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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 2007)
Let me say this about that —By Gene Klare Vokos enters Hall THE NORTHWEST Oregon Retirees Council has honored Christ Vokos of Portland with membership in its Labor Hall of Fame. Vokos, 84, is a retired secre- tary-treasurer of Bakery and Confectionery Workers Local 364. The Retirees Coun- cil is an affiliate of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Vokos retired in November 1985 from Local 364, which he had joined in Oc- tober 1950 upon going to work as a baker at the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) plant on NE Columbia Boulevard. CHRIST GEORGE VOKOS was born in Portland on Aug. 5, 1923. His fa- ther George C. Vokos, had moved to Port- land from Greece in 1907. The elder Vokos worked as a union man all of his life in the United States. His union mem- berships included the Lumber and Sawmill Workers (now the Carpenters In- dustrial Council), Columbia River Fish- ermen’s Protective Association, Alaska Fishermen’s Union and Portland Painters Local 10. Christ’s mother also came from Greece. Christ graduated from Roosevelt High School in January 1941. While in high school, he was among a half-dozen CHRIST VOKOS boys who took home economics classes. He has used the cooking and baking skills he learned in school throughout his life. Upon graduation, before the U.S entered World War II, Christ applied for officer training at the U.S. Merchant Marine Acad- emy in Connecticut, but was turned down because of a problem with his left eye. At the urging of his father, who was working at a shipyard, Christ went to work at the Oregon Shipyard in St. Johns, helping to build Liberty ships as a member of Boilermakers Local 72. Eleven months later he transferred to the Swan Island Ship- yard. In March 1943, Christ joined the Merchant Marine and shipped out on a Liberty ship he helped build. He joined the Sailors Union of the Pacific and was assigned to be a cook and a baker on the ship, which was hauling cargo to the U.S troops fighting Japanese invaders in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. Vokos traveled around the world on wartime Liberty ships, carrying troops and war supplies and dodging en- emy submarines. His ship transported U.S. Lend-Lease cargo destined for Russian allies and carried U.S. troops to South Pacific battle zones. Vokos served on a tanker hauling high-octane aviation gasoline to Okinawa in the South Pacific from where U.S. bombers took off to drop atomic bombs on Japan, an event which brought about Japan’s war-ending surrender. AFTER THE WAR, Christ Vokos returned to Portland and worked out of the Carpenters Union on the construction of a passenger liner at the shipyard on Swan Island. He next did some commercial fishing with his father, sailing out of Astoria as a member of the Columbia River Fishermen’s Union. In 1947 he went back to sea on a Merchant Marine Liberty ship carrying cargo to ports in the Mediter- ranean Sea. A stop in Greece gave him an opportunity to meet with relatives he’d never seen before. He made two trips to that part of the world. Vokos was surprised in December 1948 to be drafted into the U.S. Army despite his wartime service in the U.S. Merchant Marine. After basic training at Fort Ord, Calif., he was sent to New Orleans, but within seven months, the Army sent him home with honorable discharge, deciding that his family needed him as a bread- winner. He went to Bristol Bay in Alaska to fish as a union member. DURING HIS YEARS at sea, Vokos was the ship’s delegate — shop stew- ard — on every ship on which he was employed. He was an active member of the Sailors Union of the Pacific. He hewed to that same principle when he became a Working America canvasses Seaside About a dozen members of the Oregon chapter of Working America teamed up with delegates attending the Oregon AFL-CIO convention in Seaside to canvass neighborhoods and ask residents to vote “Yes” on Ballot Measure 50. Working America is a community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, with 1.8 million members nationally who don’t have a union at work but share the same economic principles that unions stand for. Working America chapters have been established in eight states. Oregon is one of the largest, with 56,000 members. Among the delegates volunteering above is Amanda Fritz (right) a member of the Oregon Nurses Association and a candidate for Portland City Council. b h m k 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 UNION ORGANIZER SEEKING WORK Union organizer based in Willamette Valley seeking employ- ment in union member training and development, long-term strategic goal setting, community outreach or related union work. Used to long hours on a high-accountability team. Call 503-838-6676 or write PO Box 2766, Salem,OR. 97308. Resume and references available. (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 E-mail: Michael492@comcast.net Editor: Michael Gutwig Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice We Work Hard for Hard-Working People! 111 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 1650 Portland, Oregon 97204 (503) 227-4600 www.bennetthartman.com 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. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. 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 Our Legal Staff are Proud Members of UFCW Local 555 (Turn to Page 11) PAGE 2 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS OCTOBER 19, 2007
