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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (May 5, 2006)
Let me say this about that —By Gene Klare Hall greets Getman DON GETMAN of Portland, a retired business agent for Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 290 who just turned 70, is the newest unionist voted into the Labor Hall of Fame by the sponsoring Northwest Oregon Labor Retirees Council. The Retirees Council, affiliated with the Northwest Oregon Labor Coun- cil, AFL-CIO, began the Hall of Fame to salute retired workers for their con- tributions to the labor movement. The re- tirees hold their monthly meetings on the second Mondays in the first-floor board- room of the NOLC in the Scandia Build- ing at 1125 SE Madison St., Portland. John Klein, a retired Teamster, is president, and Harold King, a retired member of the As- sociation of Western Pulp and Paper Work- ers, is secretary-treasurer. Judy O’Connor, of Office and Professional Employees Lo- cal 11, is executive secretary-treasurer of NOLC, and the president is Bob Petroff, di- recting business representative of Machin- ists District Lodge 24. DONALD GEORGE GETMAN was born on May 3, 1936 in Fargo, North Dakota. It was the era of the Great Depres- sion and in 1937 the Getman family moved DON GETMAN to Portland where a brother of Don’s father was working in a tire shop that had a job available. Don attended Highland Grade School in Northeast Portland, which has since been renamed for the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Don graduated in 1954 from Jefferson High School, where he played baseball. He then joined the U.S. Navy, where he served aboard ship in the Far East as a diesel engineman second-class. Following his Navy service, Getman attended Clark College in Vancouver, Wash. Don and his wife, Sandy, who is from Minnesota, met at the college and were married in 1959. They live in Northeast Portland’s Parkrose area, and have a son, Matt, who is a Local 290 member; a daughter, Heidi, who lives in California; a daughter, Jill, who lives in Portland; and five grand- children. DON GETMAN started his five-year apprenticeship in Steamfitters Lo- cal 235 in 1960 working for Temp Control Corporation. He later worked for Lord Brothers and other contractors and became active in his union. “On the job and in Local 235,” Getman said, “my mentor was Billy McNicholas,” who was a business agent. McNicholas is also a member of the Labor Hall of Fame. Getman was elected to the union’s Executive Board and later as vice president and president. He became a business agent of Local 235 and was a contract negotiator. He later was elected as financial secretary-treasurer and he represented the union as a delegate to various labor organizations with which it was affiliated. When the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters International formed Local 290 in 1987 by merging Steamfitters Local 235, Plumbers Lo- cal 51 and other locals, Getman returned to working at the trade. Later, he was asked to become a business agent and organizer for Local 290, and he accepted the job. By the time he retired in 1998, he had spent 14 years work- ing full-time for Local 235 and Local 290. The latter is based in Tualatin, south of Portland. DON AND SANDY GETMAN do volunteer work to help children and young adults with muscular dystrophy and other disabilities. They both vol- unteer their services at Camp Arawanna, a summer camp near Welches at- CTW unions stage rallies protesting nonunion employers in 40 U.S. cities The Change To Win (CTW) federa- tion of unions organized a series of ral- lies in 40 U.S. cities April 24-28. CTW press releases said the rallies were to be the start of a “Make Work Pay” campaign, characterized as “a new national movement to restore the Amer- ican Dream — a paycheck that supports a family, affordable health care, a secure retirement, a voice on the job, and a bet- ter life for their children.” Portland, Salem, Beaverton and Van- couver were some of the cities, with five themed rallies organized by six CTW unions over a four-day period. The Change to Win federation in- cludes the Teamsters, Laborers, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), UNITE HERE, Carpenters, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and the United Farm Work- ers of America (UFW). Monday, April 24, was designated by Teamsters Local 162 as a protest of Ferguson plumbing supply showrooms in Beaverton and Vancouver because drivers there have yet to win a first union contract a year after they voted to join the Teamsters. Tuesday, April 25, UFW supporters announced a picket of the Bank of the West in Portland for lending money to Boardman, Oregon-based Threemile Canyon Farms dairy, which has de- clined to recognize the union. Wednesday, April 26, Laborers and Carpenters sponsored another in a long series of protests at the downtown Port- land Benson Tower condominiums, About 120 members from unions affiliated with the Change to Win labor federation rallied April 27 at Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square to protest Wal-Mart’s low pay and lack of health care benefits. CTW staged a weeklong series of rallies nationwide to launch its “Make Work Pay” campaign. where one contractor has brought in nonunion workers from out of state and fired local union construction workers who hired on to try to unionize. Some then marched to Pioneer Courthouse Square, joining UFCW members who gathered for an anti-Wal-Mart rally. UFCW and its affiliated wakeupwal- mart.com declared April 26 a “national day of action to help cure the Wal-Mart health care crisis,” and staged events in 35 cities. UFCW represents grocery workers, whose employers must com- pete with low-wage, nonunion Wal- Mart superstores. Speakers at the rally promoted a union-backed initiative in Oregon that would make Wal-Mart pro- vide health coverage to its employees — or pay the state to do so. And Thursday, April 27, was SEIU’s day. Supporters rallied at the Salem headquarters of the Oregon Lottery, where a union election is scheduled later this month. Swanson,Thomas &Coon ATTORNEYS AT LAW Since 1981 James Coon Megan Glor Cynthia F. Newton Ray Thomas Margaret Weddell Sharon Maynard James Oliver Kimberly Tucker Tip of the week: If you are unable to work because of injury or disease, whether you are “disabled” or not depends on the system to which you are applying for benefits. State/Federal Workers Compensation, Social Security and private Long Term Disability plans all require different proof of disability. We represent people on all types of injury and disease related claims. n Workers’ Compensation n Asbestos/Mesothelioma n Personal Injury/Product Liability n Social Security Disability n Death Claims n ERISA/Long-Term Disability We provide straight answers at no cost on any of the above areas of law. CALL US or VISIT OUR WEB SITE ( 503) 228-5222 http://www.stc-law.com (Turn to Page 11) PAGE 2 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS MAY 5, 2006
