March. 20, 2009:NWLP
3/17/09
9:51 AM
Page 6
Business students from University of
Portland offer to volunteer for unions
Two dozen students from the Uni-
versity of Portland’s Pamplin School of
Business will attend the Monday,
March 23, meeting of the Northwest
Oregon Labor Council.
In addition to listening to union is-
sues, students will form in groups of
two to three persons to volunteer at a
local union office.
“It’s part of their class grade,” said
Judy O’Connor, executive secretary-
treasurer of the labor council. “It can be
computer work, research, walking a
picket line; whatever you agree to do.”
The project is part of a human re-
sources management class taught by
associate professor of management
Jack Kondrasuk. He has been bringing
both graduate and undergraduate stu-
dents to labor council meetings for 30
years — after the university discontin-
ued labor relations classes.
“Most of these students come from
families with management back-
grounds,” Kondrasuk said. “They don’t
know much about unions.”
By bringing students to a 90-minute
council meeting and teaming them up
for 10 to 12 hours with a union local,
Kondrasuk hopes the young adults will
gain a different perspective of who
union people really are.
“It’s not something you can get by
reading a book,” he said.
“The professor exposes students to a
union environment so that they will be
more well-rounded as they go out and
pursue their careers,” said NOLC
Board member Lynn Lehrbach, an offi-
cial with the Teamsters Union.
The Teamsters Union has used stu-
dent volunteers, and Kondrasuk has in-
vited Lehrbach to speak in the class-
room at the private university.
“They will pick your brain about
everything, so be prepared. These kids
come to learn,” Lehrbach said.
Kondrasuk’s class is set up under a
points system in which a majority of
the students’ grade is earned by creat-
ing a fictional HR Department. Addi-
tional points are achieved from six
smaller projects that include writing a
résumé; creating plans for employee
pay and job training; conducting a
safety inspection; and working with a
union. The union portion carries the
most weight, pointwise, and the union
awards the points — not Kondrasuk.
Over the years, students have
walked picket lines, filed papers and
done research. “They like projects that
challenge them; doing something that
will make a difference,” Kondrasuk
said.
The students are computer savvy
and are good at research, Kondrasuk
noted. Students could help a union
computerize their office system; per-
form wage/benefit comparisons by in-
dustry that possibly could be used for
bargaining; they will even research
union history. Nothing is off the table,
although Kondrasuk would rather not
have students used for simple filing.
Students will be at the Monday,
March 23, meeting of NOLC. After the
meeting they will hang around to see if
any unions are interested in their serv-
ices. Kondrasuk said six teams of two
to three students each will be available
to start work immediately. Grades are
due from the union by April 15.
Oregon retirees alliance elects new officers
Gerald “Jerry” Morris, a retired
member of the American Federation of
Teachers-Oregon, was elected president
of the Oregon Alliance for Retired
Americans (OARA) March 14 at the or-
ganization’s annual convention.
Morris succeeds Verna Porter, who
did not seek re-election. Instead, Porter
will focus more time as a lobbyist for
OARA and other retiree groups.
In other election results, Ron Rogers
was re-elected treasurer and Scott Blau
was re-elected as a trustee. Porter was
tapped first vice president; Jane Netboy,
second vice president; Leanna Hakala,
secretary; and Roz Giese, Jim Davis,
and Jay Thiemeyer, trustees.
Delegates adopted two resolutions
— one opposing Medicare Advantage
Plans, and one in support of the Em-
ployee Free Choice Act.
The convention’s keynote speaker
was George Kourpias, recently retired
president of the national Alliance for
Retired Americans and a retired general
president of the International Associa-
tion of Machinists in Washington, D.C.
Kourpias said that after being com-
pletely shut out by the Bush Adminis-
tration over the last eight years, he and
other union leaders have already been
invited to the White House several
times by the Obama Administration.
“I think Barack Obama will be a
great president, but we in labor have to
be vigilant. We have to stay focused and
be ready to take them on if they try to
get Social Security or Medicare,”
Kourpias said.
The Alliance meets monthly on the
fourth Thursday at 10 a.m. at West-
moreland Union Manor, 6404 SE 23rd
Avenue. For more information, e-mail
the alliance at valeriaj@comcast.net.
PAGE 6
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Recently retired Alliance for Retired Americans president George Kourpias
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convention in Portland March 14.
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