By Rod Jones and Katherine Head of the Seaside Signal
When the most powerful union cooperative gathers in a union-friendly state, it is expected that many big-name speakers will show up to deliver a message. That is what happened in Seaside this week as the AFL-CIO came to town for its annual convention spanning three days, from Sunday evening to Tuesday.
Adding to the AFL-CIO’s influence in Oregon is the fact that 90 percent
of its members turned out for the last general election, making it a
voting block that expects to be heard.
Included
in the list of speakers were two U.S. presidential candidates (Dennis
Kucinich and John Edwards, both vying for the Democratic ticket), two
U.S. Senate candidates (Steve Novick and Jeff Merkley), a couple state
legislators (Sen. David Wu and Rep. Darlene Hooley) and a host of other
dignitaries (including Gov. Ted Kulongoski, state Senator Ben Westlund
and Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury).
Oregon AFL-CIO
President Tom Chamberlain opened the meeting at the Seaside Convention
Center Monday morning before the more than 400 delegates began their
daylong session of hearing resolutions and amending bylaws.
Interspersed within the housekeeping business were several speeches by
various guests.
Included in the Monday list was Bradbury, who called the Oregon union movement the "envy of every advocacy group around."
He
said his work as Oregon secretary of state has included an effort to
ban the practice of paid signature gathering, noting that out-of-state
interests have meddled in Oregon affairs.
"Anytime you inject outside money into the process, it’s like a yeast that makes a bad dough rise," he said.
His
latest fight has been against non-union workers trying to take postal
worker jobs, he said. Bradbury expressed concern that if non-union
employees are entrusted with such jobs, it could put Oregon’s
vote-by-mail system at risk.
"We need to keep them in the hands
of carriers who have an impeccable record," he said. "Without them, we
simply couldn’t make vote-by-mail work."
Novick spoke later in the day about his race against Sen. Gordon Smith for the upcoming election.
"I’m
running for the United States Senate because this country is going to
hell in a handbasket, and someone has to do something about it," he
said.
Novick, who stands at about 4 feet tall, took the opportunity to poke some fun at his short stature.
"To beat Gordon Smith, it’s going to take something a little different. Well, I’m little. And I’m different," he said.
He also poked some fun at NAFTA and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), policies that he opposes.
"With NAFTA and CAFTA, working people get the ‘shafta,’" he said.
He
also pledged to introduce a bill that would make those who sell stock
pay the same income tax rate as the working class and would sign on
with Sen. John Edwards’ health care bill.
The drama at the
convention center rose shortly before a speech by Gov. Ted Kulongoski.
Several union delegates left the room as a silent protest to the
governor’s recent decision to give pay raises to department managers
and agency heads, many of which were in the double digits.
A
delegate addressed the other members and said the raises were double
those of what were offered to state union workers. He also said the
money would come from each department’s respective budget, mentioning
the Department of Corrections and its union by name, meaning that new
worker-level positions added previously could go unfilled.
In
the event of a budget shortfall, "Do you think managers will get laid
off? No, it’s us," he told the room, which was followed by a standing
ovation from the other union delegates.
But Kulongoski also
raised some applause during his speech. The governor mentioned some of
the items that passed during the latest legislative session, calling it
the most favorable session for working-class families in decades.
He
encouraged union members to vote for Measure 49, which would in essence
modify Measure 37 in dealing with land ownership rights; and for
Measure 50, which would add a tax to tobacco products for use in a
children’s health insurance program.
"This is going to end the
uncertainty behind Measure 37," he said of Measure 49, and "The only
opposition to this is the large tobacco companies," he said of Measure
50.
Stewart Acuff, National AFL-CIO organizing director lived up
to his "evangelist" comparison. With dramatic influctions throughout
his presentation Tuesday morning, Acuff brought the audience to its
feet multiple times.
Acuff began by citing statistical data
demonstrating that the middle class is in dire straits. He said the
output of this countnry's workers is up 75 percent since 1973, while
wages have remained stagnant. He said corporate CEOs make 411 times as
much as an average worker. Acuff added that 47 million Americans are
without health care.
"We all feel the squeeze," he said.
He
relayed that the media perpetuates that the market trend is inevitable.
"When they tell you that, they are lying," he said. "What's happening
is a 30-year intentional, sustained assault on workers. It's time we
had a fight about what's going on in America. It's not inevitable, it's
intentional."
He stressed the importance of the Employee Free
Choice Act, which would, according to the AFL-CIO Web site, "enable
working people to bargain for better wages, benefits and working
conditions by restoring workers’ freedom to choose for themselves
whether to join a union." It would also "Establish stronger penalties
for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and
during first-contract negotiations, provide mediation and arbitration
for first-contract disputes, and allow employees to form unions by
signing cards authorizing union representation."
Acuff urged the audience to support the bill and politicians who endorse it.
"This
election in 2008 is about the future of America and the future of your
children and grandchildren," he said. "This may be the most important
election of our lifetimes."
Acuff closed with a call to fight.
"Our
generation's test...is to fight the galloping greed," he noted. "This
fight is as old as the human species. It is the fight to advance human
dignity."
National AFL-CIO President John Sweeney followed
Acuff. He told the assembly, "It's good to be here in Oregon where
working families and labor control the government." He added that was
not the case in Washington, D.C. "Given the choice, I'd rather be here
in Oregon."
He addressed Oregon legislation that would, if
passed by voters, tax tobacco to raise money for children's health care
and rework Measure 37.
"You are America to me, and I'm so proud
to be your president," he said, adding that he will be proud too when
Oregonians pass Measures 49 and 50.
Sweeney said the top three
concerns for workers are "the crisis in health care," "a perverted
economy" and "discrimination and harassment" against union members.
"We
must tell people why America isn't working for them," he urged. "Our
goal is to restore the hope and optimism behind the founding of
America."
Oregon Speaker of the House and candidate for U.S.
Senate Jeff Merkley closed Tuesday's presentations. He stressed that
although America was once considered "The land of opportunity," that
title is in jeapordy.
"It has not been an administration to
fight for opportunity for all," he said of the current federal
government. "There's a lot of Bush and (Gordon) Smith handiwork to
undo."
