Northwest labor press., May 18, 2007, Page 11, Image 11

Let me say this about that
...Member of 7 unions
(From Page 2)
Clay and Columbia Streets. He worked for the Library for five years, but retired in
1999 prior to its move back to the refurbished main building.
For several of his years at the Library, Per made extra money by working in his
off-duty hours driving a school bus for the Oregon Episcopal School.
Three of Fagereng’s seven union jobs provide him with pensions, thanks to the
union contracts under which he worked. One pension comes from his Newspaper
Guild membership in the nearly 15 years he toiled on San Francisco newspapers.
The Guild is now part of the Communications Workers of America. A second pen-
sion derives from the contracts of the Letter Carriers and Postal Workers unions
with the Postal Service where he was employed for 15 years. The third pension is
from PERS, the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System, and results from the
AFSCME-negotiated contract covering his five years at the Multnomah County Li-
brary as a member of Local 88. Per said his pensions are not large individually but
taken together provide a relatively comfortable retirement income.
HE KEEPS BUSY with volunteer activities. Since 1987 he has been a musical
member of General Strike, a band of musicians and singers that performs at labor
rallies and makes morale-boosting appearances at picket lines. General Strike’s
members are workers and retirees from various unions. Per’s contributions to Gen-
eral Strike include singing and playing an Irish drum called a “Bodhran,” a musi-
cal instrument which he made. Since 1985 he’s been one of the many volunteers at
the non-profit community radio station KBOO. At KBOO, which is in inner South-
east Portland, Fagereng co-hosts the “Radio Free Ireland” show featuring Irish mu-
sic and news from “The Shamrock Isle.” Per also handles call-in and interview
programs.
Per and his wife, Franchesca, were married in Portland in 1980. He has two
sons from his first marriage. They are Daniel and John; both are artists. A third
son, Ivar, died of a heart problem at age 17.
★★★
INFORMATION FROM “The Portland Red Guide: Sites and Stories from
Our Radical Past” was published in the May 4 issue of the Northwest Labor Press.
In the space remaining in this issue comes more from author Michael Munk’s
book.
Historian Munk wrote that Jesse and Lois Stranahan “were active in almost
every political and labor struggle...” Portlander Jess (he pronounced his name with
the “e” silent) met Lois Redding while attending a 1940 labor summer school at
Commonwealth College in Mena, Arkansas, where she was a student at the school
in her hometown. They were married and made their home in Portland. Jess, then
21, was a member of Supercargoes and Checkers Local 40 of the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union. He also was a journalist for the Labor New
Dealer published by the Oregon State Council of the CIO, the Congress of Indus-
trial Organizations. Lois Stranahan became active in the ILWU Auxiliary and in lib-
eral political groups. Jess served in the U.S. Army in Europe in World War II and
after the war returned to his career on the Portland docks, becoming a leader in Lo-
cal 40. After he retired, he was active in starting the Northwest Oregon Labor Re-
tirees Council, which is affiliated with the NW Oregon Labor Council, AFL-CIO.
In 1997, the Retirees Council established the Labor Hall of Fame and later that
year selected Jess and Lois to be honored as members. Jess died at age 79 on March
4, 1998 in his home. He had suffered a debilitating illness resulting from heart at-
tacks months earlier. The First United Methodist Church was filled with mourners
at his funeral.
FRANCIS J. MURNANE, a leader in ILWU Local 8, receives special mention
in Munk’s book, which says that a wharf at the Willamette River seawall is named
for him. Murnane was sometimes called “The Conscience of the City” because he
attended official meetings at City Hall and other venues to tell officeholders of
things that he thought they should be doing. He worked nights on the docks so that
he’d be able to attend daytime public meetings. U.S. Senator Wayne Morse was
among the mourners who packed a Northwest Portland Catholic Church for his fu-
neral. Munk said Murnane spoke up in defense of radicals who were being targeted
for abuse in the McCarthy witch-hunt era.
HANK AND MARTINA CURL operated one of the bookstores that gave
space to radical books, The Red Guide reports. The Curls ran the John Reed Book-
store on SE Hawthorne Street, author Munk says. The store closed in 1993. “The
1936 Rose Festival parade featured the Oregon Workers Alliance float, with Mar-
tina Gangle Curl as the Statue of Liberty,” Red Guide reported. Martina Curl was
a noteworthy artist.
(A personal note: In his working years as a carpenter, Henry Curl was a delegate
to the Multnomah County Labor Council from Carpenters Local 226. His wife
sometimes accompanied him. Henry and I usually chatted after the meetings. The
Curls participated in many labor picket lines. I remember walking with them at a
Machinists picket line on the sidewalk outside the PDX Airport Terminal. The
picketing called attention to one airline’s use of nonunion mechanics.)
MAY 18. 2007
Open
Forum
Nurses Local 5017 asks unionists
to attend Worker Rights meeting
To The Editor:
I am currently working with the
American Federation of Teachers, Ore-
gon Federation of Nurses and Health-
care Professionals Local 5017, the
union, which represents Kaiser Perma-
nente and Providence Milwaukie RNs
and health care professionals, as well as
teaching and education workers
throughout the state.
I am part of the United Nurses of
Legacy campaign which is working to
gain union representation for 3,000
RNs in the five Legacy hospitals:
Emanuel, Good Samaritan, Meridian
Park, Mt. Hood, and Salmon Creek in
Vancouver.
We are having a Jobs with Justice-
sponsored Workers’Rights Board hear-
ing on safe staffing on May 31. In
preparation, I have been going out to
many union meetings to let people
know about our campaign and to ask
for support and attendance.
It has been so gratifying to attend
Longshore workers, Teamsters, Fire
Fighters, Communication Workers and
Machinists meetings (ILWU had over
100 people).
Everyone has been so supportive.
We have all been or had family mem-
bers who have been hospital patients.
Nurses are the backbone of health care
today. Yet, like so many workers, they
too are experiencing basic speed ups to
save the company money. They are tak-
ing care of more patients — patients
who are sicker than in previous years
— with complex new technology to
monitor, and volumes of paper and
computer reports to complete. They are
often forced to work 12-hour shifts
with NO breaks!
“Your patients need you” is the guilt
trip they are fed on a daily basis.
Our best organizing leaders have
spouses/partners who are proud union
members. Our established unions have
much to teach the nurses. Nurses want
to organize primarily to have a real
voice in affecting patient care — and
yes, these speed ups are very very dan-
gerous for all of us.
It is vital that we fight to ensure
nurses do have a strong voice in setting
standards for patient care. But we also
have to help nurses to understand that
caring for themselves is as important as
caring for others. And sometimes kick-
ing a little behind is not only OK, but
necessary.
Unions are alive and well despite
what the Bushies would have us be-
lieve. I want to express my gratitude to
the Portland labor community for be-
ing an ongoing voice for fairness and
strength.
If you can come to the Workers
Rights’ Board hearing on Thursday,
May 31, at 7 p.m. at the Portland Com-
munity College Cascade Campus, 705
N. Killingsworth St., Portland, it would
mean a lot to the Legacy RNs.
Marcia Suttenberg
Lead Organizer
AFT/Healthcare
Portland
Poor decisions by PPS victimized custodians, taxpayers
To The Editor:
As a former Portland Public School
custodian involved in the class-action
lawsuit, I would like to remind every-
one that the custodians did not create
this problem. We are the victims, as is
every taxpayer, when we have to carry
the burden of poorly-made decisions
and excess spending by the actions of a
few people in power.
This situation could have been
avoided. Back in 2002, before our jobs
had been contracted out, during negoti-
ations with Portland Public Schools, we
had offered to take more than a 10 per-
cent cut in our wages, plus other con-
cessions. This would have saved the
district and taxpayers over $3 million!
Even after they contracted out our
jobs they could have recalled us within
a two-year period and it would have
been classified as a layoff. At that time
the district was no longer hurting for
money, with the passage of the Mult-
nomah County I-Tax in May of 2003.
They could have avoided this mess and
done the right thing by recalling us at
that time. Once the district passed the
two-year layoff mark, they were totally
in violation of the Civil Service law.
The Portland School District sur-
rounds themselves with attorneys to do
their bidding. For years they have had
three full-time in-house attorneys, but
they continue to spend millions and
millions of taxpayers’ dollars on the
outside law firm Miller Nash to go up
against its employees and their unions.
More recently, the School District
has appointed all new members to the
Civil Service Board — all of which are
attorneys! With all these legal minds,
the district is looking for any way it can
find to rewrite or eliminate the Civil
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Service laws. The bottom line is back
in 2002 they knew the law, challenged
it, gambled and lost.
The $14.5 million settlement, if ap-
proved by all parties, once attorney fees
and taxes are taken out, is small com-
pensation for the destruction I’ve seen
in the lives of many of my sister and
brother custodians — many of whom
were second and even a few third-gen-
eration custodians.
I have great respect and admiration
of those who have been brave enough
to return to their former jobs with the
School District during a time of such
uncertainty and turmoil.
Elaine Smith
SEIU 503
Portland
POSITION AVAILABLE
Compliance Investigator
The Or eg o n & S W W as h in gt o n F ai r C o nt ra c t i ng Fo u n da t i o n seeks Compliance
Investigator to monitor public works construction projects. Requires knowledge
of construction industry. Knowledge of prevailing wage laws is a plus. Will train
the right candidate.
Excellent written, verbal and personal communication skills are required. Travel
is expected throughout Oregon & SW Washington to meet with contractors,
trade groups, labor organizations and government agencies.
Company car provided. Hourly rate competitive. Full-time, permanent position.
Pension and Health & Welfare benefits are provided and are subject to one’s
union affiliation, if applicable.
Submit resume with cover letter by June 20, 2007 to:
F ai r Co n t ra ct in g Fo u nd at io n
P .O . Bo x 9 15 8
Po r t l a nd , O R 9 7 2 0 7
Contact Person: Corey (503) 244-3644
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