Let me say this about that
...Politics and lobbying
(From Page 2)
other IAM-endorsed candidates, some of whom he had recruited to run for pub-
lic office.
OREGON GOVERNOR Vic Atiyeh took note of Schneider’s activities rep-
resenting the Machinists at the Legislature and appointed him to a Citizens Un-
employment Advisory Committee. Portland Community College became aware of
Schneider because of his work as chairman of the Machinists Apprenticeship
Committee, which held classes at PCC, and asked him to serve on a PCC Advisory
Board.
In 1988, Schneider was appointed as a Machinists Grand Lodge representative
by George Kourpias, then the union’s international president, and in 1996, Dick was
selected to be the administrative assistant to IAM General Vice President Lee Pear-
son at the union’s Western Territory headquarters in Sacramento, Calif. His next as-
signment was to be one of four coordinators of the IAM’s newly-formed Aero-
space Department, based at the union’s international headquarters in Upper
Marlboro, Maryland, near Washington, D.C.
DICK SCHNEIDER was given the responsibility for handling 62 labor con-
tracts with the Boeing Company’s plants in the United States and Canada. Later,
his workload was increased to 115 labor agreements with Boeing and other aero-
space employers. These included L-3 Communications, the Triumph Group in
Spokane, Washington, and British Aerospace operations in Texas, plus other com-
panies. He worked with the leaders of IAM locals and councils at the various
plants in negotiating contract renewals. Stalemates in collective bargaining some-
times resulted in strikes, in which the workers gained their objectives. In the course
of Schneider’s tenure with the IAM, Tom Buffenbarger succeeded George
Kourpias as international president and still holds the office.
SCHNEIDER’S WIFE, Kathi, whom he married in 1988, has been employed
as an office secretary at District Lodge 24 for 39 years. She now works for Bob
Petroff, the directing business representative. Her first job was as a secretary for
Auto Mechanics Local Lodge 1005; she was hired by Ralph Kaufman, then sec-
retary-treasurer of Local 1005. Long since retired, Kaufman is now nearly 100
years old and lives in Beaverton. Kathi is a 39-year member of Office and Pro-
fessional Employees Local 11.
Between them, Dick and Kathi have five children and 11 grandchildren. Both
were married previously. Their sons and daughters include Steve, of Tigard, who
is employed in telecommunications; Nicole, an attorney in New York City; April,
who owns a dance studio in LaPine and is active in the Four Square Church where
here husband is the youth pastor; Scott, a mortgage broker who lives in Gresham;
and Steven, a Teamster Union member who works at Albertsons warehouse and
also lives in Gresham.
Schneider is a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Eagles Lodge.
★★★
Open
Forum
Unions should work together
with immigrants, not against
To The Editor:
In response to Jeff Lyles’ letter
(U.S. citizens would take jobs held by
illegals at Del Monte, Aug.3), I want
to agree with the brother: “The illegal
aliens are being used ... to lower the
standard of living of U.S. workers.”
But the question for our labor
movement is —how do we respond?
Do we jump on the anti-immigrant
bandwagon, calling for firings, raids
and deportations, driving undocu-
mented foreign workers even further
into the under-the-table economy?
Or do we join with immigrants in
fighting for legalization, for equality,
for improved wages, hours and work-
ing conditions, and for union represen-
tation?
A look at our past provides the an-
swer. Divide and conquer — turning
workers against each other using race,
nationality and gender — has been the
bosses’ most powerful weapon. The
argument is always the same: “They’re
taking our jobs.”
When the American Federation of
Labor (AFL) organized white, male,
citizen-only unions, little progress was
made. When the Congress of Indus-
trial Organizations (CIO) organized
immigrants, blacks, latinos and
women and white male citizens to-
gether into industrial unions, spectacu-
lar gains were made.
As we see the huge demonstrations,
boycotts and national work stoppages
by immigrant workers demanding
equality, do we think “threat” or “op-
portunity?”
Mexican, Central American and
Latino-American workers have a rich
history of workers’ solidarity. How we
respond to their struggles will deter-
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RONALD S. SHERMAN of Scappoose, a longtime member of Portland-
based Machinists Local Lodge 63 and a former secretary-treasurer of that union,
died on July 29 at age 66. A memorial service was scheduled from 1 p.m to 4
p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, at Columbia Funeral Home in St. Helens.
He was born on July 8, 1941 in Beaty, northeast of Klamath Falls. He moved
to Portland at age 18 and joined the U.S. Air Force. Later, he worked as a ma-
chinist at several companies, then was employed at the Gresham-area Boeing
plant for 25 years. He was active in Machinists Lodge 63, serving as secretary-
treasurer and as a delegate to the Multnomah County Labor Council and the Ore-
gon AFL-CIO. He was a former board member of the Native American Tribal
Council.
SURVIVORS INCLUDE his wife, the former Jean Baldwin; a daughter, Deb-
bie Helms; and two grandchildren.
Memorial contributions can be made to the American Diabetes Association.
★★★
LONGTIME UNION and political activist Linda Johnson died Aug. 17 after
battling several health issues, including a liver ailment. She was 60.
Johnson was a librarian at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland,
a post she’d held since 1980. She was an active member of the American Federa-
tion of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 328.
She served as a delegate to many AFSCME national conventions, state con-
ventions, women’s conferences and political trainings. She was a longtime mem-
ber of the Oregon AFSCME Executive Board and the Council 75 Political Action
Committee.
She was prominent in the 1984 organizing drive that saw OHSU workers win
AFSCME representation.
SEPTEMBER 7, 2007
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
PAGE 11
