ILWU Local 5 faces contract trouble with Powell’s Books

Workers at Powell’s Books in Portland watched their hard-fought first contract end Oct. 2 without a replacement, despite more than three months of negotiations.

The two sides are still meeting. Owner Michael Powell, represented by attorney Howard Rubin at the bargaining table, is proposing to limit pay raises to 2 percent a year for four years and increase the amount employees pay for health care insurance. Workers, members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 5, say that’s unacceptable. They want a three-year contract with the same provisions as the last one.

The last contract, won after several short strikes, contained 6 percent annual raises, seen by workers as a way to gradually turn a low-wage retail environment into a living-wage employer. As of the third year in that contract, starting wages were $8.15 an hour for the lowest-paid classification. The median wage is $11 an hour.

The company has made no claim that it can’t afford to be more generous. Elected union representative Ryan Van Winkle says the company can afford it.

“The company is doing really well,” he said. “Even under this economic downturn, Powell’s hasn’t only survived but thrived.”

Van Winkle said workers are also unhappy about an alleged speed-up; Powell’s current union workforce of 405 now does more work than its 450 workers did three years ago.

To protest the lack of progress in negotiations, on Oct. 8 truck drivers in the shipping department walked off the job for the day, and other workers took an unauthorized “solidarity” lunch break together at several locations. Management had anticipated these kinds of job actions, Van Winkle said, and hired temporary workers to staff cash registers.

On Oct. 12, workers were joined by members of Portland Jobs With Justice for informational picketing.

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