The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), June 9, 2007, Saturday

Copyright 2007 The Oregonian

All Rights Reserved

The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon)

June 9, 2007 Saturday

Sunrise Edition

SECTION: Business; Pg. E01

HEADLINE: Strike reflects divide in labor movement

BYLINE: BRENT HUNSBERGER, The Oregonian

BODY:

SUMMARY: Analysts differ on what crossing picket lines in the drywallers walkout means long term

Labor experts nationwide say an ongoing drywallers strike in Oregon and southwest Washington looms as the sharpest example yet of this decade's divisions within the U.S. labor movement spilling out onto a picket line.

This week's quarrels --with union members defying tradition and crossing their brethren's pickets --could spell trouble for organized labor, particularly in construction, as it tries to reverse its declining fortunes.

"When unions don't band with each other, it hurts everybody," said Kate Bronfenbrenner, labor education research director at Cornell University in New York.

But the spat likely won't spill into other sectors, many experts say, where rival unions organizing child-care providers in Oregon and drayage workers in California resolved jurisdictional disputes privately.

"There are numerous other examples of where things could've disrupted and happened very badly," said Katie Quan, associate director of the University of California at Berkeley's Labor Center. "I'm not so sure that the news of this dispute in Oregon taking place is necessarily going to be a harbinger for difficult times."

The strike, called by the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, entered its ninth day Saturday with little sign of ending. The union wants a 6 percent wage increase to offset higher gas prices and cost-of-living increases for its 1,300 drywall members. Drywall contractors have offered a 4.3 percent increase on current pay of $29.33 an hour, or $40.82 including benefits. No talks have been scheduled.

Drywallers in the carpenters union install the interior metal wall studs, ceilings and Sheetrock inside commercial and high-end residential buildings. Members of other unions then tape Sheetrock, plaster walls and add paint.

Several trade unions accused the carpenters this week of seeking language in a new contract that would allow them to organize workers in other crafts, such as Sheetrock taping.

The carpenters have contended they can reverse membership declines by organizing those workers under one union instead of several, most of which have been shrinking. Other trades have resisted that idea, leading the 520,000-member carpenters international union to leave the AFL-CIO in 2001.

In 2005, four other large, aggressive unions also left, forming a coalition with the carpenters called Change to Win. Many thought the split would lead to turf wars among unions trying to organize in the same industry.

Those battles haven't emerged --until now, experts say.

The Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council, representing 25 unions, voted this week against sanctioning the strike until the carpenters guarantee they won't use bargaining to organize other unions' members, said John Mohlis, the council's executive secretary-treasurer.

Barry Mitchell, business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48 in Portland, wrote members when the strike began: "Never in my 35 years as an IBEW member did I think I would be suggesting the IBEW members not honor another trade's picket lines, but today I am asking all Local 48 members to hold their heads high, walk through that picket line and go to work."

At least one trade union --the International Union of Operating Engineers --appears to be supporting the carpenters. On Friday, the union's Portland local charged Hoffman Construction Co. and Hoffman Structures Inc. of violating federal labor law by firing three crane operators. The National Labor Relations Board will investigate the charges.

"We're really trying to rise above," said Eric Franklin, spokesman for the carpenters.

But the spat won't be easy to resolve. The AFL-CIO exists in part to settle turf wars among unions. That avenue doesn't exist here, and unlike conflicts in other sectors, quarreling union leaders have been unable to iron out their differences.

The strife doesn't bode well for the current strike or future organizing and bargaining efforts in construction, experts say.

"It allows the contractor to sit in the catbird seat," said Robert Bruno, associate professor of labor and industrial relations at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

Experts say that, even without the support of other unions, it's still too soon to tell how the strike will end. A tight labor market will make it hard for construction firms to find replacement workers, observers say. Work at many hospitals and condo projects will slow significantly next week if the drywallers stay off the job.

"The key to this will be they have to get the solidarity of the other union," Bronfenbrenner said. "It has to be more than just about money."

Brent Hunsberger: 503-221-8359; brenthunsberger@news.oregonian.com; blog.oregonlive.com/atwork