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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 2006)
Let me say this about that —By Gene Klare Mehrens saluted WALLY MEHRENS, the recently retired executive secretary-treasurer of the Portland-based Columbia-Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council, steps into the spotlight as the latest member of the Labor Hall of Fame. The sponsoring Northwest Oregon Labor Retirees Council selected Mehrens for the honor. Mehrens, 55, retired at the close of 2005 after his physician diagnosed him with multiple sclerosis, commonly known as MS. He had held the executive post of the CPBCTC since 1988. A pipefitter by trade, he is a member of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 290, which is located in suburban Tualatin south of Portland. WILLIAM WALLACE MEHRENS was born on July 28, 1950 in Anaconda, Montana, which is northwest of Butte. His parents were Wallace William Mehrens and Marguerite, whose nickname WALLY MEHRENS was “Miggs.” Wally’s father had the nickname of “Lefty” because he was a southpaw baseball pitcher who hurled for a number of teams in the minor leagues. Lefty Mehrens started his professional baseball career as a pitcher for the Fort Worth team in the Texas League in 1940 and also played for teams in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina. His best record was 16 wins and five losses for Winnipeg in the Canadian League. Wally said his dad “ruined his arm” pitching for a U.S. Navy team in World War II. He was a pharmacist’s mate in the Navy. After the war, Lefty pitched for a while for a Spokane team in the Western League. THE SENIOR MEHRENS worked as a pipefitter in Anaconda at the Anaconda Copper Mining Company’s smelter, the world’s largest copper smelter. The giant Anaconda Copper Co. was a dominating economic and political force in Montana and owned a number of newspapers in the state. Wally’s father’s career also included working as a police officer in Anaconda. The Mehrens family moved to Portland in 1965. Lefty joined Steamfitters Local 235. Young Wally attended three Portland high schools — Lincoln, Jef- ferson and the old North Catholic. After graduating, he went to Anaconda to work as a pipefitter in the copper smelter, but returned to Portland seven months later and joined Local 235 as a fitter in the Swan Island shipyard, where he learned welding. WALLY MEHRENS took and passed an exam for building trades pip- efitter and went into construction work. He was employed on the construction of Portland General Electric’s Trojan nuclear power plant at Rainier, which is no longer in operation. He also worked on the construction of Boise Cascade paper mills in Oregon and Washington. He was a shop steward for Local 235. Later, he became a general foreman. He was a delegate to the UA’s interna- tional convention in 1976 and the next year was elected vice president of Steamfitters Local 235. In 1982 he was elected as a business agent of the union. UA Local 290 was formed in 1985 by merging Local 235, Portland Plumbers Local 51, Salem Local 347, Eugene Local 481 and locals covering Klamath Falls, Medford and Coos Bay. Mehrens was elected as #290’s first president and also served as a business agent and organizer. Three years later, he was elected as the executive secretary-treasurer of the Columbia-Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council, which has its office in Kirkland Union Manor II at 3535 SE 86th Ave., Portland. He succeeded Earl B. Kirk- land, who retired from the building trades post in 1988 but still serves as board chairman of the Union Labor Retirement Association, which built and over- sees the federally-financed Union Manor retiree apartment complexes in Port- (Turn to Page 11) PAGE 2 Oregon AFL-CIO seeks donations to build Worker Memorial in Salem SALEM — The Oregon AFL-CIO Health and Safety Committee is seek- ing donations from unions, businesses and individuals to build a memorial at the State Capitol honoring workers who have died on the job. The cost of the Worker Memorial, which will use no taxpayer funds, is es- timated at $25,000, said Tom Chamber- lain, president of the state labor federa- tion. Delegates to the 2005 Oregon AFL- CIO convention passed a resolution calling for establishment of a perma- nent Worker Memorial on the State Capitol grounds to serve as a remem- brance to all those who have been killed or injured at work and as a reminder to lawmakers that workplace safety must never be neglected. Nationally, there are 133 worker me- morial sites in 33 states — ranging from life-size bronze statues of miners to wall placards. The Health and Safety Committee envisions a “circle of remembrance” that would include four to six pillars en- graved with quotes. The pillars would rest atop a cobblestone base, with each stone engraved with the name of a fi- nancial donor. In the center would be a bell to toll as the names of workers killed on the job are read during Work- ers Memorial Day ceremonies. McCall Oil workers ratify first contract Eleven workers at McCall Oil and Chemical who struck for 36 hours in December got their first-ever union contract since voting in March 2005 to join the Inlandboatmen’s Union (IBU) of the Pacific, the marine division of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Wages will increase more than 16 percent over the life of the two-year agreement. Seniority language will govern scheduling and vacation time, and workers got a grievance process and a stronger policy on harassment. The workers will have a union shop, where everyone is a member of the IBU. In January 2005, all the workers marched in to demand that their boss recognize the union. When he refused, they voted unanimously in a govern- ment-supervised election to join the IBU, and they voted as a bloc to go out on a 36-hour unfair labor practice strike in December. On Jan. 31, they approved the con- tract in a unanimous vote. “We got this contract because we stuck together 100 percent,” said Mc- Call maintenance worker Charlie Fin- ger. Finger also credited the labor com- munity for its support, including Port- land Jobs with Justice, all four Portland- area ILWU Locals, and many other unions. In 1989, the national AFL-CIO de- clared April 28 as Workers Memorial Day — a day to remember and honor workers who have been killed on the job. Since then, labor has held a serv- ice, either in Salem or Portland, to read the names of workers killed in Oregon. “We would like a permanent site for Workers Memorial Day,” said Marilyn Terhaar, chair of the Safety and Health Committee. The committee has a location picked out on the west side of the State Capitol near the Circle of Flags. But first it must get approval from the city’s planning commission. The Portland architectural firm of Fletcher, Farr and Ayotte has donated its time to draw up plans for the memorial. “We hope to get them (the plans) to the commission before the next AFL- CIO Executive Board meeting on March 10,” Terhaar said. In the meantime, the state labor fed- eration has begun collecting donations. The United Steelworkers of America was the first contributor with $1,000. Terhaar said several building trades unions have been approached to donate their skills in erecting the memorial. Chamberlain hopes donations will come in quickly and that the monument can be completed by Workers Memor- ial Day April 28, 2007. 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