Let me say this about that
—By Gene Klare
Cusma in Hall of Fame
THE NORTHWEST Oregon Labor Retirees Council welcomes Frank Cusma
into its Labor Hall of Fame. Cusma served as the apprenticeship coordinator of
Portland-based Iron Workers Local 29 and held other offices and assignments in the
union. He retired at age 61 in 2005.
Frank Cusma was born on Sept. 14, 1944 in Trieste, Italy. His father was killed
while serving in the Italian Army in World War II. Later, Frank and his mother,
Lidia, migrated to the United States and settled
in Brooklyn in New York. In 1963, at age 18,
Frank enlisted in the U. S.Navy. After boot camp
at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, he
trained in San Diego as a diver and was sent to
Vietnam where he was attached to a Marine
Corps Division. Cusma served two tours of duty
in Vietnam as a diver with the Marines.
AFTER HIS WAR SERVICE and return to
a West Coast base for his honorable discharge as
a petty officer second class, Cusma decided to
check out Portland as a place to live. He applied
for and was accepted for the three-year appren-
ticeship program in Iron Workers Local 29. He
first received training at Beech School and later
FRANK CUSMA
at Benson High. Along the way, he encountered
two former Marines with whom he’d served in
Vietnam.
While working construction in Local 29, Cusma helped erect a number of high-
rise structures, including the First Interstate Bank, the Georgia-Pacific Building,
the Federal Building, the Benjamin Franklin Building and others; the names listed
are those given the buildings when they were built. He also worked on the con-
struction of the soaring Fremont Bridge.
IN 1976, Cusma began teaching Local 29 apprenticeship classes at the Sylvania
Campus of Portland Community College and at another classroom in a building on
W. Burnside Street and 18th Avenue. In 1979, Cusma was appointed as Local 29’s
apprenticeship coordinator by LeRoy Worley, who was then the union’s business
manager and later became an international officer. In 1989, Cusma was asked to re-
start the apprenticeship program of Portland-based Iron Workers Shopmen’s Local
516, in addition to his job at Local 29.
ADDED RESPONSIBILITIES were later given to Cusma when he was ap-
pointed as the administrative apprenticeship coordinator for the Iron Workers North-
west District Council. That assignment gave him oversight of Iron Workers ap-
prenticeship programs throughout the region.
CUSMA ALSO HELD elected offices in Local 29. Members elected him to the
Executive Board in 1978, as president in 1985, and later as recording secretary.
When LeRoy Worley started IPAL, the Ironworkers Political Action League, in
1981, he named Cusma as its treasurer. As part of his political duties he also lobbied
at the Oregon Legislature with Lyle Eller, who served the union as president and as-
sistant business representative.
STILL MORE responsibilities were given Cusma when he was appointed as
the collection coordinator for all of Local 29’s negotiated trust funds — health &
welfare, pension, annuity and vacation. Later, when Local 29 started the Iron Work-
ers Drug-Free Program, Cusma was put in charge of handling it.
THE INTERNATIONAL Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental
Iron Workers and the AFL-CIO sent Cusma to Warsaw in 1990 to help set up a
welding shop for Poland’s apprenticeship program. In another assignment for the
Iron Workers International, in addition to his duties with Local 29, Cusma helped
set up and certify welding shops for local unions in Las Vegas, Atlanta, Boston,
Providence, Seattle, Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, Denver, New
Orleans and Baton Rouge.
Looking back on his career, Cusma noted that in 1985 he and Tom Worley col-
Union wants to put stop to college
shift to part-time, lower-paid faculty
By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
Backed by their union, college
teaching faculty are pushing a political
fix that they hope will halt decades of
downward mobility.
Members of American Federation
of Teachers (AFT) Higher Education
Division say the the ivory tower of
popular legend is turning into an aca-
demic factory that exploits its work-
force. To cope with tight budgets, pub-
lic colleges and universities around the
country have shifted much of their
class load to lower-paid part-time fac-
ulty who work without benefits on
term-by-term, credit-by-credit con-
tracts.
To turn that around, AFT, an affili-
ate of the AFL-CIO, has launched a
campaign called FACE — Faculty and
College Excellence — which is pro-
moting a bill in 10 state legislatures
this year.
The Oregon version is House Bill
2578. HB 2578 would require that at
least 75 percent of classes be taught by
full-time tenure-track faculty, and that
part-timers be paid the same prorated
b h
m k
salary and benefits as full-timers — to
eliminate schools’ economic incentive
to favor part-time instructors. HB 2578
would also give existing part-time
teachers first crack at permanent full-
time positions when they open up.
And it would make staffing levels a
mandatory subject of collective bar-
gaining.
AFT-Oregon lobbyist Rob Wagner
acknowledges the union is shooting
for the moon the first time out, but if
even part of HB 2578 passes, it will
make a difference for members.
Some parts of the bill were con-
tained in a bill introduced by then-
State Rep. Dan Gardner, (D-Portland),
in the late 1990s, but his union-backed
bill didn’t go far in Republican-con-
trolled House.
This time, the bill was introduced
by Rep. Peter Buckley, (D-Ashland),
assigned to the House Education Sub-
committee on Higher Education and
got a public hearing March 28.
At the hearing, college teachers and
union leaders told lawmakers what’s
been happening. In 1970, 80 percent
of classes were taught by full time per-
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
manent faculty members, testified Bill
Scheuerman, chair of the AFT Higher
Ed Policy Council. Today, the figure is
54 percent. And as part-time instruc-
tors shuttle from school to school to
cobble together a full-time job, stu-
dents can lose out, Scheuerman said: It
becomes harder for students to meet
with instructors or get a letter of rec-
ommendation, or find out what classes
favorite teachers will teach the next
term in a timely way.
Sociology instructor Stephanie
Blackman is one such “road scholar,”
teaching six classes at four Portland-
area colleges. Blackman told lawmak-
ers she’s too busy flying down free-
ways to attend faculty meetings or
mentor students. And, Blackman said,
it’s not fair that people teaching the
same class get less pay and benefits.
It’s not clear what chance HB 2578
has of passage this year.
The independent Oregon Education
Association, the other large teachers
union in Oregon, supports it. But col-
lege administrators oppose it, saying it
would tie their hands and limit their
flexibility in meeting students’ needs.
At the very least, Wagner said,
AFT’s campaign is energizing AFT
members — and raising awareness
among lawmakers.
NOLC endorses
board candidates
for 2 Fire Districts
The Northwest Oregon Labor
Council, at the request of Tualatin Fire
Fighters Local 1660, has endorsed
Sandi Jabs for Tualatin Valley Fire and
Rescue Board of Directors, Position 4;
and Aaron Baker for the Woodburn
Fire and Rescue Board of Directors,
Position 3.
Jabs is a retired Lake Oswego
school teacher who is challenging in-
cumbent Carol Gearin, who serves as
the Board’s secretary-treasurer.
(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
APRIL 6, 2007