FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2016
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion / Politics
Rep. Greg Barreto of Cove
named Oregon House
Republican Deputy Leader
Cove Representative
Greg Barreto has been
elected by his colleagues to
serve as the Deputy Leader
for the Oregon House
Republican caucus. Rep.
Barreto, who will be sworn
in for his second term as
a member of the Oregon
House in in 2017, previ-
ously served the caucus as
an Assistant Leader.
“I’m honored to have
the opportunity to serve
House Republicans and
my constituents in this new
role,” said Rep. Barreto.
“I look forward to work-
ing with Leader McLane,
House Republicans and
our colleagues on the other
side of the aisle to deliver
results for Oregonians in
2017 and beyond.”
In addition to his new
role as Deputy Leader,
Rep. Barreto serves as
a member of the House
Agriculture and Natural
Resources Committee,
House Business and Labor
Committee and the House
Education Committee. As
the State Representative
for House District 58, Rep.
Barreto serves constituents
in Wallowa County and
Union County, as well
as portions of Umatilla
County.
Lawsuit filed against SEIU
More than two years
after the U.S. Supreme
Court freed home-based
caregivers from mandatory
unionization, it may take a
federal lawsuit to remind
SEIU 503 and the state of
Oregon the law applies to
them, too. On Nov. 2, a
case was filed in federal
court in Eugene that al-
leges the First Amendment
rights of three Medicaid-
compensated home
healthcare providers were
violated when Service
Employees International
Union (SEIU 503), the
labor union representing
thousands of homec-
are workers in Oregon,
declined to stop deduct-
ing dues after they had
requested to opt out. SEIU
503, Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown and three
other heads of state agen-
cies were named as the
defendants. The plaintiffs
are represented by the
Freedom Foundation and
Portland attorney Tyler
Smith, in conjunction
with the Washington,
D.C.-based National Right
to Work Legal Defense
Foundation. The Freedom
Foundation, a Northwest-
based nonprofit, free-mar-
ket think tank, has success-
fully litigated numerous
similar cases over the
past two years. Because
the plaintiffs provide care
for clients who qualify
for state Medicaid fund-
ing, they were considered
public employees for “the
purposes of collective bar-
gaining” only, a status that
for many years allowed
SEIU 503 to charge them
union dues and fees as a
condition of keeping their
jobs. But in 2014, the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled in
Harris v. Quinn that forc-
ing in-home care provid-
ers to financially support
a third party organization
like SEIU 503 violated
their First Amendment
rights of freedom of speech
and association. The court
recognized that in-home
care providers are em-
ployees of the clients they
care for—often their own
elderly or disabled family
members—and described
forcing these “partial-
public employees” to pay
union dues as a money-
making “scheme” for the
union.
Hundreds of homecare
workers in Oregon have
since requested that SEIU
503 stop taking union dues
from their paychecks, but
very few have had their
requests processed or
received a response.
That’s because soon after
the Harris decision, SEIU
503 and the state held
a meeting behind closed
doors to modify the con-
tract governing homecare
workers.
— Contact Us —
While they eliminated
the section now overtly
unconstitutional, they cre-
ated a host of procedural
requirements designed to
make it nearly impossible
for caregivers to opt out of
the union deductions. Most
notably, they restricted
each individual’s right
to opt out to an arbitrary
15-day annual window,
which is different for each
person and unknown to the
caregivers themselves.
SEIU 503 is now even
refusing to accept opt-out
forms received within
the appropriate windows,
when submitted every 15
days by the Freedom
Foundation on behalf of
caregivers to help them
navigate the restriction.
Hundreds still wait for
their requests to be ac-
cepted.
“Here’s a news flash for
the state of Oregon and
the unions whose dirty
work it’s doing,” said Anne
Marie Gurney, the Free-
dom Foundation’s Oregon
director.
“You’re not above the
law. Unions created an
exception to the Constitu-
tion in a secret meeting
thinking they could get
away with it—and the state
of Oregon signed on the
dotted line their approval.
Oregonians should be ap-
palled.”
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— Special Column —
So I was
thinking ...
About
getting older
Submitted Photo
By Jimmy Ingram
Special to The Baker County Press
I’m really not that old. At least I
don’t feel like it.
When disclosing my age of 37
years to anyone who dare ask, I
get one of two reactions: “Wow,
I’d love to be 37 again,” or, “Wow,
you’re old.”
My late grandmother used to tell
me that as you age you never really
feel much different on the inside,
but the face looking back at you in
the mirror looks different.
So while its likely those of you
reading this will either be older or
younger than I am, I’m sure every-
one can relate to things out there
that make you feel old. The things
that make you wonder where the
time went.
Clothes: Everyone gets a kick out
of looking at old pictures of their
parents. You can’t believe your dad
wore a baby blue suit to his wed-
ding or that your mom seemed to
have nothing but high-waisted bell
bottoms.
I remember thinking when I was
a teenager, “My clothes aren’t go-
ing to be laughable when I’m older
and look back.”
I was wrong. Looking through
old photos makes me wonder what
I was thinking—baggy jeans, silk
shirts, turtlenecks, T-shirts with
tacky slogans. Pictures make me
realize how long ago those things
were in style.
Or maybe they never were in
style. Maybe I was just really
young and confused.
Either way I wish I still had some
of my sweaters because they’d be a
hit at ugly sweater parties.
Technology: Somewhere long,
long ago in a far-away land we had
to rewind our movies, fast forward
our tapes, make phone calls from
our home, and take our camera film
to the store, hoping that our pictures
turned out.
It never occurred to me then that
our modes of communication and
entertainment were so primitive.
Everything now is so instant, so
easily accessible that the machines
of old are now found only on the
shelves of shady secondhand stores
waiting to be bought as White El-
ephant gifts. It is nice that technol-
ogy has made life more convenient
for us, but never ceases to serve as
a reminder how many years have
gone by.
Music: Just the other day I heard
a song popular when I was in high
school on a classic rock station.
The DJ pointed out that 20 years
had gone by since the album was
released.
After doing some quick math, I
was forced to let go of my denial
that so many years had passed since
then.
After all, classic rock was music
my dad listened to when he was in
college. Hippy, Woodstock, hot-rod
car era stuff.
Much as I’d rather not refer to
music from my youth as “classic,” I
guess now some of it is ... and that
makes me feel old.
Jimmy Ingram is a local farmer and
father of two who enjoys people
watching within our wonderful
community and beyond.
Sporting goods: A quick look
through a basement or garage with
any sort of sporting good is bound
to take you down memory lane.
When golf woods were actually
mad of wood, bikes seemed to
weigh 100+ pounds, and ski clothes
weren’t really clothes, but a color-
ful one-piece semi-waterproof suit.
Over the years sporting goods
have become lighter, stronger, more
performance oriented, and slightly
better at covering up our glaring
lack of athleticism.
As if it wasn’t enough having
to accept that we may have lost a
step, we now have to accept that the
wooden tennis racket we still own
is considered an ancient relic.
So if you’re like me and remem-
ber when a bike suspension was
you getting grounded from your
bike as a kid, you may be old.
Value of goods: We’ve all heard
our parents or grandparents say
things like, “When I was younger
I could buy a soda for eight cents.”
All you could think was, “Man, that
must have been a looong time ago.”
Now I find myself saying similar
things. I can remember when a hair-
cut was under $10 and when you
could fill your gas tank for under
$20.
The economy has changed. The
value of the dollar has changed.
And my perspective has changed.
Some things still seem like a good
deal, but as a consumer I often find
myself comparing what something
cost 20 years ago versus now. And
this of course, is one of the surest
signs of getting old.
Kids: Few things put perspec-
tive on the passing time like having
kids.
You watch them grow, learn new
things, and see their personalities
take shape. Meanwhile your waist
grows, you start to forget things,
and your personality starts to de-
velop quirks that sometimes even
you don’t understand.
But one thing is static: For every
year older your children get, you’re
always going to be that much older.
I watch my son learning to ride a
bike and remember back when I
did. I see my daughter laugh at silly
cartoons and think about the ones
I used to laugh at. Man, that was a
long time ago.
It’s been said people don’t know
how to act their age because
“they’ve never been this old be-
fore.”
As much as we live in a culture
with a premium put on youth, get-
ting old really isn’t that bad. You
learn to better value truly important
things like friends and family, life
philosophies, and financial and
emotional stability.
Just try not to use phrases like
“back in my day” and “way back
when I was young” too much. Your
kids will laugh and remind you that
you’re older than dirt... until they
feel the same way in a few years.
And they will.