News briefs


Shipyard workers nix Cascade proposal

Portland shipyard workers at Cascade General rejected a contract proposal June 16 following more than a year of bargaining. The vote was 155 in favor to 197 against.

Employees are represented by the Metal Trades Council of Portland and Vicinity, an umbrella group of nearly a dozen union locals, including Machinists Lodge 63, Boilermakers Local 72, Electrical Workers Local 48, Plumbers and Fitters Local 290, Sheet Metal Workers Local 16, Painters Local 10, Teamsters Local 162, Laborers Local 296, Operating Engineers Local 701, Asbestos Workers Local 36 and Pile Drivers, Divers & Shipwrights Local 2416.

The key issue in rejecting the proposal was “open-ended subcontracting language,” said Rick Lazott, executive secretary-treasurer of the Metal Trades Council and business manager of the Boilermakers Union.

“Cascade’s proposal allowed for subcontracting without any limitations. Our members said ‘no’ to that,” Lazott said.

The sides returned to the bargaining table June 24, but the meeting didn’t last long as Cascade refused to budge from its last offer. The Metal Trades Council is now considering its next move. “We just don’t know at this point,” Lazott said.

The Pacific Coast Metal Trades District Council has been involved in the negotiations.

The rejected proposal included an across-the-board wage freeze along with some changes to the health care plan, although it contained full maintenance of benefits for workers and their families. Negotiations began May 18, 2002 and the old contract actually expired June 30, 2002.

Cascade General owns and operates the 60-acre Portland Shipyard at Swan Island in Portland. Work has been steady but slow, with about 450 employees working full time.


John R. DiSciullo of IATSE dies of cancer at age 70

John R. DiSciullo, longtime financial secretary of Portland-based Studio Mechanics of the Pacific Northwest Local 488 and a union representative of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), died June 10 following a bout with cancer. He was 70.

DiSciullo was initiated into IATSE Local 28 of Portland Feb. 12, 1957, when he worked in Portland theater as a stage carpenter. He served the union as an elected representative in the posts of financial secretary, recording secretary, president and business representative — the latter a post he held for 23 years.

He was a founding member of Local 488 and served as that local’s financial secretary for 10 years. He also served 15 years as secretary of District 1 of IATSE.

DiSciullo was born Feb. 8, 1933 in Portland. After graduating from Benson Polytechnic High School he served two years in the U.S. Army.

During his career as a stagehand DiSciullo worked on all the biggest Broadway touring shows, operas and ballets, and with the Oregon Symphony.

He is survived by his wife of 43 years, JoAnne; daughters Diana M. and DiSciullo and Elizabeth DiSciullo, and a granddaughter.

Inurnment was at Willamette National Cemetery.

The family requests that memorials be made to the Oregon Symphony Association, 921 SW Washington St., Suite 200, Portland, Ore. 97205.


Union voters in Oregon keep voting

SALEM — In the 2000 general election, AFL-CIO union household voters in Oregon voted in record numbers — 86.4 percent compared to 79.8 percent overall. Now, based on data compiled from county elections offices, it appears that union voters continued to outpace the general electorate by even wider margins in the 2002 general election and in last January’s vote on Measure 28.

In the 2002 general election, 76.7 percent of union voters voted, compared to 69.1 percent of the electorate overall. And, in the January 2003 special election, 75.1 percent of union voters voted, compared to 66.9 percent overall — a difference of 8.1 percent.

By comparison, in the 1998 general election, the union voter turnout matched the general electorate’s turnout at 59 percent.


800 Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife staffers join SEIU

SALEM — Public employees at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife voted June 19 to join Service Employees Local 503, Oregon Public Employees Union.

Sixty-two percent of the employees voted for the union in a bargaining unit of more than 800.

As well as issues of budget cuts, workers cited fairness in the workplace as a major reason to join the public employee union.

“It’ll be great for public employees and good for managers at the department so everyone will know the rules,” said employee John Leppink.

Public employee Wayne Van Der Naald added, “This will be a highlight of my 15-year career at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife because it will start the leveling off of the playing field.”

Workers include biologists, hatchery and wildlife technicians and public information staff.


Corrections staff given protection under new law

SALEM — Lawmakers had to take time away from such pressing issues as funding schools and filling budget gaps to deal with House Bill 2177, a Department of Corrections anti-stalking bill.

Despite what you might infer from the name, this isn’t about inmates or former inmates stalking corrections officers after their release. Instead, rather incredibly, an inmate filed a stalking claim against a corrections officer at Snake River Correctional Institution, alleging the officer was “stalking” him because he was “always around.”

Mary Botkin, political coordinator for Oregon Council 75 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents corrections officers, said the current law was vague enough that the inmate at least got some attention with his claim.

HB 2177 fixes that; it says that a corrections employee cannot be construed as “stalking” an inmate if the officer is simply going about his or her assigned duties at work.

Governor Ted Kulongoski signed this bill into law June 11.


NLRB orders third election for Local 16 at Boydstun Metal

Pro-union workers at North Portland’s Boydstun Metal Works are hoping to demonstrate majority support for Sheet Metal Workers Local 16 in their third election in just over a year.

Workers voted 51-45 in favor of the union in June 2002, but an employer challenge to some ballots resulted in a tie. The National Labor Relations Board then ruled that company labor law violations jinxed the results, and re-ran the election.

The second vote, held Oct. 31, 2002, resulted in a 68-70 loss for the union, but Local 16 appealed, arguing that new employer violations of workers’ rights again influenced the outcome.

The third election, scheduled for July 31, 2003 comes as part of an employer agreement to settle the union’s unfair labor practice charges. In the settlement, Boydstun also agreed to return outspoken union supporter Roger Olson to his former job, and award him back pay for the several days he was suspended for speaking out about the union. After Olson came out as an advocate of unionizing, he had been reassigned to isolating duty and forbidden to talk with co-workers.

Boydstun is a manufacturer of automobile transport trailers, with about 200 largely immigrant employees at its factory on the west end of North Columbia Boulevard in Portland.


Oregon House passes transportation bill

SALEM—The Oregon House of Representatives passed a “jobs-creating” transportation bill June 25 that was supported by organized labor.

House Bill 2041 will generate $114 million per year in new revenue, and up to $2.5 billion in bond proceeds over two years, to repair and replace the state’s broken bridges and rutted roads while creating 4,000 to 5,000 new jobs.

The House approved the bill 48-11, with Democrats supporting it unanimously. Eleven Republicans voted against it. 

“This bill will turn what is now a disadvantage for Oregon’s economy — detours around bridges that can’t support truck traffic — into a competitive advantage,” said Tim Nesbitt, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO.

The bill authorizes the state to issue bonds to pay for repair and upgrade of 469 bridges throughout the state, as well as repair and construction of roads, streets and highways. To repay the bonds, the bill raises vehicle title transactions from $30 to $55 for cars and light trucks; raises two-year registration fees from $30 to $54 for cars and light trucks; raises commercial truck registration fees by about 53 percent; and raises the weight-mile tax for trucks by nearly 10 percent.

State Representative Mark Hass, D-Raleigh Hills, said that fraying bridges and roads are proving costly both for businesses and working people. “Delays, detours and weight restrictions eat into profits, and when profits dwindle, jobs begin to disappear,” he said. “This bill sets in motion one of the biggest and most ambitious public works projects in Oregon’s history.”

Hass said job-creation gives local economies an immediate boost. “New workers buy groceries, fuel, and many other products and services that stimulate new investments. It all starts with jobs,” Hass said.


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