Northwest labor press., April 18, 2008, Page 3, Image 3

Oregon AFL-CIO seeks waiver on service fees
Proposed Worker Memorial snarled in bureaucratic red tape
SALEM — An effort by the Ore-
gon AFL-CIO to a establish a perma-
nent memorial at the State Capitol to
honor workers killed on the job has hit
one bureaucratic roadblock after an-
other.
The most recent is a $28,000 “man-
agement service fee” the Department
of Administrative Services wants be-
fore a “Fallen Worker Memorial” can
be placed near the main entrance to the
Labor and Industries Building on the
Capitol Mall.
It has taken nearly three years for
DAS to approve the design and site lo-
cation of the memorial, which will
serve as a remembrance for workers
killed on the job and a reminder of the
importance of safety in the workplace.
It also would serve as a permanent lo-
cation for the AFL-CIO to hold its
Workers Memorial Day ceremonies.
Nearly two decades ago the national
AFL-CIO declared April 28 Workers
Memorial Day in honor of workers
killed on the job. And every year since,
a memorial service has been held in ei-
ther Salem or Portland.
Nationwide, there have been 133
worker memorial sites erected in 33
states since 1989. These memorials
range from life-size bronze statues of
miners to wall placards.
The design approved by DAS (see il-
lustration above right) consists of a large
boulder with an inscripted bronze
plaque attached to it. The boulder would
rest within a landscaped sitting area in
front of the L&I building.
“The management service fee would
cost us more than the entire construc-
tion of the memorial,” said Oregon
AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain.
The cost to construct the memorial
is less than $15,000, and the Oregon
AFL-CIO already has raised roughly
$12,000, with more money committed
once ground is broken.
Chamberlain asked DAS to waive
the management service fee, but it re-
fused. In late January, Chamberlain sent
a formal request to Gov. Ted Kulon-
goski asking that he waive the fee.
On April 7, the governor offered to
split the cost of the service fee with the
AFL-CIO 50/50.
According to DAS spokesman Lonn
Hoklin, the governor likes the idea of a
memorial honoring workers killed on
the job. “The governor felt it appropriate
that the state participate in the cost of
the memorial,” Hoklin told the NW La-
bor Press.
Hoklin said management service
fees, set at $115 an hour, are billed to
private entities using public property.
The Fallen Worker Memorial was
billed for an estimated 152 hours for
completion and design work; 40 hours
for bidding assistants; 48 hours for
construction management supervision;
and a lump sum mileage fee of $500.
The grand total: $28,100.
Al Dorgan, who chairs the state la-
bor federation’s Safety, Health and
Workers’ Compensation Committee,
said the group is meeting April 18 (af-
ter this issue went to press) and will
decide then whether or not to accept
the reduced fee offer.
“If we do, we’re going to have to
fast track collecting more contribu-
tions,” he said.
Dorgan, president of Albany Steel-
workers Local 7150, and the commit-
tee took the lead to secure initial fund-
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APRIL 18, 2008
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
ing, develop design concepts and work
with state officials to find a location.
That work began in late 2005 after del-
egates to the Oregon AFL-CIO con-
vention unanimously passed a resolu-
tion to build a memorial.
“It’s a pretty simple memorial on
behalf of workers who died on the
job,” said Dorgan, who sounded totally
frustrated with the process. “There’s
no electrical. All the plants around it
are perennials and native to the area.
We’ve had meeting after meeting after
meeting, and here we are.”
To get to “here we are,” the AFL-
CIO had to drastically scale back its
initial concept, which included a four-
pillar “circle of remembrance” situated
on the west side of the State Capitol. In
the center of the pillars was to be a bell
that could ring as the names of workers
killed on the job were read during
Workers Memorial Day ceremonies.
“That’s a million-in-one project,”
DAS told the Safety and Health Com-
mittee. Dorgan said the committee was
preparing to take their concept to the
Legislature for approval when DAS
called and said it wanted to partner
with the AFL-CIO to make it happen.
The Oregon Occupational Safety and
Health Administration became the
sponsoring agency and DAS trans-
ferred management of the memorial to
the Oregon Parks and Recreation De-
partment.
Dorgan said if the committee de-
clines the governor’s offer, they likely
will go to the Legislature in 2009 to
seek funding to pay the $28,000 fee. In
the meantime, donations for the Fallen
Workers Memorial still can be sent to:
Workers Memorial Fund
c/o Oregon AFL-CIO
2110 State Street,
Salem, OR 97301
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