a new Web page for UFCW Local 555 and is preparing to launch a new Web site for UFCW District Council 17. Local 555's Web site can be accessed at www.ufcw555.com.

Chin can be reached at 503-631-3180 or 503-351-2384.