What’s
Happening
Building Trades’
Mohlis a finalist
for PDC post
John Mohlis, executive secretary-
treasurer of the Columbia-Pacific
Building Trades Council, is one of
two finalists for a vacant seat on the
Portland Development Commission,
according to a report in Willamette
Week.
The other finalist is architect Don
Stastny.
Organized labor has been lobbying
Portland Mayor Tom Potter since his
election last year for a seat on the
five-person commission, which is the
quasi-independent economic develop-
ment arm of the Portland City Coun-
cil.
The post is appointed by the
mayor, but must be confirmed by the
City Council.
According to Willamette Week,
Mohlis has the support of three com-
missioners — Randy Leonard, Erik
Sten and Sam Adams.
Potter aide Austin Raglione told
the newspaper that the mayor’s deci-
sion will come sometime after Oct.
20.
The PDC seat has been vacant
nearly three months.
Cathy Callahan
leaves top job at
local NLRB office
Cathy Callahan, the top official at
the Portland office of the National La-
bor Relations Board (NLRB), is leav-
ing to take a job as head of the Wash-
ington State Public Employment
Relations Commission.
Callahan, 57, has spent 24 years at
the NLRB, and for the last eight years,
she’s been officer-in-charge at NLRB
Subregion 36, responsible for protect-
ing the labor rights of workers in Ore-
gon and Southwest Washington.
The NLRB is the federal agency
that oversees workplace elections that
determine whether workers want a
union or not. It also investigates “un-
fair labor practices,” as violations of
the National Labor Relations Act are
known.
Callahan will take early retirement
from the NLRB, leaving Nov. 3, and
will begin as executive director of
PERC Nov. 6.
In her new job, she will oversee a
staff of 40 enforcing 11 state statutes,
and resolving disputes between public
employers and workers and their
unions. She’ll take a cut in pay, but
Callahan said the appeal of the job,
plus the chance to live to Olympia,
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L ABOR
AND
P OLITICAL
NEWS FR OM AR OUND THE
P A C I F I C N O R T H W E S T
were more important factors. Olympia
is Callahan’s home town, and though
she left in 1967, she’s maintained con-
nections to old friends over the years,
and never missed a class reunion.
Her replacement at the NLRB has
not yet been named; a nationwide
search is under way.
Nominations are
sought for awards
in labor relations
The Oregon Chapter of the Labor
and Employment Relations Associa-
tion (LERA) is soliciting nominations
to honor individuals in labor relations,
including union leaders, managers, ac-
ademics and others devoted to excel-
lence in labor-management relations.
The awards will be presented at a
reception following LERA’s confer-
ence “Crisis in Health Care: What Are
We Doing About?”to be held Wednes-
day, Nov. 15, at the Oregon Conven-
tion Center in Portland.
Individuals honored will have
demonstrated commitment to the col-
lective bargaining process, integrity,
and involvement in the labor relations
community. Two awards are open for
union members, one for an officer,
business agent or attorney and one for
a steward who administers a collective
bargaining agreement.
For nomination forms, e-mail Ore-
gonLERA@aol.com . The deadline to
submit nominations is Thursday, Oct.
26. For more information, call Burton
White at 503-590-3535.
PDC sessions
explore prevailing
work wage issues
Union officials talked about the
benefits of paying prevailing wages
on publicly-financed construction
Vancouver GATE House dedication
After five years in the making, the Vancouver School District’s GATE House
center opened for class Sept. 3, and is now the first official home to the
Gateway to Adult Transition Education (GATE) program. Members of
Electrical Workers Local 48 and the Carpenters Union (pictured above)
attended a dedication dinner held Oct. 5 at the facility located at 3100 E. 18th
Street,Vancouver, Wash. The union members were among some 150
community volunteers too donate time to the project. Local 48 electricians,
many retired, collectively donated 540 hours — the equivalent of $31,000 —
to light up the new house. The GATE program benefits young adults
throughout Southwest Washington ages 18-21 who have special needs due to
significant mental and physical disabilities. Union volunteers included John
Aschim, Bruce Washburn and Jim Sevier from the Carpenters and Lee
Duncan, Gene Fletcher and Don Evan from Local 48.
projects at an Oct. 18 workshop of the
Portland Development Commission.
PDC is holding a series of work-
shops to determine whether or not it
should set wage and benefit require-
ments on projects that aren’t clearly
subject to state prevailing wage laws.
The quasi-independent development
arm of the Portland City Council has
been under fire from city commis-
sioners, the Oregon Bureau of Labor
and Industries and building trades
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
unions for allegedly circumventing
state prevailing wage laws on some of
its development projects.
Representing labor was Bob
Shiprack, executive secretary-treas-
urer of the Oregon Building and Con-
struction Trades Council, Nelda Wil-
son of Operating Engineers Local
701, Pete Savage, regional manager of
the Pacific Northwest Regional Coun-
cil of Carpenters, and John Mohlis,
executive secretary-treasurer of the
Columbia-Pacific Building Trades
Council.
Also on the work session agenda
Oct. 18, was a panel of nonunion con-
tractors and representatives speaking
against prevailing wage laws. They in-
cluded Jim Posey of Work Horse
Construction, Dan O’Brien of Current
Electric, Jeff Deane of Associated
Builders and Contractors, and Shawn
Miller of Miller Public Affairs.
The meeting was video-taped and
will be replayed on Cable Access
Channel 30 on Friday, Oct. 20, at 9:30
p.m.; on Friday, Oct. 27, at 6 a.m.;
and on Monday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m.
A third work session is scheduled
for Thursday, Nov. 9, from 4 to 9
p.m. in the PDC conference room at
222 NW Fifth Ave., Portland.
The first work session held Sept.
20 attracted about 45 people and fea-
tured little discussion, but lots of his-
tory on how state prevailing wage
laws work. Oregon Labor Commis-
sioner Dan Gardner and his staff gave
a 90-minute presentation on wage
laws, how surveys are conducted and
the importance of apprenticeship
training.
Labor groups seek
donated holiday
gifts for children
Labor’s Community Service
Agency and the Northwest Oregon
Labor Council, AFL-CIO, are holding
their 10th annual Presents from Part-
ners Holiday Toy Drive for underprivi-
leged children.
Bring unwrapped gifts to the of-
fices of the Northwest Oregon Labor
Council, Suite 100-D at 1125 SE
Madison, Portland, no later than Fri-
day, Dec. 15.
OCTOBER 20, 2006