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. Contributions
can be sent to:
Workers Memorial Fund
c/o Oregon AFL-CIO
2110 State Street
Salem, OR 97301
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