By Jason Heilbrun

This has been a wild year for PERSlegislative changes, and sometimesit’s hard to keep track. Here’s a sum-mary of enacted and pending PERSlegislation.Senate Bill 822, passed in the 2013

legislative session, dropped the 2%maximum cost of living adjustment(COLA) in favor of a tiered system.• Up to $20,000 of PERS benefitswould receive up to a 2 percentCOLA• More than $20,000, up to $40,000in PERS benefits would be adjusted$400 plus up to 1.5% of theamount exceeding $20,000.• More than $40,000, up to $60,000in PERS benefits would be adjusted$700 plus up to 1 percent of theamount exceeding $40,000.• If the beneficiary amount exceeds$60,000, the COLA would be ad-justed $900 plus up to 0.25 percentof the amount exceeding $60,000.

SB 822 also eliminates a tax offsetfor retirees that live out-of-state and af-fects members who began PERS-cov-ered service before July 1995. AFSCME and the PERS Coalition

have filed suit with the OregonSupreme Court to overturn SB 822,but it is unlikely that the Court willrule within the next 12 months or so.Similar legislative changes were over-turned by the Court in 2003.

What’s at stake in theSpecial SessionBy the time this goes to print, the

Special Session will have been con-vened, and we’ll know what the finalproduct is. It is still important to un-derstand what was on the table forthe special session, as of print time,anyway. What we’re hearing is thatthis all needs to pass as a package forthe governor to sign them into law. The PERS pieces will be split into

two bills, the exact structure and ver-biage of which had not been finalized,but the highlights include: • 1.25 percent COLA for the first$60,000 of PERS benefits, and0.15% above that.• Removing future legislators fromPERS, putting them into a 401(k)style plan instead.• Excluding insurance paymentsfrom the final average salary calcu-lation for determination of PERSbenefits.• Addressing PERS benefits forthose convicted of on-the-jobfelonies. • Retaining PERS savings adoptedunder Senate Bill 822 in regularsession.

The package also included newtaxes, generating $244 million:• New rate for C Corporations of7.6 percent on income above $1.5

million (currently that is the rateabove $10 million)• Eliminate $183 “personal exemp-tion” for individual filers with tax-able incomes of $100,000 or moreand married or joint filers with$200,000 in taxable income. • Increase cigarette tax by $0.10 perpack, restoring the 2003 $0.10 perpack tax cut. • Limit availability of Oregon sen-ior medical deduction on higherincome seniors.

New spending and allocations,$244 million: • Lower tax rates for owners of “SCorporations,” partnerships, andLLCs starting Jan. 1, 2015.• “IC-Disc,” tax treatment, allowingsome export businesses a lower taxrate. • $100 million to K-12 education.• $15 million to community col-leges.• $25 million to universities.• $41 million to senior programs.• $20 million in cigarette tax fund-ing for mental health.• Expansion of the Earned IncomeTax Credit.Also included in the special session

is a revived version of SB 633, thatlimits the ability of local jurisdictionsto regulate agricultural uses of genet-ically modified organisms (GMO).

AFSCMELOCAL 88

www.afscmelocal88.org503-239-9858 • 1-800-792-0045

6025 E Burnside, Portland, OR 97215

PAGE 6 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS OCTOBER 4, 2013

General Membershipmeets 7p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, precededby a 6 p.m. stewards’ meeting.

Executive Boardmeets 6 p.m.Wednesday, Oct. 6.

Oregon AFSCME Retireesmeet10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15. CallMichael Arken for info: 1-800-521-5954, x226.

Meetings take place at the AFSCMEoffice, 6025 E. Burnside, Portland.

AFSCME Local 88 Calendar

MultCo Gives!At the September 18, 2013 gen-eral membership meeting, weconducted nominations for our Lo-cal 88 officer and Executive Boardpositions. All positions are for a two-year term, except for trustee, which isa three-year term. There was only one nominee for

each of these positions, so these mem-bers will be sworn in to their new po-sitions at our Nov. 20 general mem-bership meeting, and their terms willbegin on that date:President:Deirdre Mahoney-ClarkVice President: Jason HeilbrunTreasurer: Jeanne RamstenSecretary: Korie EricksonTrustee:Nellie StearnsE-Board, Transition Projects: Gre-gory Franklyn

E-Board, Central City Concern:John Talbott

There are multiple nominees forthese Executive Board positions,however, so we will conduct a vote forthe following positions:

General Government and Library,up to five positions (member mustwork in either DCA, DCM, DCS,Non-Departmental or Library depart-ments): Troy Deal (Library); MichaelHanna (DCA); Bruce Jenks (Library);Gordon Long (Library); ThomasNewsom (Library); Larry Randall (Li-brary); Kristin Wray (DCM)

Health and Human Services, up tofive positions (member must work ineither Health or DCHS depart-ments): Beverly Dunn (DCHS);Beth McHugh (DCHS); Dana RaeParker (DCHS); Jackie Tate(DCHS); Brenulla White (Health);Percy Winters Jr. (Health)

Public Safety, up to five positions(member must work in either DCJ,MCSO or DA’s Office): Andres Avila(DCJ); Matt Davis (MCSO);Madolyn Frazier (DA); Diana Grob(MCSO); Debra Hobbs (DCJ);Ronee Hunter (DCJ); BruceKosharek (DCJ); and Julia Porras(MSCO)

Elections for all of these positionswill be conducted November 20,2013, 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., at the AF-SCME office, 6025 E Burnside St.,Portland.Eligibility: All Local 88 members

(including Multnomah County, TPI,and CCC), but only yellow-cardsigned members are eligible to vote.Non-members are able to sign a yel-low card and vote on election day.

More and more, corporationsare grabbing record profitsby cutting wages, benefits, andhours. Now, these same peopleare hijacking our Oregon ballotinitiative process to furtherthreaten working people andmiddle-class families. Corporate CEOs and out-of-state billionaires are funding these meas-

ures to advance their own agenda. They’re pushing ballot measures here tostop Oregon workers from joining together to protect our jobs and ourcommunities.Now more than ever, we need to come together to fight for the work-

ing people of Oregon. We need to say NO to ballot measures that under-mine everyone’s wages, benefits and safe working conditions. We are un-der attack because without us, standards will be lowered for all of Oregon’sworking people and middle-class families.This is about big corporations using our political process to lower every-

one’s benefits, wages and working hours. Their agenda? Downsize, shipjobs overseas, and offshore their profits to avoid paying taxes. They would limit the ability of public service workers such as nurses

and firefighters to negotiate for better staffing levels, modern equipment,and safer working conditions — threatening the safety of the very peoplewe count on in emergencies. If passed, these measures would give largecorporations the ability to push their own agenda of lower wages, cuts tothe minimum wage, and cuts to family leave.We need to stand up and fight to protect our wages and benefits and

fight for safe working conditions.

Here’s what you can do right now:• Talk to your friends and family about why this is important! • Visit KeepOregonWorking.com to find out more and sign up to jointhe fight.• Text “Together” to 88202 to stay in touch or “like” on Facebook atFacebook.com/KeepOregonWorking

A PERS Legislative Primer

Local 88 ElectionsFall has begun, and it’s time to cometogether and show the tremendousspirit of generosity that is so strong inthe Multnomah County representedworkforce. The MultCo Gives! Work-place Giving Campaign is our oppor-tunity to demonstrate the power ofgiving. The campaign kicks off onThursday, October 10, and will endFriday, November 1.Participating in MultCo Gives! is

fun and EASY — the campaign givesyou the opportunity to contribute toone or more charitable organizationsthrough pre-tax, direct payroll deduc-tion. Your support of our certified or-ganizations and/or the dozens of addi-tional charitable organizations selectedthrough write-in helps make our com-munity stronger, more equitable, morelivable and healthier.

A representative from MultCoGives! will be attending the AFSCMELocal 88 membership meeting on Oc-tober 16 to share information aboutthe campaign, answer questions andshare materials from the organizations.Also, please check out the MultcoGives! page on the Commons or con-tact your department campaign repre-sentative to learn more about upcom-ing events or gatherings in yourbuilding or department.Last year’s charitable giving cam-

paign was a great success—raisingmore than $114,000. We appreciatemembers’ past support and thank youin advance for participating and con-tributing to this year’s MultoCo Gives!Workplace Giving Campaign. Feelfree to contact Brian Detman with anyquestions: brian.detman@multco.us.

Keep Oregon Working

Vol. 114, No. 19 Portland, Oregon October 4, 2013

Official Publication of AFSCME Local 88

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Volume 114Number 19October 4, 2013Portland, Oregon

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MeetingMeetingNoticesNotices

The Carpenters Food Bank willhand out its last food box Oct. 18, end-ing a 30-year run serving needy fami-lies in the Portland metropolitan area.“It’s a hard thing to do, but there’s

no way I can afford to keep it running,”said Mike Fahey, who, along with hislate wife Sandy, have operated the foodbank out of the basement of the Car-penters Union building on the corner ofNorth Lombard Street and BrandonAvenue in Portland since 1983.Sandy Fahey, his wife of 40 years,

died in July following complicationsfrom Legionnaires disease, and a saleis pending on the building.“The Carpenters Union has taken

care of us for the last 30 years, donatingall the space and paying all the utili-ties,” said Fahey, a retired executivesecretary-treasurer of the PortlandMetal Trades Council and member ofPile Drivers, Divers and ShipwrightsLocal 2416. Fahey left the trades tostart his own mortgage company, buthe and Sandy never gave up the foodbank. “Sandy was a big, big part ofthis, too,” he said.The Faheys helped start the food

bank to assist out-of-work and strikingunion members from the Carpentersand Steelworkers unions. At the time,work at the Portland shipyards wasslow, and some 400 Steelworkers wereon strike at Oregon Steel Mills.To help weather the storm, the Car-

penters and Steelworkers madearrangements to combine the food as-sistance programs that each was oper-ating out of the same building on NorthLombard.“It got us through some tough

times,” Ted Totten, a member of Steel-workers Local 3010 who was on strikeat the time, told the Labor Press in aNovember 2008 story celebrating theFood Bank’s 25th anniversary. “TheFaheys took it over and it’s been goingstrong since.”Through the years it built a reputa-

tion for putting together one of the bestfood boxes in the city. Not restricted tounion members, people would start lin-ing up at 5 a.m. on the third Friday eachmonth for boxes that often would con-

CarpentersFood Bankwill close

Tentative dealincludes modestraises for 4,300support workersOregon University System (OUS)

and the union representing 4,332 sup-port workers at seven state universitycampuses reached agreement at 2:30a.m. Sept. 26 — averting a strike thatwas set to begin Sept. 30. The tentativeagreement, reached after administratorsdropped one provocative demand, willbe voted on by members of ServiceEmployees International Union (SEIU)Local 503.

Bargaining had previously stalledover management’s demand to double(to 18 years) the time it takes workersto go from starting salary to the top ofthe pay scale. Under the tentativeagreement, workers who haven’treached the top of the scale will receivetheir full “step” increases of 4.75 per-cent on June 30, 2014, and June 30,2015 — and earlier than that if the uni-versity system receives additional fund-ing from the February 2014 session ofthe Oregon Legislature.Local 503 negotiators agreed to ac-

cept what they called “very modest”cost-of-living adjustments — 1.5 per-cent on Dec. 1 2013, and 2 percent onDec. 1, 2014 — the same raises moststate workers got in the recently ratified“DAS” contract. Local 503 had earlier

proposed a 2.5 percent increaseretroactive to July 1, 2013, when theprevious two-year contract expired, and2.5 percent a year later.In a statement announcing the

agreement to members, Local 503called it “the best agreement that wecould reach given financial realities ofsome OUS campuses.” Local 503 had been all set to strike

on the opening day of classes, and hadcollected commitments of support fromstudents, professors, and graduate stu-dent employees. Several union proposals will have to

wait until next time, including one thatwould draw the line on “administrativebloat.” Local 503 had proposed thatOUS return over the next two years tothe student-to-administrator ratio it had

in the 2007-2008 academic year. ButOUS administrators said they were notwilling to bargain over that proposal.Local 503 had also proposed a

“wage floor” so that no worker wouldbe paid less than $2,498 a month — thedollar threshold at which a family offour becomes eligible for food stamps.Local 503 spokesperson Jill Bakkensaid almost 30 percent of the bargain-ing unit members earn below thatamount. OUS at one point agreed to gethalfway there during the two-year termof the contract, but later backtrackedfrom that in bargaining.Local 503 pledged to continue its

campaign for living wages and ade-quate university funding, and againstadministrative bloat.

Oregon University System strike averted

By DON McINTOSHAssociate Editor

BEND — The 53rd Oregon AFL-CIO Conven-tion, Sept. 27-29 in Bend, echoed the national AFL-CIO convention in Los Angeles two weeks before.Both placed great emphasis on outside alliances. Atthe national convention Sept. 8-11, the AFL-CIOcommitted to form an enduring alliance with com-munity groups. At the Oregon convention — its offi-cial theme “The New Face of Labor” — delegates en-dorsed a state-wide experiment in long-termcoalition-building with community, immigrant, andcivil rights groups, and gave “constituency groups” aseat on the Oregon AFL-CIO Executive Board.The AFL-CIO, founded in 1955 with the merger

of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Con-gress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), is the pre-mier coordinating body of the American labor move-ment. Local, state, and national AFL-CIO bodies poolunion political resources for maximum impact, andprovide a forum for unions to resolve conflicts andmaintain unity.But the U.S. labor movement is in dire decline,

owing to political assaults, economic and culturalchanges, and organizational inertia. If current trendlines continue, Oregon AFL-CIO President TomChamberlain told convention delegates, there will beno U.S. labor movement in 30 years.“Playing it safe at this moment in our history is a

formula for disaster,” Chamberlain said. For unionsto focus only on the wages and working conditionsof their members isn’t going to work, Chamberlainsaid. Instead, labor must speak for all workers, andally with community groups fighting for justice. Delegates endorsed that vision with the passage of

several resolutions and constitutional changes. The

Oregon AFL-CIO Executive Board will now haveone member selected to represent officially-charteredAFL-CIO constituency groups — cross-union organ-izations of young workers, retired workers, gay work-ers, black workers, and others. And delegates resolvedto continue Oregon Strong Voice, an experiment inlong-term coalition-building with local civil rightsand other groups, several of which sent representa-tives to the convention. Organizers said it was the best-attended conven-

tion in recent years, with 212 delegates and 138 hon-orary delegates and guests, 350 attendees in all.The Oregon AFL-CIO rotates conventions around

the state, but there are no unionized meeting facilitiesoutside of Portland. This one took place at non-unionRiverhouse Hotel and Convention Center in Bend;convention sergeants-at-arms took up a collection andraised $689 to thank convention center workers.Delegates approved more agenda-setting policy

Oregon AFL-CIO seeks to build coalition

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American Federation of Teachers-Oregon President David Rives takes the mic at the Oregon AFL-CIOconvention. AFT is now the most numerous national union within the Oregon AFL-CIO, with 41,000 ofthe federation’s 111,000 members. (Photo by Russell Sanders, courtesy of Oregon AFL-CIO.)