Building Trades unions rap Vancouver City
Council for opposition to Cowlitz casino
Labor history group awards unionists
Ed Barnes (above center) was named “Labor History Person of the Year”
May 11 at an awards banquet kicking off the 39th annual Pacific
Northwest Labor History Association Conference. Barnes, a retired
business manager of Portland Electrical Workers Local 48, collected the
award after lengthy accolades from Nellie Fox-Edwards (left) and Don
Patch (right). Barnes served his electrician apprenticeship under Fox-
Edwards’ late husband. Barnes’ three sons also became union
electricians, and two were there to witness the award. “If you’re going to
be a union member,” Barnes said, “don’t be a card carrier; go and get
involved in your union.” The Labor Education and Research Center of
the University of Oregon also received an award. LERC Director Bob
Bussel told attendees he has the union movement to thank for the
continued existence of the program. The Labor History conference was
held at the NECA-IBEW Local 48 Training Center in Portland.
VANCOUVER — The Columbia-
Pacific Building Trades Council has
sent a letter to Mayor Royce Pollard
and the entire Vancouver City Council
expressing their disappointment in a re-
cent vote to oppose construction of a
tribal casino in LaCenter.
The resolution, which passed 7-0,
doesn’t just oppose the casino, it also
says the city will sue if the federal De-
partment of the Interior approves the
casino in its present form.
CPBCTC signed a project labor
agreement with the Cowlitz Indian
Tribe last year assuring that the $510
million project would be built union.
The proposed site is 152 acres at the La
Center exit of Interstate 5, which is
about 16 miles north of the Interstate
Bridge.
At a press conference prior to the
council vote, Pollard said he wasn’t op-
posed to the casino itself, just the loca-
tion in LaCenter in Clark County. He
suggested it be located farther north, in
Cowlitz or Lewis counties. Pollard said
a casino of that magnitude would be a
detriment to the city. He expressed con-
cerns about traffic, gambling’s impact
on society and the lack of family-wage
jobs after the casino is built.
“The bottom line is that I believe the
proposed Cowlitz casino is not in the
best interests of the citizens of Clark
County and Vancouver,” Pollard said.
At an Executive Board meeting of
the CPBCTC a day after the Council
vote, union officials were unhappy that
commissioners weighed in on a project
that isn’t in their jurisdiction. “Will they
oppose the proposed casino at the dog
track (in Fairview, Oregon) next?” one
union official asked. CPBCTC also has
a a project labor agreement signed with
the developers of that proposed facility,
which is worth tens of millions of dol-
lars in construction work.
A ruling by the Interior Department
on the tribe’s application to create the
reservation and establish a casino is not
expected until the end of the year.
Portland Letter Carriers bring
in 669,501 pounds of food
Union letter carriers once again
stepped up to “stamp out hunger” in
the nation’s largest one-day effort
May 12. For the 15th year in a row,
members of National Association of
Letter Carriers (NALC) went door to
door on their regular Saturday mail
routes to pick up bags of non-perish-
able food donated by residents in bags
delivered earlier. The bags, delivered
earlier, were paid for by other unions,
and came printed with union logos.
With 220,000 letter carriers in the
United States, the drive is the largest
union sponsored charity event by far.
“It’s our favorite day of the year,”
said L.C. Hansen, president of Port-
land-based NALC Branch 82.
The drive touches all 50 states and
involves nearly 1,500 NALC
branches, as well as rural carriers and
other volunteers. In some areas, in-
cluding Portland, postmasters allow
letter carriers to pick up the bags on
the clock. In others, they do the pick-
ups as volunteers.
The Portland metro area alone col-
lected 669,501 pounds of food, an in-
crease of 19 percent over last year’s
total. Statewide and national totals for
2007 weren’t yet available, but last
year the drive netted 1.4 million
pounds in Oregon and 70.5 million
pounds nationwide.
Karl Bik, Co-Chairman
Cement Masons Trust Funds for Northern California
The bank of labor
has on-the-job experience in Taft-Hartley trust fund management
supports you with an expert labor team and one easy point of contact
offers investment solutions to build and protect your hard-earned funds
gives workers the benefit of customized health and retirement plans
has worked on behalf of unions for more than 50 years.
Invest in you
®
Labor Management Trust Services
Stephen Heady, Vice President, (503) 450-1270
Louis Nagy, Vice President, (503) 450-1273
Labor Management Deposit Services
Diane Williams, Senior Vice President & Manager, (213) 236-5085
John Mendoza, Vice President & Relationship Manager, (415) 705-7112
Visit us at unionbank.com
MAY 18. 2007
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
©2007 Union Bank of California, N.A. Member FDIC
PAGE 5