DEC-Holiday-2009 :Holiday Issue
12/15/09
9:47 AM
Page 4
Happy Holidays!
O R E G O N A F L - C I O
Officers
Tom Chamberlain
Barbara Byrd
President
Secretary-Treasurer
Staff
D UKE S HEPARD , Campaign/Political Director
E LANA G UINEY , Communications & Research Director
S TEVE L ANNING , Field Representative
G RAHAM T RAINOR , Political Organizer
M ARK W ARNE , WIA Labor Liaison
S UE H ARRISON , Secretary
T AMMY A NDERSON , Bookkeeper
Salem 503 585-6320
Portland 503 224-3169
www.oraflcio.org
W a r m e s t T h o u g h t s
A n d B e s t W i s h e s
Slow economy hasn’t dampened spirit of giving
IBEW Local 280 members still working to help others
McMINNVILLE, OR – With the
economy in such poor shape, construc-
tion projects nationwide have slowed to
a crawl.
But that doesn’t mean workers
aren’t keeping busy as they wait for
jobs to return.
Several members of the Interna-
tional Brotherhood of Electrical Work-
ers Local 280 in Tangent are volunteer-
ing their skills for those in greater need
than they are.
Brian Samp is one of those union
members.
Nearly a year ago, Samp responded
to a notice posted on the board at the
Local 280 union hall looking for elec-
tricians to volunteer their skills in the
community.
Executive Board member Joe Evans
was coordinating the volunteer pro-
gram for the union and, after talking to
Samp, he referred him to Habitat for
Humanity, which was constructing du-
plexes in McMinnville for families in
need of housing.
Within a couple of days, Samp was
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Volunteers from left to right: Brian Samp and apprentices Steve Goodman
and Jess Fleming — all members of IBEW Local 280 — worked together on
wiring two duplexes in McMinnville for a Habitat for Humanity project.
Photo by Kaisa Phillips
recruiting other union members to help
wire the duplexes. He targeted appren-
tices at the IBEW Local 280 training
center, thinking it was a perfect oppor-
tunity for them to get on-the-job expe-
rience while at the same time putting
their training to work.
“I just told them to lay out this proj-
ect, how they would wire the job and
then execute their plan,” Samp said. “It
is really good experience for them, and
they can actually do something other
than just pulling wire. Of course, I was
there to watch them just in case.”
Marianne Mills, executive director
of Habitat for Humanity in McMin-
nville, says Samp and the volunteer
electricians are a “godsend.”
Mills, a retired school teacher, said
she sees the differences it makes in chil-
dren’s lives when they have a place to
live and they’re not sleeping in the back
seat of a car.
“Children need a place to live and
sleep and feel safe,” she said.
Samp and the other union volunteers
take great pleasure to be able to help
families out. Besides that, Samp and his
colleagues just think of it as the right
thing to do when you are part of a com-
munity.
(Editor’s Note: Since 1991, McMin-
nville-area Habitat for Humanity has
helped 36 families move into safe, de-
cent, affordable homes.)
B o b T a c k e t t
E x e c . S e c r e t a r y - T r e a s u r e r
J u l i e D e v l a e m i n c k
O ff i c e M a n a g e r
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NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
DECEMBER 18, 2009