When $13.50 is More Than $15!

SERVING ORGANIZED LABOR IN OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON SINCE 1900
LABOR
PRESS
INSIDE
NORTHWEST
VOLUME 117, NUMBER 3
PORTLAND, OREGON
FEBRUARY 5, 2016
When $13.50 is More Than $15!
B
JEFF ANDERSON
Secretary-Treasurer
eginning well over a year ago,
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 has engaged in strategic
planning, public messaging, and worker
organizing to support campaigns to raise
Oregon’s minimum wage. We remain
committed and actively working in support of these efforts because as a Union,
we believe that workers should earn a
wage that affords them the ability to
thrive in the community they choose to
live in and support their families. In especially high-cost areas in Oregon, the
urgency and need is even greater.
Over the past two years, organizers for
a $15 minimum wage have invested
heavily in grassroots organizing in Oregon and in many cities across the country
to build public support for a much-
needed increase in the minimum wage.
To their credit, pubic support for a minimum wage increase is higher than ever
before. UFCW Local 555 is supporting
similar efforts in the state of Washington.
Challenges
Recently, internal research suggests
the prospect of winning a $15 statewide
minimum wage in the Legislature or at
the ballot was unlikely to succeed. While
we support the policy in concept, as leaders in the worker justice movement, we
believe it irresponsible to gamble with
the livelihood of workers by expending
all of our strategic efforts on a campaign
that we do not believe we can win. Doing
so would surely be a significant setback
to future efforts to raise the minimum
wage, and would result in a net increase
Retail Bargaining
Update: Jan. 28
By Mike Marshall,
Director of Membership Services
For the last three days your Retail Unity Negotiation Committee
met with the employers, mostly
over non-economic language. In
fact, the companies spent — including previous bargaining sessions — almost four days on a single issue, delaying economic
discussion to the very last day of
scheduled bargaining.
Once economic discussions began, your Retail Unity Negotiation
Committee proposed pension increases, wage increases for journeypersons and apprentices, and a
plan to address wage inflation.
The employers’ counter proposal included NO pension increases, NO apprentice wage increases, NO wage increases for
journeypersons, reducing the starting wage
in most contracts, and offered only 15-cent
bonuses for some employees, spread over
What’s this?
three years.
Your Retail Unity Negotiations Committee is committed to the original goals: Obtain wage increases, protect healthcare benefits, strengthen pension benefits, improve
scheduling practices, secure and improve
The outside pages, and Pages 8 & 9
are news from and about your
union. The inside pages are
produced by the Northwest Labor Press, and cover the labor movement
as a whole. If you like what you see, visit www.nwlaborpress.org.
of $0 for workers in severe and urgent
need of a raise. We cannot in good conscience proceed with such uncertain
odds.
Research
In developing a viable path to victory
that adheres to the values of our Union,
we sought a policy alternative that addressed the high cost of living in more rural counties in Oregon while also addressing the higher-yet cost of living in urban
centers like Portland. We turned to selfsufficiency data produced using a calculator by the University of Washington.
According to the data, a two-parent,
two-child household, a $13.50 minimum
wage would reach a level of self-sufficiency in 18 of Oregon’s counties (about
half, with a combined population of 14%
of the total population). That’s
not to say that $13.50 per hour
is enough for all counties in
Oregon. In the Portland metro
area, where an estimated 45% of
low wage jobs exist, the data
show that an even higher wage
is needed for families to make
ends meet.
sick pay benefits, and standardize where
possible contract language throughout the
jurisdiction.
What do you think of your employer’s
“offer?” Do you think your committee
should have jumped at a 15 cent bonus?
INSIDE
UFCW Local 555 MEMBER SPOTLIGHT | Pages 2 & 15
BLS: Annual Union Membership Report | Page 8
Raise the Wage
Based on this research and
the strong headwind on a fight
to raise the wage to $15
statewide, UFCW Local 555
joined dozens of other unions
and community organizations to
form the Raise the Wage Coalition around the principle that no
one who works should live in
poverty. A couple of months
later, we launched a ballot measure — Initiative Petition 58 —
that raises the statewide wage to
$13.50 and lifts the unfair ban
on cities like Portland and Eugene on raising local wages.
We are confident these proposals — with the strong support of UFCW Local 555 — are
Turn to Page 16
OUR MISSION:
Providing leadership,
representation and
education to better
the lives of all
working people
PAGE 2 |
February 5, 2016 | NW Labor Press / UFCW LOCAL 555 LEADER
Richelle Cain was terminated from Foster
Farms for allegedly leaving her shift early
without notifying anyone. After an investigation and a fact finding meeting with Foster Farms by Union Rep Lynda Hart and Shop
Steward Ahren Belden, it was determined
that the union would take Richelle's case to
an arbitrator for a decision. Short of presenting the case to the arbitrator, the company
settled with Richelle with $3,000, along with
removal of discipline from her file and a
clean job referral. Since her termination,
Richelle, has enrolled in college and made
the Dean's List. Now with her settlement she
will continue with her education and is very
appreciative of her Union putting her best
interest first and going to bat for her. Congratulations, Richelle! Keep up the great
work in school!
UFCW 555
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
““The Union helps me secure a good job with fair wages”
Kimley Neth, UFCW Local 555 Member
“Thanks to my Union contract, I have great
sick pay benefits! After a recent stay in the hospital, I was told I needed to use vacation days,
until I asked my Union Rep. She got it straightened out. An adjustment was made and vacation added back to my bank! It's great to be
Union and have the benefits in my contract.”
Desiree Durbin
UFCW 555 Member, UFCW Local 555 Member
“I would like to thank my Union for the
support I get from my rep and from our
leadership in the office. My insurance is
great and I look forward to having a
great pension. I am also the shop steward for my fellow members in Lakeview and enjoy helping them when I
can.”
Suzie McCully,
UFCW Local 555 Member
“I would like to take this time to thank Local 555 for their support
and attention they have given me when I needed it. I left the Union
in 1991 with a bitter taste in my mouth. Since I came back to 555, I
feel they truly do care about me. I am thankful for my insurance and
very glad that I now have a pension.”
Dewayne Gobble,
UFCW Local 555 Member
NW Labor Press / UFCW LOCAL 555 LEADER |
February 5, 2016 | PAGE 15
UFCW 555
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Pictured here are Glen Espersen, Longview Safeway Steward/Executive Board VP, Gail Brundage, Steward, St Helens
Safeway, and Robert Bellew, Steward, Longview Fred Meyer!
These three dedicated UFCW 555 members are part of the
Retail Unity Negotiations Committee, working to bring you
a solid contract.
Sue Bacon, a 24-year union member who works in
the pharmacy at the Sunset Fred Meyer, says that
she loves being union and having the protection
of the union contract in the workplace.
“I feel fortunate to be employed at Sherm’s Thunderbird Market for the past 27 years and a member of
UFCW Local 555 for 26 of those years. During this
time, our Union has gotten stronger under the leadership of Dan Clay and his crew. By merging Southern Oregon with the greater Portland area, healthcare has improved tremendously proving there is
really strength in numbers. With contract negotiations underway, I feel confident that under Dan’s direction, we will be offered a workable agreement
that will be beneficial to members and employers
alike.”
Regina Sample, UFCW Local 555 Member
“The reason I became a shop
steward is because I like being
a voice to help people settle
problems and make their
working experience a great
one. We are all one big family
and spend a lot of time together and should help stand
together united.”
Erin Olp,
UFCW Local 555 Member
Robert Flath has worked for Safeway 28 years.
Peggy, his wife pictured with him, has been a
member for as long. He was given a certificate of
merit last month by the Portland Fire Department for saving a choking infant’s life. An infant
in the back of his store was not breathing. Supporting the baby in his arms, he delivered a series
of blows to her back and dislodged the object
choking her, and she was breathing normally
when paramedics arrived. Had it not been for
Robert, the outcome would have been gravely
different. Way to go Robert!
PAGE 16 |
February 5, 2016 | NW Labor Press / UFCW LOCAL 555 LEADER
Bad Economic Policy Is Hurting ... (you)
W
DAN CLAY
hen I first took over as
President of UFCW Local
555, we had some pretty serious
problems with our pension trust
and our two health trusts. Secretary Treasurer Jeff Anderson and
I traveled around Oregon and
Southwest Washington talking
to hard-working UFCW members and telling everyone that we
could get this fixed if they gave
us a little time. Over the next
couple of years, we added
money to the pension and,
frankly, adjusted some benefits
to make sure that the fund would
be stable for when you want to
retire. We also merged our two
health trusts into one and we increased funding substantially.
As of the last report, your pension trust was about 93% funded
(which is pretty darn good) and
your health trust had the necessary reserves to pay claims for
months if there was a problem.
Back before the trusts were
fixed, I recall a member from
Vancouver asking me a very profound question. She said, “If I
didn’t know about these problems and now my benefits are being effected, how am I going to
know if there is a problem in the
future?” I still remember my exact answer today. I said, “I will
tell you if there is a problem
ahead, so you don’t need to worry
too much.” Today is that day.
As I said before, your health
President
trust is in very good shape.
There is nothing to worry about
there. It is your pension trust
that prompted my previous
story. Your pension is inextricably tied to various stock markets
around the world and if you
have been watching the news,
you know the news isn’t good
for investors. As of this writing,
the Dow Jones and NASDAQ
were down about 10% for 2016.
At our recent high point, we
had about $880 million in your
pension fund. While your fund
is diversified in foreign markets,
hedge funds, bonds, infrastructure, housing, and numerous
other strategies, our exposure to
stocks will have a noticeable impact on our plan. My guess is
$40-50 million in losses will be
reported at the end of the quarter
just based on January alone. The
markets have a tendency to
bounce back, but if they don’t rebound, we will likely see your
pension slip from “Green Status,” which is good, to “Red Status,” which is not good. You
don’t need to worry about
whether your pension check will
arrive and I don’t want anyone
to panic. At this point, this problem is manageable. However, I
made a promise to keep UFCW
members informed about the
good news and the bad news.
These recent returns are bad
news and could spell trouble if
the trend continues.
So you now know the “what.”
Let’s talk about “why.” There are
a few obvious answers and a few
not so obvious answers. One obvious contributing factor might
be that this is a presidential election year. Financial markets historically perform below average
in these years, likely due to investor uncertainly in what the
new President will change.
Thankfully, these “bad” years are
usually followed by a recovery.
Since 2008, it could be reasonably argued that the economy
has slowed down due to
NAFTA. NAFTA allowed corporations to send American jobs
UNION CONTRACT
ENFORCEMENT THROUGH
DECEMBER 2015:
Grievances Filed: 520
Members Returned to Work: 269
Monies Recovered: $139,039.53
overseas, but it didn’t require
that they share the benefits;
shoes that once cost $27 to make
started costing $3 to make. And
what did the American worker
get? A pink slip. I know what
you are thinking… NAFTA was
way before 2008. How could
this be? After NAFTA, American jobs were sent overseas.
American workers were laid off.
These workers took the jobs that
were left, which most paid less
because the good jobs were
gone. People turned to credit to
keep up their standards of living.
The credit ran out in 2008, once
it became clear that mortgage
backed securities were in many
cases worthless. The stock market crashed. Any investments
that these workers had often took
a huge hit. It all happened and it
wasn’t a mistake. It was wealthy
people manipulating the markets
to become more wealthy.
Ready for the next “mistake”
that is going to hurt you and your
pension? We already know what
it is going to be. This one comes
from the U.S. Supreme Court. A
few years back they decided that
corporations were people. I remember Mitt Romney’s infamous defense of that ridiculous
idea. Second, the Court ruled that
corporations (and actual people)
could spend unlimited money to
buy politicians. There is no need
to explain how that works.
Finally, the Court has now
taken up Friedrichs vs. the California Teachers Association
(CTA). There is a strong belief
that the Court will rule against
the CTA and, in doing so, limit
the rights of all public-sector
union members to act collectively to defend the quality of
their worklife. It is a tortured argument that they will likely follow, but that doesn’t matter much
as the Supreme Court has the final say on any particular law.
If this ruling comes down as
expected, every public sector
worker’s united voice will be
muffled and it will become unconstitutional for public workers
to speak with one voice like they
do now. Once the Supreme
Court eviscerates public sector
workers, the politicians who
vote to their right to unified action will be unelected. Workers
will be in worse shape. And
many of the politicians that
fought against the Trans-Pacific
Partnership will be eliminated.
Soon, American workers will
be competing head-to-head with
workers who make less than a
tenth of what we do, and these
hard-working Americans will
have even less to spend. The
economy will suffer. The stock
market will continue wild
swings in the absence of a robust economy that investors can
trust. Workers’ pension money
will grow slower because of the
lower stock market returns. We
end up having a big problem.
In a nutshell, working people
won’t have the money to buy
the things they make.
Don’t get me wrong, UFCW
Local 555 will be fighting this
all the way, but that is what corporations are trying to do to you.
...When $13. 50 is More Than $15!
achievable and are our best
chance to win a sizeable raise
for the half-a-million low-wage
workers in all parts of the state.
From Page 1
Governor Brown
With the start of the February
2016 session where lawmakers
and Gov. Kate Brown are actively working to find a compromise minimum wage solution
that advocates and business interests can agree to as an alternative
to IP 58. As a chief sponsor of the
ballot measure, my commitment
to winning IP 58 remains. With
that said, the proposal introduced
in January by the Governor has
both merits and missed opportunities.
I look forward to actively participating in policy discussions as
legislators fine-tune this proposal
because I believe we must do so
to ensure any bill the Oregon
Legislature adopts meets the
needs of the hundreds of thousands of low-wage workers expecting leaders to deliver it.
I ask my Brothers and Sisters
to stand alongside me and the
coalition of over 70 organizations,
small businesses, and worker organizations in the coming weeks
and months to win this fight.
PAGE 8 |
February 5, 2016 | NW Labor Press / UFCW LOCAL 555 LEADER
Union membership slips in
Oregon, grows in Washington
LONGTIME MEMBERS: Forty-plus year member Steve
Burbach and 10-plus year member Melody Lino keep
the meat and fish case at Lamb’s Thriftway on Olson
Road looking fresh and well stocked every day. They are
as proud of their UFCW 555 pension plan as they are of
their case display. Melody knows that her retirement is
as secure several decades into the future as is Steve's,
which he could take advantage of at most any point.
“I’m fully vested and have my financial future pretty
well planned out,” says Steve. "But right now a job that
I enjoy and great customers keep me going."
"I love working here for the very same reasons,” says
Melody. Both eager followers of the stock market and
their pension fund's performance, Melody and Steve
both take comfort in the fact that their retirement benefits are safe, solid, and secure.
Washington AFL-CIO
opposes I-732 carbon tax
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The ranks
of union membership in Oregon
dropped by 8,000 members in 2015,
a new report from the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS) shows. Density and numbers both dropped —
from 243,000 unionists (15.6 percent) in 2014, to 235,000 last year
(14.8 percent).
In the State of Washington, a halfmillion residents belonged to labor
unions in 2015, up 9,000 members
from a year prior. Washington has the
fifth-highest union density of any
state, with 16.8 percent of the workforce being union members. Only
New York (24.7 percent), Hawaii (20
percent), Alaska (19.6 percent) and
Connecticut (17 percent) are higher.
Wisconsin saw the largest decrease
in membership, by far, as Republican
Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-union program fully kicked in. His 2011
agenda stripped public unions of bargaining rights, and he later pushed
through a right-to-work law. Wisconsin lost 83,000 union members in one
year, dropping to 223,000. Density
dropped from 12.6 percent to 8.3 percent.
BLS calculated that, nationwide,
unions had 14.795 million members
last year, up 219,000 from 2014.
Union density was unchanged at 11.1
percent.
Public workers are still five times
more likely to be unionized (35.2 percent) than private-sector workers (6.7
percent), with teachers and public
safety workers leading the way. Public and private densities changed little
from 2014. The public sector added
23,000 union members, to 7.241 million last year. That’s slightly fewer
than the 7.554 million private-sector
union members.
According the BLS report, median
weekly earnings of full-time union
workers ($975) were more than 25
percent higher than those of
nonunion workers ($776) in 2015.
“That’s not pocket change — it
comes to more than $10,000 per
year,” U.S. Secretary of Labor
Thomas E. Perez said in a press statement. “That goes a long way toward
writing the mortgage check, paying
down the car loan, or even just keeping the kids in snow boots. And, that
doesn’t even account for the superior
benefits, safer workplaces and other
advantages that come with union representation.”
The annual survey follows another
federal report — The National Compensation Survey — that showed
union members are far more likely to
have employer-provided retirement
and health care benefits than their
nonunion counterparts.
The report found:
— 95 percent of union workers had the
option of an employer-sponsored
health care plan, compared to 69 percent of nonunion workers;
— 94 percent of union workers had the
option of an employer-sponsored retirement plan, compared to 65 percent
of nonunion workers; and
— 93 percent of union workers had the
option of an employee-sponsored prescription drug insurance, compared to
67 percent of nonunion workers.
In addition, the quality of the benefits provided to union workers typically was better, the data showed. For
example, workers were expected to
contribute 19 percent toward the cost
of the family’s health care under
union-negotiated benefits plans,
while nonunion workers were forced
to shell out 35 percent of the cost,
which represents an 84 percent increase in out-of-pocket costs.
“With this report, we are reminded again that the labor movement continues to be one of the most
powerful forces for strengthening the
middle class and providing economic
stability, for members and non-members alike,” Perez said.
SEATTLE —The Executive Board of the Washington State Labor Council
(WSLC) voted Jan. 28 to oppose Initiative 732, a statewide
ballot measure that would create
a new tax on carbon emissions
while cutting other state taxes.
WSLC President Jeff Johnson said that although I-732
proponents intended the measure to be “revenue neutral,” the
state Department of Revenue
now estimates it will cost the
This year we are pleased to announce that there will be up to a total of thirteen (13) scholarship
state $914 million over the next
awards of up to $2,000 each. The scholarships must be used at; any accredited college or university,
four years.
technical or vocational school, or junior community college for any course of study. The award is to
“ At a time our state is strughelp pay for tuition, fees, books, educational expenses and educational materials for the 2016-2017
gling to fund basic services —
academic year.
including public schools, mental
health facilities, and many other
essential services — I-732
In addition to the awards above, The L Walt Derry Scholarship is for those motivated students seeking
would send Washington in the
a career in the labor movement advancing worker rights and fighting for working families. There will
wrong direction and create more
be one scholarship of $2,500.00 awarded this year. The Scholarship is to offset costs in traditional
damaging austerity choices,”
Johnson said.
college and trade school programs including but not limited to: Human Resources; Labor Relations;
The WSLC is part of the AlArbitration; Collective Bargaining; Investigation; Counseling; and Public Relations.
liance for Jobs and Clean Energy, a coalition of labor, enviFor more information you are encouraged to contact your Union Representative at 1-800-452-UFCW.
ronmental, business, and
You may also contact us at 1 (800) 452-8329 ext. 6354 or send questions to [email protected].
community groups working on a
comprehensive carbon policy
that addresses I- 732’s shortcomThe application may be found on our website, www.ufcw555.org,
ings.
Northwest
Foundation
2016 Scholarship
Program
and will be accepted no later than May 6, 2016
NW Labor Press / UFCW LOCAL 555 LEADER | February 5, 2016 | PAGE 9