nwlaborpress.org | October 19, 2007

October 19, 2007 Volume 108 Number 20

OR AFL-CIO convention coverage

Oregon AFL-CIO ramps up for aggressive Labor 2008
More than 250 delegates attending the 50th convention of the state labor federation approved a plan to generate over $300,000 for the 2008 political campaign. The national AFL-CIO has picked Oregon as a target state in the 2008 election.
[Left, delegates crowd around Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards after his speech at the Oregon AFL-CIO convention.]

Edwards tells labor he’ll be a ‘true friend’ as president
Presidential candidate John Edwards says he wants to be "the president who goes out on the White House lawn and says the word 'union.'" Edwards told convention delegates that he supports universal health care and card-check recognition in union organizing drives.
As president, Kucinich says he’d pull out of NAFTA
Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich — a card-carrying member of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 600 — vowed to bring the principles of the labor movement to the Oval Office if he is elected presiden. Kucinich said that on his very first day in office he would withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization.
Immigration reform, drug testing spark the most debate at convention
There was surprisingly little floor debate on most of the resolutions that delegates considered over three days at the 50th convention of the Oregon AFL-CIO. The exceptions were immigration reform and drug testing.
Delegates set policy with resolutions
Delegates passed 36 resolutions at the 2007 Oregon AFL-CIO convention, on subjects ranging from climate change and health care to trade and immigration policy.
Activists and unions get recognition
The Oregon AFL-CIO recognized several union members and union locals for their efforts in organizing and politics.

Other news
PPS superintendent, board members tour schools
In early October, five of the seven Portland Public Schools board members accepted a union invitation to tour district schools and see first-hand the work custodians and cafeteria workers do. Service Employees International Union Local 503 organized the tours to humanize the workers in the eyes of decisionmakers. In contract bargaining, the district has demanded that custodians give up almost one-third of their pay.
IBEW instructor returns from duty in Iraq
Naval reservist Ron Umali, 44, spent six months in Iraq earlier this year as a member of the U.S. Navy Seabees just months after he was hired by the NECA-IBEW Local 48 Electrical Training Center as an instructor.
AFSCME Local 88 members ratify four-year contract at Multnomah County
Members of AFSCME Local 88 have ratified a new four-year contract with Multnomah County, covering about 3,000 county workers. Members will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of 2.7 percent for the current year.

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