Vol 2, Issue 23
By Joe DiNicola, President, SEIU Local 503, OPEU
As we near the end of 2006, members can look back on everything we have accomplished together during the past year. We celebrate victories where we work, at the ballot box and in communities all over Oregon. Members also get ready for 2007 when a new legislative session begins and thousands of represented workers bargain our next contracts.
In this issue of President Joe's Journal, members celebrate an arbitration victory and back-pay awards for ODOT workers in Astoria and SEIU Local 503, OPEU welcomes new members from Avamere Nursing Home in Clackamas. Also, check out a short list of movie classics about organizing, community values and political action to entertain you during the holidays.
In this issue: ODOT Victory: A Bridge Is A Bridge • Welcome Nursing Home Members! • Happy Holidays: Classic Movies Celebrate Workers • eNews Flash: Bargaining Conference and Care Givers Meet
ODOT Victory: A Bridge Is a Bridge
Last week, ODOT members from the Astoria drawbridge crew settled a long-standing grievance for bridge crew pay differentials. Under the settlement, workers will receive up to nine months of back pay awards.
In March 2006, ODOT members from the Astoria drawbridge crew filed grievances for differential pay. Under Article 26 of the DAS / SEIU Local 503, OPEU contract, bridge crew workers are entitled to a 5% pay differential when they are certified as welders or boom operators. Each Astoria bridge crew member held the required license, but ODOT managers rejected the grievance. ODOT used a unique interpretation of our contract language. According to ODOT managers, "A drawbridge is not a bridge!"
Webster's dictionary defines a bridge as: "A structure erected over a depression or an obstacle, as over a river, roadway, railroad, etc." The dictionary doesn't make an exception for drawbridges, and neither does our contract. Bridge workers in Astoria refused to back down and insisted, "A bridge is a bridge." Members from workplaces everywhere in Oregon joined with ODOT workers and stepped up to sign cards in support of the Astoria bridge crew. The cards pictured three bridges, including the Astoria drawbridge, and asked, "Which one of these bridges is not a bridge?"
Now ODOT managers agree that Webster's dictionary has it right: Astoria bridge workers will get a differential and back pay. Reed Mortensen, Transportation Maintenance Specialist (TMS 2) with the Astoria drawbridge crew says, "Training opportunities and certifications for workers add more value for the state. Now our crew can work more closely with bridge crews from other locations. As far as the pay differential, it seemed pretty clear to me. I was astounded when they turned it down. Everybody feels good about our victory."
Once a contract is negotiated, both sides have to live up to the agreement. Every member must be vigilant to make sure our contract terms are enforced. Congratulations ODOT and members of the Astoria drawbridge crew!
Welcome Nursing Home Members!
On Friday, December 1, nursing home workers at the Avamere Clackamas facility decided to join our union. A majority of the workers signed union cards and the employer granted "voluntary recognition." Members recently won the right for this voluntary recognition under the terms of a partnership agreement with nursing home owners.
Last summer, SEIU Local 503, OPEU members talked to voters in every community and gathered tens of thousands of signatures on petitions to raise standards of care in Oregon nursing homes.
The campaign for safe staffing levels was very successful and helped us win the leverage we needed to create the partnership agreement.
There are more than 5,000 nursing home workers in Oregon. With every nursing home organizing victory, workers make progress toward building "union density" in this industry. Member organizers are working across the state to help workers in nursing homes have the choice to join our union. When each new nursing home workplace chooses to join SEIU Local 503, OPEU, it means union density goes up and that that helps more workers win with increased power at the bargaining table.
Together, we can raise standards for nursing homes in communities all over Oregon. When standards are improved, it makes a difference in the lives of workers and helps the nursing home residents we care for. The Clackamas facility is the sixth Avamere home and the twentieth Oregon nursing home to become part of our union. Congratulations Avamere workers at Clackamas, member organizers and SEIU Local 503, OPEU staff who stepped up to help more members win the right to join our union and win dignity and respect on the job for every worker.
Welcome Avamere Clackamas! The work you do every day makes life better for vulnerable Oregonians.
Happy Holidays: Classic Movies Celebrate Workers
Would you like some inexpensive entertainment to share with friends and family during the holiday season? Here are a few classic Hollywood movies that celebrate workers and tell some of the stories that SEIU Local 503, OPEU members are still writing today. It doesn't matter whether you are an office specialist, a nursing home worker, a bridge crew member, a caseworker or an accountant. We all work together for fair wages and dignity and respect on the job and in our communities just like the textile mill workers, farmers, office workers and coal miners in the movies listed below. We know the message is the same: "We’re all in this together."
Norma Rae: This 1979 movie depicts southern textile workers and their families as workers struggle to organize a local mill and form a union. The film takes a close look at the role of organizers and worksite leaders and what happens when individuals decide to stand up together. It also takes on the issue of racism on the job and in the community. Directed by Martin Ritt and starring Sally Field, Norma Rae was loosely based on the true story of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) efforts to organize the J.P. Stevens textile mills in North Carolina.
The Milagro Beanfield War: A developer plans to build a major resort in the small Southwestern town of Milagro. A community activist and a lawyer/newspaper editor fear that local farmers will be displaced, but they have difficulty organizing because the resort promises new jobs for the community. When a farmer takes matters into his own hands and diverts water from the development to save his beanfield, his neighbors rally to support him and the lines are drawn. It sounds heavy, but this is an entertaining and fun family movie. This fictional story celebrates what happens when people take direct action to preserve community values. Directed by Robert Redford.
Nine to Five: Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton star as three female clerical workers with a "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" for a boss. The fun starts when they share their stories with each other and begin to organize and look for a way to turn the tables on him. Classic comedy about office workers who decide to show the boss who's really boss. This could be a must-see for SEIU Local 503, OPEU members working to win a selective salary increase for State and Higher Ed office and clerical workers.
Matewan: A critically acclaimed 1987 film based on a true story. A labor union organizer travels to a 1920's West Virginia community where workers are harassed by a violent and oppressive mining company. The movie is brutal and gritty. It reveals the hardships that workers from different backgrounds faced when they came together to stand up for fairness and dignity. Mineworkers and union organizers like those portrayed in Matewan helped put union workers in America on the path toward the American dream of a good job with safe working conditions, fair wages, good benefits and a secure retirement. Members continue to fight for these values every day.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: This 1939 classic sends idealistic Jefferson Smith to Washington to combat greed, corruption and pork-barrel politics. More than 60 years later, this film still inspires viewers with a great message about how anyone can and must speak truth to power. Today, Oregon doesn't need to wait for Jimmy Stewart. Every SEIU Local 503, OPEU member has the power to step up and make a difference.
Do you have a favorite movie or documentary that tells an inspiring story about workers, how to organize or build strong community coalitions? Let me know and I'll pass your recommendation along.
eNews Flash
Bargaining Conference: DAS (Department of Administrative Services) and OUS (Oregon University System) members and bargaining team delegates will meet Saturday, December 9 in Turner to prepare for the upcoming 2007 – 2009 contract negotiations. Please join us. All members are welcome. Care Givers Meet: On December 16, Homecare, Nursing Home and Childcare workers join together for an all day Care Givers Conference in our Portland office at 6401 SE Foster. It will be a great opportunity to meet members from all over Oregon and share news about your work. Check with your Organizer or any Officer to sign up.