Steaming Mad

Yet the union's 4,000 members perform some of the most intricate, high-value construction work in Oregon. They've helped build Intel's multibillion-dollar fabrication plants in Washington County, Oregon Health & Science University's state-of-the-art labs in Portland, and SolarWorld's Hillsboro headquarters.

Local 290 is proud of its role in Oregon's high-tech economy. But a pending election for the local's top post is dredging up history reminiscent of labor unions' darker days. 

"When you look at public perceptions of unions, they are not good," says Ron Murray, a retired plumber and longtime Local 290 member. "At 290, we take pride in being the best of the best, but right now, we are another example of a union gone bad."

Murray and other dissatisfied Local 290 members are fuming about the union's top official, business manager Fritz "Al" Shropshire, who won office in 2011. They say members back then weren't fully aware of Shropshire's criminal record. And they don't like the fact that, after the election, Shropshire's wife, Clara, was installed in one of the union's top jobs.

“Members are pissed,” Murray says. “It looks like we are going back 50 years to old-style union cronyism.” 

In an interview, Shropshire, who's paid $135,000 a year, says he's never tried to hide his criminal past from Local 290 members, although he acknowledges there was little discussion of it when he ran for election last time. 

"Those convictions happened a long time ago," he says. "It's not something I'm proud of, nor is it something I'm embarrassed about. What am I supposed to do, crawl under a rock?"

The Intel building boom and the state's economic rebound have filled the pockets of Local 290 members and driven up revenue from dues by nearly 50 percent since Shropshire took office. It's the nation's ninth-largest local of the United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters, covering western Oregon, Southwest Washington and Northern California. 

Local 290 has played a growing role in Oregon politics, giving nearly $100,000 to candidates in legislative and statewide races in 2014—more than double what it gave to previous campaigns.

One of the union's primary functions is running an apprenticeship program that the Bureau of Labor and Industries says is among the state's biggest. Last year, Clara Shropshire took over as director of that apprenticeship program.

In the current election, Al Shropshire, 61, faces former union official Lou Christian, whom he beat three years ago. Christian declined to be interviewed for this story, but in Facebook posts he points to Shropshire's nepotism. About the hiring of his opponent's wife, for a job that pays about $90,000 a year, Christian wrote, "Al knew it was a conflict of interest."

Shropshire says criticism of his wife's hiring is off base. He says Clara is fully qualified—she has 20 years' experience as a steamfitter, won her position in competition with 26 other applicants, and has done an excellent job.

Moreover, a committee, not Shropshire, selected his wife for the position. "I totally backed off from any involvement," he says. "I did not lobby one way or the other."

Christian notes, however, that Shropshire handpicked at least half the committee members that hired his wife.

Clara Shropshire's hiring has renewed grumbling about her husband's background. In 1974, Washington court records show, Al Shropshire was convicted of distribution of heroin and served 14 months in prison. In 1989, he pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and served 40 days in jail.

In 1993, the then-president of Local 290 hired Shropshire as a business agent for the union. That violated federal law, which says anyone convicted of various crimes, including narcotics violations, cannot serve as a union official until 13 years have passed.

According to court records, nobody noticed that Shropshire was working in violation of the law until 2002. Local 290 used union money to hire Shropshire an attorney, who filed in Clark County Superior Court to have his client's cocaine conviction expunged from his record.

"In order to save Mr. Shropshire's job, the prohibition must be shortened by approximately 10 months," attorney Stephen Buckley wrote. "Mr. Shropshire has led an exemplary life since his release from jail.” 

The judge granted Shropshire's petition, clearing the cocaine conviction and preserving his job with the union.

Shropshire says he's never tried to hide his criminal past and believes the convictions are irrelevant. "I don't think it reduces my ability to lead," Shropshire adds. "I think I've done a very good job over the past couple of years."

Murray says Local 290 members will decide whether that's the case when votes are counted Jan. 7.

"Here you have a union official who was hired illegally and worked illegally for nearly a decade. He acknowledges that," Murray says. "The union movement started out being for the people, but has become for the union and to cover up for the bigwigs."

WWeek 2015