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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2006)
Let me say this about that ...60 years in IBEW (From Page 2) LOOKING BACK on his volunteer work for Local 48, Joy said: “There were a lot of 18-hour days because I was also working as an inside wireman to support my family.” TIM JOY’S CONTRIBUTIONS to IBEW Local 48 prompted the union’s business manager, Art Bauder, to appoint him as a business representative in Jan- uary 1971. Joy held that job until 1987 when he retired. However, he continued in some of his volunteer work for the union until 1992. As a business representative, Joy represented Local 48 as a delegate to the Columbia-Pacific Building and Con- struction Trades Council, the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, the Oregon AFL- CIO and to IBEW international conventions and regional conferences. Joy’s assignments included representing Local 48 in the District Council of Trade Unions, which is comprised of various unions with members working for the City of Portland, Multnomah County and other governmental entities. And he was Local 48’s agent in the District Council of Unions, made up of unions with members working for the Portland School District and in similar jobs. In the DCTU and DCU, Joy’s responsibilities involved negotiating and enforcing labor- management contracts, handling grievances and performing other duties necessary to represent members working for public employers. HE ALSO WAS ACTIVE in campaigning for labor-endorsed political candi- dates and helped set up a Local 48 Political Action Committee that encouraged members of the union to run for public offices and raised campaign funds for them. Tim and his wife, Hilda, have two daughters, Sandra and Kathy; a son, Timo- thy; and five grandchildren. Tim enjoys playing golf with other Local 48 retirees at the Glendoveer Golf Course in Northeast Portland, which is near his home. His golfing companions in- clude Ralph Phillips, Gordon Hayes, Myron Johnson, Finley Andreas and Jerry Bruce, Jerry is a retired Local 48 business manager and also is in the Labor Hall of Fame. ★★★ CHARLIE MERCER, the president of the national AFL CIO Union Label and Service Trades Department in Washington, D.C., must have been looking into a crystal ball when writing a commentary in his “End Notes” column in the Sept.- Oct. 2006 edition of the Label Letter newsletter, of which he is the editor. Under the headline “GOP Bankruptcy Vote Hurts U.S. Troops,” Mercer wrote: “IN 2005, lobbyists for the credit card and finance industries persuaded Re- publicans and some Democrats to vote for a bankruptcy bill written by industry in- siders. At the time, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin (D) warned that the measure would hurt ordinary consumers and he offered an amendment to at least preserve pro- tections for troops serving in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Those voting against the amendment included six Republican incumbents facing re-election in November: Montana’s Conrad Burns, Ohio’s Mike DeWine, Virginia’s George Allen Jr., Pennsylvania’s Rick Santorum, Missouri’s Jim Talent and Rhode Island’s Lincoln Chafee. “ACCORDING TO a new Pentagon report highlighted recently by USA To- day, ‘As many as one in five members of the armed services are being preyed on by loan centers set up near military bases that can charge cash-strapped military families interest rates of 400 percent or more.’ “ All six of those Republican U.S. senators who voted against the best interests of U.S. troops and other American consumers were defeated by the voters in their respective states in the November 2006 general election. The labor movement’s political action helped defeat them. ★★★ MICHAEL O. WARHURST, a retired member of Tualatin-based United As- sociation of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 290, died last July 14 of injuries sus- tained in an accident while on a fishing trip to British Columbia, Canada, his fam- ily reported. His wife Vicki said he had worked in the piping industry for over 31 years, welding at jobsites across the U.S. and had served as Local 290’s dispatcher from 1989 until his retirement in 2004. She said he’d also been a member of Port- land Boilermakers Local 500. Mrs. Warhurst said after he retired he helped her and their daughter Angie in their wholesale scrapbook business. His survivors also in- clude his mother, two sisters and three brothers. Mike was raised in Kansas. After high school he moved to Southern California where he worked as a welder on jobs including dredging barges, municipal water systems and auto shredders. He also welded on the Hughes Glomar Explorer, the ship involved in the recovery of a Russian nuclear submarine in the Pacific Ocean. THE WARHURSTS moved to Oregon in 1970. He worked at an auto/metal shredder until 1973 when he joined Steamfitters Local 235, which later became part of Local 290. The family suggests contributions to the Wheel to Walk Foundation at P.O. Box 20146, Portland, OR 97294, or to the Donald B. Dunn Jr. Memorial Trust, c/o UA 290 Training Center, 20220 SW Teton Ave., Tualatin, OR 97062. DECEMBER 1, 2006 Union Food Bank needs funds to help feed less fortunate this holiday season Dear Readers: The holiday season is here and once again the Carpenters Food Bank is appeal- ing for cash donations to help feed those in need. The all-volunteer food bank, now in its 24th year, is housed in the basement of the union hall at 2205 N. Lombard, Portland. The food bank feeds 450 to 500 families the third Friday each month. On Nov. 17, 510 Thanksgiving food boxes were distributed. The food bank started in 1983 with the intent of operating for three or four months to weather strikes in the community. It continues to this day. “Regardless of what we hear in the news, things are not getting better for every- one, especially our seniors on fixed income and the unemployed,” said Mike Fahey, a former executive secretary-treasurer of the Portland Metal Trades Council and member of Pile Drivers, Divers and Shipwrights Local 2416. Fahey and his wife Sandy coordinate the program. Christmas food boxes will be distributed on Friday, Dec. 15. Fahey is hoping for cash donations to help purchase food items — including meat and turkeys — at bulk rate prices. Contributions can be sent to: Food Bank, P.O. Box 17358, Portland OR 97217. Endicott is visionary leader of Local 290 To The Editor: The United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 290 has a long history of successful political activism, and is involved in all levels of govern- ment as it affects our members. Several years ago, Business Man- ager/Financial Secretary John Endicott invoked a visionary plan to take the high road on the political front, and sup- port politicians who were supportive of all of labor. Whereas Local 290, of course, focuses on the wages, hours, and working conditions of plumbers and steamfitters, Endicott’s vision has definitely been avowed as successful in all the building trades. Endicott’s dynamic political leader- ship as a building trades business man- ager has brought the plumbers and steamfitters into the forefront as the par- adigm of union political activism. Anyone who would question the wis- dom of Local 290’s futuristic program need only ask the governor, the presi- dent of the Oregon Senate, the Oregon Senate majority leader, or the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representa- tives. Ron Murray Business Agent/Lobbyist UA Local 290 Tualatin Open Forum Change to Win unions played election roles To The Editor: Your Nov. 17 lead election article, “Labor Celebrates Election Night Vic- tories,” was extremely disappointing, and perhaps even insulting. The Oregon labor movement is much bigger than the Oregon AFL- CIO, but the NW Labor Press decided to give them all the credit and glory for the impressive election victory of the pro-worker candidates. The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 is not affiliated with the Oregon AFL-CIO, as well as many other members of the Change to Win Federation, nor are several other inde- pendent labor organizations in Oregon. To single out the Oregon AFL-CIO as the reason for these election night victories perhaps reveals a lack of un- derstanding of the Oregon labor move- ment by the Labor Press. In fact, non-AFL-CIO unions were some of the first to step up to support the governor’s re-election. Don’t let the tail wag this dog! Gene Pronovost President UFCW 555 Tigard Swanson, Thomas &Coon ATTORNEYS AT LAW Since 1981 James Coon Jacqueline Jacobson Ray Thomas Kimberly Tucker Margaret Weddell Cynthia F. Newton Tip of the week: It is best to provide your employer written notice of an on-the-job injury, even if you don’t intend to file for a workers’ compensation claim right away. We represent people on all types of injury and disease related claims. n Workers’ Compensation n Construction Injuries n Personal Injury/Product Liability n Death Claims n Asbestos/Mesothelioma n Social Security 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 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS http://www.stc-law.com PAGE 11
