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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2008)
LaborDay-08 (15-28):NWLP 8/12/08 8:41 AM Page 27 ...Washington AFL-CIO (From Page 25) the end, the proposal was modified — delegates resolved to ask the national AFL-CIO to organize a nationwide rally highlighting those issues. Delegates also made additional en- dorsements for political office, includ- ing support for the incumbent superin- tendent of public instruction, Terry Bergeson. Bergeson was unable to get the required two-thirds support in May, when WSLC last considered endorse- ments. Her challenger, Randy Dorn, is a former leader of an unaffiliated union. Key to Bergeson’s endorsement, said Groves, was her support of link- ing the public K-12 school system with union apprenticeship programs. “She’s a big reason we’ve doubled the number of apprentices and appren- ticeship opportunities,” Groves said. For a complete list of endorsements, go to wslc.org. UNITE HERE Executive Vice Pres- ident Maria Elena Durazo, widow and successor of Los Angeles County Fed- eration of Labor leader Miguel Contr- eras, brought greetings from Los Ange- les, and ticked off a list of recent successes: a commitment that public works projects will sign project labor agreements to employ union workers; a first union contract for 4,000 newly-or- ganized security officers; and a first-in- the-nation “Clean Truck Program,” which will help with clean-air retrofits of diesel trucks at the Port of Los An- geles to reduce premature air pollution related deaths among workers and resi- dents. The Clean Truck Program may also improve the prospects for an on- going campaign to organize port truck- ers. The labor federation is also helping a United Steelworkers push to organize car wash workers, and a UNITE HERE fight to unionize a string of 13 hotels just outside LAX (five of them have gone union thus far.) In nearly every case, union-backed elected lead- ers are playing a part in the victories. “It’s not that we like politicians, it’s that politicians make decisions that af- fect us,” Durazo said. “When we’re out there voting, no one can beat us,” Jim Sinclair, presi- dent of the British Columbia Labor Federation, told delegates. Sinclair said a recent poll found that the most popu- lar politician in Canada is … Barack Obama. “It’s not only working people in the United States that need a better Amer- ica,” Sinclair said, “all of us around the world need a better America, too.” “We, the labor movement, must do our part in this election,” said Bender. “We must engage our members. If we do our part, we will make history!” O PERATING E NGINEERS L OCAL 701 P AYS T RIBUTE TO A MERICA ’ S W ORKERS T HIS L ABOR D AY 2008 Office Staff Executive Board Members MARK HOLLIDAY - Business Manager & Financial Secretary JIM ANDERSON - President KEVIN MILLER - Vice President STEVE BRADLEY - Recording Corresponding Secretary NELDA WILSON - Treasurer DAVE CARTER - Conductor MELVIN “BUTCH” SARINA - Guard MIKE THUN - Dist. I Rep. HAROLD CHEVRIER – Dist. II Rep. DARREN GLEBE - Dist. III Rep. RAY AKERS - Dist. IV Rep. MIKE WATTERS - Dist. V Rep. RICHARD LAUDERBACK - Dist. V (at-large) Rep. Deanna Robles Jon Stoltenberg 555 E AST F IRST S TREET , G LADSTONE , OR 97027 503-650-7701 UFCW LOCAL 555 Executive Officers and Staff Wish To Say: Have a Happy and Safe Labor Day! “PROVIDING LEADERSHIP, REPRESENTATION, AND EDUCATION TO BETTER THE LIVES OF ALL WORKING PEOPLE” GENE PRONOVOST, UNION PRESIDENT & INTERNATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT JEFF MCDONALD, SECRETARY-TREASURER ROBERTA CUNNINGHAM, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AUGUST 15, 2008 Dispatch Boe Ellis Tamara Fuller Cherry Harris Loraine Heuer Gene Kidd Larry Lovelady Jack Miller Jeff McRobbie Rod Osgood Traci Pardee Melissa Savage Chelsey Stoughton Mike Tobey Kevin VanDriesche Barbara Watts NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS VICE PRESIDENTS Jeff Anderson Kevin Billman Anna Bjorkquist Mardeane Bouchet Gail Brundage Judy Caire Alice Grassl Charlotte Hardin Sally Hards Tabatha Harris Lynda Hart Sandra Jockers Steve Konopa Sherry Lamb Robert McDonald Cheryln Patterson Garner Pool Rito Sanchez Jim Sinclair Mary Spicher Shelley Talbott Diane Terwilliger Eldon Thorsen Bruce York Steve Williamsen PAGE 27
