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MEETING NOTICES
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Page 6
Volume 108
Number 24
December 21, 2007
Portland
Help extended to storm-
ravaged union families
Labor Council throws holiday party in Salem
Santa Claus (above), played by Jack Rusen of Albany Steelworkers Local 6163, checks his “naughty and nice
list” to see if Michael “Shoehorn” Conley has been good. Shoehorn joined three other members of Musicians
Local 99 to entertain more than 600 kids and parents Dec. 8 at the 67th annual Holiday Party sponsored by
the Marion-Polk-Yamhill Counties Labor Council. Shoehorn, a tap-dancing saxophonist, was very good,
measured by the crowd’s reaction. At the Holiday Party held at the Elsinore Theatre in Salem, kids sang songs,
watched a movie and received a goody bag. The labor council funds the annual event through donations from
more than 14 union affiliates and unionized businesses in the community.
Oregon AFL-CIO backs
Merkley for U.S. Senate
The Oregon AFL-CIO issued early
endorsements Dec. 11 in several polit-
ical races that won’t be decided until
November 2008. The union federation
is supporting Jeff Merkley for U.S.
Senate and Ben Westlund for Oregon
treasurer. Both are Democrats.
Merkley, a Portland state rep who
is speaker of the Oregon House of
Representatives, is up against political
consultant Steve Novick in the race to
be the Democratic Senate nominee.
Whichever wins the May 20 primary
will take on incumbent Republican
Gordon Smith in the Nov. 4 general
election.
Meanwhile, Westlund, an Oregon
state senator who left the Republican
Party in 2006, is so far running unop-
posed for treasurer. Incumbent Ran-
dall Edwards is term-limited and no
Republican had entered the race as of
press time. The deadline for candi-
dates to file to run is March 11.
The resolution to endorse Merkley
came from the Oregon Nurses Associ-
ation at a morning meeting of the fed-
eration’s Committee on Political Edu-
cation (COPE), which met at the
International Longshore and Ware-
house Union Local 8 hall in North-
west Portland just before the state la-
bor federation’s quarterly Executive
Committee meeting. Though no dele-
gates spoke against Merkley, several
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Labor liaisons to the American
Red Cross have been sent to Oregon
to help union members in coastal
communities hit hard by wind storms
and flooding earlier this month.
Kirk Patrick, president of the Cen-
tral Alabama Labor Council, and a
member of Machinists Lodge 2452,
was one of five union members dis-
patched to Oregon. Patrick attended
the Dec. 11 meeting of the Columbia-
Pacific Building and Construction
Trades Council to ask union leaders
to help the Red Cross identify union
members who have been impacted.
The storm and subsequent flooding
was so severe that Oregon Gov. Ted
Kulongoski declared a state of emer-
gency and prompted FEMA to re-
spond.
Labor liaison caseworkers can
help union members (or their family
members) determine immediate disas-
ter-related emergency needs. Patrick
said. To get help, call the Red Cross
hotline at 1-866-GET-INFO. For fed-
eral disaster assistance, call the
FEMA hotline at 1-800-621-3362.
Patrick said it is unknown how
many union members have been im-
pacted, which is one of the reasons he
was dispatched to the state. He said
service centers also have been set up
in Vernonia at Cedar Ridge Camp,
18962 Keasey Road; Astoria/Seaside
at Camp Rilea, 91204 Rilea Road;
Tillamook at the Oregon Department
of Forestry, 5005 3rd St.; and at
Clatskanie Middle School, 555 SE
Bryant St.
Additionally, some building trades
unions have made arrangements with
the Salvation Army in Tillamook
County to coordinate volunteer ef-
forts to help assess and repair dam-
aged homes and buildings. Electri-
cians are of particular need.
Steve Forester is the contact per-
son for the Salvation Army. He can be
reached at 503-812-3067.
Cash donations can be made to the
Oregon Trail Chapter of the Red
Cross and the Portland Chapter of the
Salvation Army.
Let them know that you want your
money earmarked for Tillamook
County and/or Columbia County dis-
aster relief. The addresses are:
Oregon Trail Red Cross, P.O. Box
3200, Portland, OR, 97208; and Sal-
vation Army, C/O Steve Forester, P.O.
Box 806, Tillamook, OR, 97141.
Labor’s Community Service Ag-
ency, AFL-CIO, also is accepting
cash donations to assist union mem-
bers. Their address is1125 SE Madi-
son, Suite 103-B, Portland, OR,
97214
AFSCME strike at Multnomah Education
Service District ends after two weeks
A two-week strike by classified employees at the Mult-
nomah Education Service District ended shortly after 3
a.m. on Dec. 15, following a 13-hour mediation session.
“It’s an agreement both sides can live with, and our bar-
gaining team is recommending ratification to the mem-
bers,” said Don Loving, public affairs director for Oregon
AFSCME Council 75. Some 380 classified employees are
members of AFSCME Local 1995. A ratification vote is
scheduled for Dec. 27.
The tentative agreement is for two years and includes a
2 percent wage increase retroactive to July 1, 2007, a 2.5
percent wage increase on July 1, 2008, and a longevity
pay increase effective July 1, 2008. Over half of the bar-
gaining unit will qualify for at least the first level of
longevity pay (1.5 percent of gross salary for those with 10
years of service).
On health insurance, the union accepted the district’s
proposal for the first year of the contract. However, MESD
will raise the amount it pays on the insurance caps in the
deal’s second year.
A key issue in the dispute was the level of increase in
the district’s contribution to health insurance for those who
work 30 hours a week. When calculating benefits, most
other education districts consider permanent 30-hour-a-
week employees to be full-time. Not Multnomah EDS.
The largest single sub-group of union members at MESD
— about 175 educational assistants who work six hours a
day one-on-one with special needs students in eight Mult-
nomah County school districts — are permanent 30-hour
per week employees.
In an effort to ensure an orderly back-to-work transi-
tion, the union and the district agreed that all striking em-
ployees will return to paid status as of Monday, Dec. 17.
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