July
21, 2006 Volume
107 Number 14
News |
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Left:
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski joined 300 union members at a downtown
Portland rally
July 13 to call for public hearings before
the
National Labor Relations Board rules on a
series of cases that could strip workers of their right to belong
to a union. Earlier, Kulongoski’s staff delivered a letter
to the Portland NLRB office signed by all the Democratic members
of Oregon’s congressional delegation — and more than
2,000 Oregonians — asking for public hearings.
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Transit
Union TriMet contract comes to grief
Less than half-way
through a six-year labor agreement with TriMet, union officers at
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 are complaining that the Portland-area
public transit agency is breaking its bargain.
Machinists
strike Cummins NW
Twenty-three
service mechanics — members of Machinists Lodge 1005 —
hit the picket line on July 7 at the Cummins NW's facility on Swan
Island. The company has had a checkered past with the union, so
workers are preparing for a lengthy strike.
Drivers
for WHEELS hold one-day strike to save jobs
Drivers
from Salem's WHEELS paratransit program held a one-day strike July
7. But the strike wasn't against their employer. It was to draw
attention to the likelihood that Salem Area Mass Transit will give
WHEELS' contract to a non-union bidder.
IBEW
Local 659 ends 10-day strike at Eugene Water & Electric Board
Workers
at Eugene Water & Electric Board returned to work July 14 through
17 with a tentative agreement that ended a 10-day strike. The unit
of 156 workers unionized August 2003 and went on strike July 4,
seven months after their first contract expired.
Qwest
to close Portland call center, 160 CWA jobs will vanish
Qwest
Communications has announced it will close its Portland customer
service call center Oct. 13 and lay off 160 members of Communications
Workers of America Local 7901. The announcement comes two years
after state and local officials offered taxpayer-funded incentives
to get Qwest to keep the center open.
Nursing
home workers, operators agree to cooperate
After collecting
more than 125,000 signatures for a ballot measure that would increase
minimum staffing levels at nursing homes in Oregon, the union collecting
the signatures decided not to submit them.
Tim
Nesbitt joins Governor Kulongoski’s campaign staff
Former Oregon
AFL-CIO President Tim Nesbitt has joined the re-election campaign
of Democratic Governor Ted Kulongoski. Nesbitt will serve as senior
political adviser to the governor, advising him on policy initiatives.
AFSCME
endorses Ted Kulongoski for re-election
"It's the
most lengthly process we've ever undertaken," said Ken Allen,
executive director of Oregon AFSCME.
Analysis
Think
again
By
Tim Nesbitt
The
fight-fire-with-fire strategy heats up another election
This
will be a year when we get to repel the flickering arrows of the old
curmudgeons like Don McIntire and shoot back with a hot, new idea
that can make medical care more affordable for working families.
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