Let me say this about that
—By Gene Klare
Willie Marion honored
WILLIE MARION of Portland, a retired business manager of Molders Lo-
cal 139, is the newest member of the Labor Hall of Fame, which is sponsored by
the Northwest Oregon Labor Retirees Council.
The Retirees Council is affiliated with the NW Oregon Labor Council, AFL-
CIO, and holds its monthly meetings in
NOLC’s boardroom in the Scandia Building
at 1125 SE Madison St., Portland.
MARION, who turns 71 next week, re-
tired as Local 139’s executive officer in
2001. Local 139’s parent union is the Glass,
Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Work-
ers International Union (GMP) of the AFL-
CIO.
Willie Marion Jr. was born on Feb. 22,
1936 in Tupelo, Mississippi. His father was
a plumber whom Willie Jr. helped in his
boyhood years. Willie Jr. graduated from
Nettleton High School south of Tupelo.
While in high school, he had a job in a doc-
WILLIE MARION
tor’s laboratory. Later, he worked as a rail-
road section repairman, a job known as a
“gandy dancer.” He worked with his father on the railroad.
MARION SERVED in the U.S. Army in 1956, ‘57 and ‘58. During most of
those three years he was stationed at an anti-aircraft base in Fairbanks, Alaska, and
earned the stripes of a specialist-fifth. He received his honorable discharge at Fort
Lewis, Washington.
After his Army duty, Marion settled in Tacoma,Wash., and found a job in a
foundry, joining the Molders Union. He worked there for eight-and-a-half years,
then moved in 1966 to Portland. He was hired at Oregon Steel Foundry and trans-
ferred his membership to Local 139. He later worked as a molder at Western
Foundry.
IN 1977, after 11 years of being active in Local 139, Willie Marion was elected
to the union’s top job, business representative. He succeeded Jim Rogers, who
was appointed to an international representative’s job based in Seattle. Marion
told the Northwest Labor Press that he thinks he’s the first black unionist to be
elected to a Portland local union’s top job in which one person was responsible for
handling every function in the union’s operation. That makes him a trailblazer for
black unionists. In Marion’s tenure, the title of Local 139’s top post was changed
from business representative to business manager.
Marion negotiated collective bargaining contracts with employers, handled
grievances and other problems; served as a trustee on health & welfare and pen-
sion trust funds. He represented Local 139 at meetings of the Multnomah County
Labor Council and later at NOLC meetings; served on the labor council board;
represented Local 139 at Molders International Conventions and at sessions of the
Oregon AFL-CIO. He also represented the Molders at meetings of the Portland
and Vicinity Metal Trades Council. In his many years on that council, Marion re-
called a series of executive officers including Lloyd Knudsen of the Electrical
Workers, Dick Schneider of the Machinists and Mike Fahey of the Shipwrights,
an affiliate of the Carpenters.
MARION SHARPENED his union skills by attending training sessions con-
ducted by his international union back east, and by participating in classes at the
Labor Education and Research Center of the University of Oregon.
Looking back, Marion told the Labor Press that it took him about three years
on the job of running Local 139 to gain the respect of the employers with whom
he dealt.
A historical note regarding the Molders Union: The Iron Molders Union was
organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1859 and later evolved into the Mold-
(Turn to Page 11)
PAGE 2
Former union volunteer, organizer Willy
Myers elected BA at Sheet Metal Local 16
Union organizer Willy Myers was
elected business agent at Sheet Metal
Workers Local 16 in votes counted
Feb. 2. Myers outpolled three other
candidates to replace Steve Kowats,
who left to take a job with the training
department of the Sheet Metal Work-
ers International Association.
Myers will be one of four business
agents of the 2,200-member local, and
will be responsible for dispatch, con-
tract negotiations and member griev-
ances in the construction side of the in-
dustry. The local’s top elected office
— business manager/financial secre-
tary — is held by Len Phillips.
Myers said he hopes to continue
what he began as organizer — an ener-
getic effort to unionize workers in the
local sheet metal industry.
Myers got his start with the union
in 1994. As a shop superintendent at a
nonunion HVAC installer, he was driv-
ing a service department van back to
the shop when the brakes went out.
The van tumbled down a 50-foot em-
bankment outside Salem, hitting trees
on the way down. Coughing up blood,
he called the company owner, who had
b h
m k
his son drop him off
at the hospital. But
Myers came away
from the experience
feeling like he was
valued less than the
equipment. After
two weeks recov-
ery, Myers asked to
be returned to a job
he had earlier held
at the company, but
had his pay cut 25
cents. He decided to
take action.
The owner had
promised employ-
ees a job review and
a raise after six months of work, but
hadn’t followed through. Myers got
two dozen co-workers to sign a peti-
tion, and marched into the office with
the demand, which the owner refused.
Myers went back to his co-workers
and said, “They can’t fire all of us;
let’s walk.” Employees called in sick
the following day, and instead of going
to work, met in a park with Local 16
representative Mike Anderson, whom
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WILLY MYERS
Myers had invited.
Three days later Myers was fired.
“I was right,” Myers recalled.
“They couldn’t fire all of us; they just
fired me.”
A charge was filed with the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board, but the
government agency, charged with pro-
tecting workers’ union rights, ruled
that Myers was a supervisor and there-
fore didn’t have rights.
But Myers’ termination lit the fire
under him. He volunteered his time to
help Local 16 unionize the company. It
took a year, but eventually the owner
signed a union contract, and has been
a good union employer since, Myers
said.
Meanwhile Myers became a union
member and kept busy with jobs
through the Local 16 hiring hall. He
volunteered to help organizing cam-
paigns, and in 1999 was hired as the
Local’s staff organizer.
His new post brings a pay raise and
a new set of charges, including respon-
sibility for the well-being of hundreds
of members.
“I’ve seen both sides of the fence,”
Myers said. “There are so many peo-
ple out there that don’t know what
unions stand for. I want to take that
message to every member of my craft,
and tell them ‘You deserve more re-
spect from your employer, and you
can win more respect with a union.’”
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