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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 2006)
Inside MEETING NO TICES See Page 6 V olume 107 Number 21 No v ember 3, 2006 P ortland Movie about 1999 WTO protests in Seattle will be filmed in ... Canada? Cost savings likely a factor in the choice of Vancouver, B.C. over Seattle By DON McINTOSH Associate Editor “Battle in Seattle,” a movie about the 1999 protests of the World Trade Organization (WTO), is set to begin filming this month — in Vancouver, British Columbia. As of press time, the Seattle Film Commission wasn’t aware of any plans for the film to be shot in Seattle, though several industry magazines have reported some filming will take place in Seattle. Cost savings were presumably the chief factor in the choice of Vancou- ver, B.C. over Seattle, but it may be hard for the film to escape the irony of that choice: The protests were basi- cally about multinational corporations evading democratic accountability and abandoning national loyalty. The film, written and directed by Irish actor Stuart Townsend (“Queen of the Damned”) will star Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, hip-hop artist André Benjamin of the group OutKast, Ray Liotta, Michelle Ro- driguez (“The Fast and the Furious”), Martin Henderson (“The Ring”), Jen- nifer Carpenter (“The Exorcism of Emily Rose”), and Channing Tatum. Filmmakers plan to use actual footage from the protests, and are considering using actual protesters as extras. Susan Sarandon, who narrated a 2000 documentary about the Seattle WTO protest, considered joining the production, but was unable to take part. Theron, who is Townsend’s girl- friend, will play a pregnant bystander who loses her unborn child in the “ri- ots” that took place. No such incident occurred in reality, but there were plenty of non-protesting bystanders swept up and handled roughly by po- lice. The production has kept a low pro- file, and is not yet officially talking to the media. But some details are known. The film will weave together the stories of numerous individuals, including a protester, a reporter, a (Turn to Page 5) Mayor taps Mohlis for PDC Portland Mayor Tom Potter has appointed John Mohlis, executive secretary- treasurer of the Columbian Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council, as a commissioner on the Portland Development Commission. Mohlis, 50, is a former business manager of Portland Bricklayers Local 1. He was elected to the building trades post last December. He has served as a trustee on the Northwest Bricklayers Pension Trust since 1990, oversee- ing a $75 million trust. He is a member of the Oregon State Apprenticeship and Training Council, which is responsi- ble for overseeing apprenticeship programs, especially for those in the building and construction trades. Mohlis began his own apprenticeship as a bricklayer in 1978 after attending the University of Iowa. JOHN MOHLIS He also has served as a member of the Portland South Waterfront Apprenticeship Agreement Oversight Committee, the Eastside CSO Oversight Committee and the Construction Apprenticeship Workforce Solutions (CAWS) board. “John brings broad experience in problem solving, a passion for creating fam- ily-wage jobs and an important added perspective to an already diverse board,” (Turn to Page 8) A crew from Otis Elevator Co. talks with Ed Sullivan (in leather jacket), president of the national AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department in Washington, D.C., just before they go to work on a high- rise condo at South Waterfront in Portland. With them is Mike Casley, business manager of Portland Elevator Constructors Local 23. Sullivan is a former general president of the International Union of Elevator Constructors. He was in the Northwest to remind construction workers to vote in the November mid-term elections. Get Out The Vote Ed Sullivan, president of the national AFL- CIO Building and Construction Trades Depart- ment was at the South Waterfront Development before the crack of dawn on Oct. 25 reminding construction workers to vote in the November mid-term elections. Sullivan was joined by a dozen building trades union officials who handbilled amid the con- struction of high rise condos on the banks of the Willamette River in Southwest Portland. Later that morning they teamed up with leaders of the Oregon AFL-CIO for a brief rally. “This election is all about turnout, here in Portland and throughout the country,” Sullivan said. “The big push is to get our people to the polls.” Oregon and Washington are vote-by-mail states. Oregon ballots must be returned by 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7. Washington ballots must have a Nov. 7 postmark to be valid. Ed Sullivan (left) reminds Kaiebu Newson, a member of Glass Workers Local 740, to vote. Newson, who works for Benson Industries at the Atwater Tower in South Waterfront, said he is a registered voter and will definitely get his ballot in the mail before Nov. 7.
