Oregon Congressman Kurt Schrader visited the Northwest Oregon Labor Council (NOLC) Executive Board for 30 minutes Dec. 14 to explain recent actions that have drawn union ire. After voting for a Fast Track measure that speeds future approval of NAFTA-style trade agreements, the 5th District Democrat sponsored a bill to crack down on longshore union slowdowns, and voted to strip Indian casino workers of the right to unionize.
“He tried to put our mind at ease, but that didn’t really happen,” says NOLC Executive Secretary-Treasurer Bob Tackett. Schrader noted several times that he votes with labor 84 percent of the time. [That’s after labor backed him 100 percent of the time in his re-election campaigns.]
Schrader will visit NOLC leaders again in February or March.
“Two years ago I was out there knocking on doors in the rain for the guy,” Tackett said. “I’m not going to do that again, and he knows that.”
