Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2009)
NWLP-2-20-09:NWLP 2/17/09 10:08 AM Page 5 Al Panek retires Wyden names Smith Warner new labor liaison Barbara Smith Warner has been hired as a field staff representative and labor liaison for Oregon U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden. She succeeds Al Panek, who is retiring at the end of February after serving 12 years in that position. Smith Warner is well known in la- bor circles. She worked for the national AFL-CIO as a state legislative issues coordinator and as a campaign direct- ing against several anti-union ballot measures sponsored by Bill Sizemore. Smith Warner was the campaign di- rector for former Labor Commissioner and IBEW Local 48 member Dan Gardner. From 1993 to 1996 she was the Western Regional field coordinator for the National Association of Letter B ARBARA S MITH W ARNER Carriers. She also has worked as cam- paign director for Forward Oregon and Future PAC. More recently, Smith Warner has worked as a consultant for E.G. Enter- prises, where she has assisted in the re- election campaigns of Wyden, Gov. Ted Kulongoski, and U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer. Her first day as a Wyden staffer will be March 1. Panek, 63, is a 34-year member of the Teamsters Union. He served as president of Teamsters Joint Council 37 and as secretary-treasurer of Local 162. He retired in 1997. Smith Warner can be reached at 503 326-7525. Teamsters at Oak Harbor Freight offer to return to work The Teamsters Union is calling off its strike at Oak Harbor Freight Lines, and announced Feb. 12 an offer to re- turn to work. About 600 Teamsters from the Portland and Seattle area have been on strike since Sept. 22. The offer comes after the National Labor Relations Board agreed to an out- of-court settlement of unfair labor prac- tice charges against Oak Harbor, which were the grounds for the strike. Under the settlement, Oak Harbor will post a notice promising not to break labor law. The union is appealing that settlement. U.S. labor law lets employers per- manently replace workers who strike over economic disagreements, but not workers who strike to protest “unfair la- bor practices,” as labor law violations are known. Because the unfair labor practice charges were resolved, the strike could be deemed economic if workers stayed out — and they could be permanently replaced. On the other hand, the union’s offer to return to work obligates Oak Harbor to take them back. That will likely mean job losses for scabs. The union said the offer to return was contingent on the company allow- ing every worker to return to their posi- tions, free from reprisal, and for Oak Harbor to return to the bargaining table. IN MEMORIAM K ELLY A NN P ENDELL , vice president of National Association of Portland Let- ter Carriers Branch 82, died Feb. 6 of cancer. She was 51. Born Kelly Epling, she grew up in the Sellwood area of Portland, attended St. Agatha Catholic School and LaSalle High School, gradu- ating in 1975. She married Mark Pendell in 1978, had two chil- dren, and joined the U.S. Postal Service in 1985 as a letter carrier assigned to Southeast Portland’s Creston station. Pendell soon became a union stew- ard, and in 2000 was elected vice pres- ident of Branch 82 — a full-time union staff position. In that job, she handled member grievances, organized pickets to oppose Postal Service privatization, and worked long hours phone-banking for union political campaigns as a member of the NALC Carrier Corps. She was re-elected four times. Pendell helped her union build closer relationships with members in smaller towns. Having spent much of her childhood on her family’s farm in Mist, Oregon, she was an avid lover of horses, dogs, and cats — including strays who would turn up at the union hall and be adopted as unofficial Branch 82 members. Pendell was active in the union’s benevolent activities. Under her leadership, donations in- creased substantially in the NALC Stamp Out Hunger food drive and the Muscular Dystrophy Association Labor Bowl Challenge. Personable and compassionate, she was well-loved. After she was diag- nosed with melanoma, she went around to postal stations raising awareness of the need to use suncreen. Skin cancer is a hazard for letter carriers, who must be outdoors during times of day when it’s best to stay out of the sun. It was thought her cancer had been removed, but its spread to other parts of her body was discovered after she had a seizure at a post office in September. Her daughter Dawn is a letter carrier at Portland's West Slope station, and a steward alternate with Branch 82. A memorial was held Feb. 13 at St. Agatha Catholic Church in Sellwood, where Pendell was a lifelong parish- ioner. Local 82 is planning a celebration of life, though a date had not been set as of press time. Karl Bik, Co-Chairman Cement Masons Trust Funds for Northern California The bank of labor has on-the-job experience in Taft-Hartley trust fund management supports you with an expert labor team and one easy point of contact offers investment solutions to build and protect your hard-earned funds gives workers the benefit of customized health and retirement plans has worked on behalf of unions for more than 50 years. Invest in you ® Labor Management Trust Services Stephen Heady, Vice President, (503) 450-1270 Louis Nagy, Vice President, (503) 450-1273 Labor Management Deposit Services Diane Williams, Senior Vice President & Manager, (213) 236-5085 John Mendoza, Vice President & Relationship Manager, (415) 705-7112 Visit us at unionbank.com FEBRUARY 20, 2009 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS ©2007 Union Bank of California, N.A. Member FDIC PAGE 5
