August
4, 2006 Volume
107 Number 15
News |
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Machinists
strike at Cummins NW continues
Members
of Machinists Lodge 1005 picket July 31 at Cummins NW in Portland.
The strike started July 7 after the company�s new owner voided contracts
with the Machinists and Teamsters at facilities in Portland, Pendleton,
Renton, and Spokane, and quit paying into the pension fund. The
new owner wants open shop language in any new pacts. More than 100
workers are on strike, including 23 in Portland.
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Minimum
wage bill would cut pay for tipped workers
In
the dead of night July 29, the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives
passed a massive multi-issue bill — without having read it.
The bill, supported by Rep. David Wu, would cut wages for tipped workers
in Oregon and Washington and grant a tax giveaway to wealthy heirs
and heiresses.
Oman
Free Trade Agreement passes; NAFTA-style trade deals proliferating
In June and July,
Congress approved yet another NAFTA-style trade agreement, this
time with a sultanate.
Senator
Smith heeds call of 2,300 union members in ‘Kentucky River’
cases
U.S. Senator Gordon
Smith, (R-Oregon), ended his silence July 31 by asking that the National
Labor Relations Board hold oral arguments before issuing any rulings
on three pending cases known collectively as “Kentucky River.”
Oregon
AFL-CIO backs Kulongoski for re-election
The Oregon AFL-CIO
wasted little time endorsing Gov. Ted Kulongoski for
re-election at its meeting July 25 in Portland. Kulongoski failed
to get its backing in the May primary when he faced two labor-friendly
Democratic opponents. But Kulongoski won the primary and now faces
a well-financed anti-union conservative Republican.
Sizemore
files anti-union initiatives for 2008 ballot
Despite
unpaid judgments, labor foe and convicted racketeer Bill Sizemore
is still trying to hurt unions at the polls. Sizemore has filed
initiative petitions with the Oregon secretary of state’s
office calling for the repeal of the state’s prevailing wage
law and making Oregon a so-called right-to-work state in which the
union shop is banned.
Portland
school custodians’ return remains murky
Just
over a month before the school year begins, it wasn't clear how many
of the roughly 330 custodians the district fired in August 2002 would
choose to return.
Labor
and environmentalists come together
Unions are beginning
to join forces politically with environmental groups around a common
agenda of good jobs and a clean environment.
Analysis
Think
again
By
Tim Nesbitt
Bill
Sizemore’s born-again accountability
At first glance, it
looked like a case of born-again accountability. Or jailhouse redemption.
Or just plain chutzpah. Here was Bill Sizemore,
the guy whose organization was convicted of racketeering for using forged
and falsely-obtained signatures on initiative petitions, complaining that
we haven’t done enough to clean up the initiative process.
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