Jeff Mapes reported in yesterday’s Oregonian on a business roundtable held by GOP candidate Chris “The Vacation Man” Dudley. While Mapes focused on Dudley’s avoidance of controversial policy initiatives, it was the nature of two of those suggestions that should raise a big red flag for Oregon workers:

Qwest Oregon President Judy Peppler complained that Oregon's family leave law is more expansive than in most other states and that this has discouraged some call centers from locating here. And Connie Hunt, a former chairwoman of the Oregon Restaurant Association, said restaurateurs should be able to count a portion of tips toward the minimum wage, as is allowed in most other states.

Dudley, as usual, ran from taking a stand on these issues, just as he did on the sales tax (John Kitzhaber, on the other hand, said earlier he would be open to looking at the sales tax — again — something one business leader told Dudley was necessary to drive down Oregon’s high income tax and attract new business.) But the promotion of these two ideas by two of the state’s more powerful business leaders is very troubling. We cannot allow the recession and on-going economic difficulties to be used as an excuse to roll back the rights of Oregon’s workers.

Minimum wage workers depend on tips to take their earnings from hand-to-mouth to almost livable. While Oregon may have one of the nation’s higher minimum wages, it’s still not a lot of money ($8.40 per hour — before taxes). In a city like Portland, with its high cost of living (average price of an apartment is nearly $800 a month), the minimum falls short of the true minimum needed for living — unless we think it is acceptable to tell those workers all they are entitled to is a crappy studio apartment in a bad part of the city while eating cheap food and putting nothing into savings.

Stealing part of their tips just to save the business owner money is more than just an insult. Hunt should be ashamed to make such a suggestion, but the Oregon Restaurant Association has never been a proponent of the public good. They also have a track record of being wrong on their fear-based predictions, too, as when claiming cost-of-living adjustments to the minimum wage (2002’s Measure 25) would lead to escalations in restaurant prices; it did not.

The attack on Oregon’s family leave law is especially heinous, but Qwest is that kind of company. Oregon’s family leave law may be more generous than some states, but it’s still not good enough. Sen Diane Rosenbaum will be re-introducing her paid family leave act in the 2011 session, and Oregonians who care about families, children and working parents should fight back against fear-mongering and corporate self-interest to support this law which should have been passed in 2009. Like the minimum wage, or child labor laws and other humane workers rights, paid family leave is essential not only for a strong work force but a strong community — and those two are necessary to grow a strong economy.

Paid family leave and the minimum wage are not expenses that hurt business. They are investments in people that lead to a strong society and a thriving economy.

But they eat into this quarter’s profit margin, so businesses fights against them the way an oiled bird fights handlers trying to clean its feathers and save its life. Yes, I do believe the businesses and corporations who fight these necessary improvements in worker rights are being that stupid and short-sighted. There is never an excuse for putting profits ahead of people. Especially not in Oregon.

We’ll be bombarded with fear-mongering horror stories about how terrible a state Oregon is for business for years, of course. And it may indeed be true that by putting the rights of workers and long-term health of the state ahead of short-term profits we lose call centers and other employers. Having worked in call centers, I’m not sure that’s the worst thing. Customer service via the phone and internet pays decently, but it’s not a job that leads very far. Call centers are the new factory jobs: repetitious work with demanding quotas but the ability to make enough money to just about take care of yourself — if you don’t have a large family or your partner also works. But I also know that one of the biggest obstacles to a successful call center is the turnover that stems form workers growing to hate the work; paid family leave may be an increased expense but if it helps promote a positive attitude towards the workplace and helps employee retention, it’s not an expense: it’s an investment in the business.

Too many business leaders function on the basis of fear; very few are like those at Google who have prospered by combining a great product with over-the-top employee benefits. Qwest has never had a vision for anything beyond squeezing every penny possible from customers and employees alike, and they will no doubt send the lawyers and lobbyists by the truckload to Salem to attack the paid family leave bill. And more than a few Democratic lawmakers will be vulnerable to their message of fear, including those who voted against small-scale environmental laws like the very limited BPA ban in February. We cannot let the fear of a few legislators and the greed of corporations deprive Oregon’s workers of hard-won, and well-deserved, rights and benefits.

Business leaders such as those who spoke with Dudley complain about taxes, regulations and other expenses as being the major drags on economic growth. They cannot see past their bottom lines to understand that true economic development is not about gutting workers and customers for every last penny but is about creating the conditions that make business and job growth inevitable: educated workers who earn living wages and decent benefits. A great workforce will always make up for other obstacles, such as higher taxes or benefit costs. But American business leaders have more respect for the money in their bank accounts than for the workers who put that money there in the first place.

2011 is going to be a battle. We have to fight and win it for the rights of Oregon’s workers. We cannot sell our future so a few more stockholders can line their pockets.