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See Inside MEETING NOTICES Page 6 Volume 108 Number 6 March 16, 2007 Portland, Oregon (PHOTO LEFT) Business Agent Steve Pickle shares information about Teamsters Joint Council 37 at the inaugural organizing workshop of the Change to Win labor federation in Oregon. (ABOVE) Lee Ann Halse (center) of SEIU Local 503 talks with Steve Witte of United Farm Workers and Patricia Avila of Local 503 during a break at the conference held March 3 in Southeast Portland. Nearly 125 delegates from around Oregon attended the conference. Change to Win is a national federation comprised of seven unions. Change to Win unions Letter Carriers to deliver message: share organizing ideas Don’t contract out mail service Oregon locals of the Change to Win other unions, community groups, labor federation shared ideas for or- elected officials, responsible employ- By DON McINTOSH mail. Higgins was the first person to move into the Ar- ganizing in the Pacific Northwest — ers, and other allies around the state. Associate Editor bor Parc development, in the Bethany neighborhood and pledged to support each other’s “It was an opportunity for us to A Beaverton postmaster’s decision to contract out north of Interstate 26. Unpacking in his just-finished campaigns — during a daylong organ- have some personal interaction with mail delivery is producing a major outcry among townhouse, he waited for a mailbox key to appear un- izing workshop March 3 in Portland. various activists and leaders of other union letter carriers. National Association of Letter der his mat. It never came. Phone calls to Arbor Nearly125 delegates representing unions,” said Gene Pronovost, presi- Carriers (NALC) Branch 82 has filed a complaint Homes brought bad news: Delivery service — to the all seven unions that make up the dent of UFCW Local 555. against Postmaster John Lee, and as of press time was community mailboxes at the end of his street — Change to Win federation attended. UFCW said Change to Win solidar- planning to picket outside his office on March 15. would have to wait until mid-summer, when the de- The keynote speaker was Geralyn ity will play a huge role in its upcom- Residents aren’t too pleased either. For over a velopment is half-full, he was told. Until then, he’d Lutty, an international vice president ing contract talks with grocers in Eu- month, homeowners at the new Arbor Parc Bethany have to drive to Hillsboro to get his mail, a location of the United Food and Commercial gene and the Willamette Valley. housing development had to drive 10 miles roundtrip that closes at 4 p.m. Workers who also sits on the national The Service Employees Interna- to a postal sorting station to pick up their mail. And yet, all around him and across the street from leadership board of the Change to Win tional Union said it can benefit from The dispute is a local skirmish in a national war of him, older residences and businesses were getting reg- labor federation. CtW resources in its campaign to or- ideology within the United States Postal Service ular mail service. “There are no red or blue states in ganize 3,500 support staff at St. Vin- (USPS). The Bush-appointed majority on the Postal “I don’t understand why the guy who delivers mail working America” Lutty said. “There cent and Providence Hospitals. A can- Board of Governors has been pushing USPS to assign across the street couldn’t simply add the new boxes to is only a state of concern.” dlelight vigil is slated for March 21. more deliveries to private contractors. Board Chair his route,” said L.C. Hansen, president of NALC Lutty said workers are ready to “I’m not a union member (yet), but James C. Miller III, a former Reagan budget director, Branch 82. That’s the way USPS normally handles make a change. “We can go hide, we SEIU has changed my life,” said Jen has called for wholesale postal privatization. NALC new deliveries, Hansen said. can close our eyes and stay the same, Little-Reese, a certified nursing assis- has energetically opposed the shift, arguing that priva- Instead, residents had to pick up their own mail or we can create change. This is why tant who is in the middle of the bitter tization would not only threaten the jobs and incomes while USPS advertised for a contractor. Change to Win was created. The status organizing campaign at the Catholic- of America’s 325,000 letter carriers, but would also USPS area spokesperson Kerry Jeffrey had few an- quo no longer is acceptable.” owned Providence Health Systems. compromise the security, efficiency and integrity of swers to Labor Press questions about the contracting Union officials, staff, organizers “A whole bunch of people I know are the mail, and put the long-term viability of the Postal process, but sources in the Beaverton post office said and activists spent the day sharing or- really scared. I’m just a CNA who had Service in jeopardy. ganizing strategies and discussing how big ideas, but took no action. I had no In Beaverton, Willie Higgins just wanted to get his (Turn to Page 3) they can benefit by partnering with (Turn to Page 7) Let me say this about that Unions promote —By Gene Klare home fire safety at hockey game Members of Plumbers and Fitters Local 290 and Fire Fighters Local 43 participate in annual “Broom Ball” hockey game between periods of the Portland Winter Hawks game March 9 at Memorial Coliseum. Contestants don tennis shoes and plastic brooms and try to slap a foam ball into the net. The event is used to promote residential fire sprinkler safety. “No one has ever died in a house fire when it’s equipped with a sprinkler system,” said Ron Murray, a business rep for Focus on Roseburg Local 290. The union offers A STRUGGLE BY NURSES in Oregon’s Roseburg was the focus of a na- the only training program for tional AFL-CIO advertisement in the New York Times to illustrate the need for residential fire sprinkler passage by Congress of the Employee Free Choice Act to help workers bargain system installation that is collectively for a better life. endorsed by the Portland Fire The ad, three columns wide by 10 inches deep, ran on the page opposite the ed- Bureau and the Oregon itorial page at the end of February. The headline on it asked: “What happened to Building Codes Division. The RNs Peg and Laura when they decided to form a union?” Above the headline firefighters retained the was a picture of Peg Knapp and Laura Garren, registered nurses at Mercy Med- “Broom Ball” cup after ical Center in Roseburg, which is in Southern Oregon’s Douglas County. Their sloshing to a 0-0 tie. (Photo union is the Oregon Nurses Association, based in Portland. courtesy of Randy Malin) THE AFL-CIO told this story in answer to the question asked in the headline: “Between them, Peg Knapp and Laura Garren have been caring for mothers and newborn babies for 47 years. As they saw hospital care change, they believed nurses needed a stronger voice for patients. ‘We worried that inadequate staffing levels were hurting patient care,’ Peg recalls. An overwhelming majority of the Broadway Floral nurses at Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, Ore., felt the same way and signed Bennett Hartman for the BEST flowers call cards to form a union. b h 503-288-5537 “The hospital’s reaction was ‘an eye-opener,’Laura says. ‘They forced us to go Morris & Kaplan, llp 1638 NE Broadway, Portland through an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board and it was Attorneys at Law intimidating.’ m k “She says the hospital used the election period to conduct a campaign of fear and misinformation. Anti-union mailings three times a week. Videos saying unions are violent and would slash their tires. Laura says she looked around the room and couldn’t believe any of her co-workers would slash her tires. Oregon’s Full Service Union Law Firm Nurses were pulled off the job and forced to attend anti-union meetings. Laura remembers hearing a colleague say, ‘While I’m here in this mandatory meeting, Representing Workers Since 1960 the nurse upstairs covering for me is now taking care of 10 patients.’ “Despite the hospital’s campaign, the nurses stuck together and won. But now they are struggling to get a contract. ‘Management comes to bargaining meet- ings unprepared to negotiate, stalling the negotiations,’ Laura explains. SeriousInjuryandDeathCases “Today, a full year after the election was certified, Peg, Laura and their col- leagues are still waiting for the hospital to respect their choice. • Construction Injuries “That’s why we need the Employee Free Choice Act. So workers can make a free choice to bargain for better treatment at work and a better life for their fam- • Automobile Accidents ilies.” ### • Medical, Dental, and Legal Malpractice WITHIN DAYS of the AFL-CIO advertisement, the Democratic-controlled • Bicycle and Motorcycle Accidents U.S. House of Representatives passed the Employee Free Choice Act. Now the legislation moves to the Senate where the minority Republicans have enough • Pedestrian Accidents votes to delay passage. At the White House, the anti-worker Republican President • Premises Liability (injuries on premises) George W. Bush threatens to veto the Employee Free Choice Act if it reaches his (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon desk. • Workers’ Compensation Injuries as a voice of the labor movement. ### 4275 NE Halsey St., P.O. Box 13150, KENNETH I.