LaborPains.org

An ongoing dispute between the United Farm Workers’ Union and Beef Northwest’s owners threatens to cripple the local cattle and beef industries in Oregon.  The issue: whether Beef Northwest’s workers want to unionize.  UFW says they do and is insisting card check is the best method of unionization, while Beef Northwest’s owners are advocating for a private ballot.  The effects of the dispute are clear: stores stop purchasing meat from Beef Northwest, the company is forced to lay off workers to off-set costs, and consumers go without a quality product.

The ongoing conflict could pose harm to such promising Oregon brands as Country Natural Beef, which supplies all-natural meat to retailers such as Portland-based New Seasons and Whole Foods, based in Austin, Tex. Whole Foods recently announced it would stop buying meat that comes from the Beef Northwest feedlot.

In a meeting held today, representatives of Gov. Ted Kulongoski encouraged the two sides to continue to work toward a resolution.

The Oregonian reports that union bosses put their money down on the table and bought Oregon this primary season:

Organized labor — public employee unions in particular — spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and uncounted volunteer hours on Oregon’s May 20 primary elections.

It all paid off. . .

Yet in a recent newsletter to members, AFL-CIO leaders boasted about “the most aggressive pro-union election effort in any Oregon primary election. . . . One hundred percent of our endorsed candidates celebrated victory.”

Republicans, who have seen their stock in Oregon politics plunge to historic lows, say labor has become the dominant force in Democratic politics.                                                                                                                                                    

“It’s disturbing how powerful the public employee unions have become in recent years,” said Vance Day, chairman of the state Republican Party. “Here’s a group that literally rolls over every opposition candidate within a certain party.”

In a recent interview, U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley’s campaign manager admits that Oregon labor bosses were key to Merkley’s defeat of rival Steve Novick in the primary. Merkley’s pro-EFCA stance made his candidacy a natural fit for union bosses eager to increase their membership and dues collected.

Q: Was it hard to get organized labor on board?

Jon Isaacs: It wasn’t difficult. I mean, we had to work hard at it. We had to earn it, I guess is the right way to characterize it. The Novick campaign tried to characterize it as an inside job, but we had to do about 40 meetings to get that endorsement.

To build a field campaign in the primary, you really rely on your allies. More than you do in the general election, because you have the funds to build a huge statewide field campaign of your own. So I really think that one of the keys to winning this was the work that the Oregon AFL-CIO and the SEIU put into this.