Labor helps elect new governor, raise wages

The Oregon AFL-CIO's "Labor Neighbor" campaign appears to have delivered the deciding votes on Election Day 2002, which saw several close races.

Labor-endorsed Democrat Ted Kulongoski captured the governor's seat by 3 percentage points over conservative Republican Kevin Mannix, and a labor-backed initiative to raise the minimum wage by 40 cents an hour to $6.90 starting Jan. 1, and index it to reflect the cost of living every January thereafter, passed by a 2 percent margin.

The state labor federation estimated that 23 percent of the votes cast in the election came from union households, which it projected to be four to five percentage points above that of the general electorate.

"Union voters voted with great consistency on the (labor-endorsed) candidates and the ballot measures, because they got reliable information from their unions on issues that resonated with their concerns - for jobs that pay a living wage, for affordable health care, for corporate responsibility and for accountability in the initiative process," said Oregon AFL-CIO President Tim Nesbitt. "This was the year we took back the ballot for Oregon's working families."�

In the course of the general election campaign, the Oregon AFL-CIO and members of affiliated unions:

* Mailed more than 700,000 pieces of mail to members' homes;

* Distributed 268,000 flyers to members at their workplaces;

* Made 283,000 phone calls to members over a six-week period, first to share information on the election and then to remind them to turn in their ballots;

* Knocked on 12,500 union household doors and, in the final four days of voting distributed 28,500 get-out-the-vote door-hangers in neighborhoods with high numbers of union members in Multnomah, Marion and Lane counties - covering the Portland, Salem and Eugene-Springfield areas, respectively.

"We could not have won without you," Kulongoski told his labor supporters. "I am incredibly thankful for all your hard work and support. We all stood up for working families, for more living-wage jobs and for increasing the minimum wage and we won. Now it's time to truly move our state forward and get Oregon back to work."

Voter turnout reached 73 percent in Oregon, higher than the 63 percent expected by the secretary of state's office.

According to tracking polls, union voters in Oregon favored Kulongoski by a 19-point margin (57 percent to 38 percent for Mannix and 6 percent for Libertarian Tom Cox) and delivered an astounding 42-point margin for the minimum wage increase, Measure 25 (71 percent "yes" to 29 percent "no"), and a 40-point margin for the Initiative Integrity Act, Measure 26 (70 percent "yes" to 30 percent "no").

Nesbitt estimated that union voters accounted for a plus-53,000-vote margin for Kulongoski in his 33,437-vote victory and that union members supported Measure 26 by a 117,000-vote margin in its 31,884-vote win.

Measure 26 was sponsored by the Oregon AFL-CIO (Nesbitt was a chief petitioner) and was put on the ballot to rein in abuses in the initiative petition process that were caused primarily by anti-union Oregon Taxpayers United and its director, Bill Sizemore.

Voters seemed to agree, passing the measure by a margin of 75 percent to 25 percent. The new law forbids paying per signature when collecting names for initiative petitions. However, it does allow petitioners to be paid an hourly wage. Opponents said they will challenge the measure in court.

A universal health care initiative, Measure 23, which was opposed by the AFL-CIO, was defeated by a 3-to-1 margin. Voters backed two labor-endorsed measures to shore up schools, hospitals and fire stations against earthquakes. Measures 15 and 16 will allow the state to issue bonds to pay for seismic safety upgrades in schools and public safety buildings, after studies are done to determine where such work is most needed.

Republicans increased their majority hold in the Oregon House while Democrats picked up a seat in the State Senate to forge a 15-15 split.The last time there was a tie in the Senate was 1956, but one member of the GOP is labor-endorsed Republican Lenn Hannon of Ashland which, according to Nesbitt, should create a working majority for pro-worker legislation in the Senate.� Before the Nov. 5 election, Republicans held a 16-14 edge in the Senate and a 32-28 majority in the House. Republicans have been the majority in the Senate since 1994 and have controlled the House since 1990.

However, several Republicans received endorsements from labor groups, ranging from the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council to Oregon Council 75 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Senate Minority Leader Kate Brown of Portland, who had hoped to be the next Senate president, told the Salem Statesman Journal that a tie will put power into the hands of moderates from both parties. "There is going to be a sea change," she said.

Among the legislators are seven of "labor's own" - union members who ran for and were elected to public office. All are Portland area Democrats and four are incumbents.

House District 42 Representative Diane Rosenbaum, a member of Communications Workers Local 7901 and a chief petitioner of the minimum wage initiative, and District 44 Representative Gary Hansen, a member of Plumbers and Fitters Local 290, were re-elected to third terms against minor opposition.

District 50 Representative Laurie Monnes Anderson, a member of the Oregon Nurses Association, won her second term against Republican Ernest Hodgin; and District 46 Representative Steve March won a second term in a landslide against Republican Eric Dickman.

Newcomers to the House include Jeff Barker of Aloha, a former president and retired member of the Portland Police Association, who won by fewer than 50 votes out of 15,200 ballots in District 28. In District 33, Mitch Greenlick, a member of the American Federation of Teachers-Oregon, defeated Republican Erik Hartung and Libertarian Anthony Ambrose, collecting 58 percent of the vote; and in District 48, Mike Schaufler, a member of the Laborers Union, beat Republican Michael Wrathall for the seat that Firefighter Randy Leonard vacated to run for City Council.

Bruce Cronk, a member of the Steelworkers in Roseburg, was defeated in District 2 by Republican incumbent Susan Morgan.

In the State Senate, Tony Corcoran of Cottage Grove was re-elected to a third term representing District 4. He is a member of the Service Employees International Union, Oregon Public Employees Union.

The Legislature opens Jan. 13 and all of the lawmakers will be faced with a billion-dollar-plus shortfall in the state budget and a special election Jan. 28 in which voters will consider an income tax increase to balance the 2003-05 budget.

In the Portland metropolitan area, labor celebrated the election of Randy Leonard to the Portland City Council. The former president of Portland Fire Fighters Local 43 defeated Multnomah County Commissioner Serena Cruz by a 56-44 percent margin in a special election for the seat vacated by Charlie Hales.

Leonard, a former state senator and representative from Southeast Portland, received strong support from Portland area unions. "He won because we called all of our members in Portland to tell them why we needed Randy's voice and vision on the council," said AFSCME Political Coordinator Cornelia Murphy. "It was a huge multi-union effort."

A Portland Parks levy, which passed in the May primary but was ruled ineligible under the state's double-majority law (50 percent plus one votes, plus 50 percent plus one voter turnout), passed again Nov. 5 by a margin of 63-37 percent. Most parks employees are represented by Laborers Local 483.

A Multnomah County Library levy that suffered the same double-majority circumstance in the primary "re-passed" in the general election by a margin of 56-44 percent. AFSCME Local 88 (Multnomah County) represents over 200 library employees who could have lost their jobs if the levy failed.

Labor-backed Measure 26-33, the Portland campaign for successful kids, passed by a wide margin and David Bragdon was re-elected METRO council president by a 58-42 percent margin over conservative Kate Schiele. Most METRO employees are members of AFSCME Local 3580, which endorsed Bragdon.

Two Northwest Oregon Labor Council-endorsed candidates in local races weren't as fortunate. Judi Mehrens was defeated by Sherry Hall in a race for the open seat as Clackamas County treasurer, and Chris Lassen was defeated by Jacquenette McIntire in his bid for re-election to the Gresham City Council.

In Washington State, several initiatives backed by the labor movement were not successful, most notably the transportation financing Referendum 51, which voters overwhelmingly rejected, 63-37 percent. The measure would have increased the state's gasoline tax by 9 cents a gallon to fund road and bridge improvements. A license tab fee that was opposed by the Washington State Labor Council - I-776 - was approved 54-46 percent and an unemployment insurance measure - Referendum 53 - that the state labor federation supported, was rejected by a margin of 61-39 percent.

Labor-backed Initiative 790, to allow firefighters and police officers seats on a newly-created pension board, was victorious by a 53-47 percent margin.

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