May 21,2010:NWLP
5/18/10
10:16 AM
Page 3
From Labor’s Community Service Agency
After 26 years helping others, Glenn Shuck retires
Glenn Shuck, the head of Labor’s
Community Service Agency (LCSA),
is retiring after 26 years of helping
union members and area citizens get
through tough times.
LCSA is a non-profit organization
funded primarily by United Way of the
Columbia-Willamette. It operates under
the auspices of the Northwest Oregon
Labor Council and a 16-person board
of directors. The agency works with an
array of community-based and govern-
mental organizations throughout Ore-
gon and Southwest Washington to pro-
vide education, information, referral
services, and social service programs.
Shuck, 73, was introduced to LCSA
in 1983 during a lengthy Steelworkers
strike at Oregon Steel Mills in Portland.
Shuck was president of Local 3010 at
the time some 300 workers walked out
over company demands for massive
takeaways and an open shop.
The strike ended badly, with the
union busted in 1984. The mill closed
in 1985.
After that happened, Shuck began
working with Labor’s Community
Service Agency. He was a perfect fit for
a pilot program that then executive di-
rector Del Ricks had arranged with Mt.
Hood Community College to assist laid
off workers transition into new jobs
As a labor liaison, Shuck worked
with partner agencies to develop the ini-
tial Dislocated Workers’ Job Training
Partnership Act Title III project for
Multnomah and Washington counties.
He helped plan, develop, and implement
pre-layoff (rapid response) services for
the Portland Metro labor market, work-
ing closely with local Oregon Employ-
ment Department staff, employers,
unions, community-based organiza-
tions, and state and local agencies.
In July 1992, Ricks suffered a heart
attack and Shuck was named interim di-
rector. Once it was determined that
Ricks would be unable to return to
MAY 21, 2010
G LENN S HUCK
work, LCSA’s Executive Board, in Feb-
ruary 1993, appointed Shuck executive
director.
Under Shuck’s leadership, LCSA
extensively promoted United Way’s an-
nual fundraising campaign, with Shuck
serving on United Way’s Campaign
Cabinet and board of directors.
He founded LCSA’s Emergency As-
sistance Program, which raises thou-
sands of dollars and serves hundreds of
families in temporary hardship situa-
tions. The program, now referred to as
“Helping Hands,” has distributed over
$1 million during Shuck’s tenure.
Shuck also established an annual
holiday food basket and toy distribution
program for inner city kids, and a
neighborhood “family dinner” night for
at-risk youth.
In his capacity as executive director,
Shuck served on the board of directors
of Worksystems, Inc. and the Workforce
Investment Council of Clackamas
County. He has been a member of
countless local-area adult and dislocated
worker committees and has served on
the State of Oregon One-Stop Steering
Committee, the Worker Profile Com-
mittee, the Workforce Response Team,
the Workforce Options Committee, and
as outreach coordinator to the Veterans
Workforce Investment Program.
When grant money was available,
Shuck would hire a laid off worker as a
peer advocate. But for the most part,
LCSA has operated with a staff of two.
“It’s absolutely amazing what one or
two people can do when they are com-
mitted to a cause,” said Curtis Kirk-
patrick, a retired minister at Hughes
Memorial Methodist Church and an
LCSA Board member. “Glenn brought
much joy to the people he worked with
at our church.”
“Without the support of United Way
and our union affiliates, this agency
wouldn’t exist,” Shuck told the LCSA
Executive Board May 12. “I was only
the conduit. I never solved any prob-
lems. I simply knew who to contact to
come in and help solve the problem.”
Shuck has been a union member cu-
mulatively for 56 years. His first union
job was in high school as a bike mes-
senger for Western Union. He left that
job — and high school — to join the Air
Force. Returning to Portland four years
later, he immediately went to work,
bouncing from job to job. Along the
way he held union cards with the Long-
shoremen, Telegraph Union, Wood-
workers, Teamsters, Printing Special-
ties, Machinists, Textile Workers,
Laborers, Lumber and Sawmill Work-
ers, and finally the Steelworkers.
“There were plenty of good union
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
jobs in those days,” Shuck said. “I guess
I didn’t leave myself any time to blow
off steam after getting out of the service,
and I was restless. ”
Shuck met and married Beverly
Phillips in 1964. She had four children
from a previous marriage, and together
they had one child.
For many years, Shuck coached Lit-
tle League, Babe Ruth, and Senior Babe
Ruth baseball teams in North Portland.
He was one game away from reaching
the Babe Ruth World Series and, in
1974, was named “Baseball Man of the
Year” by the Amateur Baseball Associ-
ation.
Shuck said the last 26 years have
been the most rewarding of his life. “It’s
the best job I’ve ever had. I have really
enjoyed going to work. I will miss it.”
LCSA office manager Vickie Burns
has been appointed interim director by
the Executive Board as it conducts a job
search for Shuck’s successor.
ATTENTION!
NEW APPRENTICESHIP RULES
8 hours of Cultural Competency/
Diversity training to be in place by June 2010
Do you know where to get this training?
Your best choice for
legally related trades training:
Employment Attorney
◆ Former BOLI Investigator and Trainer
◆ Former Plumber’s Helper
◆ Employment Law Trainer
for several unions
◆
Saying it in plain English, not legal gibberish
Call and schedule your training today!
Joshua Ried 503-632-6797
joshried@yahoo.com
http://www.palau-resort.com
PAGE 3