NW Labor History confab
set May 11-12 at IBEW #48
Health care
reform topic of
retirees group
The Oregon chapter of the Alliance
for Retired Americans (ARA) held its
fourth annual convention March 17 at
the International Longshore and Ware-
house Union in Northwest Portland.
The keynote speaker was former
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber. An em-
ergency room doctor from Roseburg,
Kitzhaber launched the Archimedes
Movement, a project to make basic
health insurance coverage available to
all Oregonians.
The Oregon Better Health Act was
introduced in the Legislature earlier
this year. Senate Bill 27 would pool
monies from Medicare, Medicaid and
employer-sponsored insurance plans
to provide a “core benefit” of health
care benefits for everyone. Kitzhaber
told delegates it can be done without
raising taxes, although it would require
approval of Congress.
Kitzhaber envisioned a health care
system similar to that of the public
school system, where everyone pays
regardless of economic status and
“everyone has universal access to a de-
fined level of education.” Parents can al-
ways enhance educational opportunities
with tutors and by other means — but at
their own expense, he said.
When budgets are tight, Kitzhaber
said leaders might increase class sizes
or take other measures to save money.
“But they never argue about eligibility.
Never.”
SB 29 has been merged with an-
other health care bill sponsored by
Senators Ben Westlund of Bend and
Alan Bates of Ashland. The Senate
Special Committee on Health Care
Reform is working on a draft that
combines language from both bills
with portions of two other health care
plans currently circulating around the
state.
Westlund was joined at the ARA
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APRIL 6, 2007
Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber
talks about health care reform to
more than 50 people who attended
the annual convention of the Oregon
Chapter of the Alliance for Retired
Americans.
meeting by State Rep. Mitch Green-
lick. Greenlick discussed House Joint
Resolution 18, a referral to voters that
seeks to add language to the State
Constitution making health care a
right for all legal residents of Oregon.
In other business, Congresswoman
Darlene Hooley presented an ARA
award for service to retirees Bill and
Genie Ubelacker. Genie is a retired
member of the American Federation
of State, County and Municipal Em-
ployees and both are active in the De-
mocratic Party.
Verna Porter was re-elected presi-
dent of the Oregon Alliance of Retired
Americans. Others elected were Bar-
ney Gorter, 1st vice president; Ken
Hennrich, 2nd vice president; Val Jack,
secretary; Ron Rogers, treasurer; and
Leanna Hakala and Scott Blau, trustees.
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“Preserving Union History: Saving
The Day” is the theme of the 39th an-
nual Pacific Northwest Labor History
Association Conference, slated Friday
and Saturday, May 11-12, at the
IBEW Local 48-NECA Training Cen-
ter, 15937 (16021) NE Airport Way,
Portland.
The conference brings union mem-
bers from Oregon, Washington and
British Columbia together for a week-
end of workshops, panel discussions
and entertainment.
The annual awards banquet will be
held May 11 starting at 6:30 p.m. Ed
Barnes, retired business manager of
IBEW Local 48, will be honored with
the Labor History “Person of the
Year”Award.
Speakers that evening will include
Labor Commissioner Dan Gardner
and Tim Nesbitt, adviser to Gov. Ted
Kulongoski. Nesbitt is a former presi-
dent of the Oregon AFL-CIO.
On May 12, a plenary session start-
ing at 9 a.m. will feature Joseph Mc-
Cartin, associate professor of history at
Georgetown University, who will talk
about the the air traffic controllers and
how their mass firings in 1981 by
President Ronald Reagan changed the
face of collective bargaining in the
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Also speaking on Saturday will be
Heather Mayer of Simon Fraser Uni-
versity; Trevor Griffey of the Univer-
sity of Washington History Depart-
ment; and Adam Klugman of the
Progressive Media Agency. Mayer
will discuss the Wobblies and the 1907
sawmill strike in Portland. Griffey will
talk about working-class radicalism
and the electrical workers in the
Northwest. And Klugman will make a
presentation on telling labor’s story.
Registration is $50 before May 1
and $65 after that.
For more information, call Ross
Rieder at 253-875-9498.
503-771-5262
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