...CPBCTC 100 years old
(From Page 1)
re-chartered twice. The first time was in 1938
with 20 affiliates; then again in 1973, with 21
affiliates. The Columbia Pacific Building and
Construction Trades Council currently has
28 affiliated organizations representing ap-
proximately 20,000 members employed by
more than 2,000 signatory employers.
Today ... “these members earn more in
wages and benefits in an hour than most of
those first 800 earned in one month,” the cen-
tennial program noted.
“You folks built the middle class of Amer-
ica,” said guest speaker Portland Mayor Tom
Potter. “Our blue-collar, white-collar workers
are the backbone of America. You’re the
strength. You’re the people who pay the taxes.
You’re the people who do the heavy lifting.
Thank you for that.”
Potter said with baby boomers retiring, Ore-
gon is about to experience a demographic
change that is unprecedented in its history.
“It’s important for our trade unions to be in-
volved in that change,” he said. “We need you
to help train the next generation of workers.”
Keynote speaker U.S. Rep. Earl Blume-
nauer thanked the building trades for its
achievements over the past 100 years, then
asked leaders to help him with crafting a plan
for rebuilding America over the next century.
“We are facing an infrastructure crisis,” he
said. “We are spending less today (less than 1
percent of Gross Domestic Product) than at any
other time in our history. We are losing the in-
frastructure race internationally.”
Blumenauer said it was about this time 100
years ago that President Theodore Roosevelt
met with his top political brass in Washington,
D.C., to celebrate the progress of the United
States, but also to discuss problems the country
was facing.
“By 1908, President Roosevelt had under-
stood that we were kind of running out of gas;
that we had some problems. He needed a new
vision for his century,” Blumenauer said. “It
was out of that 1908 plan that we developed the
large hydroelectric projects; the seeds were
planted for an interstate highway system. He
developed a vision for keeping our country
moving forward for that century; one that you
are celebrating this evening.”
Blumenauer said it’s now time for a new
plan if the United States is going to survive this
century. “We have an unprecedented challenge
that faces us, to make sure that we get back on
track, that we start investing in our infrastruc-
ture the way that the rest of the world is doing.
And we need your help.”
Because of the successes in the Portland
metropolitan area, Blumenauer said the nation
will be looking here for ideas.
“You have created a showpiece,” Blume-
nauer said. “There is not a week that goes by
when we don’t have a delegation from some-
where around the world looking at the build-
ings, at the light rail, at the street cars, at the en-
vironmental protection; at the way that we have
crafted the builtin environment in a way that
enhances and enriches the quality of life, that
stretches tax dollars, that has created jobs that
aren’t going to be exported overseas.”
Said Mohlis: “We are proud of and grateful
to the men and women who built this industry
up for us over the past 100 years. I hope a cen-
tury from now the men and women who are in
the leadership positions we now hold will look
back and be proud of the work that we have
done.”
(ABOVE) Wally Mehrens, Earl
Kirkland and John Mohlis
gather for a photo at the 100th
anniversary party of the
Columbia Pacific Building and
Construction Trades Council.
The three represent 42 years of
leadership as executive secretary-
treasurer of the Council, of which
Mohlis currently holds the post.
Kirkland also received a 60-year
membership pin from his union,
Heat and Frost Insulators Local
36. (LEFT) Calvin McKinnis,
business manager of Plasterers
Local 82, looks at anniversary
program with Dave Ritchey,
business manager of Laborers
Local 335, and Laborers or-
ganizer Bill Hoffman.
Swanson, Thomas &Coon
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
Since 1981
James Coon
Ray Thomas
Chris Frost
Kimberly Tucker
Cynthia F. Newton
Tip of the Week: If you become disabled and are covered
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soon as you apply for benefits.
Oregon U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer thanked building trades
craftsmen and women for their achievements over the last 100 years, and
asked them to help him craft a new “infrastructure vision” for the next
century.
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MAY 16, 2008
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The 2008 Washington CLUB Charity Golf Classic is
scheduled for Thursday and Friday June 12 and 13 at
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Please visit www.wa-club.org and register today!
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