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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2007)
Let me say this about that —By Gene Klare Fast enters Hall of Fame BILL FAST, 88, a retired port agent for the Marine Engineers Beneficial Asso- ciation (MEBA), stands in the spotlight as the newest member of the Labor Hall of Fame. He was given that honor by the sponsoring Northwest Oregon Labor Retirees Council, which is affiliated with the Portland-based Northwest Oregon Labor Coun- cil (NOLC) of the AFL-CIO. Fast retired in 1988 after serving as MEBA’s Portland port agent for 22 years. He and his wife, Beverly, live in Lake Oswego in Clackamas County. IN HIS CAREER running the MEBA office, Fast was active in a number of or- ganizations. He served as president of the Portland Maritime Trades Council and of the Multnomah County Labor Council, which has since become part of NOLC. He was president of Port- land-based Labor’s Community Ser- vice Agency and was president of the Willamette Democratic Society. His civic service included eight years as a governor-appointed member of the Port of Portland Commission. Another facet of his work was serving as a con- sultant to the the Marine Cooks and Stewards Union in the Portland area. William Martin Fast was born on Oct. 4, 1918 in Kingston, Idaho, west of Kellogg in the metals mining district of the Gem State’s Panhandle. After graduating from high school, he fol- lowed his father into the lead and silver BILL FAST mines, working for the Bunker Hill Co. Bill moved to Seattle in 1941 and joined the U.S. Merchant Marine, becoming a member of MEBA. He shipped out of West Coast and East Coast ports in World War II and served on ships transport- ing supplies to U.S. military forces in various war zones. After the war, Fast made Seattle his home port. When he was not at sea, he became active in politics and worked on election campaigns of Washington’s Democratic U.S. Senators Warren Magnuson and Henry (Scoop) Jackson. Later, in Portland. Fast was a labor co- chairman for Jackson when Scoop tried for the Democratic presidential nomination. AFTER BECOMING MEBA’S man in Portland, Fast traveled Oregon with Democratic U.S. Senator Wayne Morse in his 1962 re-election campaign. Although he’s a Democrat, he supported several MEBA-endorsed Republicans for public of- fice, including Mark Hatfield and Bob Packwood, who became U.S. senators in the latter 1960s, and Vic Atiyeh, elected governor in the 1970s. Fast helped Democrat Les AuCoin get elected to Congress and supported Aaron Brown and Tom Moul- trie in their elections to judgeships at the Multnomah County Courthouse; both had worked as union members before becoming lawyers. Atiyeh appointed Fast to the Port Commission and also appointed two other union leaders to the Port; he’s the only governor ever to name three unionists to the Port’s governing board. Fast’s po- litical activity also included being the Oregon labor chairman for Richard M. Nixon’s successful 1968 presidential run because Nixon had promised to support increased construction of ships in the U.S. In 1976, MEBA and Fast supported De- mocratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter in his successful run for the White House. Fast and his wife Beverly attended Carter’s inauguration. Fast also sup- ported Congressman Peter DeFazio, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and others, includ- ing Congressman Wendell Wyatt. As a longtime Merchant Mariner, Fast was among those who campaigned for Congressional approval of veterans’ benefits for the merchant seamen of World War II. He still serves on the board of directors of the United States Merchant Ma- rine Veterans League. He told the NW Labor Press that the League has only 80 PDC Board wants more time to amend new construction wage policy Plans to amend a two-week-old Portland Development Commission construction wage policy were pushed back by the PDC Board at its Jan. 24 meeting. On Jan. 10, the PDC Board adopted a policy to pay construction workers state prevailing wage rates on private projects that receive more than $1 mil- lion in funding form the quasi-public agency, which serves as the develop- ment arm of the City of Portland. In addition to wage rates, the new policy also calls for specific hiring goals for women and minorities on a project-by-project basis. At the Jan. 10 meeting, Commis- sioner Charles Wilhoite expressed concern that the policy didn’t include language that gave PDC the ability to levy economic sanctions on develop- ers who failed to meet stated hiring goals. After discussing the issue, the Board directed PDC staff to amend the policy to include enforcement actions and to bring it back for a vote on Jan. 24. At the Jan. 24 meeting, the revised wage policy included language for b h m k economic sanctions, but didn’t set spe- cific dollar figures. Wilhoite said any fines should be pooled and earmarked for “diversity organizations.” During public testimony, attorney Jim Francesconi, speaking on behalf of the Carpenters, Operating Engi- neers and Laborers, said the unions support the wage policy in general, but he pointed to a couple of “loopholes” in the policy that “will certainly cause controversy down the road.” One provision states that: “when the total floor area of publicly-owned space is less than 50 percent of the to- tal floor area of the combined public- private space, the policy shall not ap- ply to the construction of the privately-owned space unless this por- tion of the project receives $1 million or more in PDC resources.” The other provision says: “if proj- ects constructed privately include pub- lic and private ownership portions that can be separated for construction pur- poses, the public portion of the project shall be subject to the policy and the private portion shall be exempt from the policy.” Bennett Hartman Morris & Kaplan, llp Attorneys at Law Oregon’s Full Service Union Law Firm Representing Workers Since 1960 Serious Injury and Death Cases • Construction Injuries • Automobile Accidents • Medical, Dental, and Legal Malpractice • Bicycle and Motorcycle Accidents • Pedestrian Accidents • Premises Liability (injuries on premises) • Workers’ Compensation Injuries • Social Security Claims Francesconi said that bringing own- ership back into the equation is what caused so many problems in the first place. “Ownership injects a whole lot of confusion,” he said. “I think you’re setting yourself up for a whole lot of controversy.” Francesconi, a former city commis- sioner and mayoral candidate, said the Operating Engineers also would like to see demolition included in the $1 mil- lion threshold. As it stands, the wage policy states that demolition and envi- ronmental remediation will be consis- tent with rules under the Oregon Bu- reau of Labor and Industries. Other suggestions the Board heard for amending the construction wage policy included adding incentives as well as sanctions to hiring goals; man- dating apprenticeship training on proj- ects; requiring nonunion contractors and training programs to submit an- nual affirmative action reports (the policy instructs only affiliates of the Building Trades Council to file re- ports); and exempting certain trades from working on projects if they don’t meet affirmative action goals. PDC Chairman Mark Rosenbaum asked, and the Board agreed, to delay a vote on amending the policy until its next meeting on Feb. 14. “I think that after the discussion today, we need to bring it back,” he said. NOTE: John Mohlis, executive secretary-treasurer of the Columbia- Pacific Building Trades Council at- tended his first meeting as a commis- sioner of the PDC on Jan. 24. He was appointed to the Board by Portland Mayor Tom Potter and confirmed by a unanimous vote of City Council on Jan. 17. Broadway Floral for the BEST flowers call 503-288-5537 1638 NE Broadway, Portland (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon as a voice of the labor movement. 4275 NE Halsey St., P.O. Box 13150, Portland, Ore. 97213 Telephone: (503) 288-3311 Fax Number: (503) 288-3320 We Work Hard for Hard-Working People! Editor: Michael Gutwig Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non- profit corporation owned by 20 unions and councils including the Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Ore- gon and SW Washington. Subscriptions $13.75 per year for union members. Group rates available to trade union organizations. 111 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 1650 Portland, Oregon 97204 (503) 227-4600 www.bennetthartman.com CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a change of address. When ordering a change, please give your old and new addresses and the name and number of your local union. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS, P.O. BOX 13150-0150, PORTLAND, OR 97213 PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. Member Press Associates Inc. Our Legal Staff are Proud Members of UFCW Local 555 (Turn to Page 11) PAGE 2 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS FEBRUARY 2, 2007
